🚀 go-pugleaf

Ed Campion
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                   December 5, 1989

Karl Kristofferson
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.  


LAUNCH ADVISORY:  STS-32 COLUMBIA MISSION LAUNCH DATE SET


     At the conclusion of today's STS-32 Flight Readiness Review 
at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Space Shuttle managers set 
a target launch date of Dec. 18, 1989.  This mission will deploy 
the Syncom IV communications satellite and retrieve the Long 
Duration Exposure Facility.  In addition, as a 10-day flight, it 
is the first of a series of missions to extend the mission 
duration of the orbiter.

     This mission is also the first from a new mobile launch 
platform and the first reflight from Pad 39A.  Due to work on 
these facilities, there is a higher than normal probability of 
developing problems that might result in a short delay to the 
launch date.

     The launch window will open at approximately 7:29 p.m. EST 
and last for approximately 62 minutes.  The exact launch window 
will be based on the latest tracking data for the LDEF.

     At the present time, no major issues are being worked which 
might impact the launch date.