For Release: July 26, 1996

Dave Drachlis
Office of Media Services (NASA)
Pager: 1-800-759-8888, PIN: 48435

Maj. Jody Howell
Public Affairs Office (Ft. Campbell)
(502) 798-3025

RELEASE: 96-114

SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR TO VISIT FT. CAMPBELL TUESDAY

Weather permitting, the Space Shuttle Endeavour, a veteran of 11 space flights, is scheduled to make an earthly visit to Ft. Campbell, Ky., Tuesday, July 30 where it will be on public display.

Scheduled to arrive at Campbell Army Airfield atop a Boeing 747 carrier aircraft approximately mid-morning, Endeavour will remain on display throughout the day. It is scheduled to depart Wednesday morning for Palmdale, Calif., where it will undergo scheduled maintenance and refurbishment.

Ft. Campbell is one of several way points designated by NASA for stopover when moving Space Shuttle orbiters between the east and west coasts.

NASA officials emphasized that if bad weather is forecast in the area, anywhere between the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., and Ft. Campbell, or between Ft. Campbell and Palmdale, the ferry crew might have to select an alternate cross country route and bypass Ft. Campbell. "We do not transport the Shuttle through clouds, rain, or other inclement weather," explained Rod Loe, deputy manager of the Customer and Flight Integration Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

"We have identified a number of stopover airfields across the country at which we can stop for fuel and Ft. Campbell is one of our sites," said Loe. "This will be the first time we have planned to use the Ft. Campbell site, and we are very pleased that Ft. Campbell is offering the public an opportunity to come onto their facility to see a real Space Shuttle up close."

Ft. Campbell will open its gate to the public for Shuttle viewing between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Endeavour is the youngest Space Shuttle orbiter in the fleet. Its maiden space voyage was on May 7, 1992, during which it rescued and redeployed an INTELSAT satellite. Among its flights to-date was the historic first servicing mission for NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Endeavour’s most recent Shuttle mission was STS-77 in May.

After refurbishment in California, Endeavour will return to the Kennedy Space Center in the spring to be prepared for its next mission, a flight to launch the first United States element of the international Space Station.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Sunday through Wednesday, news media may reach NASA contact Dave Drachlis via pager at: (800) 759-8888, PIN: 48435 or via cellular telephone by dialing (615) 553-7626, then dialing (205) 651-4713.