Jonathan's Space Report 
No. 185        1994 Feb 24
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Shuttle  
-------  

Launch of Columbia is due on March 3 on mission STS-62. The payload bay
contains three cross-bay MPESS class pallets. Two of them comprise the
USMP-2 (United States Microgravity Payload 2), a set of crystal growth
experiments. The experiments are: AADSF (Advanced Automated Directional
Solidification Furnace), CFLSE (Critical Fluid Light Scattering
Experiment), IDGE (Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment), Mephisto
(Material Pour L'Etude Des Phenomenes Interessant La Solidification Sur
Terre Et En Orbite) and SAMS (Space Acceleration Measurement System).
USMP-1 flew on STS-52 in 1992 and carried Mephisto, SAMS and another
experiment called LPE.

The third pallet is a Hitchhiker-M class pallet and carries a bunch of
space technology experiments, many with relevance to the Space Station.
The experiments study spacecraft glow, arcing in solar cells, and heat
pipes. The pallet is called OAST-2, after the NASA Office of Aeronautics
and Space Technology which originally sponsored it (now the office
is called Office of Advanced Concepts and Technology). OAST-1 flew on
Discovery's first flight in 1984 and carried a large array deployment test.

Possibly the most interesting aspect of the STS-62 mission, however,
is the DEE (Dexterous End Effector) experiment. This is a special
magnetic 'hand' for the RMS robot arm. Mission specialist Marsha
Ivins will use the arm to test the DEE, which may allow smaller
grapple fixtures to be used on future satellites.

The crew of STS-62 is very experienced; commander is John Casper,
(STS-36, STS-54), pilot is Andy Allen (STS-46); mission
specialists are Pierre Thout (STS-36, STS-49 Intelsat spacewalk),
Marsha Ivins (STS-32R, STS-36) and Sam Gemar (STS-38, STS-48). 

 
Launches
--------

The Chinese Shi Jian 4 satellite and the dummy DFH-3 communications
satellite have now had orbital data made public. Shi Jian 4 is
in a 208 x 36134 km x 28.6 deg orbit.

Six satellites launched on Feb 12 by an 11K68 Tsiklon launch vehicle
from Plesetsk are part of a network of small communications satellites,
possibly operated by Russian intelligence agencies.

The second Galaxy IR satellite was launched on Feb 19 from Cape
Canaveral. Galaxy IR, operated by Hughes Communications, replaces a
satellite of the same name which was lost during launch in 1992. That in
turn was intended to replace the Galaxy I satellite still on orbit. Here
is the list of Galaxy satellites:

 Name           Type    Launch Date     Rocket
Galaxy 1        HS376   1983 Jun 28     Delta
Galaxy 2        HS376   1983 Sep 22     Delta
Galaxy 3        HS376   1984 Sep 21     Delta
Galaxy 6        HS376   1990 Oct 12     Ariane
Galaxy 5        HS376   1992 Mar 14     Atlas Centaur
Galaxy 1R       HS376   1992 Aug 22     Atlas Centaur (Destroyed on launch)
Galaxy 7H       HS601   1992 Oct 28     Ariane 4
Galaxy 4H       HS601   1993 Jun 25     Ariane 4
Galaxy 1R       HS376   1994 Feb 19     Delta II



Date            Name            Launch Vehicle  Site            Mission    INTL.
                                                                           DES.
Jan  8 1005     Soyuz TM-18     Soyuz           Baykonur LC1    Spaceship  01A
Jan 20 0949     Gals 1          Proton          Baykonur LC81   Comsat     02A
Jan 24 2137     Eutelsat IIF5 ) Ariane 44LP     Kourou ELA2     Comsat     FTO
                Turksat 1     )                                 Comsat     FTO
Jan 25 0025     Meteor-3      ) Tsiklon         Plesetsk LC32   Weather    03A
                Tubsat B      )                                 Technology 03B
Jan 25 1634     Clementine 1    Titan 23G-11    Vandenberg SLC4 Spaceprobe 04A
Jan 28 0212     Progress M-21   Soyuz           Baykonur LC1    Cargo      05A
Feb  3 1210     Discovery       Shuttle         Kennedy LC39    Spaceship  06A
Feb  3 2220     Ryusei   )      H-II            Tanegashima     Technology 07A
                Myojo    )                                      Technology 07B
Feb  5 0846     Raduga-1        Proton          Baykonur LC81   Comsat     08A
Feb  7 2147     Milstar DFS 1   Titan 4 Centaur Canaveral LC40  Comsat     09A
Feb  8 0830     Shi Jian 4    ) Chang Zheng 3A  Xichang         Scientific 10A
                Dummy payload )
Feb  9 1454     ODERACS  A )    GAS can         Discovery, LEO  Calibration 06B
                ODERACS  B )                                                06C
                ODERACS  C )                                                06D
                ODERACS  D )                                                06E
                ODERACS  E )                                                06F
                ODERACS  F )                                                06G
Feb  9 1932     BREMSAT         GAS can         Discovery, LEO  Scientific  06H
Feb 12 0854     Kosmos-2268  )  Tsiklon         Plesetsk LC32   Comsat      11A
                Kosmos-2269  )
                Kosmos-2270  )
                Kosmos-2271  )
                Kosmos-2272  )
                Kosmos-2273  )
Feb 18          Raduga?         Proton          Baykonur        Comsat      12A
Feb 19          Galaxy IR       Delta 7925      Canaveral LC17  Comsat      13A


Reentries
---------

Jan 14          Soyuz TM-17     Landed in Kazakhstan
Feb  4          Ryusei          Impacted Pacific Ocean
Feb 11          Discovery       Landed at KSC

Current Shuttle Processing Status
____________________________________________

Orbiters               Location   Mission 
                                          
OV-102 Columbia        LC39B         STS-62
OV-103 Discovery       OPF Bay 3     STS-64
OV-104 Atlantis        Palmdale      OMDP
OV-105 Endeavour       OPF Bay 1     STS-59
                                          
ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks                       
                                          
ML1/RSRM-36?/ET-62/OV-102 LC39B      STS-62
ML2/RSRM-37?              VAB Bay 3  STS-59             
ML3/                      


 .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
 |  Jonathan McDowell                 |  phone : (617) 495-7176                |
 |  Harvard-Smithsonian Center for    |                                        |
 |   Astrophysics                     |                                        |
 |  60 Garden St, MS4                 |                                        |
 |  Cambridge MA 02138                |  inter : jcm@urania.harvard.edu        |
 |  USA                               |                                        |
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