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. # # # # #