- VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103
- LOCATION: Pad 39B
- TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: December 16 at 9:18 p.m. EST
- TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: December 26 at about 6:56 p.m. EST
- LAUNCH WINDOW: 41 minutes
- MISSION DURATION: about 9 days and 21 hours
- CREW: Brown, Kelly, Smith, Foale, Grunsfeld, Nicollier, Clervoy
- ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 317 nautical miles/28.45 degrees
- VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105
- LOCATION: enroute to Pad 39A
- TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: January (under review)
- TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: (under review)
- LAUNCH WINDOW: 54 minutes
- MISSION DURATION: 11 days and 4 hours
- CREW: Kregel, Gorie, Kavandi, Voss, Mohri, Thiele
- ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 126 nautical miles/57 degrees
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1999 (11:00 AM EST)
Work in progress: The launch countdown for STS-103 began on schedule today at 1:30 a.m. Yesterday, workers completed aft compartment close-outs and Discovery's aft confidence test concluded last night. Current weather forecasts call for scattered to broken clouds at 3,000 feet and scattered clouds at 25,000 feet; visibility of 7 miles; winds from the north at 12 peaking to 20 knots; temperature at 52 degrees F; relative humidity at 69 percent; and no chance of showers. Weather officials indicate an 80 percent chance of favorable weather conditions for launch attempts on Thursday or Friday. By Saturday, the forecast declines to a 70 percent chance of favorable weather.
Processing Milestones:
Cryogenics loaded in Discovery's onboard storage tanks . . . . (Dec. 15)
Rotating Service Structure moved to park position . . . . . . . . .(Dec. 16 at 3:45 a.m.)
Work in progress: Space Shuttle Endeavour arrived at Launch Pad 39A yesterday at about 12:30 p.m. Launch pad validations are under way and an auxiliary power unit hot fire test is scheduled today.
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