Headline News Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters Thursday, June 6, 1991 Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788 This is NASA Headline News for Thursday, June 6, 1991 . . . The House of Representatives floor debate on the Space Station is currently occurring. The debate is expected to conclude by mid-afternoon. Following the vote of the House, a press conference is planned with Rep. Chapman and Lowry and Agency Administrator Richard Truly. Reps. Chapman and Lowry are sponsors of an amendment which would restore station funding. C-SPAN 1 is carrying the debate. C-SPAN 1 is carried on the Galaxy 3 satellite, transponder 24. NASA will tape the press conference for later broadcast on NASA Select TV. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Following yesterday's delayed but trouble-free launch of Columbia, the seven-person crew of the STS-40 mission has settled into their nine- day science experiment schedule. The crew was running about two hours behind yesterday, due entirely to the delay in launch caused by cloudy weather. They did activate the Spacelab module, though, prior to last night's sleep period. All systems aboard Columbia and within the Spacelab module are working extremely well, allowing both the orbiter and Spacelab crew to devote their full attention to the life science mission's objectives. Flight controllers at Johnson Space Center, remotely operating Columbia's payload bay cameras, yesterday surveyed payload bay thermal blankets which became partially detached from their aft bulkhead attachments. Flight controllers also noticed that a short length of seal along the payload bay door sill at the top of the aft bulkhead had also become unseated. The images will be further inspected at JSC for engineering analysis, though neither the thermal blankets nor the bulkhead seal are cause for any immediate concern. JSC will determine if the aft seal might present a problem for payload bay door closing, though that is presently considered unlikely. Even before yesterday's launch, ground medical specialists were already beginning their experiments on this mission. Doctors were taking instrument readings from an arterial indwelling catheter inserted in a vein in mission specialist Drew Gaffney's right arm. The catheter readings continued through ascent. The catheter was removed, as planned, following yesterday's launch. In addition, several of the crewmembers were injected with chemical tracers to allow scientists to track their kidney functions. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The launch of Joust 1, a commercial suborbital rocket carrying 10 material and biotechnology experiments, has been rescheduled for 7:00 am EDT on Saturday, June 8 from Launch Complex 20 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Joust 1 mission is sponsored by the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Orbital Sciences Corp., Space Data Division, under a contract with UAH CMDS, is providing the Prospector rocket and launch services. A briefing on the experiments and mission profile will be held this afternoon, at 1:00 pm, at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39 Press Site. Both the briefing and the launch will be carried live on NASA Select TV. Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select TV. Note that all events and times may change without notice, and that all times listed are Eastern. Thursday, 6/6/91 1:00 pm Joust 1 Prelaunch press briefing from KSC. 2:33 pm Flight deck activities from Columbia. 3:00 pm "Today in Space" program with astronauts Dunbar and Gibson from JSC. 4:00 pm Mission status briefing with mission manager and flight director representatives from JSC. 9:30 pm Replay of STS-40 Flight Day 2 activities. Friday, 6/7/91 5:46 am Blood collection from Spacelab. 9:03 am Workstation verification from Spacelab. 10:34 am Awareness of position test from Spacelab. 10:57 am Particulate contamination test from Spacelab. 11:22 am Middeck activities from Columbia. 12:08 pm Particulate contamination test from Spacelab. 3:00 pm "Today in Space" program with astronauts Dunbar and Gibson from JSC. 3:47 pm Ergometry from Spacelab. 4:00 pm Mission status briefing with mission manager and flight director representatives from JSC. 4:30 pm Ergometry from Spacelab. 9:30 pm Replay of STS-40 Flight Day 3 activities. Saturday, 6/8/91 5:20 am Body mass measurements from Spacelab. 7:00 am Scheduled launch of Prospector for the Joust 1 launch from LC-20 at CCAFS. 8:50 am Pulmonary function test from Spacelab, continues through 10:21 am. 10:52 am Lymphocyte proliferation testing from Spacelab. 3:00 pm "Today in Space" program with astronauts Dunbar and Gibson from JSC. 4:00 pm Mission status briefing with mission manager and flight director representatives from JSC. 9:30 pm Replay of STS-40 Flight Day 4 activities. Sunday, 6/9/91 5:35 am Body mass measurements from Spacelab. 8:20 am Body mass measurements from Spacelab. 9:35 am Pulmonary function test from Spacelab. 11:00 am Venous occlusion plethysmography measurements from Spacelab. 1:00 pm Middeck activities from Columbia. 1:53 pm Venous occlusion plethysmography measurements from Spacelab. 2:52 pm Ergometry from Spacelab. 3:00 pm "Today in Space" program with astronauts Dunbar and Gibson from JSC. 3:30 pm Ergometry from Spacelab. 4:00 pm Mission status briefing with mission manager and flight director representatives from JSC. 5:42 pm Rodent health check from Spacelab. 9:30 pm Replay of STS-40 Flight Day 5 activities. This report is filed daily at noon, Monday through Friday. It is a service of NASA's Office of Public Affairs. The contact is Charles Redmond, 202/453-8425 or CREDMOND on NASAmail. NASA Select TV is carried on GE Satcom F2R, transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees West Longitude, transponder frequency is 3960 megaHertz, audio is offset 6.8 MHz, polarization is vertical.