yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (02/07/91)
Headline News Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters Wednesday, February 6, 1991 Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788 This is NASA Headline News for Wednesday, February 6, 1991 The flow of work in the two Orbiter Processing Facilities continues on a schedule to meet Discovery's planned March, and Atlantis' planned April, launch dates. Work on Discovery yesterday included re-splicing of a heater control line. That repair will be tested today. Discovery is scheduled for aft closeout this afternoon and will undergo structural leak checks tonight and tomorrow. Roll over to the Vehicle Assembly Building is scheduled for daybreak on Saturday, Feb. 9. Columbia will be rolled from the VAB into OPF Bay 1 shortly after Discovery arrives in the VAB transfer aisle. The terminal countdown demonstration test for Discovery is now set for Feb. 19 and 20. Work on Atlantis includes continued preparation of the crew cabin for the installation of two windows, and aft preparations for the retest of main engine #2. Atlantis' STS-37 external tank was mated to the two solid rocket boosters last night. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In the world of payloads, final electrical testing of the Gamma Ray Observatory has been completed. The flight batteries have been installed and are being trickle charged. Last week, GRO was rotated to the vertical position and placed in its transporter. Yesterday, the transporter cover was placed around the spacecraft in preparation for the one-mile trip to the Vertical Processing Facility. The trip to the VPF will begin at 4:00 am tomorrow. The Tethered Satellite was successfully hoisted into its deploy mechanism last month, and has been removed and reinstalled several times since then to allow technicians to make fit adjustments. The tether reel assembly was installed on the flight pallet this past weekend. The deploy mechanism will be mated to the pallet in late April. In the meantime, the Tethered Satellite is back in the laboratory for a series of tests. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Langley Research Center is displaying the HL-20 Personnel Transport System vehicle at the Crystal City Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza today and tomorrow. This is a life-sized mockup of Langley's lifting body concept for a six-person Earth- to-orbit "astrobus." As part of NASA's observation of Black History Month, Dr. Edward Fort, Chancellor of North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, will discuss "Historically Black Colleges and Universities," at 11:00 am in the NASA Headquarters Auditorium. The presentation will be shown live on NASA Select TV. Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select TV. All times are Eastern. **indicates a live program. Wednesday, 2/6/91 11:00 am **"Historically Black Colleges and Universities," presentation by Dr. Edward Fort, Chancellor of North Carolina A&T State University. 1:15 pm **Magellan-at-Venus update from Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 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.