KENNEDY SPACE CENTER SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 1995 (10:46 AM EDT) KSC Public Affairs Contact: Bruce Buckingham 407-867-2468 (fax 407-867-2692) MISSION: STS-71 -- 1st MIR DOCKING VEHICLE: Atlantis/OV-104 LOCATION: Launch Pad 39-A TARGET LAUNCH DATE: June 23 APPROX. LAUNCH TIME: 5:08 p.m. EDT LAUNCH WINDOW: 7 minutes TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: July 4 at 12:37 p.m. MISSION DURATION: 11 days CREW SIZE: 7 up, 8 down ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 196-245 statute miles/51.60 degrees NOTE: Mission managers today selected Friday, June 23, as the official launch date for Atlantis on mission STS-71. The countdown for launch will begin at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday for a 7 minute launch window opening at 5:08 p.m. on June 23. Docking with Russia’s Mir space station will occur on Monday, June 26, at about 10:30 a.m. and landing will be at about 12:30 p.m. July 4. IN WORK TODAY: * Countdown preparations WORK COMPLETED: * Aft engine compartment close-outs * Ordnance operations * Purge external tank KEY OPERATIONAL MILESTONES: * Begin countdown at T-43 hours (9:30 a.m. Tuesday) * Crew arrival (3:30 p.m. Tuesday) MISSION: STS-70 -- TDRS-G VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103 LOCATION: Pad 39-B LAUNCH DATE/TIME: July 13 at 9:41 a.m. LAUNCH WINDOW: 2 hours, 30 minutes KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: July 21 at 7:51 a.m. MISSION DURATION: 7 days, 22 hours CREW SIZE: 5 ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 184 statute miles/28.45 degrees -- more -- -- 2 -- (6/16/95 -- KSC Shuttle status continued) IN WORK TODAY: * Pad validations * Install TDRS satellite into orbiter WORK COMPLETED: * Open payload bay doors * Remove protective covers from TDRS solar panels * Install Inertial Upper Stage guidance and navigation unit KEY OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only): * TDRS interface verification testing (June 19) * Space Shuttle main engine flight readiness test (June 26) MISSION: STS-69 -- WSF-2 & SPARTAN 201-03 VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105 LOCATION: Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1 TARGET LAUNCH DATE/TIME: July 30 at 10:40 a.m. LAUNCH WINDOW: 2 hours, 30 minutes TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: August 10 at 7:10 a.m. MISSION DURATION: 10 days, 20 hours CREW SIZE: 5 ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 230 statute miles/28.45 degrees NOTE: Close-outs of the orbiter’s mid-body and aft engine compartment continue today. The payload bay doors will be closed today. KEY OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only): * Roll orbiter to Vehicle Assembly Building (June 26) MISSION: STS-73 -- U.S. MICROGRAVITY LABORATORY-2 VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102 LOCATION: Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3 TARGET LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Sept. 21 at 10:37 a.m. LAUNCH WINDOW: 2 hours, 30 minutes TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Oct. 7 at 8:31 a.m. MISSION DURATION: 16 days CREW SIZE: 7 ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 172 statute miles/39 degrees NOTE: The forward reaction control system has been installed on the orbiter. The interface verification test was conducted successfully yesterday. -- end -- NOTE: This Space Shuttle Status Report and other NASA status reports and press releases are available from a data repository known as an anonymous FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server at ftp.pao.hq.nasa.gov under the directory /pub/pao/statrpt/ksc. Users should log on with the user name anonymous , then enter their E-mail address as the password. Within the /pub/pao directory there will be a readme.txt file explaining the directory structure.