yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (08/05/88)
Payload Status Report
Kennedy Space Center
August 5, 1988
George Diller
TDRS-C (8/88 Discovery)
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 began at 6
a.m. on Monday, June 13 and was completed at 6:00 p.m. on Tues-
day, June 14. The Mission Sequence Test was initiated on May 16.
End to end testing was sucessfuly performed on June 21. The
final 90 minutes of the Mission Sequence Test was run on June 24.
Installation in the payload canister for a planned dwell period
was performed July 8. The payload was removed and placed in a
test cell on July 28 for a planned modification to the IUS air-
borne support equipment, and to install fresh bolt cutter
ordnance cartridges associated with deployment of the solar
panels and antennas.
THIS WEEK:
The planned modification to the IUS airborne support equip-
ment was peformed July 30 without problems. An additional tilt-
table overspeed stop was installed to further assure that the
IUS/TDRS cannnot exceed its intended range of travel when the
payload is rotated from the horizontal position for deployment.
The operation to replace the bolt cutter ordnance cartridges
to have the freshest shelf life onboard was performed on July 31
and also went well.
The payload is awaiting the completion of the Flight Readi-
ness Firing before being returned to the canister. IUS/TDRS will
be transported to Pad B five days after FRF. Once at the launch
pad the storable propellants will be loaded aboard, the payload
will be installed into the orbiter, and a final check of both
TDRS and IUS will be performed with the ground control stations
including White Sands, Sunnyvale, GSFC, KSC, JSC, and the TRW
plant.
TDRS-D (Discovery 1/89)
TDRS-D is at the TRW plant in Redondo Beach, California.
Final build-up including attachment of solar panels, antennas,
and external fittings continues. Shipment from Redondo Beach to
KSC remains scheduled for October.
MAGELLAN (4/89 Atlantis)
The spacecraft is at the Martin Marietta factory in Denver,
Colorado. Thermal vacuum testing concluded early this week.
Test results are as expected, with thermal conditions reaching a
peak of 2.3 "suns" (2.3 times the energy of the sun) to duplicate
conditions expected during Magellan's coast phase to Venus.
Once at the planet, the level will be 1.6 suns. The spacecraft
is now being removed from the thermal vacuum chamber.
Next week a 6-day "plugs out" test will be performed in
which the spacecraft will run on its own internal batteries,
without external power hook-ups. Approximately August 20 it will
undergo Integrated Systems Testing, checking out all systems
simultaneously. Following this exercise, the next major test
will occur on September 13, the pre-ship acceptance test.
The shipping of Magellan from Denver to KSC is anticipated
at some time during the first two weeks of October.