Chronology of KSC and KSC Related Events for 1999 Elaine E. Liston "V NASA/TM-2000-208588 February 2000 -,_s' Chronology of KSC and KSC Related Events for 1999 Elaine E. Liston, InDyne, Inc., Kennedy Space Center, Florida NASA/TM-2000-208588 February 2000 .,,.is / _.wJ FOREWORD This 1999 Chronology is published to describe and document KSC's role in NASA's progress. Materials for this Chronology were selected from a number of published sources. The document records KSC events of interest to historians and other researchers. Arrangement is by date of occurrence, though the source cited may be dated one or more days after the event. Materials were researched and prepared for publication by Archivist Elaine E. Liston. Comment on the Chronology should be directed to the John F. Kennedy Space Center, Archives, LIBRARY-E, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, 32899. The Archivist may also be reached by e-mail at [email protected], or (321) 867-2407. v -,.q.4 Table of Contents January ........................................................................................ 1 February ....................................................................................... 12 March ......................................................................................... 23 April ........................................................................................... 32 May ............................................................................................ 42 June ............................................................................................ 58 July ............................................................................................. 75 August ......................................................................................... 94 September .................................................................................... 104 October ....................................................................................... 119 November .................................................................................... 127 December ..................................................................................... 137 v JANUARY JANUARY 1: Florida's commercial spaceport here is booked to near capacity next year, solidifying its position in a lucrative field. The reasons for the brisk business include a new rocket, the opening of another launch complex and the first test program of a new space vehicle from Kennedy Space Center in almost 20 years. "The year 1999 is going to be a great year. And the year 2000 is going to be spectacular," said Ed O'Connor, executive director of Spaceport Florida Authority, a state agency working to attract aerospace business. Twenty-six of the missions will be aboard unmanned rockets flown from Cape Canaveral Air Station. The vehicles will carry everything from communications satellites to NASA deep-space probes. An experimental NASA space plane called the X-34 also is to begin flying from KSC in December - the first time a totally new rocket has taken off from there since the shuttle program began in 1981. The small craft will be launched from under the wing of an airplane. It is designed to ferry small payloads into space. Beyond that, the state is continuing its push to lure a next-generation spaceship called VentureStar that may hold the key to 21 s' century dominance in the world's commercial launch industry. ["Commercial space-launch industry takes off in Florida," Florida Today, January 1, 1999, p 1A & 7A.] JANUARY 3: Mars Polar Lander Mission Status Report, Sunday, January 3, 1999. Mars Polar Lander - due to become the first spacecraft to set down near the edge of Mars' southern polar cap -- pierced through a blustery, cloud-covered Florida sky at 3:21 p.m. Eastern Standard Time today atop a Delta II launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Station's Launch Complex 17B. The spacecraft, launched successfully on the first day of the launch period, is equipped with a robotic arm to dig beneath the layered terrain of the Martian polar region and two microprobes to crash into the planet's surface and conduct two days of soil and water experiments up to 1 meter (3 feet) below the Martian surface. Sixty-six seconds after liftoff, the Delta's four solid- rocket strap-on boosters were jettisoned. Firing of the main first-stage engine lasted approximately 4 minutes, 24 seconds. Eight seconds later, the first stage was discarded, and 5.5 seconds later the second stage ignited. Four and a half seconds after that, the nose cone surrounding the lander was jettisoned. The second-stage burn lasted 6 minutes, 44 seconds and placed the spacecraft into a low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 191 kilometers (119 miles). The spacecraft coasted over the Indian