yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (02/25/89)
KSC Weekly Payload Status Report February 24, 1989 George Diller TDRS-D/IUS-9 (Discovery/STS-29) The Interface Verification Test (IVT) and the End-to-End (ETE) test of the integrated payload were both completed last week ahead of their respective timelines and without significant problems. On Thursday, Feb. 23, the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) software was installed aboard the pair of general purpose computers. Also, the azimuth alignment was performed on the Redundant Inertial Measurement Unit (RIMU), part of the IUS guidance system. IUS Flight Readiness Checks began Thursday night and are continuing today. IUS battery installation is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 27. TDRS-D batteries, which are already installed, are scheduled for activation on Wednesday, Mar. 1. The IUS Simulated Countdown is scheduled for next Thursday, Mar. 2. Magellan/IUS-18 (Atlantis/STS-30) Magellan state-of-health checks were sucessfully performed on second shift Friday, Feb. 17, after the IUS mechanical mating operations were completed. Some additional testing was performed on the IUS on Saturday, Feb. 18. Electrical connections were established on Monday, Feb. 20 to support Magellan and IUS signal analysis testing on Tuesday, Feb. 21. The parabolic High Gain Antenna was installed atop the spacecraft this morning. The IUS/Magellan Interface Verification Test (IVT) will start on Sunday or Monday, beginning one full week of integrated testing. The IVT is scheduled to run between 40 and 48 consecutive hours. Following will be the Mission Sequence Test, which includes a simulated deployment of the payload and an IUS simulated flight. The final test is the end-to-end test which is an exercise involving the Magellan ground control stations and the Deep Space Network. Delta/COBE The second stage retro package modification, which will back the stage away from COBE after spacecraft separation, has been completed. The first stage was powered up on Tuesday, February 21. Telemetry system calibrations for the first and second stage are expected to start late this week. The Simulated Flight test is forecast to occur in early March.