yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (03/02/90)
KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - THURSDAY, MAR. 1 - 10:30 AM
STS-31 - DISCOVERY (OV 103) - OPF BAY 2
Preparations are underway to roll Discovery over to the
Vehicle Assembly Building on Monday about 9 a.m. Today, tech-
nicians are scheduled to determine the orbiter's weight and cen-
ter of gravity and close out the orbiter's elevons. Tomorrow,
Discovery will be attached to the orbiter transporter. This
weekend, workers will finish closing out the elevons and conduct
leak checks for flight.
While in the VAB, Discovery will be mated to the external
tank and solid rocket boosters and a test of the critical connec-
tions will be conducted. Rollout to Launch Pad 39-B is targeted
for March 16. The Hubble Space Telescope is scheduled to be
transferred to the pad on March 26 and installed in Discovery's
payload bay on the 28th.
STS-35 - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 2
Orbiter systems testing is continuing to prepare Columbia
for the upcoming STS-35 mission in May. Operations scheduled
today include servicing the orbiter with potable water, a crew
hatch functional test, leak and functional testing of the water
spray boilers, leak checks of the elevon cove area, and checks of
the main propulsion system.
The Astro payload is scheduled to be installed in Columbia's
payload bay the middle of the month.
STS-36 - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - LAUNCH PAD 39-A
Launch Pad 39-A sustained minimal damage from the launch of
Atlantis yesterday at 2:51 a.m. EST. The pad was washed down last
night and the mobile launcher platform is scheduled to be trans-
ferred to the refurbishment site near the VAB.
The solid rocket boosters are expected to arrive at Hangar
AE on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early this afternoon. The
motor cases will be disassembled and returned to Thiokol for
refurbishment. The aft skirts and frustums will be refurbished at
the USBI plant here KSC.andy@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Andy Clews) (03/02/90)
From article <43998@ames.arc.nasa.gov>, by yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee): > Launch Pad 39-A sustained minimal damage from the launch of > Atlantis yesterday at 2:51 a.m. EST. The pad was washed down last > night [...] As a matter of interest, what sort of damage does the launch pad normally sustain? What kinds of repair work are usually needed to the pad after Shuttle launches? What is the contamination that requires the pad to be "washed down"? Is the launch pad contaminated by toxic materials (e.g. from SRBs) when launch has finished? Sorry for all the questions! Kind of let myself go there..... -- Andy Clews, Computing Service, Univ. of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QN, England JANET: andy@syma.sussex.ac.uk BITNET: andy%syma.sussex.ac.uk@uk.ac