NOTE: Loading the hypergolic propellants into the orbiter’s reaction control system began as scheduled yesterday and will continue through all of today. Once the pad is reopened for other work, aft engine compartment close-outs and launch countdown preparations will begin. The countdown is scheduled to begin at the T-43 hour mark at 2 p.m. Monday, March 31.
NOTE: Space Shuttle main engine No. 3 has been reinstalled and the crew equipment and interface test, involving the STS-84 crew members, is complete. The forward reaction control system has been removed from Atlantis for X-rays. A concern arose last week that indicated thruster seal savers may have been incorrectly installed. No impact to the overall schedule is expected at this time. In the VAB, the external tank is being mated to the solid rocket boosters today.
NOTE: The forward reaction control system functional checks continue today. Also, the Space Shuttle main engines are being removed today.
NOTE ON ENDEAVOUR: The orbiter Endeavour is scheduled to return to Kennedy Space Center, FL, on Wednesday, March 26. Endeavour has been at Palmdale, CA, since July 1996 for extensive inspections and modifications that will give the Shuttle the capability to dock with Russia’s Mir Space Station and the planned International Space Station. Endeavour will be turned back over to NASA later today after it is rolled out of the Palmdale orbiter processing facility. Endeavour will be mated to the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) this afternoon and prepared for departure Tuesday morning. A two-day ferry flight is scheduled to feature an overnight stop at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, TX, weather permitting. The orbiter will depart Corpus Christi Wednesday morning, make a brief refueling stop at Ellington Field in Houston, TX, then continue on to KSC Wednesday afternoon.
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