yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (09/12/90)
This KSC status report was prepared at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept.11th.
The countdown dress rehearsal for the STS-41 Discovery/Ulysses
mission concluded at 11:07 with a planned simulated cutoff of
Discovery's main engines. The astronauts are now scheduled to
simulate an emergency egress from the orbiter. Today's successful
countdown dress rehearsal is primarily an electrical test of the
Space Shuttle systems and launch complex systems, and a procedural
exercise for the astronauts working together with the launch team.
In parallel, the payload test team conducted an exercise to
simulate problems which could arise during the actual countdown. The
test team's decisions on managing unexpected problems which could
arise with Ulysses, the Inertial Upper Stage, or the Payload Assist
Module will now be discussed.
Data from the testing of Discovery's cooling system over the
weekend shows that the small freon leak is not likely to worsen and
that flying as is will be the KSC recommendation. The leak will
continue to monitored, however, the leakage rate of about 1% per day
is believed not likely to change.
The next major step toward launch begins this afternoon with the
Interface Verification Test between Ulysses with its attached upper
stages and Discovery. This test verifies the electrical connections
established between the payload and the orbiter, and also connections
with the payload control panel and the associated computers on the
flight deck.
On Pad 39-A the work to install the liquid hydrogen
recirculation pump package has been completed. Because the work took
longer than scheduled to complete, the helium signature leak test of
the hydrogen side of the main engines and main propulsion system was
rescheduled from last night to second shift today. Launch is still
targeted to occur toward the early part of next week.
From the NASA Kennedy Space Center, this is George Diller.