Space Shuttle Status Report November 22, 1999
KSC Contact: Joel Wells
Monday, November 22, 1999
(2:30 p.m. EST)
MISSION: STS-103 – 3rd Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission
VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103
LOCATION: Pad 39B
TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: December 9 at 1:10 a.m. EST
TARGET 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
Work in progress: 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)
MISSION: STS-99 – Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)
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)
