INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT #99-08
2 p.m. CST, Wednesday, February 24, 1999
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

The International Space Station continues to operate in good health as flight controllers in Houston and Moscow use Russian ground stations and NASA's communications tracking network to monitor the various systems on board.

Command and control functions of the Zarya control module are monitored through telemetry downlinks through the Early Communications System housed aboard the Unity node. Specific command sequences continue to be tested as well as battery charge cycling to balance power consumption on board. The ECOMM system was installed during the STS-88 shuttle mission in December to assist with general commanding capability, and to iron out configuration issues on the ground while training flight controllers in commanding that could be required in contingency situations.

As during previous weeks, the controlled spin of the station continues to be monitored and fine-tuned as necessary to manage temperatures of the overall complex.

The International Space Station is in an orbit with a high point of 257 statute miles and a low point of 243 statute miles. It's circling the Earth once every 92 minutes, 24 seconds.

ISS viewing opportunities from the ground can be found on the internet at:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/

The next Space Shuttle mission of Discovery to visit the station is targeted for launch
May 20. The flight's objectives are to deliver interior supplies and U.S. and Russian cranes to be installed on the station's exterior. Updates on orbiter processing can be found in the Kennedy Space Center's shuttle status report located on the internet at:
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/status/status.htm

The next International Space Station status report is planned to be issued on Wednesday, March 3, 1999.

Note: For further information, please contact the NASA Public Affairs Office at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, 281-483-5111.
--K