Space Shuttle Status Report January 19, 2000

• VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105
• LOCATION: Pad 39A
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: no earlier than Jan. 31, 2000 at 12:47 p.m. EST
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Feb. 11, 2000 at 4:55 p.m. EST
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 2 hours and 2 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: Shuttle managers assembled at KSC yesterday for the STS-99 Flight
Readiness Review. After the meeting, managers announced that Space Shuttle Endeavour
will launch no earlier than Jan. 31, pending resolution of an ongoing orbiter tile evaluation. The
evaluation has been under way since orbiter Discovery lost a thermal tile from the right inboard
elevon prior to the STS-103 landing in December. Astronaut and orbiter safety were not
compromised.

Work records revealed that improper installation of the Discovery’s missing tile allowed it to
debond from the orbiter’s exterior. Engineers are now reviewing work records for orbiter
Endeavour’s tiles to ensure that they were installed properly. The ongoing evaluation will
reveal whether additional tile work must be completed before launch, and if so, what schedule
impacts may exist. While Endeavour has an estimated 25,000 thermal tiles, the work being
reviewed only involves a small number of tiles that require complex fabrication and installation
procedures.

At the launch pad, Endeavour’s aft compartment close-outs continue and space suit checks
are ongoing. Prelaunch preparations continue as planned and the current work schedule
supports a launch on Jan. 31.

Processing Milestones:
Ordnance installation begins (Jan. 24)
Flight crew equipment stowage begins (Jan. 25)
Launch Coundown begins (Jan. 28 at 5:30 p.m.)

• VEHICLE: Atlantis/OV-104
• LOCATION: Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: no earlier than April 13, 2000
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: April 24, 2000
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 5-10 minutes
• MISSION DURATION: 10 days and 19 hours
• CREW: Halsell, Horowitz, Weber, Lu, Williams, Malenchenko and Morukov
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 173 nautical miles/51.6 degrees

Work in progress: Atlantis’ orbiter maneuvering system functional tests are complete. Wiring
inspections and repair continue in the orbiter’s aft and midbody compartments. Checks on the
Ku band antenna and TACAN system are also under way.

• VEHICLE: Discoveryr/OV-103
• LOCATION: OPF bay 1
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: no earlier than June 14, 2000 at 8:42 p.m. EDT
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: June 24, 2000 at 5:10 p.m. EDT
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 10 minutes
• MISSION DURATION: 10 days
• CREW: Duffy, Melroy, Wakata, Chiao, Wisoff, Lopez-Alegria and McArthur
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 173 nautical miles/51.6 degrees

Work in progress: Functional tests on Discovery’s orbiter maneuvering system are under
way. Orbiter main landing gear inspections are in work this week.