rjnoe@ihlts.UUCP (Roger Noe) (10/09/84)
The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) did indeed suffer a heavy barrage of cosmic radiation which wiped its memory. This has happened before and been fixed. Engineers at the White Sands, N.M. earth station reset the satellite's memory and the TDRS was ready to be used again after being out of service for 14 hours. A ball of ice in the flash evaporation system caused the cabin temperature in Challenger to rise to 90 degrees F. but this has been reduced to a somewhat warmer than normal 82 degrees. The astronauts will hold an in-flight news conference just before noon (EDT) today, October 9, and mission specialists Leestma and Sullivan will make their space walk from 11:00 a.m. to about 2:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday, October 11. Tropical storm Josephine is not threatening Saturday's landing at Kennedy Space Center very much, but NASA is prepared to shift the landing site to California or New Mexico, if necessary. -- Roger Noe ihnp4!ihlts!rjnoe