NASA Daily News Summary – Media Advisory m99-252

NASA Daily News Summary

For Release: Dec. 7, 1999

Media Advisory m99-252

SUMMARY:
No News Releases Today.
Video File for Dec. 7, 1999
NOTE: ALL TIMES EASTERN
ITEM 1 – STS-103 CREW ARRIVAL AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
ITEM 2 – STS-103 CREW TRAINING – JSC (replay)
ITEM 3 – HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SERVICING MISSION 3 – HQ (replay)
ITEM 4 – HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE MISSION – (replay) 
SPECIAL NOTE:

We will replay today’s 4:00 am press conference from the Jet

Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, regarding the lack of contact

with the Mars Polar Lander and the Deep Space 2 microprobes. The

replays will be at 1:00 pm, 4:00 pm, 7:00 pm, 10:00 pm, and 1:00

am. 
LIVE TELEVISION EVENTS THIS WEEK:
December 7, Tuesday

3:00 – 3:45 am – Live Coverage and Commentary of Mars Polar Lander

Activities – JPL

4:00 am – Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2 Press Conference – JPL 
December 6 – December 10

TBD – Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2 Television Activities – JPL 
Please check http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/marsnews/timeline/ for

further updates.
December 8, Wednesday

9:00 am – L-3 Pre-Launch Status Briefing for the Hubble Space

Telescope Servicing Mission – STS-103 – KSC

4:00 pm – STS-103 Launch Readiness News Conference – KSC
December 9, Thursday

9:00 am – L-2 Pre-Launch Status Briefing for the Hubble Space

Telescope Servicing Mission – STS-103 – KSC
December 10, Friday

9:00 am – L-1 Pre-Launch Status Briefing for the Hubble Space

Telescope Servicing Mission – STS-103 – KSC

9:30 am – STS-103 Hubble Space Telescope Briefing – KSC

6:30 pm – Live Commentary and Launch Coverage for the Hubble Space

Telescope Servicing Mission – STS-103 – KSC
December 11, Saturday

12:13 am – Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission Launch – STS-

103 – KSC
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If NASA issues any news releases later today, we will e-

mail summaries and Internet URLs to this list.
Index of 1999 NASA News Releases:

http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1999/index.html
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Video File for Dec. 7, 1999
ITEM 1 – STS-103 CREW ARRIVAL AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER—–TRT 7:30
Contact at NASA Kennedy Space Center, FL:  Bill Johnson (Phone

321/867-2468).
The STS-103 crew of seven departed Ellington Field, TX, on Dec. 6,

1999, in T-38 airplanes and arrived at Kennedy Space Center, FL,

at approximately 8:30pm EST.  A date for launch is pending

following final wiring repairs and system retest to Space Shuttle

Discovery. 
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/
ITEM 2 – STS-103 CREW TRAINING – JSC (replay)————TRT 12:30
Contact at NASA Kennedy Space Center, FL:  Bill Johnson (Phone

321/867-2468).
The STS-103 crew trains for the next shuttle mission, scheduled

for departure from Kennedy Space Center on Dec. 11, 1999. Mission

objectives include repair of the Hubble Space Telescope. 
ITEM 3 – HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SERVICING MISSION 3 – HQ (replay)
ITEM 3a – STS-61 AND STS-82 FOOTAGE———————–TRT 8:48
Description – Mission highlights from STS-61 and STS-82 Hubble

Space Telescope repair missions.  
Item 3b – STS-103 ANIMATION——————————-TRT 1:33
Description – Computer animation highlighting STS-103 rendezvous,

docking, EVA, and deploy activities.
ITEM 4 – HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE MISSION – (replay) 
Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:  Wade

Sisler (Phone 301/286-6256).

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Donald Savage

(Phone 202/358-1547).
Synopsis:  NASA officials decided to move up part of the servicing

mission that had been scheduled for June 2000 after three of the

telescope’s six gyroscopes failed.  Having fewer than three

working gyroscopes would preclude science observations, although

the telescope would remain safely in orbit until a servicing crew

arrived.  In addition to replacing all six gyroscopes on the STS-

103 flight, the crew will replace a guidance sensor and the

spacecraft’s computer.  The new computer will reduce the burden of

flight software maintenance and significantly lower costs.  A

voltage/temperature kit will be installed to protect spacecraft

batteries from overcharging and overheating when the spacecraft

goes into safe mode.  A new transmitter will replace a failed

spare currently aboard the spacecraft, and spare insulation will

replace telescope insulation that has degraded.  The insulation is

necessary to control the internal temperature on the telescope. 
ITEM 4a – GYROSCOPE ANIMATION—————————–TRT 1:01
Astronauts will replace all six of the Telescope’s gyroscopes

during STS-103.  Currently three of Hubble’s six gyros are not

working, leaving only the minimum number needed to continue its

mission.  The gyroscopes are needed for pointing the telescope.

