MISSION: STS-95 -- SPACEHAB-SM, SPARTAN & HOST

STS-95 images

• VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103
• LOCATION: Launch Pad 39B
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. EST
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Nov. 7 at 12:04 p.m. EST
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 2 hours and 30 minutes
• MISSION DURATION: 8 days, 22 hours and 4 minutes
• CREW: Brown, Lindsey, Parazynski, Robinson, Duque, Mukai, Glenn
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 300 nautical miles/28.45 degrees

NOTE: The KSC test team and the STS-95 flight crew successfully completed the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test today at about 11 a.m. Today's launch day dress rehearsal culminated with a simulated Shuttle main engine cutoff at T-3 seconds on the countdown clock. TCDT allows the launch team and crew to practice launch day activities and to validate emergency egress procedures. The crew returned to their homes in Houston, TX, this afternoon and will complete their mission training at Johnson Space Center. Preparations to replace Discovery's mass memory unit No. 2 are under way. At pad 39B, the Rotating Service Structure will be retracted for Saturday's KSC Open House and extended in place around the Shuttle immediately following the event. Shuttle managers will meet at KSC Tuesday for the Flight Readiness Review and are expected to announce Oct. 29 as the official launch date for mission STS-95.

STS-95 SCHEDULED OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only):

• Flight Readiness Review (Oct. 13)
• SPACEHAB early stow (Oct. 16)
• Orbiter aft compartment closeouts begin (Oct. 19)
• Payload bay doors closed for flight (Oct. 22)
• SPACEHAB late stow (Oct. 26)
• Launch countdown begins (Oct. 26)

MISSION: STS-88 -- FIRST FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
UNITY CONNECTING MODULE

STS-88 images

• VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105
• LOCATION: OPF bay 1
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Dec. 3 at 4:45 a.m. EST
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Dec. 14 at 11:14 p.m. EST
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 5 - 10 minutes
• MISSION DURATION: 11 days, 18 hours and 29 minutes
• CREW: Cabana, Sturckow, Currie, Ross, Newman, Krikalev
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 173 nautical miles/51.6 degrees

NOTE: Adjustments to Endeavour's main engine No. 2 yaw actuator are complete and aft compartment closeouts proceed on schedule. Final hydraulic checks of the orbiter's main landing gear concluded yesterday. Preparations to transfer Endeavour from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building continue. Closeouts of the orbiter's payload bay are in work and the cargo bay doors will be closed Saturday. Vehicle pressurization tests occur Sunday and orbiter weight and center of gravity tests are set for Monday. Endeavour is slated to roll to the VAB on Tuesday morning and then be mated to the external tank and solid rocket boosters stacked in VAB high bay 3.

STS-88 SCHEDULED OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only):

• Payload bay door closure (Oct. 10)
• Orbiter weight and center of gravity testing (Oct. 12)
• Orbiter transfer to Vehicle Assembly Building (Oct. 13)

MISSION: STS-93 -- Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF)

STS-93 images

• VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102
• LOCATION: OPF bay 3
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Jan. 21, 1999 at 11:26 a.m. EST
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Jan. 26, 1999 at 10:33 a.m. EST
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 47 minutes
• MISSION DURATION: 4 days, 23 hours, 7 minutes
• CREW: Collins, Ashby, Hawley, Coleman, Tognini
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 153 nautical miles/28.45 degrees

NOTE: Columbia's mechanical systems are undergoing checks this week. Technicians completed fuel line connections for orbiter auxiliary power units No. 1 and No. 3. Shuttle main engine installation is scheduled for next week and engine heat shield installation follows.

STS-93 SCHEDULED OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only):

• Payload premate test (Oct. 13)
• Shuttle main engine installation complete (Oct. 15)
• Engine heat shield installation complete (Oct. 28)

MISSION: STS-101 -- 3rd FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
SPACEHAB-DM/ICC

• 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

NOTE: Atlantis' receiving inspections continue. Preparations for payload bay door opening are in work. Powered orbiter testing began yesterday for the first time since the Orbiter Maintenance Down Period. The new multifunctional electronic display system or "glass cockpit" is being tested this week. Preparations to remove the simulated forward reaction control system are under way.

Information about the countdown and mission can be accessed electronically via the Internet at: http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown/ and at http://shuttle.nasa.gov/