NASA Daily News Summary
For Release: Dec. 7, 1999
Media Advisory m99-252


SUMMARY:

No News Releases Today.


Video File for Dec. 7, 1999

NOTE: ALL TIMES EASTERN

ITEM 1 - STS-103 CREW ARRIVAL AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

ITEM 2 - STS-103 CREW TRAINING - JSC (replay)

ITEM 3 - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SERVICING MISSION 3 - HQ (replay)

ITEM 4 - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE MISSION - (replay)

SPECIAL NOTE:
We will replay today's 4:00 am press conference from the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, regarding the lack of contact
with the Mars Polar Lander and the Deep Space 2 microprobes. The
replays will be at 1:00 pm, 4:00 pm, 7:00 pm, 10:00 pm, and 1:00
am.


LIVE TELEVISION EVENTS THIS WEEK:

December 7, Tuesday
3:00 - 3:45 am - Live Coverage and Commentary of Mars Polar Lander
Activities - JPL
4:00 am - Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2 Press Conference - JPL

December 6 - December 10
TBD - Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2 Television Activities - JPL

Please check http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/marsnews/timeline/ for
further updates.

December 8, Wednesday
9:00 am - L-3 Pre-Launch Status Briefing for the Hubble Space
Telescope Servicing Mission - STS-103 - KSC
4:00 pm - STS-103 Launch Readiness News Conference - KSC

December 9, Thursday
9:00 am - L-2 Pre-Launch Status Briefing for the Hubble Space
Telescope Servicing Mission - STS-103 - KSC

December 10, Friday
9:00 am - L-1 Pre-Launch Status Briefing for the Hubble Space
Telescope Servicing Mission - STS-103 - KSC
9:30 am - STS-103 Hubble Space Telescope Briefing - KSC
6:30 pm - Live Commentary and Launch Coverage for the Hubble Space
Telescope Servicing Mission - STS-103 - KSC

December 11, Saturday
12:13 am - Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission Launch - STS-
103 - KSC



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If NASA issues any news releases later today, we will e-
mail summaries and Internet URLs to this list.

Index of 1999 NASA News Releases:
http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1999/index.html


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Video File for Dec. 7, 1999


ITEM 1 - STS-103 CREW ARRIVAL AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER-----TRT 7:30

Contact at NASA Kennedy Space Center, FL:  Bill Johnson (Phone
321/867-2468).

The STS-103 crew of seven departed Ellington Field, TX, on Dec. 6,
1999, in T-38 airplanes and arrived at Kennedy Space Center, FL,
at approximately 8:30pm EST.  A date for launch is pending
following final wiring repairs and system retest to Space Shuttle
Discovery.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/



ITEM 2 - STS-103 CREW TRAINING - JSC (replay)------------TRT 12:30

Contact at NASA Kennedy Space Center, FL:  Bill Johnson (Phone
321/867-2468).

The STS-103 crew trains for the next shuttle mission, scheduled
for departure from Kennedy Space Center on Dec. 11, 1999. Mission
objectives include repair of the Hubble Space Telescope.



ITEM 3 - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SERVICING MISSION 3 - HQ (replay)

ITEM 3a - STS-61 AND STS-82 FOOTAGE-----------------------TRT 8:48

Description - Mission highlights from STS-61 and STS-82 Hubble
Space Telescope repair missions.


Item 3b - STS-103 ANIMATION-------------------------------TRT 1:33

Description - Computer animation highlighting STS-103 rendezvous,
docking, EVA, and deploy activities.



ITEM 4 - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE MISSION - (replay)

Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:  Wade
Sisler (Phone 301/286-6256).
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Donald Savage
(Phone 202/358-1547).

Synopsis:  NASA officials decided to move up part of the servicing
mission that had been scheduled for June 2000 after three of the
telescope's six gyroscopes failed.  Having fewer than three
working gyroscopes would preclude science observations, although
the telescope would remain safely in orbit until a servicing crew
arrived.  In addition to replacing all six gyroscopes on the STS-
103 flight, the crew will replace a guidance sensor and the
spacecraft's computer.  The new computer will reduce the burden of
flight software maintenance and significantly lower costs.  A
voltage/temperature kit will be installed to protect spacecraft
batteries from overcharging and overheating when the spacecraft
goes into safe mode.  A new transmitter will replace a failed
spare currently aboard the spacecraft, and spare insulation will
replace telescope insulation that has degraded.  The insulation is
necessary to control the internal temperature on the telescope.


