yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (06/15/89)
This is the Kennedy Space Center Broadcast News Service prepared at
11:00 a.m. Wednesday, June 14th.
In Columbia's hangar at the orbiter processing facility, the
high pressure fuel turbopump from engine number 1 has been replaced
with a new pump. During post-installation testing, a seal was found
to be leaking. The pump will be backed away from position slightly
to allow a changeout of the seal. After an additional checkout is
performed technicians will begin reinstalling heat shields back
around the engine.
In other work, technicians are installing thermal blankets in
the orbiter's mid-body area. The tile work continues and cleaning is
underway in the the payload bay. Overnight, the landing gear was
cycled once in preparation for a functional test planned for later
today. Later this week, a test of the orbiter's brakes is scheduled.
An assessment has been completed on Columbia's readiness for the move
to the Vehicle Assembly Building, and a decision has been made to
rollover no earlier than the night of June 29th.
In the Vehicle Assembly Building, final checkout continues on
the stacked boosters and the mated external tank to be used for
Columbia's launch this summer. Also, the first solid rocket booster
for the Atlantis/Galileo mission, the left aft segment, was stacked
on the mobile launcher platform this morning.
Meanwhile, in the SAEF-2 planetary spacecraft checkout facility
today and tomorrow, 1,300 pounds of nitrogen textroxide will be
loaded aboard the spacecraft's two oxidizer tanks. Following next
week, 800 pounds of hydrazine fuel will be loaded into another pair
of tanks. The propellants will be used for control of the spacecraft
enroute to Jupiter and for planetary mission operations.
From the NASA Kennedy Space Center, this is George Diller.