From: yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA Daily News for 07/29/92 (Forwarded)
Apparently-To: sci-space-news@ames.arc.nasa.gov
Followup-To: sci.space
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 19:06:21 GMT

	Daily                News
Wednesday, July 29, 1992  24-hour audio service at 202/755-1788

 % Atlantis countdown proceeding, minor payload glitch arises;
 % Launch for Atlantis remains at 9:56 am EDT on Friday, July 31;
 % TOPEX/Poseidon scientists, managers to hold briefing at 1:00 pm today;
 % Oshkosh Air Show begins Friday, to feature Space Station Freedom modules;
 % Marshall Center to host first Station users conference next week.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Kennedy Space Center test director Al Sofge said this morning that were
it not for a minor payload problem, the countdown would have been
`textbook perfect' so far.  Sofge estimates the processing is about one
to two hours behind schedule because of the glitch.  This is not in any
way expected to cause a launch delay.

The problem came up yesterday when the Tethered Satellite System
payload team was closing out that payload in preparation to closing
Atlantis' payload bay doors.  Two electrical connectors were discovered
to have been incompletely closed out.  The connectors are having
locking wires attached to them today and the team can then close out
the payload bay activities and close the doors.  The weather is
expected to be `Chamber of Commerce' perfect for both the tanking and
the planned for 9:56 am EDT launch on Friday, July 31.  The actual
probability of favorable weather for the period from morning Thursday
through noon Friday is better than 95 percent.

The seven-member flight crew arrived at the Cape from Houston last
night.  Tomorrow, July 30, beginning at 9:00 am EDT, NASA will present
a series of briefings on the STS-46 mission and the two major and
several secondary experiments to be carried out.  A briefing on the
science objectives of the Tethered Satellite System will occur at 11:00
am EDT, and will be followed at noon by a briefing on the flight
operations of the Tethered Satellite-Shuttle system.  The briefings
will be shown live on NASA Select television.  Continuous NASA Select
television mission coverage for Atlantis' 12th flight will begin at
6:00 am EDT on Friday.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

NASA will hold a press briefing today at 1:00 pm in the NASA
Headquarters auditorium on the TOPEX/Poseidon mission.  This mission is
a joint U.S.-French research program using a satellite to map ocean
circulation and therefore better understand the role of the oceans in
regulating the global climate.  The satellite is scheduled to be
launched by an Ariane vehicle from the European Space Agency launch
center at Kourou, French Guiana, at 7:08 pm EDT on August 10.

Participants in the briefing will include U.S. and French program and
project management officials and Dr. William Patzert, the chief
scientist of the mission.  The French National Space Study Center
(Centre Nationale d'Etudes Spatiales -CNES) is NASA's partner in this
venture.

The main instrument on the TOPEX/Poseidon spacecraft is a radar
altimeter developed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
that will be used to measure mean sea level to an accuracy of a few
centimeters.  A recent series of aircraft flights off the coast of
Australia was used to acquire very high resolution data of stormy seas
which the TOPEX/Poseidon investigators will use to assist their
interpretation of the radar altimeter data the satellite will be
providing after launch.  The aircraft flew a series of profiles from as
high as 4,000 feet to as low as 40 feet.  The aircraft and instrument
were provided by Australian researchers as part of the U.S.- Australia
Cooperative Science Program.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Marshall Space Flight Center reports it will be transferring more
than 500 educational films to the Iuka, Mississippi, Tri-State Learning
Center following a recent review of the Center's own use of that
material.

Marshall Center education staff also report they have scheduled the
Center's two-trailer Space Station Freedom exhibit to be on display at
the NASA exhibit at the Oshkosh Air Show beginning this Friday, July
31, through next Friday, August 7.  Following the Oshkosh presentation,
the exhibit will be displayed by the Adler Planetarium, Chicago, from
August 8 through 22.  The display allows visitors to walk through
high-fidelity mockups of the U.S. habitation and laboratory modules.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

NASA will hold the first Space Station Freedom Utilization Conference
next week in Huntsville.  The purpose of the conference, set for Monday
through Thursday, August 3 through 6, is to inform potential
researchers about Freedom capabilities, plans and opportunities for
research and to provide an open forum for exchange of information and
ideas between space station managers and potential space station
investigators.  As part of the forum, experienced researchers who have
flown equipment aboard Spacelab will describe their experiences and
learned lessons.  Further information on the conference can be obtained
from Barry Epstein, NASA Headquarters, 202/453-8203, or Deb Gilman, BDM
International, at 202/479-5250.

  
Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select
TV.  Note that all events and times may change without notice, and that
all times listed are Eastern.  Live indicates a program is transmitted
live.

Wednesday, July 29, 1992
Live   12:00 pm  NASA Today news program, today featuring a report on the
                 launch Friday of Atlantis for its STS-46 Tethered Satellite 
                 System and European Retrievable Carrier seven-day mission; a
		 look at the Kennedy Space Center's wildlife preserve and a
		 look at a rescued manatee; a report from the Stennis Space 
                 Center about what might be used to replace chlorofluorocarbons
		 in refrigerators and other appliances; a preview of activities
		 which will be getting under way this Friday in Oshkosh, 
                 Wisconsin, for the Experimental Aircraft Association Fly-In;
		 a look at the first Space Station Freedom users conference set
		 to begin next Monday at the Marshall Center; and, as usual, a
		 look at important historic events which have occurred in the
		 space program on this date.
Live    1:00 pm  Pre-mission briefing on the Topex/Poseidon mission from
                 NASA Headquarters.

Thursday, July 30, 1992
Live    8:30 am  L-1 briefing on STS-46 mission from Kennedy Space Center.
Live    9:00 am  European Retrievable Carrier briefing from Kennedy Space
                 Center.
Live    9:30 am  Commercial payloads overview briefing from Kennedy Space
                 Center.
Live   10:15 am  Tethered Satellite System overview briefing from Kennedy Space
                 Center.
Live   11:00 am  Tethered Satellite System science briefing from Kennedy Space
                 Center.
Live   12:00 pm  Tethered Satellite System flight operations briefing from
                 Kennedy Space Center.
Live    1:00 pm  Pre-launch briefing for STS-46 mission from Kennedy Space
                 Center.

Friday, July 31, 1992
Live    6:00 am  Launch coverage of Atlantis for STS-46 Tethered Satellite and
                 Eureca deploy mission begins from KSC.
Live    9:56 am  Scheduled launch of Atlantis for STS-46 mission. 
  
This report is filed daily at noon, Monday through Friday.  It is a
service of NASA's Office of Public Affairs.  The editor is Charles
Redmond, 202/453-8425 or CREDMOND on NASAmail.  NASA Select TV is
carried on GE Satcom F2R, transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees West
Longitude, transponder frequency is 3960 MegaHertz, audio subcarrier is
6.8 MHz, polarization is vertical.
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