yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (07/05/88)
KSC SPACE SHUTTLE PROCESSING REPORT FOR - Sunday, July 3, 1988
STS-26 - DISCOVERY (OV 103) - VAB
Preparations for rolling the Space Shuttle Discovery to
Launch Pad 39-B are proceeding on schedule for a first motion at
12:01 a.m. Monday, July 4.
Last night, workers completed the portions of the Shuttle
Interface Test (SIT) that were identified to be completed prior
to the roll out. The test began Tuesday night and was scheduled
for five days. As the test progressed and schedules were
reassessed managers decided it would be more advantageous to
schedule a few of the checks while the shuttle is at the Launch
Pad.
Closeouts of all elements of the vehicle are active in
preparation for retracting the work platforms away from the
stack. The platforms will be retracted at different times today
as closeouts are completed in preparation for the move.
Weather conditions look favorable for a roll to the pad at
the planned time. Shuttle managers will be keeping abreast of
weather patterns through the day.
The call to stations for the move is at 8:30 p.m. tonight
when pre-operations set ups will occur in preparation for the
move. During this period the crawler transporter will be
positioned in place underneath the mobile launcher platform.
The trip to the pad will take about six to seven hours and
the shuttle vehicle will be "harddown" by about 8 a.m. Monday.
Only the necessary amount of work will be conducted once the
shuttle arrives at the pad to give as many employees as possible
the fourth to July holiday off. It is estimated this work will be
completed six hours after the shuttle arrives at the pad.
That work includes hooking up some of the orbiter's
environmental control systems such as purge air to maintain the
proper environment for the orbiter's onboard systems. The orbiter
access arm will be extended in place up to Discovery's crew
hatch. It is by way of this extendable walkway that the flight
crew and workers gain access to Discovery's crew module. The
external tank intertank access arm will also be extended. The
Rotating Service Structure is schedueld to be rotated around the
shuttle about two hours after the shuttle arrives at the pad.
Power up pad validation testing will begin Tuesday morning.
A brief ceremony is planned about 15 minutes after first
motion. Center Director Forrest McCartney is scheduled to present
a signature book to STS-26 mission specialist Dave Hilmers. The
signatures are those of approximately 16,000 employees who have
signed their names in the book that will fly onboard Discovery in
early September.
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