From: yee@atlas.arc.nasa.gov (Peter Yee)
Subject: KSC closes out 1992 with 8 space shuttle and 5 expendable vehicle launches [Release 167-92/KSC] (Forwarded)
Apparently-To: sci-space-news@ames.arc.nasa.gov
Followup-To: sci.space
Originator: yee@atlas.arc.nasa.gov
Reply-To: yee@atlas.arc.nasa.gov (Peter Yee)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 21:55:17 GMT

          George H. Diller                                December 11, 1992
          Kennedy Space Center
          407/867-2468

          KSC Release No: 167-92

          KSC CLOSES OUT 1992 WITH 8 SPACE SHUTTLE AND 5 EXPENDABLE VEHICLE
          LAUNCHES


          Kennedy Space Center successfully launched eight Space Shuttle
          missions in 1992, with five flights ending at KSC's Shuttle Land-
          ing Facility. The Expendable Vehicles Directorate at KSC also
          coordinated launch activities for 5 liftoffs of scientific
          spacecraft.

          Improved efficiency was the watchword for 1992. The launch
          countdown for all eight Shuttle missions began on the day set by
          NASA management at the Flight Readiness Review (FRR). Seven were
          launched on the date set at the FRR, with one mission, STS-47,
          lifting off on the hour, minute and second scheduled. None had
          any major flight or ground support equipment hardware (GSE)
          problems and there were no in-flight anomalies associated with
          processing work. Additionally, Shuttle processing work hours,
          overtime, GSE open paperwork and vehicle problem reports were
          reduced significantly.

          Launches in 1992 began with the Space Shuttle Discovery.

          On January 22, at 9:53 a.m. EST, Discovery lifted off from Pad
          39-A on STS-42, carrying the first International Microgravity
          Laboratory, or IML-1.  The international crew consisted of Com-
          mander Ronald J. Grabe, Pilot Stephen S. Oswald, Mission
          Specialists William F. Readdy, Norman E. Thagard, David C. Hil-
          mers, Canadian Payload Specialist Roberta L. Bondar and German
          Payload Specialist Ulf D. Merbold.

          The crew conducted experiments on the human nervous system's
          adaptation to low gravity and the effects of microgravity on
          other life forms such as shrimp, eggs, lentil seedlings, fruit
          fly eggs and bacteria.  Low gravity materials processing experi-
          ments included crystal growth from a variety of substances such
          as enzymes, a virus, and mercury iodide.  There were also 10
          Get Away Special canisters on board, a number of mid-deck
          payloads and two Shuttle Student Involvement Program experiments.

          Landing was on Jan. 30 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Run-
          way 22, on orbit 129, with a mission duration of 8 days, 1 hour,
          14 minutes, 45 seconds.

          The second flight of the year was STS-45 with the Space Shuttle
          Atlantis.  This was the first launch of ATLAS-1, or the Atmos-
          pheric Laboratory for Applications and Science.  Liftoff was on
          March 24 at 8:13 a.m. EST from Pad 39-A.

          The seven crew members aboard included Commander Charles F.
          Bolden, Pilot Brian Duffy, Mission Specialists Kathryn D. Sul-
          livan, C. Michael Foale, David C. Leestma and Payload Specialists
          Byron K. Lichtenberg and Belgium's Dirk D. Frimout.

          The ATLAS-1 experiments were mounted on pallets in the orbiter's
          cargo bay and included 12 instruments from the U.S., France, Ger-
          many, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Japan.  Studies
          were conducted in atmospheric chemistry, solar radiation, space
          plasma physics and ultraviolet astronomy.

          Other payloads included SSBUV, or the Shuttle Solar Backscatter
          Ultraviolet experiment, one Get Away Special experiment and six
          mid-deck experiments.

          Landing came on orbit 143 on April 2 at the Kennedy Space
          Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, Runway 33.  The mission
          elapsed time was 8 days, 22 hours, 9 minutes, 24 seconds.

          The maiden flight of NASA's new Space Shuttle Endeavour, STS-49,
          produced the most spectacular mission of the year as its seven
          member astronaut crew set out to retrieve an Intelsat satellite
          stranded in low earth orbit.  Endeavour's first launch, the third
          Space Shuttle launch of the year, occurred on May 7 at 7:40 p.m.
          EDT from Pad 39-B.

