yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (05/25/90)
KSC SHUTTLE STATUS - THURSDAY, MAY 24, 1990 - 10:30 AM STS-35 - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - PAD 39-A Closeouts of the payload bay and Astro-1 will begin today. Workers have removed platforms that were used in the freon system repair job. Today, a purge of the power reactant storage and dis- tribution system is scheduled. This will dry moisture out of the system and prepare it for loading liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen reactants during the countdown. Closeouts of the aft compartment are expected to be complete today. The flight doors are scheduled to be attached to the vehicle today. Launch countdown preparations are underway this week. Final ordnance installation is planned for Friday evening. The Shuttle management team will meet at KSC today at 1 p.m. for the delta Flight Readiness Review, to review the readiness to launch and to set an official launch date. STS-38 - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2 Payload bay cleaning operations are continuing today. The doors are scheduled to be closed overnight. Closeouts of the mid-body are underway. Thermal protection system operations are continuing this week. Connections of the right orbital maneuver- ing system pod are on hold while engineers evaluate and repair a bent pin at a thermal switch. Rollover to the Vehicle Assembly Building is planned for early next month. STS-41 - DISCOVERY (OV 103) - OPF BAY 1 Rocketdyne technicians are removing the number 2 main en- gine today. All three main engines will be transferred to the VAB engine shop for post-flight inspections and for the replacement of several components. Preparations are underway for removal of the orbital maneuvering system pods this week. The nose cap has been extended to allow access for tile work. Post-flight tests and inspections of Discovery's systems are continuing. STS-38 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB Technicians are continuing with closeouts of the boosters and external tank. STS-40 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB Booster stacking operations are continuing for the STS-40 Spacelab Life Sciences mission. The left center segment was pinned to the stack today. The right aft booster was transferred to the VAB and is being bolted to the launch platform. The boosters are being stacked together on mobile launcher platform 2.