KENNEDY SPACE CENTER SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT
      TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1999 (1:26 PM EDT)
      MISSION: STS-96 -- 2nd U.S. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FLIGHT - SPACEHAB DOUBLE MODULE
      • VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103
      • LOCATION: Launch Pad 39B
      • TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: May 20, 1999 at 9:32 a.m. EDT
      • TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: May 30, 1999 at 5:27 a.m. EDT
      • LAUNCH WINDOW: 10 minutes
      • ISS DOCKING DATE: May 22, 1999 at 4:01 a.m. EDT
      • ISS UNDOCKING DATE: May 27, 1999 at 10:07 p.m. EDT
      • MISSION DURATION: 9 days, 19 hours and 55 minutes
      • CREW: Rominger, Husband, Ochoa, Jernigan, Barry, Payette, Tokarev
      • ADDITIONAL PAYLOADS: ICC, STARSHINE, SVF AND IVHM
      • ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 173 nautical miles/51.6 degrees

      NOTE: Orbiter midbody umbilical unit mating and leak checks are complete. Workers completed testing Discovery's Space to Space Orbiter Radio early this morning and the auxiliary power unit No. 2 tank has been pressurized. Drag chute door close-outs concluded yesterday and orbiter aft compartment close-outs are in work. Interface verification testing for the SPACEHAB payload is complete and the payload bay doors will be closed for flight this afternoon. An exposed fire alarm cable conductor was repaired last night on the Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP). Inspections of similar cables on the MLP are in work today.

      Following yesterday's orbiter and external tank inspections, workers confirmed that Discovery has not sustained any hail damage from a severe weekend storm. However, impact points were identified on the upper portion of the external tank's outer foam. Only 8 to 10 impact points require repair efforts, the largest measuring 2 ½ inches deep and about 2 inches wide. This week workers will gain access to the affected areas using a platform from the gaseous oxygen vent arm and complete the minor repairs with no significant impact to the work schedule.

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

      • Payload bay doors closed for flight (May 11)
      • Ordnance installation complete (May 13)
      • Orbiter aft compartment close-outs complete (May 14)
      • Launch countdown begins (May 17 at noon)
      MISSION: STS-93 -- Chandra X-ray Observatory (formerly AXAF)

      STS-93 images

      • VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102
      • LOCATION: Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1
      • TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: No earlier than July 22, 1999 at 12:28 a.m. EDT
      • TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: No earlier than July 26, 1999 at 11:35 p.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: Functional checks of Columbia's orbiter maneuvering system and potable water servicing continue. Leak checks continue on the exhaust ducts for auxiliary power units No. 1 and No. 3. Payload bay close-outs are scheduled to begin this week.

      MISSION: STS-99 -- SHUTTLE RADAR TOPOGRAPHY MISSION (SRTM)
      • VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105
      • LOCATION: OPF bay 2
      • TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Sept. 16, 1999 at 8:47 a.m. EDT
      • TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Sept. 27, 1999 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: Fabrication and installation of tubing for Endeavour's freon coolant loop No. 2 continues. Orbiter docking system wire harness installation concludes tomorrow. Fuel cell voltage testing begins this week and wireless video modifications continue.

      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: December 2, 1999
      • TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: December 13, 1999
      • 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 continues to undergo wireless video modifications. Payload bay liner modifications proceed on schedule. Mass spectrometer leak checks on the orbiter's fuel cell power plant continue. TACAN antenna installation is in progress.

      --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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