From: gmarfoe@eng.auburn.edu (Gerald George Marfoe)
Subject: NASA Daily News, 9/10/92 
Reply-To: gmarfoe@eng.auburn.edu
Organization: Auburn University Engineering
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 09:06:46 GMT

Here's the latest NASA Daily News, since Peter Yee hasn't been posting them 
on sci.space.news this week, and the launch of STS-47 is tomorrow.
(Forwarded from NASA Spacelink BBS.)
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Gerald G. Marfoe                    |"Mirabile visu. Mirabilia/Et itur ad astra
InterNet: gmarfoe@eng.auburn.edu    |... Suus cuique mos. Suum cuique.../
          ggmar@ducvax.auburn.edu   |Memento, terrigena./Memento, vita brevis."
          ggmar@hoshi.colorado.edu  |- "Afer Ventus", Enya, "Shepherd Moons"
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NASA Daily News
Thursday, September 10, 1992  24-hour audio service at 202/755-1788
 
 % Preparations for Saturday's launch of Endeavour continue to go well;
 % STS-47 Spacelab and secondary experiments briefings set for tomorrow;
 % JPL reports Magellan resumes mapping the Venusian surface;
 % TOPEX/Poseidon performing nominally, orbit tweaking continues;
 % Administrator says Senate Space Station vote reflects investment in 
   future;
 % University of Alabama-Huntsville Consort launch goes on time.

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

NASA Shuttle Test Director Al Sofge said at this morning's STS-47 countdown
status briefing that all processing work is proceeding on schedule with no
anomalies or glitches so far. Glenn Snyder, the STS-47 payload processing
manager, said today's activity will focus mainly on installing mission
consumables and experiments into their appropriate Spacelab compartments.
Launch Pad 39-B's Rotating Service Structure will be moved back from 
Endeavour tomorrow. The loading of cryogenic propellants into the orbiter's
External Tank is set to begin at 2:00 am Saturday morning, September 12.

Ingress of the seven-member STS-47 crew into Endeavour is set for 7:38 am
Saturday and launch is set for 10:23 am. The launch window extends through
2:17 pm. The present weather forecast for Saturday still calls for clear 
skies and light winds with an 80 percent probability of favorable launch 
weather throughout the window. Ed Priselac, Shuttle Weather Officer, did
indicate some concern for a front which is expected to be sitting over 
northern Florida by Saturday morning. The concern is not for winds or rain
so much as it is for possible lightning and upper level thunderstorm debris.
The seven-day mission is scheduled to conclude on September 19 with a 
landing at KSC.

Tomorrow, NASA will hold a series of briefings beginning at 8:30 am and
covering the Spacelab-Japan mission experiments and requirements; the 
Get Away Special and Isaiah secondary experiments, and the formal 
programmatic review of mission readiness. All the briefings will be covered
live on NASA Select television.

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

Jet Propulsion Laboratory flight controllers report the Magellan spacecraft
resumed its successful radar mapping of the Venusian surface this week. The
current mapping schedule will enable the spacecraft to fill the largest
remaining gap in its global coverage of Venus. During its two 243-day 
mapping cycles, Magellan so far has covered 97.5 percent of Venus' surface.
The current mapping will bring that total to 99 percent. Spacecraft 
performance remains nominal. Controllers are planning to perform an orbit 
trim maneuver on Monday, September 14, to lower the spacecraft altitude 
from 162 to 113 miles to increase the precision of the data for the gravity
mapping cycle set to begin on Tuesday, September 15.

JPL flight controllers working with the TOPEX/Poseidon spacecraft report 
it also is performing nominally with all onboard systems in good shape. The
second in-plane maneuver was successfully completed this Tuesday with the
next one set to occur next Monday. The NASA altimeter will be placed in 
stand-by mode tomorrow and the French altimeter will be turned on.

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

Following yesterday's U.S. Senate vote of 63-to-34 in favor of funding for
Space Station Freedom, NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin said "the vote 
reflects a commitment by members in the Senate to invest in America's future.
As NASA reaches for the stars, it produces cutting edge technology that 
creates new, high-quality jobs on Earth. Space Station Freedom will provide
new medical technology to improve health care and inspire young Americans to
remain and excel in school."

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

The launch of the Consort 5 sounding rocket for the Consortium for Materials
Development in Space, University of Alabama, Huntsville, went successfully 
this morning at 10:30 am, right on time, from the White Sands Missile Range 
in New Mexico. The payload consisted of nine materials science and 
biotechnology experiments. Recovery of the payload is expected to be complete
by early this afternoon. The consortium is one of the NASA Centers for the
Commercial Development of Space. EER Systems Corp., Vienna, Virginia, 
provided the Consort launch vehicle and the payload recovery system. 
McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Division, Huntsville, provided payload
integration for the consortium.
 

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.

Thursday, September 10, 1992
       1:00 pm  Replay of remarks made last week to employees 
                of Dryden Flight Research Center by NASA Administrator 
                Daniel Goldin.

Friday, September 11, 1992
Live   8:30 am  Countdown status briefing from Kennedy 
                Space Center, featuring Al Sofge, Shuttle Test Director,  
                and Glenn Snyder, STS-47 Payload Processing Manager.
Live   9:00 am  Spacelab-Japan briefing from Kennedy Space Center, 
                featuring Fred Leslie, Marshall Space Flight Center 
                Mission Scientist, Aubray King, MSFC Mission Manager, 
                and Yoshinori Fujimori, Japan National Space Agency 
                Project Scientist.
Live  10:00 am  Get Away Special briefing from Kennedy Space Center, 
                featuring Clarke Prouty, Goddard Space Flight Center 
                GAS mission manager, Kenneth Loth, Swedish Space 
                Corporation, Stephen Goodman, British Aerospace, 
                George Thomas, TRW, Jeff Slostad, University of 
                Washington, Diane Chenevert, Spar Aerospace, and David 
                Francisco, Lewis Research Center.
Live  11:00 am  ISAIAH briefing from Kennedy Space Center, featuring Gary
                Gutschewski, Johnson Space Center Mission Manager, 
                Marvin George Klemov, Israeli Aircraft Industries, and 
                Jacob Ishay, Tel-Aviv University.
Live  11:30 am  Pre-Launch Press conference from Kennedy Space Center, 
                featuring Lennard Fisk, Associate Administrator for 
                Space Science and Applications, Leonard Nicholson, 
                Space Shuttle Manager, Robert Sieck, Kennedy Space Center 
                Launch Director, Mike Adams, US Air Force Weather Liaison
                Officer, and a representative from the Japan National Space
                Agency.
       1:00 pm  (possible) Playback of Consort 5 launch from 
                White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico (taped on 9/10/92).

Saturday, September 12, 1992
Live  10:23 am  Scheduled launch time for Endeavour for 
                STS-47 Spacelab-Japan mission.
  
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.