alb@brunix.UUCP (Adam Buchsbaum) (02/24/85)
NASA has set the launch date for the Challenger at 0821 EST on 4 March. In order for the Discovery to maintain its 19 March liftoff date, it will have to be moved to the launch pad just four days after Challenger launches. NASA expects to be able to complete this launch-pad turnaround within ten shifts after launch. With the Atlantis scheduled to join the shuttle fleet in April and Columbia due back in service next summer, the launch pad crowding will get more severe. However, by January, 1986, it should not be bad at all, as VAFB will be ready and so will pad 39B, a second launch pad at KSC.