          Aboard were Commander Dan C. Brandenstein, Pilot Kevin P. Chilton
          and Mission Specialists Bruce E. Melnick, Thomas D. Akers,
          Richard J. Hieb, Kathryn C. Thornton and Pierre J. Thuot.  Carry-
          ing a new perigee kick motor into orbit to be attached to the
          satellite, the capture required three EVA's and the first
          spacewalk ever by three astronauts.  Eventually shagged by hand
          so that a special capture bar could be attached, the 4.5-ton
          satellite was maneuvered by the astronauts into the payload bay,
          mated to the solid rocket motor and then released back into
          space.

          A planned EVA also was performed by astronauts Thornton and Akers
          as part of the Assembly of Station by EVA Methods (ASEM) to
          verify assembly and maintenance techniques for Space Station
          Freedom.  The flight set a record for the longest EVA time for a
          single mission: 25 hours and 27 minutes.  There were also three
          secondary "payload of opportunity" experiments.

          Landing occurred on May 16 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.,
          Runway 22, on Orbit 141.  The mission elapsed time was 8
          days, 21 hours, 17 minutes, 38 seconds.  This was also the first
          use of the orbiter drag chute during landing.

          The fourth launch of 1992 was the Space Shuttle Columbia, embark-
          ing on mission STS-50.  The primary payload was the first United
          States Microgravity Laboratory, USML-1, a manned Spacelab module
          with connecting tunnel to the orbiter crew compartment. Launch
          occurred on June 25 at 12:12 p.m. EDT from Pad 39-A.  USML was a
          national effort to advance microgravity research in a broad num-
          ber of disciplines.

          Crew members included Commander Richard N. Richards, Pilot Ken-
          neth D. Bowersox, Mission Specialists Bonnie J. Dunbar, Carl J.
          Meade and Ellen S. Baker and Payload Specialists Lawrence J.
          DeLucas and Eugene H. Trinh.

          The first Extended Duration Orbiter flight was also the longest
          Space Shuttle flight to date, lasting 13 days, 19 hours, 30
          minutes, 4 seconds.  The 11 primary experiments provided new in-
          formation on the effects of long-term human stay in space.  Three
          secondary experiments were also flown.  Landing was on July 9,
          orbit 220, at the Kennedy Space Center on Runway 33.

          The Space Shuttle Atlantis embarked on the STS-46 mission in July
          for flight number five in 1992.  Aboard were the European Space
          Agency's European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA) and the Tethered
          Satellite System (TSS).  Astronauts aboard included Commander
          Loren J. Shriver, Pilot Andrew M. Allen, Mission Specialists Jef-
          frey A. Hoffman, Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, Marsha S. Ivins and
          Claude Nicollier and Payload Specialist Franco Malerba from
          Italy.

          Launch from Pad 39-B was on July 31 at 9:57 a.m. EDT.

          After the successful deployment of EURECA, the crew's attention
          was turned to the release of the Tethered Satellite.

          However, during deployment, the satellite reached a maximum dis-
          tance of only 860 feet from the orbiter, instead of the planned
          12.5 miles, because of a jammed tether line.  After numerous at-
          tempts to free the line, TSS operations were curtailed and the
          satellite was stowed for return to Earth.

          Eight secondary experiments were also flown on the mission.
          Landing on orbit 127 occurred on Aug. 8 at KSC using Runway 33,
          with a mission elapsed time of 7 days, 23 hours, 15 minutes, 3
          seconds.

          KSC's sixth Space Shuttle launch of the year was with Endeavour
          carrying the Spacelab J laboratory module.  A joint mission be-
          tween NASA and Japan's NASDA space agency, microgravity inves-
          tigations were conducted in the disciplines of materials sciences
          and life sciences.  Launch from Pad 39-B occurred on Sept. 12 at
          10:23 a.m. EDT.

          Aboard Endeavour were Commander Robert L. Gibson, Pilot Curtis L.
          Brown, Mission Specialists Mark C. Lee, N. Jan Davis and Mae C.
          Jemison and Payload Specialist Mamoru Mohri of Japan.  Three
          space firsts were recorded: the first Japanese astronaut to fly
          aboard the Space Shuttle, the first African-American woman to fly
          in space and the first married couple to fly on the same space
          mission.

          Spacelab J included 24 materials science and 20 life science ex-
          periments of which 35 were sponsored by NASDA, seven by NASA, and
          two more were collaborative efforts.  Some of the materials
          science investigations covered fields including electronic
          materials, fluid dynamics, glasses and ceramics, metals and al-
          loys.  Life sciences experiments included animal and human
          physiology, space radiation, biological development, biological
          rhythms and cell separation.  Test subjects included the
          astronauts, frogs and frog eggs, carp, chicken embryos, fruit
          flys, plant seeds and fungi.

          There were five mid-deck exoeriments, plus 12 Get Away Special
          canisters in the cargo bay.

