STS-75 Mission Control Status Report # 7

6 p.m. Sunday, February 25, 1996

  Three and a half years after an errant bolt halted its deployment, the
Italian Tethered Satellite successfully began its journey from the
Shuttle Columbia for two days of scientific studies.

  Suspended at the end of a slim tether, the satellite's thrusters
nudged TSS away from a docking ring atop a 40-foot boom towering over
Columbia's cargo bay at 2:45 PM Central time. The satellite slowly
moved away from Columbia into the darkness of space as the astronauts
reported little oscillation in the long tether. An hour later, the TSS
had passed the distance of maximum deployment achieved on its previous
flight, 843 feet, during the STS-46 mission in the summer of 1992.

  Astronauts and ground controllers overcame previous difficulties
with data handling equipment and portable computers which had caused a
one-day delay in the deployment.  Operating on a normal timeline
today, the crew checked out the satellite and its associated systems
before extending the TSS boom above the bay like a giant tower.  After
making sure that Columbia and the TSS could communicate over radio
links, a power umbilical to the satellite was released, placing the
satellite on internal battery power. Columbia's maneuvering jets
were temporarily disabled during the TSS deployment, to avoid any
disturbances to the tether during the satellite's initial flyaway.

   TSS is expected to reach its farthest distance from Columbia,
almost 13 miles, by late this evening for more than 24 hours of
scientific studies on electromagnetic phenomena and the use of tethers
for satellite management. The satellite will begin its slow creep back
to Columbia Monday night in advance of its final retrieval and docking
back on its boom at about 12:43 PM Central time Tuesday afternoon.

  Columbia is functioning perfectly in support of TSS operations as it
orbits the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of about 180 statute
miles.

  The JSC newsroom will close for the night at 9 p.m. Sunday and will
reopen at 6 a.m.  Monday.