The pointing system is comprised of reaction wheels that actually

move the telescope, gyros that report its position, star trackers

that provide reference points, and the onboard computer that

controls the pointing process.  Based on nearly one and a half

years of intensive chemical, mechanical and electrical

investigations, the HST team believes that the thin wires are

being corroded by the fluid in which they are immersed and

ultimately this corrosion causes them to break.
ITEM 4b – THERMAL BLANKET LAYER ANIMATION——————TRT :33
During the mission astronauts will cover Hubble’s electronic bay

doors with seven permanent coated-stainless steel foil sheets

called the New Outer Blanket Layer (NOBL).  The crew will also

carry seven rolls of special fabric, called the Shell/Shield

Replacement Fabric (SSRF) which will be installed on Hubble’s

forward shell and light shield if time is available.  The NOBL

covers and SSRF pieces are designed to protect Hubble’s external

blankets and prevent its insulation from further degradation.

Animation shows how these “thermal blankets” are replaced.

Blankets are attached with “bottle-stopper” fasteners and then are

unrolled like “wallpaper”.  This multi-layer insulation protects

the Telescope from the severe and rapid temperature changes as it

moves through its 90-minute orbit from very hot sun to very cold

night.
ITEM 4c – TECHNICIANS “QUILT” SSRF B-ROLL——————TRT :56
B-roll of technicians at the Goddard Space Flight Center

“quilting” the Shell/Shield Replacement Fabric (SSRF).  The fabric

pieces are stored in rolls for their trip to orbit.  The fabric is

composed of flexible, aluminized Teflon with rip-stop material

bonded to the back side.  Seven pieces up to 22 feet (7 meters)

long will cover 80 percent of the sun-side light shield and

forward shell.  This special fabric was designed and tested to

ensure that it can withstand exposure to charged particles, X-

rays, ultraviolet radiation, and thermal cycling for at least ten

years.
ITEM 4d – STS-103 CLEANROOM B-ROLL————————TRT 2:12
Astronauts training for the Hubble Space Telescope Third Servicing

Mission in the cleanroom at the Goddard Space Flight Center.

Footage includes astronauts working with gyroscopes and applying

thermal blankets to a full-sized mock-up of the Hubble Space

Telescope.  The seven-member crew will rendezvous with the

Telescope, capture it with the Space Shuttle Discovery’s robotic

arm and dock it in the Shuttle bay.  Working in teams of two, four

astronauts will outfit the Hubble with new equipment, including

six gyroscopes, a Fine Guidance Sensor, Solid State Recorder, new

Main Computer, New Outer Blanket Layers (NOBL), and a transmitter.

The astronauts will take more than 150 crew aids and tools on this

service call.
ITEM 4e – ACTIVITY IN STOCC———————————TRT:26
Activity in Space Telescope Operations Control Center (STOCC) at

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, during the

mission.  Working 24 hours a day, ground controllers command and

control the Hubble Space Telescope.  Commands are sent to the

Telescope to direct the observation of astronomical targets all

across the sky.  Hubble operators monitor the Telescope’s health

and safety while they control flight operations and science

activities.
ITEM 4f – HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE ANIMATION——————TRT:22

           (5 glamour shot sequences)  
ITEM 4g – THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM (animation)———-TRT:15
Animations of the electromagnetic spectrum, the communication

path, and the Hubble Telescope.  
ITEM 4h – HUBBLE TRACKING/SATELLITE RELAY ANIMATIONS
Cut 1:  Animation of HST Communication——————–TRT  :17
Communications through the Tracking & Data Relay Satellite System

(TDRSS), White Sands, NM, and DOMSAT, to the Goddard Space Flight

Center (GSFC).
Cut 2:  TDRSS Animation————————————TRT :22
Animation of the Tracking & Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS)

Communications Satellite depicting the data flow from TDRSS to

Earth, equivalent to a set of encyclopedias every second.  
ITEM 4i – INTERVIEW EXCERPTS——————————TRT 2:02
Dr. David Leckrone, Sr. Project Scientist Hubble Space Telescope
ITEM 4j – INTERVIEW EXCERPTS——————————TRT 3:38
Dr. John Campbell, Associate Director, Hubble Space Telescope
—————————–
Unless otherwise noted, ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN.
ANY CHANGES TO THE LINE-UP WILL APPEAR ON THE NASA VIDEO FILE

ADVISORY ON

THE WEB AT ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/tv-advisory/nasa-tv.txt

WE UPDATE THE ADVISORY THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
The NASA Video File normally airs at noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m.

and midnight Eastern Time.
NASA Television is available on GE-2, transponder 9C at 85 degrees

West longitude, with vertical polarization. Frequency is on 3880.0

megahertz, with audio on 6.8 megahertz.
Refer general questions about the video file to NASA Headquarters,

Washington, DC: Ray Castillo, 202/358-4555, or Elvia Thompson,

202/358-1696, elvia.thompson@hq.nasa.gov
During Space Shuttle missions, the full NASA TV schedule will

continue to be posted at:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/nasatv/schedule.html
For general information about NASA TV see:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv/
*****************************
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end of daily news summary