Ocean for approximately 23 minutes before the second stage engine fired briefly a second time. The third stage fired for 88 seconds at 3:57 p.m. EST to propel the spacecraft out of Earth's gravity and on its way to Mars. At 4:03 p.m. EST, Mars Polar Lander separated from the third stage. A set of solar panels located on the spacecraft's outer cruise stage were deployed shortly thereafter and pointed at the Sun. At 4:19 p.m. EST, the lander's signal was acquired by a 34-meter-diameter (112-foot) antenna of NASA's Deep Space Network in Canberra, Australia. Mars Polar Lander's interplanetary cruise to Mars will take it more than 180 degrees around the Sun in what is called a Type 2 trajectory, allowing the spacecraft to target a landing zone close to Mars' south pole at 73 to 76 degrees south latitude. Throughout the cruise, the spacecraftwill communicatewith Earth usingits X-bandtransmitter and medium-gain horn antennamountedon thecruisestage.During the first 30 daysof flight, the spacecraftwill betracked 10to 12hours per day. Quiet phasesof thetrip will require only four hoursof tracking time eachday. Thespacecraftis scheduledto fire its thrustersin atrajectory correctionmaneuverJanuary18. That maneuveris designed to removeatargetingbiasintendedto preventthe third stageof the Delta II rocket from following in thelander'sflight path andcolliding with Mars,aswell asanysmall launchinjection errors.That maneuveris expectedto takeapproximately5 minutesto execute.MarsPolar Landeristhe secondof two spacecraftlaunchedto the red planet during theDecember1998-January1999Marslaunchopportunity. MarsClimate Orbiter waslaunchedDecember11,andis scheduledto reachMarsnext September23. OnboardMars Polar Landeraretwo microprobesdevelopedasthe DeepSpace2 project underNASA's New Millennium Program. The DeepSpace2 probeswill smashinto the Martian surfaceasatest of newtechnologiesfor future planetary descentprobes. BruceBuckingham.(1999).Mars Polar Lander Mission Status Report [Online]. AvailableE-mail: [email protected]/subscribeshuttle-status [1999,January3].] JANUARY 4: Two water-huntingspacecraftaresailingsmoothly toward Marstoday, wherethey areto arrive later this year to continueNASA's latestexploration of the alluring planet. Launchedthreeweeksapart,the MarsPolar LanderandMarsClimate Orbiter spacecraftarein excellenthealthasthey headinto deepspace,NASA officials saidMonday. ["Spacecraft'well-behaved'on way to Mars," Florida Today, January 5, 1999, p lB.] JANUARY 5" On Feb. 6, a Boeing Delta II rocket carrying the Stardust spacecraft is scheduled to launch. Stacking of the rocket at Launch Complex 17A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, begins Tuesday, Jan. 5. Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of comet Wild 2 in January 2004, plus collect interstellar dust for later analysis. The collected samples will return to Earth in a re-entry capsule to be jettisoned from Stardust as it swings by in January 2006. ["The Next NASA Payload Launch," KSC Countdown, January 5, 1999.] JANUARY 7: Space Shuttle Status Report, Thursday, January 7, 1999. STS-93: Chandra X-ray Observatory (formerly AXAF). Columbia's payload bay doors were opened earlier this week following the holiday down period. Also this week, workers replaced a transducer for orbiter freon coolant loop No. 2 and testing of the new component is complete. Columbia's forward and midbody compartment closeouts are in work. Potable water sampling is in progress. In the Vehicle Assembly Building, external tank and solid rocket booster closeouts continue. STS-96: 2nd U.S. International Space Station Flight Spacehab Double Module. Processing of the orbiter Discovery has resumed following the holiday down period. Functional testing of the orbiter's purge vent drain system is complete. A corrosion control modification on the base heat shield is in progress and main propulsion system leak and functional testing is under way. Technicians are preparing for upcoming radiator functional tests. Replacementof Discovery'swindow No. 1continuesandwindow No. 7 replacement beginslater this week. STS-101:3rd InternationalSpaceStation Flight Spacehab Double Module / ICC. Atlantis remains in VAB high bay 2 awaiting Columbia's move to the VAB in early February. Workers are preparing for the installation of Atlantis' onboard tactical air command and navigation system (TACAN). OPF bay 3 will undergo planned open bay work for one week following Columbia's departure and will then house Atlantis throughout the STS-101 processing flow. STS-99: Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Endeavour's orbiter maneuvering system functional tests are in work. Shuttle main engine inspections continue and post flight servicing of the onboard waste management system is in progress. Bruce Buckingham. (1999). Kennedy