yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (10/09/88)
Weekly Payload Status Report
NASA Kennedy Space Center
Saturday, October 8, 1988
George Diller
TDRS-C (Discovery OV-103)
PAST MILESTONES: The spacecraft arrived at the Vertical
Processing Facility on May 16. The associated Inertial Upper
Stage arrived on May 24. The TDRS/IUS mechanical mating was ac-
complished on May 31. The TDRS/White Sands Compatibility Test
was completed on June 8. TDRS-C/IUS-7 electrical mate was ac-
complished on June 9. The Interface Verification Test was com-
pleted on June 14. End-to-end testing was successfully performed
on June 21. The Mission Sequence Test was completed on June 24.
Installation in the payload canister for a dwell period was per-
formed July 8. The payload was removed and placed in a test cell
on July 28 for a modification to the IUS airborne support equip-
ment, and to replace bolt cutter ordnance cartridges associated
with deployment of the solar panels and antennas. Changeout of
the ordnance cartridges was completed July 31. The payload was
transported to the launch pad and placed in the payload changeout
room on Aug. 15. TDRS state-of-health checks and IUS stand-alone
testing was performed Aug. 19. Satellite hydrazine loading was
accomplished Aug. 23. Initial ordnance installation for the In-
tertial Upper Stage occurred Aug. 26. Installation of IUS/TDRS
into the payload bay of the orbiter was accomplished Aug. 29.
The Interface Verification Test (IVT) was completed Sept. 4. The
End-to-End Test was run Sept. 6. The IUS computer memory load
was performed Sept. 11. Installation of IUS Flight Batteries was
completed Sept. 15. An IUS Redundant Inertial Measurement Unit
(RIMU) change out was done on Sept. 19. The final TDRS Joint In-
tegrated Simulation and IUS countdown simulation was performed
on Sept. 21. Final IUS ordnance installation was performed on
Sept. 24. The payload bay doors were closed on Sept. 27.
Deployment History:
TDRS-C was launched aboard Discovery at 11:37 a.m.,
Thursday, Sept. 29. The deployment from Discovery occurred at
5:50 p.m. Eastern time on orbit #5. The ignition the IUS first
stage occurred at 6:50 p.m with the burn lasting 151 seconds;
the second stage ignition occurred at 12:08 a.m. and burned 108
seconds. Spacecraft separation came at 12:46 a.m. On Sunday,
Oct. 2 there were two burns of the reaction control system. Burn
#1 occurred at 8:49 a.m. and lasted 21 minutes. Burn #2 occurred
at 8:49 p.m. and lasted 15 minutes. These burns began the two-
week drift of the spacecraft toward 150 degrees West for its 85
day checkout and network integration period.
STS-26 MID-DECKS:
The mid-deck experiments were removed from Discovery on Run-
way 17 before towing to the Dryden Flight Research Facility, ex-
cepting the Physical Vapor Trasport of Organic Solids (PVTOS) and
the Automated Directional Solidifcation Furnace (ADSF) which were
removed the following day. The experiments have been returned to
their principal investigators.
UPCOMING MISSIONS:
TDRS-D (Discovery OV-103)
TDRS-D is at the TRW plant in Redondo Beach, California.
Spacecraft component testing and shipping preparations are on
schedule. Arrival at KSC is now scheduled for November 30.
MAGELLAN (Atlantis OV-104)
The Payload Environmental Transportation System (PETS) which
has been transporting Magellan to the Kennedy Space Center on a
six-day trip from Denver arrived at KSC this morning about 11:00
a.m. It was escorted to the SAEF-2 planetary spacecraft check-
out facility which is located in the KSC Industrial Area. The
high gain antenna and ground support equipment which is in other
trucks in the convoy is being offloaded today and the PETS with
Magellan will be unloaded Sunday morning.