Jonathan's Space Report No. 248 Quatorze juillet 1995 (Bastille) Cambridge, MA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (sound of Marseillaise humming in background...) Navette ------- STS-70 was launched at 1341:55 UTC on Jul 13. A hold was called at T-31s (just before transition to RSLS computer control) when one of the flight controllers noticed that the signal monitored by range safety destruct radio recievers on the External Tank was fluctuating, but within a minute he had fixed the problem and the Shuttle was cleared to continue counting down from the T-31s mark with no recycle required. This was the shortest time between landing of the previous mission and launch of a new one - only 6 days. The previous record between landing and next launch for Shuttle missions was STS-55 in 1993, which followed the STS-56 landing by 9 days. The Solid Rocket Boosters (RSRM-44) separated at around 1343:58, and the three main engines (including the new Block I upgrade engine) continued burning successfully until main engine cutoff (MECO) around 1350:30 UTC. The external tank (ET-71) separated, leaving Discovery in a 67 x 291 km x 28.5 deg transfer orbit. The OMS 2 circularization burn was carried out at 1424 UTC, putting Discovery in a 90.6 min, 301 x 302 km x 28.5 deg orbit, and the payload bay doors were due to be opened at 1509 UTC. The TDRS-G satellite payload was deployed at 1955 UTC. At around 2009 the OMS engines were fired to separate from the vicinity of TDRS, putting OV-103 in a 90.85 min, 299 x 333 km x 28.5 deg orbit. Crew of STS-70 are Col. Tom Henricks, USAF (Commander); Kevin Kregel (Pilot); and mission specialists Maj. Nancy Currie, US Army, Dr. Donald Thomas, and Dr. Mary Weber. Atlantis was towed to the Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2 on Jul 7 following its landing at Kennedy Space Center. Its next mission is STS-74. Station Orbitale Mir --- The EO-19 crew of Solov'yov and Budarin have settled in on the Mir station and are awaiting the launch of a Progress M supply craft. It turns out that RKK Energia's 316GK docking module planned for launch on STS-74 is a lengthened Soyuz BO (Bitovoy Otsek - Habitable Module or orbital module), with a central cylindrical section added and two APAS-89 docking units added on each end. Thanks to David Anderman and Maxim Tarasenko for clearing this up. Erreur --------- Of course, the 3h 32s deorbit burn of Atlantis (JSR 247) should have read 3min 32s! Lancements recents -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Titan 4 Centaur was launched from Cape Canaveral on Jul 10. The rocket used was Titan 45K-19 with the Centaur TC-8 upper stage. According to John Pike, the rocket had the large (86 foot) payload shroud. It was observed to head towards a high inclination orbit and it may be assumed to be another satellite like USA 103 last year, an advanced signals intelligence satellite intended for a Molniya-like orbit. The Galileo Probe separated from the Orbiter at 0530 UTC on Jul 13. It will remain powered down for the coast to Jupiter, and will be awakened when its accelerometers detect braking due to entry in Jupiter's atmosphere. The Galileo Orbiter will fire its engine for a deflection maneuver on Jul 27. The modified Tsikada class navigation satellite launched on Jul 5 from LC 132 Pad 1 at Plesetsk was named Kosmos-2315. According to Maxim Tarasenko, it carries an additional Kurs transponder. The modified satellite may possibly have the designation Nadezhda-M. TDRS-G, attached to Inertial Upper Stage IUS-26, was deployed from Space Shuttle Discovery on Jul 13 at 1955 UTC. The IUS SRM-1 solid rocket motor burn was at 2055 UTC, placing the TDRS and IUS SRM-2 in transfer orbit. At around 0230 UTC on Jul 14 the SRM-2 ignited to place TDRS-G, now renamed TDRS-7, in a geosynchronous drift orbit. Satellites geostationnaires --------------------------------- 1995-23A (Intelsat 706) is drifting E from its previous 56W position. Table de lancements ------------------------ Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. DES. Jun 8 0443 Kosmos-2313 Tsiklon-2 Baykonur LC90 Recon 28A Jun 10 0024 DBS 3 Ariane 42P Kourou ELA2 Comsat 29A Jun 22 1958 STEP 3 Pegasus XL/L1011 PAWA Science FTO Jun 27 1932 Atlantis Space Shuttle Kennedy LC39A Spaceship 30A Jun 28 1825 Kosmos-2314 Soyuz-U Plesetsk LC43 Recon 31A Jul 5 0309 Kosmos-2315 Kosmos-3M Plesetsk LC132 Navigation 32A Jul 7 1623 Helios 1A ) Ariane 40 Kourou ELA2 Recon 33A CERISE ) Sigint 33B UPMSAT 1 ) Technology 33C Jul 10 1238 USA 112 Titan 4 Centaur Canaveral LC41 Sigint 34A Jul 13 0530 Galileo Probe - Galileo, Solar orb. 89-84E Jul 13 1342 Discovery Space Shuttle Kennedy LC39B Spaceship 35A Jul 13 1955 TDRS 7 IUS Discovery,LEO Comsat 35B Retours dans l'atmosphere ------------------------ Jun 8 Kosmos-2258 Reentered Jul 7 Atlantis Landed at KSC Etat de preparation des Navettes ____________________________________________ Orbiters Location Mission Launch Due OV-102 Columbia OPF Bay 3 STS-73 Sep 21 OV-103 Discovery LEO STS-70 OV-104 Atlantis OPF Bay 2 STS-74 Oct 26 OV-105 Endeavour LC39A STS-69 Aug 3 ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks ML1/RSRM-48/ET-72/OV-105 LC39A STS-69 ML2/ LC39B STS-70 ML3/ VAB .-------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | phone : (617) 495-7176 | | Harvard-Smithsonian Center for | | | Astrophysics | | | 60 Garden St, MS4 | | | 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 | | ftp://sao-ftp.harvard.edu/pub/jcm/space/news/news.* | '-------------------------------------------------------------------------'