yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (08/01/88)
Dick Young KSC Release No. 57 - 88 NEWS CONFERENCES SCHEDULED FOR STS-26 FLIGHT READINESS FIRING KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - The Flight Readiness Firing (FRF) of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery's three main engines in preparation for the launch of the STS-26 mission will be preceded and followed by news conferences. The FRF is now tentatively scheduled for no earlier than 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 4, with the exact date contingent upon the results of a review of the data from the Wet Countdown Demonstration Test over this past weekend. The pre-FRF news conference will be held at the KSC News Center at 2 p.m. EDT on the day prior to the firing. Journalists are responsible for tracking with the News Center the exact date and time of the FRF. Participants will be: Robert B. Sieck, launch director, Kennedy Space Center William R. Marshall, manager, Shuttle Projects, Marshall Space Flight Center Maj. Norman E. Buss, USAF, officer-in-charge, Cape Canaveral Forecast Facility The post-FRF news conference will be held at the KSC News Center to discuss test results approximately four hours following the engine firing. The participants will include: Robert L. Crippen (Captain - USN), deputy director, NSTS Operations and chairman of the Mission Management Team Thomas E. Utsman, director, Shuttle Management and Operations and deputy director, Kennedy Space Center Both news conferences will be carried on NASA Select Television (Satcom F2R, transponder 13, 72 degrees west longitude) with two-way question and answer capability.