yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (04/16/91)
KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, APRIL 15, 1991 - 11 a.m.
STS-39/DoD - DISCOVERY (OV-103) - Pad 39-A
LAUNCH-APRIL
The STS-39 Flight Readiness Review began this morning and
may extend into Tuesday. An official launch date for the STS-39
mission will be announced at its conclusion.
At the pad, Discovery was powered up this morning for pre-
launch testing. Aft compartment closeout work and loading of
Mass Memory Units with mission software are in progress.
Replenishment of cryogenic propellants for the pad's main storage
dewars is in work and two waves of tankers with liquid oxygen are
being offloaded today. Payload work in progress includes
cryogenic servicing of AFP-675 and IBSS payloads.
STS-40/Spacelab Life Sciences 1 - COLUMBIA (OV-102)
OPF Bay 1 - LAUNCH-MAY
Closeout work on the SLS-1 payload in Columbia's payload
bay is in work and closeouts of Columbia's elevons and Reaction
Control System continue. In the Vehicle Assembly Building, the
stacking of the STS-40 solid rocket boosters has been completed
and mating of the external tank is scheduled for Thursday. The
rollover of Columbia from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the
VAB is scheduled for April 24 and the move of the completed STS-
40 stack to Complex 39's Pad B is tentatively scheduled for May
4.
STS-37/Gamma Ray Observatory - ATLANTIS (ov-104)
Dryden Flight Research Facility (EAFB), Calif.
Atlantis is in the Mate/Demate Device at DFRF undergoing
preparations for the ferry flight back to KSC. Work to mount the
tail-cone used for ferry flights is in progress. Atlantis is
tentatively scheduled to begin a one-day flight back to KSC on
Tuesday morning. A Ferry Flight Readiness Review meeting will be
held this afternoon to confirm status of ferry flight prepara-
tions and survey projected weather conditions along the route.