From: yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA Daily News for 09/10/92 (Forwarded)
Apparently-To: sci-space-news@ames.arc.nasa.gov
Followup-To: sci.space
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 17:59:48 GMT

Daily                News
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 Sept. 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, Sept. 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.
  
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