Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!rutgers!psuvax1!psuvm.bitnet!cunyvm.bitnet!wylbb
From: WYLBB@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (Michael Linn)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Installation of TDRS
Message-ID: <1572WYLBB@CUNYVM>
Date: 15 Sep 88 16:51:06 GMT
Organization: The City University of New York - New York, NY
Lines: 24
DISCLAIMER: All opinions, unless quoted, are my own

Regarding:

>If the TDRS and some other satellites are installed while the shuttle
>is at the launching pad, how is cleaniness ensured?  Or does it not
>matter?  A bug or a fly trapped inside might very well cause a jam in
>some delicate mechanical part?

The TDRS (or any other typical payload) is trasported to the launch site
inside a special sealed canister which is the same size as the cargo bay.
When it arrives, the following occurs:

The canister is hoisted (vertically) and mated with the Payload
     Change-Out Room (PCR) on the Rotating Service Structure (RSS).
The edges of the PCR that contact the canister are sealed.
The PCR is cleaned.
The canister is opened and its contents removed into the PCR.
The doors of the PCR are closed, and the canister is removed.
The RSS is rotated to mate with the cargo bay of the orbiter vehicle.
The edges of the PCR that contact the vehicle are sealed.
The PCR area between its own doors and the vehicle are cleaned.
The doors of the PCR and of the shuttle cargo bay are opened.
The cargo is transferred into the cargo bay.
The doors of the PCR and shuttle cargo bay are closed.
The RSS is backed away from the vehicle.