Headline News Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters Friday, January 24, 1992 Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788 This is NASA Headline News for Friday, January 24, 1992 . . . President Bush will host NASA Administrator Richard Truly and shuttle flight crew members from the STS-40, 43, 44 and 48 missions at 3:00 pm this afternoon to kickoff International Space Year and to announce a NASA/Young Astronauts Council space poster competition. At 3:20 pm the President and students will talk to the STS-42 crew orbiting above in Discovery. This event will be carried live on NASA Select television. The President is expected to make a major announcement about the Space Station Freedom and NASA's Moon-Mars exploration plans. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Discovery and its seven-member International Microgravity Laboratory- 1 crew continue to perform superbly in their 160-by-163 nautical mile-high orbit. Onboard use of consumable items such as water, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen is in line with predicted usage. Discovery's flight crew last night performed a minor maneuver to place the vehicle's payload bay in a northward orientation to cold-soak the orbiter's forward exterior surface. Nominal gravity gradient attitude for Discovery is with the payload bay to the south, the Sun is then shining down on the orbiter's forward frame. The cold-soak attitude allows orbiter thermal systems to more efficiently handle the heat load. Discovery was returned to the nominal gravity gradient attitude this morning. Payload crew members also yesterday performed an in-flight maintenance procedure on the rotating chair used for microgravity human vestibular experiments. The chair had been tripping its electrical circuit breaker. The device is now working properly again. Discovery crewman William Readdy celebrated his 40th birthday in orbit earlier this morning. Readdy used the occasion to watch the Russian space station Mir pass within 39 nautical miles of Discovery. Readdy reported that Mir looked much like a high-flying airplane looks from the ground with Sun-glint reflecting off the station. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * International Microgravity Laboratory-1 payload team members report that the Critical Point Facility, activated yesterday, is working fine and has already processed its first sample. Canadian payload specialist Roberta Bondar and NASA mission specialist Norm Thagard yesterday took turns being measured in experiment runs using the space adaptation syndrome sled. The experiment is trying to determine the effects of microgravity on the human proprioceptive system -- a nervous system element responsible for providing a sense of the position and movement of body limbs. Other payload crewmembers also tended to the growing space garden, planted immediately following launch, to determine the effects of gravity on seedlings. The crew admitted to watching wheat grow and reported that the wheat seedlings are already over an inch tall. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NASA will present a briefing on its Fiscal Year 1993 budget request in the Headquarters auditorium on Jan. 29 at 2:00 pm EST. Participants will include NASA Administrator Richard Truly and Comptroller Thomas Campbell. The briefing will be carried live on NASA Select Television. 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. Friday, January 24, 1992 all day Throughout the day, live mission coverage of Discovery's STS-42 International Microgravity Laboratory-1 mission. 3:00 pm Today in Space from Marshall Space Flight Center. 4:00 pm Mission Status Briefing from Johnson Space Center. all day Continuous live coverage of STS-42 mission from Johnson Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and the space shuttle Discovery. Saturday, January 25, 1992 all day Throughout the day, live mission coverage of Discovery's STS-42 International Microgravity Laboratory-1 mission. 3:00 pm Today in Space from Marshall Space Flight Center. 4:00 pm Mission Status Briefing from Johnson Space Center. all day Continuous live coverage of STS-42 mission from Johnson Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and the space shuttle Discovery. Sunday, January 26, 1992 all day Throughout the day, live mission coverage of Discovery's STS-42 International Microgravity Laboratory-1 mission. 3:00 pm Today in Space from Marshall Space Flight Center. 4:00 pm Mission Status Briefing from Johnson Space Center. all day Continuous live coverage of STS-42 mission from Johnson Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and the space shuttle Discovery. Monday, January 27, 1992 all day Throughout the day, live mission coverage of Discovery's STS-42 International Microgravity Laboratory-1 mission. 10:53 am German VIP phone call to crew of Discovery. 12:00 pm Agency administrator Adm. Richard Truly addresses NASA staff. 3:00 pm Today in Space from Marshall Space Flight Center. 4:00 pm Mission Status Briefing from Johnson Space Center. all day Continuous live coverage of STS-42 mission from Johnson Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and the space shuttle Discovery. Tuesday, January 28, 1992 all day Throughout the day, live mission coverage of Discovery's STS-42 International Microgravity Laboratory-1 mission. 9:28 am STS-42 flight crew orbital press conference from Discovery. 3:00 pm Today in Space from Marshall Space Flight Center. 4:00 pm Mission Status Briefing from Johnson Space Center. 8:28 pm Canadian VIP phone call to crew of Discovery. all day Continuous live coverage of STS-42 mission from Johnson Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and the space shuttle Discovery. Wednesday, January 29, 1992 all day Throughout the morning, live mission coverage of Discovery's STS-42 International Microgravity Laboratory-1 mission. 10:07 am Scheduled time for deorbit maneuver of Discovery for reentry into Earth's atmosphere. 11:05 am Scheduled time of landing for Discovery and its STS-42 crew at Edwards Air Force Base/Dryden Flight Research Facility, California. TBD Post landing press conference from DFRF. 2:00 pm NASA FY 1993 budget briefing from NASA Headquarters with NASA Administrator Richard Truly and NASA Comptroller Thomas Campbell. This report is filed daily at noon, Monday through Friday. It is a service of NASA's Office of Public Affairs. The editor 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 subcarrier is 6.8 MHz, polarization is vertical.