yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (09/10/88)
Weekly Payload Status Report
NASA Kennedy Space Center
Friday, September 9, 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 Compatability 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. 27. Installation of IUS/TDRS
into the payload bay of the orbiter was accomplished Aug. 29.
THIS WEEK:
The Interface Verification Test (IVT) for IUS/TDRS began on
Saturday, Sept. 3 at 10:00 p.m. and concluded on Sunday, Sept. 4
at 9:15 p.m. Astronauts Dave Hilmers and Mike Lounge par-
ticipated. There were no signficant problems. The test verified
the payload electrical connections with the orbiter.
The End-to-End test began at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 6,
concluding at 8:00 p.m. The exercise encountered no significant
difficulty. This test assured that ground control stations could
send commands via the orbiter to the IUS and TDRS and receive
data back about their status. OASIS was exercised to verify that
controllers could command the recorder in the payload bay in the
same manner that will be performed when Discovery is in space.
Also, three microphones associated with OASIS which are in-
stalled on the IUS airborne support equipment were tested. Also
Tuesday, the procedure to activate some IUS batteries began. On
Wednesday the STS-26 astronauts inspected IUS/TDRS in Discovery's
payload bay from platforms in the Pad B payload changeout room.
FORECAST:
IUS Flight Battery installation is scheduled for Sept. 14-15.
Final IUS ordnance installation is scheduled for Sept. 23.
STS-26 MID-DECKS:
The Marshall Space Flight Center mid-deck payloads arrived
at KSC on Wednesday, Sept. 7, and were taken to laboratories at
the Operations and Checkout Building where they are being
prepared for flight. These payloads are: Automated Directional
Solidification Furnace (ADSF); Aggregation of Red Blood Cells
(ARC); Protein Crystal Growth (PCG); Isoelectric Focusing (IEF).
The Johnson Space Center mid-deck payloads will come to KSC
pre-packed in the flight mid-deck lockers. They are scheduled to
arrive on Sept. 13, and will be taken to the Vehicle Assembly
Building flight crew systems laboratory. These payloads are:
Phase Partitioning Experiment (PPE); Infrared Communications
Flight Experiment (IRCFE); Earth Limb Radiance (ELRAD); Mesoscale
Lightning Experiment (MLE); two Shuttle Student Involvement
Projects (SSIP)--The Effect of Weightlessness on Grain Formation
and Strength in Metals" and "Utilizing A Semi-permeable Membrane
to Direct Crystal Growth in Zero Gravity."
The PVTOS (Physical Vapor Transport of Organic Solids) ex-
periment sponsored by 3M is also scheduled for arrival on Sept.
14. Pre-launch processing will be performed at the Hangar L life
sciences facility.
TDRS-D (Discovery OV-103)
TDRS-D is at the TRW plant in Redondo Beach, California.
Spacecraft assembly and checkout continues on schedule. Shipment
from Redondo Beach to KSC is scheduled for November.
MAGELLAN (Atlantis OV-104)
The spacecraft is at the Martin Marietta factory in Denver,
Colorado.
The last major test, the pre-shipment acceptance test, is
underway and will conclude on Sept. 11. Afterward, the
spacecraft's weight and center of gravity will be determined.
The high gain antenna dish is at the Near Field Antenna Facility
undergoing a final overall test.
The Magellan radar element was returned to its manufacturer,
Hughes Aircraft in El Segundo, Ca., where its X-band transmitter
is being replaced. The radar will then be shipped directly to
KSC, shortly after spacecraft arrival. An engineering radar
which has not been flight qualified is presently installed in
the spacecraft. Also, an onboard radio transponder used to com-
municate with the ground has been returned to Motorola for repair
and will be shipped directly to KSC.
Magellan is scheduled to arrive at KSC on Oct. 7.