- VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102
- LOCATION: Launch Pad 39B
- TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: July 23, 1999 at 12:24 a.m. EDT
- TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: July 27, 1999 at 11:20 p.m. EDT
- LAUNCH WINDOW: 1 hour, 56 minutes (12:24 a.m. - 2:20 a.m.)
- MISSION DURATION: 4 days, 23 hours
- CREW: Collins, Ashby, Hawley, Coleman, Tognini
- ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 153 nautical miles/28.45 degrees
THURSDAY, JULY 22, 1999 (4:52 PM EDT)
LAUNCH-1 DAY
STS-93 -- Chandra X-ray Observatory
NOTE: Preparations are ongoing for a third launch attempt of the Space Shuttle Columbia at 12:24 a.m. Friday. Following a weather scrub early this morning, Shuttle managers implemented standard procedures for a 24-hour scrub turnaround. Columbia's external tank is being loaded for the third time with 500,000 gallons of liquid propellant. Tanking operations began at 3:15 p.m. today and will conclude at about 6:15 p.m. All Shuttle and payload systems remain in excellent health to support Friday's launch attempt.
During a mission management team meeting at noon today, Chandra managers gave an updated status on Chandra's orbital power supply margins. Chandra's ability to spend an additional 20 minutes in the Earth's shadow on every orbit with no impact to mission success, adds an additional 70 minutes to the planned 46-minute window. The window for tomorrow's launch opportunity is now 1 hour and 56 minutes in duration. Mission managers still plan to deploy Chandra on flight day 1 about 7 hours and 17 minutes after liftoff.
To preserve the flight crew's on-orbit sleep and work schedule, the astronauts will sleep an additional 30 minutes today before beginning their preflight preparation timeline. Each step on that timeline will begin one-half hour later tonight. The 30 minutes will be transferred from the built-in hold at T-9 minutes to the T-3 hour built-in hold.
Weather officials have updated the forecast to reflect a 20 percent chance that weather could prohibit launch on Friday. The primary threats are coastal thunderstorms with debris and anvil clouds.
| CREW FOR MISSION STS-93 | |
|---|---|
| POSITION | NAME |
| Commander (CDR) | Eileen Collins |
| Pilot (PLT) | Jeff Ashby |
| Mission Specialist (MS1) | Catherine Coleman |
| Mission Specialist (MS2) | Steven Hawley |
| Mission Specialist (MS3) | Michel Tognini |
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Author: Joel Wells / NASA Public Affairs
Curator: Kay Grinter (kay.grinter-1@ksc.nasa.gov) / Information Dynamics, Inc.