yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (12/14/90)
Headline News Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters Thursday, December 13, 1990 Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788 This is NASA Headline News for Thursday, December 13, 1990 At the Dryden Flight Research Facility, the shuttle turnaround crew is making good progress in preparing Columbia for its return flight aboard the 747 carrier aircraft to Kennedy Space Center. Columbia's beryllium brakes have been removed and are in good condition. The removal of the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope film will not be performed until this evening, at the earliest. Pending good weather, Columbia is scheduled for departure from Edwards early Sunday morning. The 747 will make several refueling stops and one overnight stop in San Antonio on the way back. Anticipated arrival time at KSC is Monday night. Columbia will spend the next month in the Vehicle Assembly Building awaiting Discovery's rollout from the Orbiter Processing Facility. Meanwhile, in OPF Bay 1, Discovery continues to advance towards its rollout at the end of January. Workers installed the fourth oxygen tank for the power reactant storage and distribution system yesterday, and continue with main propulsion system checks. A nose-wheel steering system test is scheduled for today, and a brake anti-skid test is scheduled for tomorrow. Discovery's hydraulic system will be provided with ground system hydraulic power for these tests. Over the weekend, Discovery's main engine hydraulic actuators and valves will also be tested Technicians continue to disassemble Atlantis as part of the postflight sub-assembly testing and maintenance. Atlantis' forward reaction control system was removed yesterday for transfer to the Hypergolic Maintenance Facility. The left orbital maneuvering system pod was removed last weekend, and is in the HMF now for its post-mission testing. Work on the vehicle today includes removal of the main engines. And, in Houston today, the STS-35 crew will hold their postflight press briefing. Commander Vance Brand, and his fellow Astro-1 colleagues, will narrate slides and film from the mission and answer questions from the media. The briefing will be at 2:00 pm EST and will be carried live on NASA Select TV. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Jet Propulsion Laboratory Magellan flight controllers report that the spacecraft is in good health and performing normally. The radar sensor performance has been characterized as excellent, however recent data indicates that tracks 1 and 3 on the A-side data recorder are deteriorating. A technical discussion of the A-side data recorder problem is scheduled for today. A new mapping sequence was uplinked to Magellan two days ago. Beginning tomorrow, through the end of January, Magellan will not be able to complete the full data transmission on each of its orbital passes because Venus will occult the Earth during a portion of the pass. The new mapping sequence was written for this occultation period. Center Point FOCUS ON: Ames Research Center Ames Research Center educational staff and center officials made quite an impact last month in the Pacific region. Activities included hosting students on site and participating in teleconferences and teacher workshops throughout the region. The center hosted a visit from 70 fourth grade students from Ames' "Adopt-A-School " the Ronald E. McNair Intermediate School in East Palo Alto, Calif. Center officials also attended a board meeting with the principal and staff of the McNair Intermediate School to plan the year's activities. And, seven Ames employees participated in the National Reading Day program at McNair The center also conducted two teleconferences with the Lynn Elementary School in Lynn, Utah. Ames staff was also on the road and provided workshops for teachers in Fresno, Los Angeles, Seattle, Long Beach, Palo Alto and Los Altos. They also sent representatives to the Puget Sound Science Teachers meeting. Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select TV. All times are Eastern. **indicates a live program. Thursday, 12/13/90 11:30 am NASA Update will be transmitted. 12:00 pm And Then There Was Voyager program. 1:00 pm **Galileo at Earth report from Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 1:30 pm Special Program: The 75th Anniversary of NACA/NASA, a repeat of the program which covers the 75th anniversary celebration held recently at the National Air and Space Museum. 2:00 pm STS-35 post mission crew briefing from Johnson Space Center. 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.