rjnoe@ihlts.UUCP (Roger Noe) (11/04/84)
Liftoff of space shuttle Discovery is set for 8:18 a.m. EST November 7. The fourteenth shuttle mission, the second for Discovery, is designated mission 51-A and will feature deployment of two communications satellites followed by retrieval of two others which were sent into incorrect orbits after leaving shuttle Challenger last February. The crew of five will deploy communications satellites Telesat-H and Syncom IV-2 (Leasat 2) on November 8 and 9. Commander Rick Hauck and pilot David Walker will then maneuver the orbiter to rendezvous with Palapa B-2 on November 11 and Westar-VI on November 12. Both satellites have been maneuvered by ground controllers into nearly circular orbits at an altitude of 195 nautical miles. They are separated from each other by 600 nautical miles. In each case, Discovery will approach within 35 feet of the satellite and fly in formation with it. Mission specialist Joseph Allen will use a manned maneuvering unit (MMU) to insert a pole-like "stinger" into the nozzle of the slowly spinning (1 RPM) Palapa satellite and push it near enough the shuttle so that mission specialist Anna Fisher can grapple a fixture on the stinger with the orbiter's 50-foot-long mechanical arm. She then will hoist it into the cargo bay where mission specialist Dale Gardner, outside Discovery but attached to the cargo bay, will clip an antenna from the top of the satellite and install a grapple fixture there. Fisher then will move the arm from the stinger fixture to the newly mounted one and Allen will withdraw the stinger, allowing the arm to lower the satellite onto a pallet in the bay. Allen and Gardner will latch the payload firmly in place. The Westar retrieval will be identical but with Allen and Gardner switching roles. Each recovery effort is expected to take about six hours. The wayward satellites were originally owned by the Indonesian government and Western Union. When faulty payload assist modules put them into the wrong orbits after their flawless release from shuttle Challenger, the insurance underwriters paid $180 million in insurance claims and took ownership of the satellites. The underwriters are paying NASA $5.5 million to retrieve the satellites for refurbishment. They plan to resell the renovated payloads. Landing of Discovery is scheduled for November 15 at Kennedy Space Center. -- Roger Noe ihnp4!ihlts!rjnoe