STS-49 Status Report #17
MISSION CONTROL STATUS
STS-49 Status Report #17
May 14, 1992, 1 a.m. CDT
Intelsat 6 is on its way.
Following the longest spacewalk in the history of the U.S. space
program--and the 100th EVA in the history of manned space flight-
-Endeavour astronauts and flight controllers on Earth were able
to celebrate the successful retrieval, repair and deploy of the
wayward communications satellite.
The EVA, which lasted 8 hours and 29 minutes, eclipsed the
previous all time record, set on the Apollo 17 flight back in
1972. That EVA record, held by Eugene Cernan and Harrison
Schmitt, was 7 hours 37 minutes.
The deploy of Intelsat now sets the stage for the firing of its
new perigee kick motor tomorrow and its eventual arrival at
geosynchronous Earth orbit--almost two years late but by all
indications none the worse for wear.
Meanwhile, mission managers decided to extend the mission by one
extra day to allow for a fourth spacewalk on Thursday to practice
space station assembly techniques, followed by a leisurely day on
Friday in preparation for a landing Saturday afternoon.