yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (08/31/88)
Barbara Selby
Headquarters, Washington, D.C. August 30, 1988
RELEASE: 88-120
NASA ISSUES UPDATED, MIXED-FLEET MANIFEST
NASA today issued the newest update of its mixed-fleet
manifest reflecting current planning for primary payloads for
Space Shuttle missions and expendable launch vehicles (ELV's)
through Fiscal Year 1993.
The manifest is for planning purposes only. Firm Shuttle
payload assignments are made during the formal integration
process approximately 19 months prior to launch. The next
Shuttle launch (STS-26) is currently targeted for late September
1988. The new manifest reflects NASA's current assessment of the
rate at which Shuttle flights can be resumed during 1989.
In addition to supporting Department of Defense mission
requirements, this mixed-fleet manifest continues to reflect the
high priority assigned to civil space science and applications
payloads and the commercial space initiatives.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been moved 7 months until
1990. The reasons are:
o the delayed initial launch of STS-26;
o an orderly flight rate buildup in 1989;
o maintaining the planetary launch opportunities and
avoiding the long mission slippages incurred when
planetary windows are missed; and
o preserving important DOD missions
A top priority in revising payload schedules has been to
maintain the fixed launch window opportunities of three
interplanetary missions:
o Magellan -- a mission to map the planet Venus, scheduled
to be launched in 1989;
o Galileo -- a cooperative project with Germany to
survey Jupiter and its moons, scheduled to be launched in
October 1989; and
o Ulysses -- a cooperative project with the European
Space Agency to investigate the properties of the sun and
its environment, scheduled to be launched in October
1990.
The DOD mission on the first flight of the orbiter Columbia
has been moved from February to July 1989, following the launch
of Magellan. Launch of NASA's U.S. Microgravity Laboratory
(USML-1) remains scheduled to be launched in March 1992. The
first step in extending mission durations beyond 9 days is
planned for the USML-1 flight. All other payloads manifested on
Columbia have later launch dates than those published in the
March 1988 manifest.
With the move of the Hubble Space Telescope from its June
1989 launch to February 1990, the DOD mission, which had been
scheduled for February 1990, moved to July 1990. To accommodate
this series of changes, one of the two DOD Shuttle missions,
previously slated for FY 1991, is now scheduled on a DOD ELV.
Seventeen Space Shuttle missions are planned through the
Ulysses launch (STS-42) in October 1990. Of these, seven are
DOD, one carries both a DOD and NASA payload (STS-32) and the
remaining nine are NASA missions. In each of the fiscal years
beyond 1991, there are two DOD dedicated flights. This approach
is consistent with the National Mixed Fleet concept. This mixed-
fleet manifest reflects NASA's plans to use ELV's for those
payloads not requiring the capabilities of the Space Shuttle.
Twenty-eight ELV launches are planned through FY 1993.
The manifest continues to support the commercial space
initiatives announced with the National Space Policy, Feb. 11,
1988.