Jonathan's Space Report
No. 201 1994 Jun 27 Cambridge, MA
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Shuttle
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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
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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
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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
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May 23 Progress M-22 Deorbited
Jun 3 Tiros VII Reentered
Current Shuttle Processing Status
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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.
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| 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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