All systems are go for an August 7, 1997 launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-85.

The crew of STS-85 will support Earth environment observations by deploying and retrieving the CRISTA-SPAS (Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere) spacecraft and will test future Space Station technology by testing the Japanese Remote Manipulator system with the NASDA sponsored Manipulator Flight Demonstration program.

Several "Hitchiker" payloads will also be flown, including a wide-field ultra-violet telescope, the Southwest ultraviolet Imaging System (SWUIS) to observe comet Hale-Bopp.

FLIGHT -- ORBITER -- LAUNCH DATE

STS-85 -- Discovery -- August 7, 1997

STS-86 -- Atlantis -- September 25, 1997 (ESTIMATED) (Originally scheduled for Launch September 18, 1997)

STS-87 -- Columbia -- November 13, 1997 (ESTIMATED)
(Originally scheduled for Launch October 9, 1997)

STS-88 -- Endeavour -- July 1998 (ESTIMATED)
(Originally scheduled for Launch December 4, 1997)

STS SPECS:
Crew Capacity: 8 (10 could be carried in an emergency)
Max Acceleration Load < 3Gs.
Orbital Altitude: 100 to 217 nautical miles.
Cargo bay dimensions: 15 feet diameter, 60 feet long.
Basic Mission Length: 7 days in space

ORBITERS:
Enterprise (OV-101): used for Approach and Landing Tests, the Enterprise now is property of the Smithsonian Institution and is at Dulles Airport, Va.
Columbia (OV-102): the first operational orbiter, STS-1 first launched on 12 April 1981.
Challenger (OV-099): the second orbiter, flew 10 missions between 1983 and 1986 for a combined total of 69 days in space. On January 28, 1986, Challenger and her crew were lost in a launch accident.
Discovery (OV-103): the third orbiter, Discovery has flown 22 missions since its maiden voyage on August 30, 1984.
Atlantis: (OV-104): Atlantis has flown 18 missions since its first launch on October 3, 1985.
Endeavour: (OV-105): Replacing the Challenger and completing the 4-orbiter space shuttle fleet, Endeavor has flown 11 missions since its first launch on May 5, 1992.

NASA International Space Station
http://station.nasa.gov/

Space Station This Week
http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov /NASA.Projects/Human.Space.Flight /Space.Station /Space.Station.This.Week/

Space Station Web - MSFC
http://station.msfc.nasa.gov/

ISS - Office of Space Flight - NASA HQ http://www.osf.hq.nasa.gov/iss/

Astronauts evaluated the International Space Station Airlock in underwater tests in the Johnson Space Center's Neutral Buoyancy Lab this week.

A pressurized mating adapter was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center, Florida last Friday and will be attached to Node-1, the space station's structural building block.

Node-1, together with two Pressurized Mating Adapters attached, will be the first element of the space station to be placed in orbit with the Space Shuttle. The Space Shuttle Endeavour will carry Node-1 on the STS-88 mission slated for launch in July 1998, approximately two weeks after the Russian-built Functional Cargo Block is launched from Russia.

Space Station This Week - July 28, 1997

Remaining "Phase I" Shuttle/Mir Missions:

STS-86 Sep 1997 Atlantis/Mir (U.S. astronaut pickup)

PHASE II, the assembly phase, begins with a U.S./Russian mission in November 1997.

SPECS:

Total Crew Size = 6
Altitude: 190 to 230 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination: ~ 51.6 degrees
Total pressurized volume: ~ 46,200 cubic feet

International Partners:

Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, United States