NOTE: Although inspections and repairs of electrical wiring are continuing, Space Shuttle managers today announced tentative target launch dates for the next two Shuttle missions, STS-103 and STS-99. Managers established STS-103, the Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 3A, as the next Shuttle flight with a launch targeted for no earlier than Oct. 28, 1999. A target launch date of no earlier than Nov. 19, 1999, was set for the launch of STS-99, the Space Radar Topography Mission. Managers have directed all those involved in flight preparations to work toward these dates, however the launch dates remain tentative pending the outcome of the current wiring work.

"We've established these planning dates so that those involved in flight preparations can establish the proper order of priority for work on each mission," Space Shuttle Program Manager Ron Dittemore said. "However, we are continuing to review the progress of wiring inspections and repairs on Endeavour and Discovery and, as part of our continuing evaluations of those activities, we may need to revisit the subject and further adjust our target launch dates as those repairs progress. We will not fly any mission until we are satisfied that we have safely resolved all the wiring problems we have found."

MISSION: STS-103 -- 3rd HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SERVICING MISSION (HST-3)

• VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103
• LOCATION: OPF bay 1
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: No earlier than October 28, 1999 (under review) at 10:31 p.m. EDT
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Nov. 7 at about 7 p.m. EST
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 42 minutes
• MISSION DURATION: 9 days, 21 hours and 38 minutes
• CREW: Brown, Kelly, Smith, Foale, Grunsfeld, Nicollier, Clervoy
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 317 nautical miles/28.45 degrees

NOTE: Wiring inspections and repairs continue aboard Discovery. Most of the work in the forward crew and aft engine compartments is complete. Emphasis is now being concentrated on work in the midbody. Also, the Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) was successfully conducted late last week.

MISSION: STS-99 -- SHUTTLE RADAR TOPOGRAPHY MISSION (SRTM)

• VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105
• LOCATION: OPF bay 2
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: No earlier than November 19, 1999 (under review) at 6:48 a.m. EST
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Nov. 30 at about 10:53 a.m.
• 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: Wiring inspections and repairs continue in the orbiter's midbody and aft engine compartment. Inspections and repairs in the forward crew compartment are complete.

Also, fabrication of the SRTM freon line reinforcement clamp assembly has begun. The manufacturing of the clamp was done at KSC and will be ready this week for a fit check. The fixture is scheduled to be installed for flight in the payload bay next week.

MISSION: STS-101 -- 3rd INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FLIGHT - SPACEHAB DOUBLE MODULE/ICC

• VEHICLE: Atlantis/OV-104
• LOCATION: VAB high bay 2
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Jan. 22, 2000 (under review)
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Feb. 3
• 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: Orbiter Atlantis is currently being stored inside the Vehicle Assembly Building awaiting the opening of an Orbiter Processing Facility bay. Preliminary wiring inspections are complete. A more thorough inspection will begin once Atlantis is moved to the Orbiter Processing Facility. Last Wednesday, Atlantis was moved from the VAB transfer aisle to VAB high bay 2.

NOTE: Initial wiring inspections are complete on the orbiter Columbia in Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3. Work continues to prepare the vehicle for its ferry flight to Palmdale, CA, for its scheduled Orbiter Maintenance Down Period (OMDP). Columbia is scheduled to be towed to the Shuttle Landing Facility on Sept. 22 where it will be mated to the modified Boeing 747. The ferry flight from KSC is scheduled to begin on Sept. 23 with an overnight stop at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. Columbia will depart Luke the following day, arriving in Palmdale on Sept. 24. Ferry flight plans are contingent upon weather conditions in the flight path and the vehicle could be diverted to other facilities with little notice.

Information about the countdown and mission can be accessed electronically via the Internet at: http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown/ and at http://shuttle.nasa.gov/