yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (02/12/91)
Headline News
Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters
Monday, February 11, 1991 Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788
This is NASA Headline News for Monday, February 11, 1991
Discovery was rolled to the Vehicle Assembly Building
this weekend and mated to its external tank last night.
Electrical connections between the tank and orbiter will get
underway today. Rollout to the launch pad is expected to
take place by this Friday. The terminal countdown
demonstration test for the STS-39 mission is scheduled for next
Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 19 and 20. The STS-39 flight
readiness review is set for next Thursday and Friday, Feb. 21
and 22, at Kennedy Space Center.
Columbia was rolled from the VAB into Orbiter
Processing Facility Bay 1 this past Saturday. Activity on OV-
102 this week, will include opening of the payload bay doors so
technicians can gain access to the Astro-1 and Broad Band X-ray
Telescope payloads. Deservicing of the payloads is expected to
begin later this week.
Members of the STS-37 crew were at KSC this past Saturday for
the Atlantis crew equipment interface test. Atlantis' external
tank and solid rocket boosters are nearly closed out in the VAB.
Rollover of Atlantis should occur next week.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Gamma Ray Observatory was moved the one-mile
distance from the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to the
Vertical Processing Facility late last week. Activity on the
GRO spacecraft this week includes a spacecraft functional check.
Next week, the integrated electrical tests are scheduled,
beginning with the Interface Verification Test on Feb. 19. This
test verifies GRO compatibility with Atlantis. The spacecraft
end-to-end test follows the next week, Feb. 21. The end-to-end
test verifies a working communications link between the GRO
and the Payload Operations Control Center at Goddard Space
Flight Center. The payload will be moved to the launch pad
about Mar. 6.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite
(CRRES) has another opportunity this evening and tomorrow
morning for release of barium and lithium cannisters. The
opportunity tonight begins at 10:15 pm EST and ends at
2:15 am tomorrow. Should weather be favorable for this
evening's release and local conditions permit, residents along the
East Coast can view the release in the southwest approximately
one-third the way up from the horizon. Residents in the West
and Southwest can view the release in the east-southeast at the
same approximate elevation. The next opportunity occurs
Wednesday night and Thursday morning. The CRRES program
is a joint NASA and Air Force investigation. Marshall Space
Flight Center is managing the NASA portion.
Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA
Select TV. All times are Eastern. **indicates a live program.
Monday, 2/11/91
1:00 pm NASA Radio Program will be transmitted.
Tuesday, 2/12/91
12:00 pm NASA Productions will be transmitted.
All events and times may change without notice. This report is
filed daily, Monday through Friday, at 12:00 pm, EST. It is a
service of Internal Communications Branch at NASA
Headquarters. Contact: CREDMOND on NASAmail or at
202/453-8425.
NASA Select TV: Satcom F2R, Transponder 13, C-Band, 72
degrees West Longitude, Audio 6.8, Frequency 3960 MHz.