good evening
tonight nasa embarks on the second space
shuttle flight to service the hubble
space telescope this 10-day mission
features at least four space walks by
four crew members to replace worn-out
hardware or to upgrade the capabilities
of the telescope
and so we begin our live coverage on
nasa television of mission sts 82 here
at the john f kennedy space center in
florida
all countdown events are on schedule and
the launch team is on station here in
firing room 3 in the launch control
center
and we have the crew
seated from the left we have payload
commander mark lee
you'll be performing two of the space
walks on this mission
and we have
mission specialist stephen hawley flight
engineer for this flight
pilot scott horowitz
flying for the second time
and commander ken bowersox
crews ready to go this morning
we have mission specialist joe tanner
steve smith and greg harbaugh
very experienced crew well-trained crew
been in training for two years now for
this flight they're ready to go and
repair the hubble space telescope
we have commander ken bowersox
this is his fourth flight
he has been an astronaut for about 10
years
and bowersox will have overall
responsibility for commanding the flight
he was the pilot for the first hubble
servicing mission back in 1993
and we have pilot horowitz
as pilot he will assist bowersox at the
flight controls this is his second
flight
he will assist powersocks during the
rendezvous and retrieval of the hubble
space telescope on flight day three
and we have mission specialist mark lee
taking a brief rest mission specialist
joe tanner
tanner's making his second flight
he will be this will be his first
spacewalk he'll be teaming up with greg
harbaugh and replacing one of the three
fine guidance
sensors on hubble
during the second eva
and we've got uh mission specialist
steve hawley
holly's making his uh
fourth flight today
he's serving as the flight engineer and
will assist the commander and pilot with
ascent and re-entry checklist
and we have a mission specialist greg
harbaugh
he's making his fourth flight he will be
teamed up with joe tanner to perform two
of the space walks harbaugh performed a
spacewalk on sts-54
and we have mission specialist five
steve smith making his second flight
he'll be a first time spacewalker on
this flight he'll be teamed up with
barclay in replacing the two instruments
that have a combined weight of about
fifteen hundred pounds
crews saying goodbye to members of the
flight crew team
uh
oh my gosh
this is shuttle launch control at t
minus 2 hours 46 minutes and counting
we've got
some views now of the flight crew now at
the launch pad
conversation on oas channel 212 during
the astacam checks will be heard by the
crew
channel should remain silent except for
emergency calls
and for the flight crew during our after
context adjust your appropriate volumes
for comfort and then don't change the
audio panel switch configuration
mission management team
uh jim the mmt is working no issues
you're clear to launch
copy that
and discovery
can you and their team have a great
mission and uh
do some good hubble upgrades we'll see
you back here in uh ten days
all right jim thanks for the good wishes
we sure appreciate all the hard work
that went into getting discovery and our
payload ready for launch
i think uh with a little luck
in a couple of weeks the best telescope
in the universe will be even better than
it is now
nnpd you're clearly alone copy thank you
all personnel watch countdown clock will
begin in two minutes mark
and a profile test of the orbiter's
aerosurfaces has started
these are being moved through a
pre-programmed
pattern to verify that they are ready
for launch
t-minus three minutes 30 seconds and
counting
the three main engines are being gambled
and positioned for launch
and the gaseous oxygen vent hood
the gaseous oxygen vent hood at the top
of the tank is being retracted away at
this time
and we wish you're all a fantastic voice
good luck gentlemen
t-minus 25 seconds
20.
t-minus 15 seconds and counting all
sisters go st minus still
ignition and liftoff discovery now on
its way to service nasa's hubble space
telescope
houston now controlling
we're all programming
roger roll discovery
role maneuver is complete aboard
discovery the vehicle is now in a heads
down position on course for a 28 and a
half degree 309 nautical mile orbit
discovery already
one and a half miles in altitude and
downrange from the launch site one and a
half miles as well
three main engines beginning to throttle
down now as the orbiter prepares to pass
through the area of maximum dynamic
pressure on the vehicle in the lower
atmosphere
the three engines now at 67 percent of
rated thrust
the engine is now beginning to throttle
back up
discovery go at throttle up
the three liquid fueled engines are now
back at full throttle
discovery's altitude is 13 miles
downrange from the launch site 10 and a
half miles
now traveling 1800 miles per hour
the three good
electrical systems are fuel cells and
hydraulic systems providing the
hydraulic power to the orbiter's engines
solid rocket boosters beginning to tail
off with their chamber pressure standing
by for burnout and separation of the
twin solid rocket boosters
srb separation is confirmed two minutes
20 seconds into the flight
discovery is now downrange from the
launch site of 40 miles at an altitude
of 35 miles
performance
performance thus far in the launch phase
has been as expected
three good hydraulic systems and fuel
cells and the main engines are still
performing as expected at 104 percent of
rated thrust
commander ken bowersox and pilot scott
horowitz watching over all of the
orbiter systems from the forward portion
of the flight deck
directly behind them flight engineer
steve hawley and mission specialist joe
tanner while greg harbaugh markley and
steve smith ride down on the mid deck of
the orbiter
and houston discovery on the doors as
you can see the port door is opening
just fine on the first opening we went
straight from uh
closed to blank we didn't get the ready
on the closing and the subsequent
opening we got the ready
gradually copy and we like what we see
you