- 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
- Payload bay doors closed for flight (May 13)
- Ordnance installation complete (May 13)
- Orbiter aft compartment close-outs complete (May 14)
- Launch countdown begins (May 17 at noon)
WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 1999 (5:18 PM EDT)
STS-96 -- 2nd U.S. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FLIGHT - SPACEHAB DOUBLE MODULENOTE: SPACEHAB stowage concluded yesterday and loading of Discovery's Mass Memory Units is complete. Additional testing of the experimental Space to Space Orbiter Radio system resumes today requiring the orbiter's payload bay doors to remain open until tomorrow afternoon. Discovery's aft compartment doors will be installed Friday.
Hail damage repair efforts are in progress on the upper portion of the external tank's outer foam. Today and tomorrow engineers will further evaluate worker access to any additional damaged areas by last weekend's hailstorm. If Shuttle managers determine that all repair efforts can be completed at the launch pad, the additional work will not impact Discovery's May 20 launch date. However, if evaluations reveal that significant work must be performed in the Vehicle Assembly Building the launch date could be delayed by one week. Platforms in the VAB provide workers with access to the tank that is not available at the pad. A decision is expected tomorrow afternoon.
The hail damage poses no threat to the external tank's structural integrity, but managers are evaluating the likelihood that ice could form inside the divots once the tank is loaded with super-cold propellants and possibly impact the orbiter during ascent.
STS-96 SCHEDULED OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only):
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