yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (05/04/89)
KSC Shuttle Status Report - Wednesday, May 3, 1989
AFTERNOON STATUS
STS-30 - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - PAD 39-B
All countdown activities are continuing on schedule for
tomorrow's planned liftoff at 1:48 p.m. EDT. The window is 64
minutes. The countdown entered the first built-in hold at 4 p.m.
today at the T minus 11 hour mark. This hold will last for 7
hours and 28 minutes or until 11:28 p.m.
Preparations are underway to move the Rotating Service
Structure away from the vehicle at 6 p.m. tonight - a few hours
ahead of schedule.
Checks of the main engines have been completed and the
orbiter's aft compartment was closed for flight at about 5 a.m.
today. In addition, the orbiter's communciations systems have
been activated and flight software has been verified.
Two eight-hour built-in holds, at T-27 hours and at T-19
hours, have been deleted. The hold at T-11 hours was reduced from
over 15 hours to 7 hours, 28 minutes. The remaining holds will be
standard for countdowns: one hour at the T-6 hour mark, two hours
at the T-3 hour mark, and 10 minutes at the T-20 minute and T-9
minute marks. Since there is a 64 minute launch window on
Thursday, the additional 30 minutes of hold has been deleted at
the T-9 minute mark.
Loading of a half million gallons of liquid hydrogen and
liquid oxygen propellants into Atlantis' external tank is
scheduled to begin at 5:28 a.m. EDT tomorrow. That activity takes
about three hours or until 8:28 a.m. when the countdown enters
the two-hour built-in hold at the T minus 3 hour mark. During
that hold, the ice inspection team and the closeout crew will
proceed to the pad.
STS-30 crew members arrived at the KSC Shuttle Landing
Facility at 5:30 p.m. yesterday. They are scheduled to go to
sleep at midnight tonight and will be awakened at about 8:53 a.m.
tomorrow. Breakfast is scheduled for 9:23 a.m., the weather
briefing is set for 9:53 and two of the mission specialists will
begin getting into their launch and entry suits at that time. The
crew is scheduled to leave the Operations and Checkout Building
at 10:33 a.m. and will arrive at the white room at Launch Pad 39-
B about 25 minutes later or at 10:58 a.m.
Weather forecasts for Thursday's launch are being monitored.
There is a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms or rainshowers in
the area at the time of launch. Winds are predicted to be from
the east at 10 knots gusting to 15 knots. Cloud cover is
predicted to be scattered between 3,500-7,000 ft. and between
25,000-27,000 ft. There is a 40 percent chance of violating
launch or return to launch site weather criteria.