KSC Contact: Joel Wells
Monday, November 29,
1999
(2:30 p.m. EST)
MISSION: STS-103 – 3rd Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission
VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103
LOCATION: Pad 39B
TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: December 9 at 1:10 a.m. EST
TARGET LANDING DATE/TIME: December 18 at about 10:40 p.m. EST
LAUNCH WINDOW: 42 minutes
MISSION DURATION: about 9 days and 21 hours
CREW: Brown, Kelly, Smith, Foale, Grunsfeld, Nicollier, Clervoy
ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 317 nautical miles/28.45 degrees
Work in progress: Last Wednesday, Shuttle workers closed Discovery’s payload
bay doors and completed planned main engine testing. Repair efforts on
Discovery’s umbilical wiring are complete and validation tests begin
tonight. Following the Thanksgiving holiday, workers resumed orbiter
electrical wiring inspections in Discovery’s aft compartment.
Today, engineers will conduct the helium signature leak test. Ordnance
installation is slated to occur midweek and replacement of a leaky quick
disconnect on auxiliary power unit No. 2 is planned for Wednesday evening.
Aft engine compartment close-outs are expected to conclude late Sunday.
Workers are replacing Discovery’s mass memory unit No. 1 today.
Wednesday afternoon, Shuttle managers will reconvene a follow-up Flight
Readiness Review to obtain a final status on prelaunch preparations. The
flight crew is scheduled to arrive at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility
Saturday night, and the launch countdown begins Monday, Dec. 6 at 5:30 a.m.
Major Processing Milestones (targets only):
Ordnance installation (Dec. 1)
Flight crew arrival at KSC (Dec. 4 at about 8 p.m.)
Orbiter aft compartment close-outs complete (Dec. 5)
Launch countdown begins (Dec. 6 at 5:30 a.m.)
(KSC Space Shuttle Status Report 11/29/99)
MISSION: STS-99 – Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)
VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105
LOCATION: OPF bay 2
TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Jan. 13, 2000 at 1:11 p.m. EST
TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Jan. 24, 2000 at 5:15 p.m. EST
LAUNCH WINDOW: 2 hours and 30 minutes
MISSION DURATION: 11 days and 4 hours
CREW: Kregel, Gorie, Kavandi, Voss, Mohri, Thiele
ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 126 nautical miles/57 degrees
Work in progress: Workers began minor repair efforts on Endeavour’s
umbilical wiring harness on Sunday, and wiring inspections continue in the
orbiter’s aft engine compartment. Orbiter Endeavour’s midbody close-outs
are ongoing as workers prepare to close the orbiter’s payload bay doors for
flight later tonight. Managers plan to transfer Endeavour to the Vehicle
Assembly Building on Thursday to be mated to the external tank and solid
rocket boosters located in VAB high bay 1. Endeavour’s Orbiter Rollout
Review is scheduled for Tuesday morning.
Major Processing Milestones (targets only):
Payload bay doors closed for flight (Nov. 29)
Orbiter transferred to VAB (Dec. 2)
Shuttle rolls to Launch Pad 39A (Dec. 7)
-end-
