Headline News
Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters

  Wednesday, May 13, 1992  Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788

This is NASA Headline News for Wednesday, May 13, 1992 . . .

The crew of Endeavour pulls out all the stops today in a third 
attempt to capture the wayward Intelsat 6 communications satellite.  
Following Monday's second failed effort to snag the satellite, the flight 
crew took a break yesterday to regroup.  The flight and mission control 
teams spent yesterday morning devising a new plan to be used to work 
around what appears to be a recalcitrant capture bar mechanism.  The 
plan is a daring and bold one which requires, for the first time 
ever, three spacewalking astronauts.  All three, Pierre Thuot, Rick 
Hieb, and Tom Akers, will be positioned in a triangular fashion and 
will grab the Intelsat 6 bottom fairing rim with their hands.  The 
capture bar will be attached following the hand-grab of the satellite.

The flight crew spent yesterday afternoon practicing how three of them 
would fit inside the airlock and preparing their suits for today's 
spacewalk.  Meantime in Houston, fellow astronauts Story Musgrave, 
Jim Voss and Rich Clifford practiced the human-satellite-capture 
procedure in Johnson Space Center's Water Training Facility.

At 3:30 this afternoon, Thuot, Hieb and Akers are scheduled to 
emerge into Endeavour's payload bay from the crew 
compartment airlock.  They will then proceed to construct a bridge 
structure, using some of the space station assembly test components.  
The astronauts will then position themselves, one each, on the payload 
bay sill, the end of the robot arm, and on the bridge structure -- still 
attached firmly to the interior of the payload bay.  STS-49 commander 
Dan Brandenstein will then maneuver Endeavour close enough to the 
stabilized Intelsat 6 satellite so the three astronauts can grab hold of 
it.  Once the Intelsat spacecraft is firmly in tow, the grapple bar will be 
attached and the crew will reposition themselves so the orbiter's robot 
arm can then use the attach fixture on the grapple bar to dock the 
Intelsat satellite to the upper stage motor inside Endeavour's payload 
bay.

Assuming all goes according to plan, the Intelsat 6 spacecraft, with 
new perigee kick motor, is expected to be deployed about 10:30 
pm EDT tonight.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A pair of computer-driven glasses which could potentially help 
millions of Americans who suffer from low-vision problems was 
unveiled at the Johns Hopkins University Wilmer Eye Institute this 
morning in Baltimore.  Scientists from NASA's Stennis Space Center 
and the Wilmer Eye Institute worked cooperatively to develop the 
glasses.  The technology used in the glasses was originally developed 
for possible use on the space station as part of the imaging system.

The vision enhancement system consists of a computer, an auxiliary 
camera and a pair of wrap-around video screens which are worn like 
glasses.  The Wilmer Eye Institute staff believes this system will 
be commercially available in less than two years.  The vision 
enhancement device could help individuals who suffer from loss of 
peripheral vision, or who suffer from many of the associated effects of 
glaucoma, or those who suffer from a degenerative eye problem 
associated with aging.  Further inquiries about the commercial 
availability of this system should be directed to the Lions Vision 
Center in Baltimore at 401/614-0992.

  
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.

Wednesday, May 13, 1992
    3:40 pm  Astronaut airlock egress into Endeavour's payload bay.
    6:05 pm  First attempt to grab Intelsat 6 satellite.
   10:30 pm  Expected time of Intelsat 6 deploy.
        TBD  Post-EVA mission status briefing with Al Pennington from JSC.
Thursday, May 14, 1992
    7:00 am  Replay of STS-49 flight day 7 activities.
    9:00 am  Replay of STS-49 flight day 7 activities.
Friday, May 15, 1992
    7:00 am  Replay of STS-49 flight day 8 activities.
    9:30 am  Replay of STS-49 flight day 8 activities.
    5:35 pm  Scheduled time of deorbit maneuver for Endeavour.
    6:37 pm  Scheduled time of landing at Edwards AFB for Endeavour.
        TBD  Replay of landing video.
        TBD  Post-landing press briefing from Dryden Flight 
                   Research Facility.

  
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.