- VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105
- LOCATION: Launch Pad 39A
- TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Dec. 3 at about 3:59 a.m. EST
- TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Dec. 14 at about 11:13 p.m. EST
- LAUNCH WINDOW: 5 - 10 minutes
- MISSION DURATION: 11 days, 18 hours
- CREW: Cabana, Sturckow, Currie, Ross, Newman, Krikalev
- ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 173 nautical miles/51.6 degrees
- Unity installed inside orbiter payload bay (Nov. 13)
- Payload sharp edge inspection (Nov. 16)
- Prelaunch propellant loading (Nov. 17)
- Orbiter aft compartment closeouts begin (Nov. 19)
- Ordnance installation (Nov. 23)
- Flight crew equipment stow (Nov. 24)
- VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102
- LOCATION: OPF bay 3
- TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: no earlier than March 18, time TBD
- TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: no earlier than March 23, time TBD
- LAUNCH WINDOW: 47 minutes
- MISSION DURATION: 5 days
- CREW: Collins, Ashby, Hawley, Coleman, Tognini
- ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 153 nautical miles/28.45 degrees
- VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103
- LOCATION: OPF bay 1
- TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: May 13, 1999 at 12:33 p.m. EST
- TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: May 24, 1999 at 8:47 a.m. EST
- MISSION DURATION: 11 days (+1)
- CREW: Rominger, Husband, Ochoa, Jernigan, Barry, Payette, Malenchenko
- ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 173 nautical miles/51.6 degrees
- VEHICLE: Atlantis/OV-104
- LOCATION: OPF bay 2
- TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: August 5, 1999
- TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: August 15, 1999
- LAUNCH WINDOW: 10 minutes
- MISSION DURATION: 10 days
- ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 173 nautical miles/51.6 degrees
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1998 (2:31 PM EST)
STS-88 -- 1ST FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATIONUNITY CONNECTING MODULE
NOTE: Last week, KSC's launch team and the STS-88 flight crew successfully completed Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test activities. Endeavour's inertial measurement unit calibrations are complete. Shuttle main engine ignitor testing concluded last week. Today, interface verification testing begins with the Unity connecting module at Launch Pad 39A. Unity is slated for payload bay installation Nov. 13. Preparations for next week's hypergolic propellant loading activities are in work.
STS-88 SCHEDULED OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only):
STS-93 -- Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF)
NOTE: Columbia's ammonia system servicing is complete. Leak and functional tests of the orbiter's auxiliary power units concluded last week. Hydraulic checks of the main propulsion system are also complete. Shuttle main engine securing continues and aft compartment closeouts are in work. Engine heat shield installation begins this week. Structural modal test preparations continue and auxiliary power unit lubrication servicing occurs later this week. Next week, integrated hydraulic and flight control system testing begins. Solid rocket booster stacking operations continue in the Vehicle Assembly Building.
STS-96 -- 2nd U.S. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FLIGHTSPACEHAB DOUBLE MODULE
NOTE: Following Saturday's successful noon landing of orbiter Discovery at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility, SPACEHAB experiment destow activities concluded about 8 hours later and the orbiter was towed into OPF bay 1 by 10 p.m. Over the weekend, technicians drained the power reactant storage and distribution system of all cryogenic reactants. They are currently working to purge Discovery's main engines. Orbiter access platforms are being installed today and the payload bay doors are slated to be opened by midweek. By early next week, payload removal will conclude.
Preliminary inspections reveal the drag chute and its housing compartment to be in good condition, but a thorough evaluation is under way to determine the cause of the drag chute door incident. Inspections of Discovery's underside revealed about 136 debris hits to the black thermal protective tiles with about 42 hits measuring 1 inch or greater. Processing work for the orbiter's next mission will resume following routine post-flight inspections and deconfiguration.
STS-101 -- 3rd INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FLIGHTSPACEHAB-DM/ICC
NOTE: Installation of Atlantis' hand controller for the robot arm is complete and overall remote manipulator system installation concludes early next week. Leak checks on the orbiter's oxygen system crossover valves are in work. This week workers will replace orbiter window No. 4. The auxiliary power unit lines will be connected next Wednesday.
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