Jonathan's Space Report No. 201 1994 Jun 27 Cambridge, MA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shuttle ------- Launch of STS-65 is due on July 8 from pad 39A into a 28 degree orbit. The cargo bay of Columbia contains a Spacelab Long Module and the Extended Duration Orbiter pallet. Crew are Robert Cabana (Commander), James Halsell (Pilot), Richard Hieb (Payload Commander), Carl Walz, Leroy Chiao, and Donald Thomas (Mission Specialists), and Dr. Chiaki Mukai (Payload Specialist), a NASDA astronaut. The International Microgravity Laboratory-2 contains experiments from NASA, the European Space Agency and its member national space agencies, and the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan. Dr. Mukai will become the first Japanese woman to fly in space. LAUNCHES -------- General Dynamics successfully launched an Atlas I Centaur from pad 36B at Cape Canaveral on Jun 24. The AC-76 flight placed a Hughes HS-601 communications satellite in geostationary transfer orbit. The satellite, UHF Follow-On F3, is operated by Hughes for the United States Navy. This marks seven successful flights in a row for Atlas, following some problems in 1991-93. The next Atlas launch is due on July 28, with DirecTV 2. [Thanks to Al Hegemann for info]. Here is a log of recent Atlas launches. There have been 519 Atlas launches since 1957. (Atlas I first stages have 5000-series tail numbers; Atlas II's have 8100-series tail numbers, but I don't have the numbers for most of the recent flights). Atlas Centaur Model Date Payload type and name 5054 AC-74 Atlas I 1993 Mar 25 Hughes HS-601 "UHF F/O F1" ? AC-104 Atlas II 1993 Jul 19 MM Astro DSCS III 34E Atlas E 1993 Aug 8 MM Astro Advanced Tiros-N "NOAA-13" ? AC-75 Atlas I 1993 Sep 3 Hughes HS-601 "UHF F/O F2" ? AC-106 Atlas II 1993 Nov 28 MM Astro DSCS III ? AC-108 Atlas IIAS 1993 Dec 16 MM Astro GE7000 "Telstar 401" ? AC-73 Atlas I 1994 Apr 13 SS/Loral GOES-Next "GOES 8" ? AC-76 Atlas I 1994 Jun 24 Hughes HS-601 "UHF F/O F3" Recent Launches --------------- Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. DES. Apr 23 0802 Kosmos-2278 Zenit-2 Baykonur LC45 SIGINT 23A Apr 26 0214 Kosmos-2279 Kosmos-3M Plesetsk LC133 Navsat 24A Apr 28 1714 Kosmos-2280 Soyuz-U Baykonur LC31 Recon 25A May 3 1555 USA-103 Titan Centaur Canaveral LC41 SIGINT 26A May 4 0000 SROSS C2 ASLV Sriharikota Science 27A May 9 0247 MSTI-2 Scout G-1 Vandenberg SLC5 Technology 28A May 19 1703 P91-A (STEP 2) Pegasus/HAPS Point Arguello WA Science 29A May 20 0201 Gorizont 42 Proton/DM2 Baykonur LC81 Comsat 30A May 22 0430 Progress M-23 Soyuz-U Baykonur LC1? Cargo 31A May 25 1015 Kosmos Tsiklon-3 Plesetsk SIGINT? FTO Jun 7 0720 Kosmos-2281 Soyuz-U Plesetsk LC16 Recon 32A Jun 14 1605 Foton No. 9 Soyuz-U Plesetsk LC43 Materials 33A Jun 17 0707 Intelsat 702 ) Ariane 44LP Kourou ELA2 Comsat 34A STRV 1 ) Technology 34B STRV 2 ) Technology 34C Jun 24 1350 UHF F/O F3 Atlas I Centaur Canaveral LC36B Comsat 35A Reentries --------- May 23 Progress M-22 Deorbited Jun 3 Tiros VII Reentered Current Shuttle Processing Status ____________________________________________ Orbiters Location Mission OV-102 Columbia LC39A STS-65 OV-103 Discovery OPF Bay 2 STS-64 OV-104 Atlantis OPF Bay 3 STS-66 OV-105 Endeavour OPF Bay 1 STS-68 ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks ML1/RSRM-40/ET-65 VAB Bay 3 STS-68 ML2/ ML3/RSRM-39/ET-64/OV-102 VAB Bay 1 STS-65 Shuttle Processing Status Explanation (or, what are all these acronyms anyway?): The Shuttle consists of an Orbiter (OV), an expendable External Tank (ET), and a reusable pair of Redesigned Solid Rocket Motors (RSRM), also known as Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs). The OV is prepared for flight in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) which consists of three bays (one of which is actually a separate building) after which it is towed to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and `mated to the stack' or joined to the ET and RSRM. First, the segments of the RSRM are stacked up on a Mobile Launch Platform (ML) and then the ET is connected to it. After the OV is mated, a Crawler-Transporter is moved underneath the ML and carries the ML/RSRM/ET/OV stack to one of the two pads (A or B) at launch complex 39 (LC39) where it is eventually launched on a Space Transportation System (STS) mission. Occasionally an OV is returned to the Rockwell International plant in Palmdale, California for refit - an Orbiter Maintenance Down Period or OMDP. .-------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | phone : (617) 495-7176 | | Harvard-Smithsonian Center for | | | Astrophysics | | | 60 Garden St, MS4 | | | Cambridge MA 02138 | inter : jcm@urania.harvard.edu | | USA | | '-------------------------------------------------------------------------'