Jonathan's Space Report No. 318 1997 Apr 10 Cambridge, MA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shuttle and Mir --------------- STS-83 performed its OMS 2 orbit circularization burn at 2000 UTC on Apr 4, and Columbia opened its payload bay doors by 2109 UTC, beginning what was intended as a marathon Spacelab research mission. However, one of the orbiter's three fuel cells malfunctioned shortly after launch, and flight rules require that all three must be operating. The fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to make water and electricity. At 1430 UTC on Apr 6 the crew were ordered to begin a Minimum Duration Flight (MDF). On Apr 8 the OMS engines ignited at 1730 UTC for the deorbit burn, and Columbia landed on Runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center at 1833 UTC. While this foreshortened mission must be counted as a failure, we should remember that in 82 orbital flights this is only the second that has had to be abandoned well short of its goal, the first being STS-2 in 1981. (A third flight, STS-44, was cut short by three days of its planned ten, but in that case the primary mission objectives had already been met). Some observers have noted that NASA has been a lot readier in recent years to grant waivers (exceptions) to flight rules `on the fly', I think mainly because flight controllers feel they now have the experience to know what they can safely get away with. The fact that they didn't consider stretching the rules this time, despite the serious consequences, is an encouraging sign that safety is still the top priority. Endeavour was moved temporarily to the VAB on Apr 8 in order to free up a parking space for Columbia in the Orbiter Processing Facility. Columbia is currently scheduled to make its next flight as STS-87 in October, but there is a possibility that an STS-83R reflight could be added to the schedule in July. A Progress cargo ship, production no. 234, was launched from Baykonur on Apr 6 at 1604 UTC and named Progress M-34. It carries supplies for the Mir station and repair equipment for Mir's oxygen generators, as well as replacement oxygen-generating 'candles' and a pair of new spacesuits for a forthcoming spacewalk. Progress M-34 docked successfully with the Kvant module on Mir at 1730 UTC on Apr 8. Tsibliev, Lazutkin and Linenger have begun repairs to Mir. Recent Launches --------------- Kosmos-2340 was launched on an 8K78M Molniya-M rocket on Apr 9 from the Military Space Forces' Plesetsk spaceport. It is an early warning satellite of the Oko series, which operate in 12-hour elliptical orbits inclined at 62.8 degrees. The satellite is built by the Lavochkin company and the rocket is provided by TsSKB-Progress. I have confirmed that the DMSP satellite launched on Apr 4 was spacecraft serial number S-14. The launch date for F-9/S-8 was actually 1988 Feb 3, apologies for the typo. It has been suggested to me that the perverse DMSP-5D-2 style of block naming was done to keep a low profile for both security and bureaucratic reasons. I goofed also in mentioning a possible DMSP Block 6 - the DMSP and civilian NOAA weather sat programs are being merged into something called NPOESS instead. Table of Recent Launches ------------------------ Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. DES. Mar 1 0107 Intelsat 801 Ariane 44P Kourou ELA2 Comsat 09A Mar 4 0200 Zeya Start-1 Svobodniy LC5 Comsat 10A Mar 8 0601 Tempo 2 Atlas IIA Canaveral LC36A Comsat 11A Apr 4 1647 DMSP 5D-2 S-14 Titan 23G Vandenberg SLC4W Weather 12A Apr 4 1920 Columbia/STS-83) Shuttle Kennedy LC39A Spaceship 13A MSL-1 Spacelab ) Apr 6 1604 Progress M-34 Soyuz-U Baykonur Cargo 14A Apr 9 0900? Kosmos-2340 Molniya-M Plesetsk EarlyWarn 15A Current Shuttle Processing Status ____________________________________________ Orbiters Location Mission Launch Due OV-102 Columbia OPF Bay 1 STS-87 Oct 9 OV-103 Discovery OPF Bay 2 STS-85 Jul 17 OV-104 Atlantis OPF Bay 3 STS-84 May 15 OV-105 Endeavour VAB Bay 2 STS-86 Sep 18 ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks ML1/ ML2/RSRM-60/ET-85 VAB Bay 3 STS-84 ML3/ LC39A STS-83 .-------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | phone : (617) 495-7176 | | Harvard-Smithsonian Center for | | | Astrophysics | | | 60 Garden St, MS6 | | | Cambridge MA 02138 | inter : jcm@urania.harvard.edu | | USA | jmcdowell@cfa.harvard.edu | | | | JSR: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/QEDT/jcm/space/jsr/jsr.html | | Back issues: ftp://sao-ftp.harvard.edu/pub/jcm/space/news/news.* | '-------------------------------------------------------------------------'