Space Shuttle Processing Status 13 Jan 2003

MISSION STS-107 -SPACEHAB/ FREESTAR MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH MISSION

• VEHICLE – Columbia/OV-102
• TARGET LAUNCH DATE: Jan. 16, 2003
• TARGET LAUNCH PERIOD: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• TARGET LANDING DATE: Feb. 1, 2003
• MISSION DURATION: 16 days
• CREW: Husband, McCool, Anderson, Chawla, Brown, Clark, Ramon
• ORBITAL INSERTION ALTITUDE AND INCLINATION: 150 nautical miles/39 degrees

Shuttle Processing Note: The launch countdown began late last night for
Shuttle Columbia’s Spacehab microgravity research mission scheduled to
launch this Thursday, Jan. 16. Work continues at Pad 39-A with preparations
in work for loading the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the Power
Reactant Storage and Distribution System. Due to the quantity and nature of
research to be performed on this mission, technicians have begun
preparations to load late stow payloads. Tomorrow will begin the 16-hour
task of loading the late stow payloads and experiments into the Spacehab
module.

Mission managers met last night to discuss the status of the ongoing
engineering analysis of a surface crack that was found on a 2.25-inch
diameter metal ball associated with the Ball Strut Tie Rod Assembly (BSTRA)
inside Discovery’s 17-inch liquid oxygen line. No inspections were performed
on Columbia. The results of the testing have given the Space Shuttle program
enough confidence to begin the countdown, with the final launch rationale to
be presented at the standard meeting held two days prior to launch.

The STS-107 crew members arrived last night at the Shuttle Landing Facility
at Kennedy Space Center in preparations for their launch on Thursday.

Weather forecasters predict a favorable outlook for a launch attempt on
Thursday, with only a 5 percent chance of weather prohibiting launch.