yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (12/19/89)
PAYLOAD STATUS REPORT
Prepared at 4:15 p.m. Dec.l8, l989
Mission STS-32
STS-32 -- SYNCOM, LDEF RETRIEVAL
Today's announcement of a new target launch date for STS-32
of no earlier than Jan. 8, l990 is expected to have no impact on
either SYNCOM deployment or the retrieval of the Long Duration
Exposure Facility (LDEF).
SYNCOM is in Columbia's cargo bay at Launch Pad A. There,
the satellite is being trickle charged and maintained in a launch
readiness condition. The change of the launch date will not af-
fect the scenario planned for deployment of the satellite, which
will be known as LEASAT once on station.
The scenario, known as Post Ejection Sequencer (PES), calls
for a series of manuevers performed over a period of several
days. Forty-five minutes after deployment, the solid perigee kick
motor will be ignited. Three manuevers will place the satellite
in a geosynchronous orbit at l77 degrees west.
Retrieval of the LDEF, now a valuable scientific repository,
will not be impacted by the revised launch date. Current es-
timates are that LDEF will be retrievable through at least the
third week of February.