Space Shuttle Processing Status 14 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: Launch countdown is continuing on schedule for Shuttle Columbia’s SPACEHAB microgravity research mission scheduled to launch this Thursday, Jan. 16. Final preparations and closeouts are ongoing at Pad 39-A. Loading of the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the Power Reactant Storage and Distribution System is complete. Technicians are continuing the 16-hour task of loading the late-stow payloads and experiments into the SPACEHAB module.

Mission managers met at the standard meeting held two days prior to launch to discuss the status of the countdown and any remaining technical issues. The Space Shuttle program reviewed 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. Managers feel confident with the outcome of the testing and analysis, but will meet again tomorrow for one final evaluation and decision point.

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