          Landing was at Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 20, on Runway 33.
          The mission elapsed time was 7 days, 22 hours, 31 minutes, 11
          seconds, with a touchdown on Orbit 127.

          The seventh launch of 1992 was Columbia on the STS-52 mission.
          The crew members included Commander James B. Weatherbee, Pilot
          Michael A. Baker, Mission Specialists Willam M. Shepard, Tamara
          E. Jernigan and Charles Lacy Veach and Payload Specialist Steven
          G. MacLean of Canada.  The liftoff occurred on Oct. 22 at 1:10
          p.m. EDT from Pad 39-B.

          The primary objective of STS-52 was to deploy the Laser
          Geodynamic Satellite (LAGEOS II) atop an Italian Research
          Interim Stage (IRIS) upper stage booster.  LAGEOS II was a joint
          effort between NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).  USMP-1,
          the first U.S. Microgravity Payload, was also part of Endeavour's
          STS-52 primary mission, conducting three experiments using
          weightlessness to research the potential of space manufacturing
          of new materials.

          There were also more than a dozen secondary experiments aboard,
          carried in the cargo bay and on Columbia's mid-deck.

          Landing of Columbia was on orbit 159 at the Kennedy Space Center
          on Nov. 1, Runway 33, with a mission elapsed time of 9 days, 20
          hours, 56 minutes, 13 seconds.

          The last flight of 1992 was that of the Space Shuttle Discovery,
          launched on a mission for the Department of Defense.  This was
          Discovery's fifteenth launch, most for any orbiter in the fleet.
          Launch from Pad 39-A was at 8:24 a.m. EST on December 2.  While
          the primary payload was classified, there were a dozen unclas-
          sified secondary payloads aboard.

          The STS-53 astronauts included Commander David Walker, Pilot
          Robert Cabana and Mission Specialists Guion Bluford, Michael
          Clifford and James Voss.

          Landing was diverted to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., because
          of cloud cover at KSC, with a landing on Runway 22, orbit 115.
          Mission elapsed time was 7 days, 7 hours, 19 minutes, 17 seconds.

          There were five expendable vehicles launches in 1992 involving
          NASA, Air Force and contractor personnel from Kennedy Space Cen-
          ter and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

          The first unmanned launch of 1992 was NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet
          Explorer (EUVE) aboard an Air Force Delta II rocket from Launch
          Complex 17.  Liftoff occurred on June 7 at 12:50 p.m. from Pad
          17-A.  The spacecraft carried four telescopes into orbit to map
          and study extreme ultraviolet sources within and also outside of
          the Milky Way galaxy.

          The second unmanned launch of the year was Geotail, a spacecraft
          in the International Solar Terrestrial Physics Program (ISTP).
          The spacecraft was developed by Japan in a collaborative launch
          initiative with NASA.  This was the first mission to be flown un-
          der NASA's Medium Expendable Launch Vehicle contract, awarded to
          McDonnell Douglas for a civil launch of a Delta II
          vehicle.  Liftoff occurred at 10:26 a.m. on July 24  from Pad A
          at Launch Complex 17.

          The third and final unmanned flight from the Cape was the Mars
          Observer spacecraft atop a Martin Marietta Titan III rocket.  The
          launch occurred from Complex 40 on September 25 at 1:05 p.m.  At-
          tached to the spacecraft was the first TOS, or Transfer Orbit
          Stage, a solid propellant single stage upper stage booster
          manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation.  The Titan III/TOS
          combination placed the spacecraft on a near-perfect planetary
          trajectory for an 11-month cruise toward Mars.

          There were also two NASA Scout launches from Vandenberg Air Force
          Base in California, performed by a KSC launch team on temporary
          duty at the west coast launch site.

          A NASA science payload, the Small Anomalous and Magnetospheric
          Particle Explorer (SAMPEX) was launched from Space Launch Complex
          5 on July 3 at 10:19 a.m. EDT.  Also launched aboard a NASA Scout
          vehicle was a research and development payload for the Strategic
          Defense Initiative Organization.  The payload was called MSTI,
          which stands for Miniature Seeker Technology Integration, and was
          the first in a planned series. The launch occurred at 8:45 a.m.
          EST on Nov. 21. It was the 116th successful launch of a Scout.

          In addition to a busy launch year, other significant milestones
          and accomplishments were achieved by KSC in 1992.

          Pad 39-B was returned to service for Endeavour's maiden voyage
          after $3.5 million dollars in modifications and upgrades.  A to-
          tal of 51 modifications were made to improve processing ef-
          ficiency and enhance safety at the pad.

