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

STS-95 images

• VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103
• LOCATION: Vehicle Assembly Building
• 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, Makai, Glenn
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 310 nautical miles/28.45 degrees

NOTE: In VAB high bay 1, orbiter Discovery is mated to the external tank and Shuttle interface testing is in progress. Main propulsion system leak checks are under way and preparations begin tomorrow for the Shuttle's rollout to Launch Pad 39B. Discovery is slated to begin its 4.2 mile trip to the pad at about 2 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 21 and should be hard down on the pad surface around 8 a.m.

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

• Shuttle rolls to Pad 39B (Sept. 21 at about 2 a.m.)
• Rotating Service Structure extended (Sept. 21 at about 10 a.m.)
• Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (Oct. 8-9)

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: Functional tests of the hatch on Endeavour's tunnel adapter are complete. Replacement of the orbiter's right-hand payload bay door radiators is complete and the radiator coolant loop will be serviced next week. Main engine and main propulsion system integrated testing is ongoing and freon coolant loop No. 2 servicing is in work. Engine heat shield installation is scheduled today. Payload electrical connection testing is under way and robot arm checks are complete. Auxiliary power converter unit interface tests begin today.

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

• Integrated orbiter hydraulic testing (Sept. 21)
• Crew Equipment Interface Test (Sept. 25)

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 Ku-band system is undergoing tests and the antenna has been deployed. Replacement of the orbiter's waste tank overboard dump valve continues. Tests on the power reactant storage and distribution system continue and auxiliary power unit water servicing is in progress.

OV-104 Atlantis - Return from OMDP in Palmdale, CA

NOTE: Shuttle workers in Palmdale, CA, hand-over responsibility for orbiter Atlantis to KSC Monday, Sept. 21, for ferry flight preparations. Atlantis is scheduled to be bolted atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified Boeing 747, and flown cross-country to KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility next week. Current plans have the ferry flight departing California at first light on Sept. 22 and arriving in Florida the next afternoon. Forecasters indicate the possibility of adverse weather conditions early next week, so Shuttle managers will closely monitor weather trends in California as they plan to bring Atlantis home.

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/