yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (02/22/90)
Ed Campion
Headquarters, Washington, D.C. February 21 , 1990
10 A.M. EST
LAUNCH ADVISORY: NEW TARGET LAUNCH DATE SET FOR HST MISSION
NASA Shuttle managers today announced that the target launch
date for Shuttle Mission STS-31 has been moved from April 18th to
no earlier than April 12, 1990. The primary objective of the
STS-31 mission will be the deployment of the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST) using the orbiter Discovery.
The original target date for STS-31 had been March 26th, but
in January, NASA officials concluded that the righthand aft motor
segment needed to be replaced and set April 18th as the revised
target date. The processing of the segment changeout along with
overall mission preparations have been completed well ahead of
schedule, thus permitting the 6 day advancement in the target
launch date.
"A lot of dedicated NASA and contractor employees were faced
with a big challenge early this year and not only did they meet
the challenge, they surpassed it" said Space Shuttle Director
Robert Crippen. "The new launch date permits adequate time for
completing the work associated with the HST mission and also has
time built in for the team to work issues which might come up
before launch day."
The official launch date for STS-31 will be set at the
flight readiness review meeting conducted at the Kennedy Space
Center approximately 2 weeks before launch. Should launch take
place on April 12th, the launch opportunity window would open at
9:21 A.M. EST. All Shuttle flights after STS-31 keep the same
target dates as shown in the January 1990 Mixed Fleet Manifest.