• VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103
• LOCATION: Pad 39B
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: December 9 at 1:10 a.m. EST
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: December 18 at about 10:15 p.m. EST
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 42 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

Note: Shuttle managers today set December 9 as the launch date for Discovery on STS-103. The adjusted launch date allows technicians time to repair minor electrical wiring damage that was found recently in an umbilical between the Shuttle orbiter and the external tank. The schedule also allows the Shuttle workforce to observe the Thanksgiving holidays. Managers plan to reconvene the STS-103 Flight Readiness Review on Dec. 1at 2 p.m. to obtain a final status on the recent work completed on Discovery.

Friday, workers at Launch Pad 39B completed payload interface verification testing and today are conducting the planned end-to-end test. Payload bay close-outs begin this week and Discovery's payload bay doors will be closed for flight Nov. 24.

Over the weekend, oxidizer and fuel reactants were loaded into Discovery's onboard storage tanks. Leak checks on Shuttle main engine No. 3 are complete and good. Routine inspections of Discovery's aft compartment are in work in preparation for next week's orbiter aft close-outs.

Major Processing Milestones (targets only):
Shuttle main engine test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Nov. 23)
Payload bay doors closed for flight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Nov. 24)
Shuttle Interface Test repeated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Nov. 29)
Ordnance installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Dec. 1)
Orbiter aft compartment closed-out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Dec. 4)
Launch countdown begins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Dec. 6)

• VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105
• LOCATION: OPF bay 2
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Jan. 13, 2000 at 1:11 p.m. EST
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Jan. 24, 2000 at 5:15 p.m. EST
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 2 hours and 30 minutes
• MISSION DURATION: 11 days and 4 hours
• CREW: Kregel, Gorie, Kavandi, Voss, Mohri, Thiele
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 126 nautical miles/57 degrees

Work in progress: The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission payload was installed inside Endeavour's payload bay last week and orbiter interface verification testing has been completed. The payload bay doors are slated for closure this week. Managers plan to roll Endeavour to the Vehicle Assembly Building Dec. 2 to be mated to the external tank and solid rocket boosters. Once those activities are complete, Shuttle Endeavour will roll out to Launch Pad 39A.

Major Processing Milestones (targets only):
Payload bay doors closed for flight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Nov. 28)
Orbiter transferred to VAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Dec. 2)
Shuttle rolls to Launch Pad 39A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Dec. 7)

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