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Monday, August 13, 1990             Audio Service:  202/755-1788
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This is NASA Headline News for Monday, August 13.......

Jet Propulsion Laboratory officials report the Magellan 
Spacecraft successfully entered Venus' orbit on Friday, 15 months 
after being launched aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis.  After 
two weeks of checkouts, the 243-day radar mapping will begin.  
During that cycle, the spacecraft will image 15-mile-wide strips 
of the planet surface, yielding unprecedented detail and data 
about our cloud-shrouded "sister planet."

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The Space Shuttle Atlantis is now being destacked at the Kennedy 
Space Center.  Some tiles were slightly damaged by a hail storm 
and they will be repaired.  

Over the weekend, work began to powerup Columbia for shuttle 
interface tests.  The BBXRT payload was serviced with liquid 
argon.  Columbia, with its Astro-1 primary payload, is scheduled 
for launch early September.  The exact launch date will be set by 
Mission Managers at the Flight Readiness Review August 20-21.  

A media briefing and display of the spacecraft Ulysses will be 
provided at KSC on August 16.  Launch of Ulysses aboard Discovery 
is scheduled for October 5. 

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The "Synthesis Group" established under former astronaut Tom 
Stafford to identify Space Exploration Initiative architectures 
and milestones has scheduled a meeting of its five-member 
steering committee for August 22, according to AEROSPACE DAILY.  
The full group is planning to meet August 28.  

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Aviation Week and Space Technology reports that the International 
Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is "throwing its 
political clout behind the Administration's Moon/Mars 
Initiative.  It will lobby lawmakers about the need to support 
the Space Exploration Initiative to maintain U.S. technological 
expertise and shore up aerospace employment."  

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Johnson Space Center plans to build a new underwater facility for 
astronauts to practice building Space Station Freedom.  The pool 
will be 135 ft. X 235 ft. X 60 ft. deep.  Construction of the 
Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, which will be nine stories high to 






accommodate a 10-ton crane, is scheduled to begin this December.


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Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA 
Select TV.  All times are Eastern.
Monday, August 13......

             2:00 P.M.     Hubble Space Telescope Media
                           Briefing at Nasa Headquarters.
Tuesday, August 14.....
            12:00 P.M.     NASA VIDEO PRODUCTIONS
                           Journey Through the Solar System: "Our
                           Star the Sun"
            12:30 P.M.     25 Years of Progress Program:
                           "Gemini The Twins"
             1:00 P.M.     Moonwalk Series: "The Day Before"
             1:30 P.M.     NASA Biology Series: "Gravity and 
                           Life"
             6:00 P.M.     25 Years of Progress Program:
                           "Portrait of Earth"
             7:00 P.M.     "Space Flight: Orbital Mechanics"
             7:30 P.M.     The Series on NASA Biology: First
                           Episode "Life Into Space"
             8:00 P.M.     Administrator Truly's address to
                           the National Faculty of the
                           Challenger Centers for Space Science
                           Education.  (Taped August 1)
Wednesday, August 15...
             1:15 P.M.     Magellan-at-Venus Report
Thursday, August 16....
            11:30 A.M.     NASA Update will be transmitted.
            12:00 P.M.     NASA VIDEO PRODUCTIONS
                           Life in the Universe Program: "Life on
                           the Moon"
            12:30 P.M.     Back Space Series: "Man's Reach Should 
                           Exceed His Grasp"
             1:00 P.M.     Starpach (Space Technology Applied
                           to Rural Papago Advanced Health Care)
             1:30 P.M.     The Airplane and NASA: "Astounded at
                           the Past"
             6:00 P.M.     Life in the Universe: "Gemini Science"
             6:30 P.M.     Back Space Series
NOTE:  Every Wednesday, from August 15-September 5, the Magellan- 
at-Venus Report will be carried from 1:15-1:30 P.M. EDT.
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All events and times may change without notice.  This report is
filed daily, Monday through Friday at 12:00 P.M., EDT.  This is  
a service of the Internal Communications Branch, NASA HQ.  
Contact:  JSTANHOPE or CREDMOND on NASAmail or at 202/453-8425.
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NASA Select TV:  Satcom F2R, Transponder 13, C-Band, 72 Degrees 
West Longitude, Audio 6.8, Frequency 3960 MHz. JSNEWS8-13/24006
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