yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (09/03/88)
Payload Status Report
NASA Kennedy Space Center
Friday, September 2, 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.
THIS WEEK:
On Aug. 27, the first set of ordnance was installed on the
Inertial Upper Stage. The ordnance is part of the mechanism
which allows the springs of the airborne support equipment to
release the payload from Discovery. Safe-and-arm ordnance also
was installed on the first stage, to assure that the IUS cannot
ignite before planned ignition. Other IUS ordnance are scheduled
for installation Sept. 23.
The IUS/TDRS combination was installed in Discovery's
payload bay on Monday, Aug. 29. Approximately 50 people were in-
volved in the ten-hour operation which began about 8:00 a.m. and
concluded at approximately 6:00 p.m. The electrical hook-ups
were established on Tuesday, Aug. 30.
The Interface Verification Test (IVT) for IUS/TDRS will be
performed Saturday to check the payload electrical connections
with the orbiter. The test is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m.
and conclude at midnight. The IVT for OASIS is scheduled for
Sunday. Three microphones installed on the IUS airborne suppport
equipment will be tested and the on-board tape recorder operated.
FORECAST: The final major test for the payload, the "End-to-End"
test, is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 6. This test assures that
ground control stations can send basic commands via the orbiter
to the IUS and TDRS and receive data back about their states of
health.
OASIS will also be exercised in the end-to-end test to
verify that controllers can command the recorder in the payload
bay in the same manner that will be performed when Discovery is
in space.
The end-to-end test is scheduled to begin at 5:00 a.m. and
conclude at 6:30 p.m. The data will be relayed from the MILA
tracking station at KSC to the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
JSC will forward the data to the IUS control center at the Air
Force Consolidated Space Test Center at Sunnyvale, Ca. The data
is forwarded once again to the TDRS White Sands Ground Terminal
in New Mexico. Also supporting the test are the back-up payload
control center at TRW in Redondo Beach, Ca. and the IUS and TDRS
checkout stations on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The or-
biting TDRS-East, stationed over the Atlantic Ocean, will also
relay data for six hours of the testing.
STS-26 MID-DECKS:
The Marshall Space Flight Center mid-deck payloads are
scheduled for arrival at KSC on or about Sept. 7 and will be
prepared for flight in laboratories at the Operations and Check-
out Building. 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 approximately Sept. 13, and will be taken to the
Vehicle Assembly Building flight crew systems laboratory. These
payloads are: Phase Partitioning Experiment (PPE); Infrared Com-
munications Flight Experiment (IRCFE); Earth Limb Radiance
(ELRAD); Mesoscale Lightning Experiment (MLE); two Shuttle Stu-
dent 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 scheduled for arrival on ap-
proximately Sept. 12. 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.
Today the spacecraft is scheduled for a pyrotechnic inter-
face test. This verifies that the equipment which sends the com-
mands to initiate the pyrotechnic devices is operating properly.
The spacecraft has completed nine days of Integrated Systems
Testing which checked most of Magellan's systems in concert. The
high gain antenna dish recently completed "pattern testing" at
the Near Field Antenna Facility. It is now undergoing
"environment testing," scheduled to be completed on Sept. 8. The
antenna will then be shipped to KSC on Sept. 14, prior to the ar-
rival of the spacecraft.
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.
The last major integrated test of Magellan, the pre-ship ac-
ceptance test, will begin on Sept. 9. Magellan is scheduled to
arrive on dock at KSC on Oct. 7.
At the Kennedy Space Center yesterday, the full NASA-JPL-
Martin Marietta-McDonnell Douglas test team met at the SAEF-2
spacecraft checkout facility where Magellan will receive final
preparations. The Ground Operations Review for Magellan's SAEF-2
arrival and subsequent spacecraft operations is being held at KSC
today.