ITEM 4a - GYROSCOPE ANIMATION-----------------------------TRT 1:01

Astronauts will replace all six of the Telescope's gyroscopes
during STS-103.  Currently three of Hubble's six gyros are not
working, leaving only the minimum number needed to continue its
mission.  The gyroscopes are needed for pointing the telescope.
The pointing system is comprised of reaction wheels that actually
move the telescope, gyros that report its position, star trackers
that provide reference points, and the onboard computer that
controls the pointing process.  Based on nearly one and a half
years of intensive chemical, mechanical and electrical
investigations, the HST team believes that the thin wires are
being corroded by the fluid in which they are immersed and
ultimately this corrosion causes them to break.


ITEM 4b - THERMAL BLANKET LAYER ANIMATION------------------TRT :33

During the mission astronauts will cover Hubble's electronic bay
doors with seven permanent coated-stainless steel foil sheets
called the New Outer Blanket Layer (NOBL).  The crew will also
carry seven rolls of special fabric, called the Shell/Shield
Replacement Fabric (SSRF) which will be installed on Hubble's
forward shell and light shield if time is available.  The NOBL
covers and SSRF pieces are designed to protect Hubble's external
blankets and prevent its insulation from further degradation.
Animation shows how these "thermal blankets" are replaced.
Blankets are attached with "bottle-stopper" fasteners and then are
unrolled like "wallpaper".  This multi-layer insulation protects
the Telescope from the severe and rapid temperature changes as it
moves through its 90-minute orbit from very hot sun to very cold
night.


ITEM 4c - TECHNICIANS "QUILT" SSRF B-ROLL------------------TRT :56

B-roll of technicians at the Goddard Space Flight Center
"quilting" the Shell/Shield Replacement Fabric (SSRF).  The fabric
pieces are stored in rolls for their trip to orbit.  The fabric is
composed of flexible, aluminized Teflon with rip-stop material
bonded to the back side.  Seven pieces up to 22 feet (7 meters)
long will cover 80 percent of the sun-side light shield and
forward shell.  This special fabric was designed and tested to
ensure that it can withstand exposure to charged particles, X-
rays, ultraviolet radiation, and thermal cycling for at least ten
years.


ITEM 4d - STS-103 CLEANROOM B-ROLL------------------------TRT 2:12

Astronauts training for the Hubble Space Telescope Third Servicing
Mission in the cleanroom at the Goddard Space Flight Center.
Footage includes astronauts working with gyroscopes and applying
thermal blankets to a full-sized mock-up of the Hubble Space
Telescope.  The seven-member crew will rendezvous with the
Telescope, capture it with the Space Shuttle Discovery's robotic
arm and dock it in the Shuttle bay.  Working in teams of two, four
astronauts will outfit the Hubble with new equipment, including
six gyroscopes, a Fine Guidance Sensor, Solid State Recorder, new
Main Computer, New Outer Blanket Layers (NOBL), and a transmitter.
The astronauts will take more than 150 crew aids and tools on this
service call.


ITEM 4e - ACTIVITY IN STOCC---------------------------------TRT:26

Activity in Space Telescope Operations Control Center (STOCC) at
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, during the
mission.  Working 24 hours a day, ground controllers command and
control the Hubble Space Telescope.  Commands are sent to the
Telescope to direct the observation of astronomical targets all
across the sky.  Hubble operators monitor the Telescope's health
and safety while they control flight operations and science
activities.


ITEM 4f - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE ANIMATION------------------TRT:22
           (5 glamour shot sequences)


ITEM 4g - THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM (animation)----------TRT:15

Animations of the electromagnetic spectrum, the communication
path, and the Hubble Telescope.


ITEM 4h - HUBBLE TRACKING/SATELLITE RELAY ANIMATIONS

Cut 1:  Animation of HST Communication--------------------TRT  :17

Communications through the Tracking & Data Relay Satellite System
(TDRSS), White Sands, NM, and DOMSAT, to the Goddard Space Flight
Center (GSFC).

Cut 2:  TDRSS Animation------------------------------------TRT :22

Animation of the Tracking & Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS)
Communications Satellite depicting the data flow from TDRSS to
Earth, equivalent to a set of encyclopedias every second.


ITEM 4i - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS------------------------------TRT 2:02

Dr. David Leckrone, Sr. Project Scientist Hubble Space Telescope


ITEM 4j - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS------------------------------TRT 3:38

Dr. John Campbell, Associate Director, Hubble Space Telescope



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Unless otherwise noted, ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN.

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Refer general questions about the video file to NASA Headquarters,
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end of daily news summary