From: yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA Daily News for 07/30/92 (Forwarded)
Apparently-To: sci-space-news@ames.arc.nasa.gov
Followup-To: sci.space
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 23:58:13 GMT

Daily                News
Thursday, July 30, 1992  24-hour audio service at 202/755-1788

 % Atlantis countdown continues smoothly; weather remains favorable;
 % Launch for STS-46 mission holds fast for 9:56 am EDT tomorrow;
 % NASA will provide extra satellite coverage for mission highlights;
 % KSC awards innovative continually competitive computer contract;
 % JPL reports Magellan performing nominally, transmitter test underway;
 % Oshkosh Air Show opens tomorrow, NASP featured, Goldin to appear;
 % Marshall Center to host Space Station users conference next week.

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

Kennedy Space Center test director Mike Leinbach this morning said the
countdown of Atlantis for its launch tomorrow morning at 9:56 am EDT
was continuing to go very smoothly.  The problem associated with the
Tethered Satellite System electrical connector plugs has been resolved
and is now closed out.  Activities coming up include the start of the
external tank fuel loading process, which is set to begin at 1:36 am
tomorrow morning.  A series of pre-launch briefings are being held at
the KSC media facility this morning and afternoon and will be replayed
on NASA Select television beginning at 4:00 pm EDT.

The weather forecast for tanking and tomorrowUs launch remains at 95
percent probability of favorable weather.  The forecast for a Saturday
launch calls for an 80 percent favorable probability.  The Sunday
forecast calls for a 75 percent favorable probability.  The dominant
weather system is a high pressure cell which will be providing dry,
stable weather conditions for the next several days.

NASA will begin continuous coverage of the mission on NASA Select
television beginning at 6:00 am EDT tomorrow morning.  In addition to
the Select coverage using the GE Satcom F2R satellite, NASA will also
be providing a two- hour summary of each dayUs mission activities on
the Spacenet 1 satellite.  These highlight programs will begin at
midnight EDT on August 1 and will be shown every day from midnight to
2:00 am EDT (except for August 7, when the program will be transmitted
from 3:01 am to 5:00 am EDT).  Spacenet 1 is located at 120 degrees
West longitude; the NASA program will be on transponder 17L (4060 MHz;
channel 18 on a 24-channel satellite receiver).

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

KSC procurement officials have awarded a first-ever continually
competitive contract to three firms to provide center technical and
administrative facilities with personal computers.  The contract is
effective from July 1992 through July 1994 and valued at $37,674,000.
The contract includes three one-year extension options.  Under terms of
the contract the three firms, General Tech. Inc., of Costa Mesa,
Calif., Atlanta Tech. Inc., Atlanta, and International Data Products
Corp., Gaithersburg, are to compete against each other for NASA
personal computer hardware and software.  The actual PC purchases will
depend on which of the companies is able to provide the lowest prices
and best performance during a quarterly time period.

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

Jet Propulsion Laboratory flight controllers report the Magellan
spacecraft continues to perform nominally.  Under its current onboard
stored sequence, Magellan is not executing any radar observations and
is only performing star calibrations and momentum wheel desaturations.
The current procedure is intended to maintain optimum capabilities of
the spacecraftUs B-side transmitter so that it can transmit
high-priority mapping data later this year.  The JPL flight team is
currently in the middle of a transmitter power cycle test to determine
the best operating mode to use.  The data to be acquired will increase
the surface coverage of Venus to about 99 percent.  The B-side
transmitter appears to operate best when its temperature is kept low by
cycling it on only during onboard data tape recorder playback periods.
This process is what the JPL flight team is presently verifying.

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

The Experimental Aircraft Association Fly-In opens in Oshkosh,
Wisconsin, tomorrow, July 31, and will stay open through next Friday,
August 7.  The NASA pavillion will feature a 50-foot-long mock-up of
the National AeroSpace Plane which was designed and built by students
at Mississippi State University.  The NASA exhibit will also focus on
the AgencyUs work in the area of high-speed civil transport.  The
two-trailer Space Station Freedom habitation and laboratory module
exhibit will also be parked by the NASA pavilion.  The space station
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.

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.
        4:00 pm  8:00 pm & 12:00 am NASA programming repeats.

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.
Newsgroups: sci.space.news