yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (10/05/88)
DISCOVERY PROCESSING REPORT FOR - TUES., OCT. 4, 1988
AMES-DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH FACILITY, CALIF.
Discovery's main landing gear touched down at 9:37:08 a.m.
(PDT) yesterday on Runway 17, completing the first Space Shuttle
mission since January 1986. The nose gear touched down at 9:37:57
a.m. and the wheels stopped at 9:37:57 a.m. (PDT). Total mission
elapsed time was 4 days, 1 hour and 57 seconds.
STS-26 Commander Rick Hauck touched the orbiter down at the
2,500 foot mark on the runway and stopped the vehicle at the
9,951 mark. The distance Discovery rolled from the touchdown
point was 7451 feet.
After members of the convoy team completed safing the
vehicle the crew hatch was opened at 10:14 and the flight
surgeons entered the cockpit. The STS-26 five-member flight crew
departed from the orbiter at 10:32 a.m.
Technicians removed the brakes for inspections and replaced
the flight tires with the ground "roll around" tires. An
assessment of the thermal protection system indicates that this
is the cleanest vehicle after a mission, and no tiles fell off
during the mission or landing. There was some minor damage to the
tiles which is always expected.
Discovery was spotted in the Mate/Demate Device (M/DD) by
6:50 p.m. last night. Post-flight inspections and ferry flight
preparations are underway.
Today, workers will hookup ground equipment that will allow
the residual liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen reactants to boil
off from the fuel cell storage tanks. Other activities include
sampling the orbiter's potable water, safing ordnance devices on
the vehicle, thermal protection system inspections and
installating tail cone fittings. Later today, the main engines
will undergo a post-flight purge.
If all goes as planned, the tail cone will be installed on
Thursday and Discovery will be mated to the 747 Shuttle Carrier
Aircraft on Friday. A one-day ferry flight of Discovery is
planned on Saturday. The 747/Shuttle Discovery will depart Dryden
before sunrise and stop at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio,
Texas to refuel before completing the second leg of the ferry
flight to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The SCA should
arrive at the Shuttle Landing Facility before sunset.
Once back at KSC, Discovery will be towed to the Orbiter
Processing Facility where post-flight servicing and STS-29
preparations will occur.tif@cpe.UUCP (10/08/88)
Written 12:43 am Oct 5, 1988 by ames.UUCP!yee in cpe:sci.space.shuttle >DISCOVERY PROCESSING REPORT FOR - TUES., OCT. 4, 1988 > AMES-DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH FACILITY, CALIF. I thought they didn't have to land in california anymore. Was this for extra safety on this second "first" flight? Were there weather problems forcing the landing in california? Did I miss an announced explanation? Am I completely mistaken? >The nose gear touched down at 9:37:57 >a.m. and the wheels stopped at 9:37:57 a.m. (PDT). Quick stop huh? Just being picky. Paul Chamberlain Computer Product Engineering, Tandy Corp. {convex,killer}!ninja!cpe!tif