yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (12/22/89)
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Thursday, December 21, 1989 Audio:202/755-1788
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This is NASA Headline News for Thursday, December 21.....
The launch of a commercial Martin Marietta Titan 3 rocket
carrying two communications satellites was postponed again at
Cape Canaveral last night. A steady rain and a less than
optimistic weather forecast brought about the fifth postponement
in 13 days. Company officials have now set back launch of the
booster until December 27. There was concern about predicted
colder-than-usual temperatures in the Cape area this weekend.
The Titan solid fuel boosters use o-ring seals that should not be
used in temperatures colder than 60 degrees. In addition...the
delay will allow workers time off for the Christmas holiday.
At the Kennedy Space Center workers on Pad 39A continue to check
out a variety of concerns on the refurbished launch facility. A
major piece of launch pad equipment...the orbiter midbody
umbilical unit has undergone a careful validation. With the
Christmas holiday weekend nearing orbiter power down is scheduled
for late today. Launch of the STS-32 mission is now planned for
no earlier than January 8 at 8:06 A.M., Eastern time.
The Galileo spacecraft has passed the mid-point of its flight to
Venus encounter...11.3 million miles from Earth. Spacecraft
operation is satisfactory but controllers at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory are monitoring a DC voltage fluctuation reading.
They're convinced it does not pose any hazard to the vehicle
which is designed to function at any level of voltage imbalance.
Friday, the spacecraft will perform its second trajectory change
which will move the Venus-closest-approach-point to the desired
6200 miles above the planet's surface. Closest approach will
occur February 9.
A space science experiment developed by a U.S. firm has been
launched aboard a Soviet Progress rocket. The protein crystal
growth experiment...developed by Payload Systems, of Cambridge,
Mass.,...will be transfered to the Mir space station tomorrow.
The experiment requires a long period of time in microgravity
that's not possible aboard a space shuttle mission. The progress
is carrying food, water, support equipment and new year's gifts
for the two cosmonauts aboard the station.
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There will be no NASA Update on December 28. The next scheduled
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All events and times are subject to change without notice.
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