yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (04/17/91)
Jim Cast Headquarters, Washington, D.C. April 15, 1991 (Phone: 202/453-8536) Dick Young Kennedy Space Center, Fla. (Phone: 407/867-2468) Capt. Marty Hauser Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs (Phone: 703/695-5766) Release: 91-54 STS-39/DISCOVERY LAUNCH DATE SET At the conclusion of today's Flight Readiness Review of mission STS-39 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, Shuttle and payload managers targeted April 23 for launch of this Department of Defense- dedicated mission. The launch window for STS-39 on April 23 opens at 7:05 a.m. and extends to 9:35 a.m. EDT, on Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Commanding the seven-man Discovery crew will be Navy Capt. Michael L. Coats. Air Force Major L. Blaine Hammond will serve as pilot. Mission Specialists include Gregory J. Harbaugh; USAF Lt. Col. Don McMonagle; USAF Col. Guion Bluford; C. Lacy Veach; and Richard J. Hieb. Two primary payloads will be carried aboard Discovery: Air Force Program 675 (AFP-675) and the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization's (SDIO) Infrared Background Signature Survey (IBSS).