From: mcdowell@head-cfa.harvard.edu (Jonathan McDowell)
Subject: "Jonathan's Space Report, No. 129"
Followup-To: sci.space
Organization: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA,  USA
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 17:08:42 GMT

Jonathan's Space Report 

No. 129		1992 Sep 29
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Mir
---

Russian cosmonauts Solov'yov and Avdeev have completed
four spacewalks to install the Sofora thruster package
and relocate the Kurs rendezvous antenna.

Shuttle
-------

Space Shuttle Endeavour landed on Runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center
at 1253 UTC on Sep 20. Flight time was 190 hours and 30 minutes.
Columbia was mated to the STS-52 stack on Sep 22 and rolled out
to LC39B on Sep 26. Launch is scheduled for Oct 15. Crew
are Jim Wetherbee (Commander), Mike Baker (Pilot), Lacy
Veach, William Shepherd and Tammy Jernigan (Mission specialists),
all of NASA, and Steven MacLean of the Canadian Space Agency
(Payload specialist).
Columbia will carry the following payloads:
 IRIS cradle with Lageos/LAS/IRIS payload
 MPESS pallet with USMP-1 payload
 MPESS pallet with USMP-1 avionics
 HH-G mounting plates with ASP payload
 TPCE GAS payload
 CTA satellite
 
The ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana) Lageos 2 satellite carries
retroreflectors for accurate laser tracking. It will allow
geodesists to measure accurately the shape of the Earth and
monitor the processes of plate tectonics. The 400 kg Lageos 2
will be inserted in a transfer orbit by the Italian Research
Interim Stage (IRIS), on its first flight. The MAGE 1SC 
apogee motor will then fire to circularize the orbit.

The United States Microgravity Payload continues the
MSL materials science series.

The European Space Agency's Attitude Sensor Package (ASP)
consists of three experimental trackers mounted on
Hitchhiker-G plates on the payload bay wall.

The Canadian Space Agency's CTA (Canadian Target Assembly)
is a small test satellite which will be released by the
remote manipulator arm and visually tracked by Canadian
payload specialist Steven MacLean using the Space Vision
System experiment.

The Tank Pressure Control Experiment is a Getaway Special
class experiment from NASA Lewis Research Center.


Launches
---------

Mars Observer was launched by Titan III CT-4 from LC40 at Cape
Canaveral at 1705 UTC on Sep 25. The MO/TOS combination was 
placed in low earth orbit by the Titan second stage, which was
deboosted shortly afterwards. The TOS (Orbital Sciences Corp.
Transfer Orbit Stage) meanwhile ignited to place the Mars Observer
on an escape trajectory. TOS then executed an avoidance maneuver
to make sure it will not impact Mars. No TOS telemetry was
transmitted, leaving flight controllers unsure of the launch's
success until Mars Observer started transmitting about 1.5 hours
after launch. Mars Observer will reach Mars orbit in Aug 1993.

Kosmos-2209, a Statsionar class geostationary comsat, was launched
by Proton from Baykonur on Sep 10. By Sep 20 it was on station
at 23.8 degrees west. It is probably a military comsat in the Kosmos-1546
series.

Kosmos-2210 was launched by Soyuz from Plesetsk on Sep 22 about 1620 UTC.
It is a two-month long imaging recon flight, replacing Kosmos-2203 which
was deorbited on the same day.


Current Shuttle Processing Status
____________________________________________

Orbiters               Location   Mission 
                                          
OV-102 Columbia        LC39B         STS-52
OV-103 Discovery       OPF Bay 3     STS-53
OV-104 Atlantis        OPF Bay 2     OMDP
OV-105 Endeavour       OPF Bay 1     STS-54
                                          
ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks                       
                                          
ML1/STS-53             VAB Bay 3
ML2/		       
ML3/STS-52/ET/OV-102   LC39B


 .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
 |  Jonathan McDowell                 |  phone : (617) 495-7176                |
 |  Harvard-Smithsonian Center for    |                                        |
 |   Astrophysics                     |                                        |
 |  60 Garden St, MS4                 |                                        |
 |  Cambridge MA 02138                |  inter : mcdowell@cfa.harvard.edu      |
 |  USA                               |                                        |
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