yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (10/11/90)
KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - WEDNESDAY, OCT. 10, 1990 10:30 A.M.
STS-41 - DISCOVERY (OV 103) - DRYDEN
Discovery touched down at 9:57 a.m. EDT on the concrete run-
way at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. ending a 4 day, 2 hour, 10
minute and 54 second mission. Over the next 5 days, KSC recovery
team members will perform turnaround operations to ready the
vehicle for the ferry flight back to KSC. If operations go as
planned, and weather conditions permit, Discovery could be back
at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility by Monday (Oct. 15) evening. A
one-day ferry flight is planned with a stopover at Kelly Air
Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.
Booster disassembly operations are continuing at Hangar AF
on the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Foam is being removed
from the boosters today. The motor segments will be taken apart
and sent to Thiokol for refurbishment. The aft skirts and nose
cones will be refurbished at the USBI facility here at KSC.
STS-35 - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - VAB
Columbia was transferred back to the Vehicle Assembly Build-
ing yesterday because of adverse weather from Tropical Storm
Klaus off the coast of Florida. The vehicle was in the VAB by
about 8 p.m. and was hard down in the VAB around 9:30 p.m. Trans-
fer operations took about two hours longer than expected because
of minor mechanical problems with the crawler transporter.
Blustery winds and rainshowers are predicted in the KSC area
for the next few days. There is a high probability that more
productive work could be accomplished while in the VAB.
While in the VAB, work will be performed on the main propul-
sion system including the replacement of engine cover seals, a
flex hose and associated leak and torque checks. In addition,
workers will begin configuring the aft compartment for a tanking
test at the launch pad. The date for a tanking test is still
being evaluated.
Roll out to launch pad 39-B is currently scheduled for no
earlier than 4 a.m. a.m. Monday, Oct. 15.
STS-38 - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - VAB
The Shuttle Interface test has been completed. Today,
workers will power down the vehicle and begin closing out all
areas for the move to the launch pad. Tomorrow, platforms will be
retracted away from the vehicle and the crawler transporter will
be positioned under the launch platform.
Weather permitting, the STS-38 vehicle is currently
scheduled to be rolled to Launch Pad 39-A sometime tomorrow eve-
ning. First motion could come as early as 8 p.m. tomorrow.
While at the launch pad, a liquid hydrogen tanking test is
planned to verify there are no leaks. Atlantis is scheduled to be
launched in early November on Mission STS-38, a Department of
Defense flight.amos@taux01.nsc.com (Amos Shapir) (10/13/90)
[Quoted from the referenced article by yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee)] > > Columbia was transferred back to the Vehicle Assembly Build- > ing yesterday because of adverse weather from Tropical Storm > Klaus off the coast of Florida. Is this a record for ground travel distance on a single mission? (If the crawler could crawl upwards, could it have achieved its mission by now? :-) ) -- Amos Shapir amos@taux01.nsc.com, amos@nsc.nsc.com National Semiconductor (Israel) P.O.B. 3007, Herzlia 46104, Israel Tel. +972 52 522255 TWX: 33691, fax: +972-52-558322 GEO: 34 48 E / 32 10 N