KENNEDY SPACE CENTER SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT
      THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1999 (1:41 PM EST)
      MISSION: STS-96 -- 2nd U.S. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FLIGHT
      SPACEHAB DOUBLE MODULE
      • VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103
      • LOCATION: OPF bay 1
      • TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: May 20, 1999 at 9:32 a.m. EDT
      • TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: May 30, 1999 at 5:28 a.m. EDT
      • LAUNCH WINDOW: 5-10 minutes
      • MISSION DURATION: 9 days, 19 hours and 56 minutes
      • CREW: Rominger, Husband, Ochoa, Jernigan, Barry, Payette, Tokarev
      • ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 173 nautical miles/51.6 degrees

      NOTE: Technicians will test Discovery's remote manipulator system or robot arm today. Replacement of the orbiter's water spray boiler is under way with removal of the old system already complete. Functional tests of the International Space Station docking system are scheduled this week. Installation of the integrated vehicle health monitoring system for the orbiter's main propulsion system continues and base heat shield modifications are on schedule. Drag chute instrumentation installation continues. Tests of Discovery's power reactant storage and distribution system and auxiliary power units are ongoing. Booster stacking operations continue in VAB high bay 3.

      STS-96 SCHEDULED OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only):

      • Shuttle main engine installation (Mar. 2)
      MISSION: STS-93 -- Chandra X-ray Observatory (formerly AXAF)

      STS-93 images

      • VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102
      • LOCATION: Vehicle Assembly Building high bay 2
      • TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: July 9, 1999 at 1:19 a.m. EDT
      • TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: July 14, 1999 at 12:20 a.m. EDT
      • LAUNCH WINDOW: 46 minutes
      • MISSION DURATION: 4 days, 23 hours
      • CREW: Collins, Ashby, Hawley, Coleman, Tognini
      • ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 153 nautical miles/28.45 degrees

      NOTE: Columbia is jacked and leveled in VAB high bay 2 undergoing routine system observation during a temporary storage period. Columbia will remain in the VAB until mid-April, when Shuttle Discovery rolls out of OPF bay 1. Columbia will then be transferred to OPF bay 1 to complete STS-93's orbiter pre-launch preparations.

      MISSION: STS-99 -- SHUTTLE RADAR TOPOGRAPHY MISSION (SRTM)
      • VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105
      • LOCATION: OPF bay 2
      • TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Sept. 16 at 8:47 a.m. EDT
      • TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Sept. 27 at 12:52 p.m. EDT
      • LAUNCH WINDOW: 2 hours and 30 minutes
      • MISSION DURATION: 11 days, 4 hours and 5 minutes
      • CREW: Kregel, Gorie, Kavandi, Voss, Mohri, Thiele
      • ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 126 nautical miles/57 degrees

      NOTE: Modifications of Endeavour's freon coolant loop No. 1 continue to go well, with replacement of the left hand radiators now complete. The orbiter's forward reaction control system will arrive in the OPF today for installation inside the orbiter's nose on Saturday.

      STS-99 SCHEDULED OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only):

      • Forward reaction control system installed (Feb. 27)
      MISSION: STS-101 -- 3rd INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FLIGHT
      SPACEHAB DOUBLE MODULE/ICC
      • VEHICLE: Atlantis/OV-104
      • LOCATION: OPF bay 3
      • TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: October 14, 1999 about 9:30 p.m. EDT
      • TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: October 25, 1999 about 4:30 p.m. EDT
      • LAUNCH WINDOW: 5-10 minutes
      • MISSION DURATION: 10 days and 19 hours
      • CREW: Halsell, Horowitz, Weber, Lu, Williams, Malenchenko, Morukov
      • ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 173 nautical miles/51.6 degrees

      NOTE: Atlantis' payload bay doors were opened yesterday and access to the orbiter's flight deck has been established. Work on the tactical air and navigation system (TACAN) has resumed. Atlantis' orbiter maneuvering and reaction control systems are undergoing drain line modifications.

      --end--

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      Author: Joel Wells / NASA Public Affairs
      Curator: Kay Grinter (kay.grinter-1@ksc.nasa.gov) / Information Dynamics, Inc.
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