yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (09/11/90)
Tuesday September 4, 1990 10:00 a.m. EDT
KSC SPACE SHUTTLE PROCESSING STATUS REPORT
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STS-35 -- Columbia (OV 102) - Pad 39-A
(Launch minus 2 days)
The countdown for Space Shuttle Mission STS-35 continues
smoothly this morning with no problems reported overnight.
Columbia remains scheduled for lift off from pad 39-A at 1:20
a.m. Thursday, Sept. 6. The window on Thursday lasts for 2 hours,
4 minutes.
Following the successful replacement and testing of the
Broad Band X-Ray Telescope's medium rate multiplexer over the
weekend, the payload's argon was re-frozen yesterday and
Columbia's payload bay doors were closed at 6:00 p.m. last night.
On the pad this morning, workers completed operations to
load cryogenic fuels into Columbia's onboard power reactant
storage and distribution system tanks. Loading of the liquid
oxygen and liquid hydrogen was finished ahead of schedule this
morning. Operations to demate the orbiter mid-body umbilical is
currently underway and the pad will be opened for routine work
this afternoon.
At 1:00 p.m. today, the countdown clock will come out of its
4 hour built in hold and proceed counting until 9:00 p.m.
tonight. At that time the clock will enter a planned 13 hour, 47
minute hold at the T-11 hour mark.
The Rotating Service Structure is scheduled to be rotated to
the park position tomorrow at 6:00 a.m.
STS-35 Commander Vance Brand and Pilot Guy Gardner flew in
their Shuttle Training Aircraft this morning simulating orbiter
landings. The entire seven-member crew will later today
participate in countdown, payload and weather briefings.
Weather forecasts for a Thursday morning launch continue to
predict only a 20 percent chance of violating launch constraints.
At launch time, temperature is expected to be 80 degrees,
humidity 70 percent, and winds from the east at 10 knots. A
frontal system will be located in the Florida panhandle and an
area of convergence will be located over South Florida. The area
between these two systems in Central Florida is expected to be
generally dry, but with some chance of rain showers offshore.
Rain is the most significant threat to launch/RTLS on Thursday.
At the time of tanking Wednesday afternoon, there is only a
predicted 5 percent chance of violating lightning constraints.
Tanking is scheduled to begin at 4:47 p.m.
STS-41 -- Discovery (OV 103) - VAB
Work on the Shuttle Discovery continues in the Vehicle
Assembly Building today. Preparations continue for rollout to pad
39-B tonight. First motion for the 4.1-mile trip is scheduled for
7:00 p.m.
Final mating of the liquid oxygen electrical connector was
completed overnight and the orbiter was powered up. During power
up, technicians monitoring orbiter systems noticed a decrease in
the amount of freon in loop number 1. There is an estimated 10
percent difference in the amounts recorded from the time the
orbiter was last powered down in the Orbiter Processing Facility
to the time it was first powered up in the Vehicle Assembly
Building. Engineers will analyze the discrepancy and discuss
options to work the problem at the pad.