Brian Dunbar

Headquarters, Washington, D.C. July 12, 1990

(Phone: 202/453-1547)

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(Phone: 407/867-2468)

Jim Sahli
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
(Phone: 205/544-6528)

RELEASE: 90-98

CRRES LAUNCH DELAYED ONE TO TWO WEEKS

A computer problem with the spacecraft's command and data

processing system will delay the launch of the Combined Release
and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) 1 to 2 weeks.

During a spacecraft countdown practice at Cape Canaveral Air

Force Station, Fla., Launch Pad 36B, on Wednesday, July 11, an
intermittent failure occurred when commands were not properly
received and executed by the command and data processing system.

Additional testing indicated that the malfunction probably

is within the primary command decoder unit (CDU), which receives
and decodes commands from the ground, then formats and
distributes the commands through the spacecraft. Tests to
pinpoint the location of the failure should be completed by late
Thursday.

The spacecraft's backup CDU functioned properly. However,

under NASA launch-commit criteria, both CDUs must be fully
operational for a launch to take place.

If the problem lies in the CDU, which was tested

successfully twice at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), the box
containing both units will be removed from the spacecraft and
returned to the manufacturer, Gulton Data Systems Division, to
determine the cause of failure and to effect repairs.

- more -

-2-

A new launch date will not be set until the CDU has been
repaired and returned to KSC. The mission was originally
scheduled for launch July 17.

CRRES is a joint NASA/U.S. Air Force Mission to study the

effects of chemical releases on the Earth's ionosphere and
magnetosphere and to monitor the effects of the space radiation
environment on sophisticated electronics. The spacecraft will be
launched aboard an Atlas I (Atlas-Centaur 69) vehicle, with
launch services provided by General Dynamics Space Systems
Division.
- end -

NASA news releases and other NASA information is available

electronically on CompuServe and GEnie, the General Electric
Network for Information Exchange. For information on CompuServe,
call 1-800-848-8199 and ask for representative 176. For
information on GEnie, call 1-800-638-9636.

TO: MDS/PRA Group

1615 L Street, N.W. - Suite 100
Washington, D.C. 20036
DATE & TIME: JULY 12, 1990

ORDERED BY: Edward Campion

NASA Headquarters/LMD
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20546 PHONE: 202/453-8400

PROJECT TITLE: Release No: 90-98

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MAIL DATE: JULY 13, 1990

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