          The Orbiters Columbia and Discovery were also returned to the
          fleet after a period of extensive improvements and modifications
          were made, approximately 50 in number.  A drag chute was added,
          the nose wheel steering was improved, new carbon brakes and im-
          proved auxiliary power units were added, and five new general
          purpose computers were installed.  Also, Columbia became an
          "extended duration orbiter,"  capable of flying missions of 16
          days or more.  In mid-October, Orbiter Atlantis was returned to
          the Rockwell plant in Palmdale for similar modifications.

          In April this year, a milestone in construction was reached when
          the final structural steel beam was hoisted atop the giant Space
          Station Processing Facility (SSPF).  The SSPF is the
          biggest new construction effort undertaken at KSC since the
          Apollo era, comprising a total of 466,000 square feet. The build-
          ing is expected to be ready for use in mid-1994.

          In late July, the new Space Shuttle Processing Control Center
          (PCC) was dedicated.  The new three-story, 99,000-square-foot
          facility is dedicated to Space Shuttle orbiter testing, launch
          team training, and maintenance of the Launch Processing System
          (LPS).  The building houses control rooms for orbiter processing
          control equipment and will provide Space Shuttle engineers with
          state-of-the-art areas to improve and maintain their skills
          during processing flows of the orbiters.

          The facility's first floor consists of offices, workshops and
          laboratories for the maintenance and testing of LPS and related
          equipment.  The second floor contains additional office space and
          areas for launch team training and computer software production.
          Orbiter control rooms dominate the third floor.

          Ground was broken in October for the new Hazardous Processing
          Facility (HPF) being constructed in the KSC Industrial Area near
          the exisiting Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility.  The facility
          will be used to process the propulsion assemblies that provide
          the thrust to allow Space Station Freedom to maintain its orbit
          and attitude.

          Other hazardous operations such as spacecraft fueling and spin
          testing can also be performed there.  The facility replaces the
          Payload Spin Test Facility on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
          which has been turned over to the U.S. Air Force to support Delta
          launches.  The HPF will feature a 1,800-square-foot environmen-
          tally controlled high bay and spin table, with an adjacent
          9,000-square-foot low bay area.

          Another ground-breaking took place Dec. 10 at Spaceport USA for a
          new education facility sponsored by the Astronaut Memorial Foun-
          dation. It will be operated for the educational community by the
          KSC Education Office and the Foundation. Several functions now
          being performed in facilities on KSC and Spaceport USA will move
          to the new facility.

          Enhancements were made at the Shuttle Landing Facility this year
          in an effort to increase safety margins for orbiter landings.
          These improvements included a beef-up of the shoulders, replacing
          the runway lights and adding conduit for future electrical needs.

          In the area of Life Sciences at NASA's Hangar L on Cape Canaveral
          Air Force Station, scientists pulled out their pruning shears and
          scales once again to harvest nearly 350 pounds of potatoes grown
          without soil inside a computer-controlled biomass chamber.  The
          potato harvest was the eleventh in the history of KSC's Closed
          Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) program.  Previous crops
          have included lettuce, wheat and soybeans. The program is con-
          tinuing to provide information on how astronauts can grow much of
          their own food in space.

          The year 1993 will again prove to be a busy time for NASA-KSC.  A
          total of eight Space Shuttle launches and four expendable vehicle
          launches are scheduled.  Among the payloads to be launched on the
          Space Shuttle will be TDRS-F, another in the series of NASA
          Tracking and Data Relay Satellites; two laboratory modules in-
          cluding Spacelab D-2 in collaboration with Germany and also
          NASA's Spacelab Life Sciences-2; the second in the Atmospheric
          Laboratory for Applications and Science, known as ATLAS-2,
          mounted on Spacelab pallets; the Advanced Communications Technol-
          ogy Satellite (ACTS) to be deployed from the Space Shuttle on a
          Transfer Orbit Stage (TOS); the first flight of Spacehab, a pres-
          surized crew cabin extension module with numerous additional
          mid-deck locker space for experiments; a mission for the
          retrieval of EURECA, the European Space Agency's European
          Retrievable Carrier; and a mission to repair the Hubble Space
          Telescope.

          On Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, two launches for NASA are
          tentatively planned.  These include a Delta launch for WIND, a
          satellite to investigate the solar wind, and the Atlas Centaur
          launch of GOES-I, the first in the next generation of geostation-
          ary weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
          Administration.

          Two Scout launches are also scheduled for the KSC launch team
          from Vandenberg Air Force Base.  MSTI-2, and also RADCAL which
          stands for Radiation Calibration experiment -- a research and
          development payload for the U.S. Air Force.
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