Debbie Rahn
NASA Headquarters, Washington DC				Nov. 3, 1997
202-358-1638

Joel Wells
Kennedy Space Center, FL
407-867-2468

Kyle Herring
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
281-483-5111

      KSC Release No. 211 - 97

COLUMBIA'S STS-87 MISSION SET TO LAUNCH NOV. 19 FROM KSC

Space Shuttle Program managers today selected Nov. 19 as the launch date for
the eighth and final mission of 1997 to deploy and retrieve a sun-studying
science satellite, conduct microgravity experiments and test International
Space Station assembly and maintenance techniques and tools.

The Flight Readiness Review was held today at the Kennedy Space Center, FL,
to evaluate the readiness of the flight crew, vehicle and launch and mission
control teams to support the flight.

The launch window opens at 2:46 p.m. EST and closes two and a half hours
later at about 5:30 p.m.  Following a nominal flight duration of 15 days, 16
hours, 34 minutes, Columbia is scheduled to land at KSC at about 7:20 p.m.
EST, Dec. 5.

Columbia's crew is comprised of Commander Kevin Kregel, Pilot Steven Lindsey,
Mission Specialists Takao Doi, Winston Scott and Kalpana Chawla, and
Ukrainian Payload Specialist Leonid Kadenyuk.



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One of the highlights of the flight is a spacewalk by Scott and Doi who will
test tools, techniques and hardware that will help in the assembly and
maintenance of the International Space Station, both during its construction
and subsequent operations.  The spacewalk also will test a unique, basketball
shaped satellite which is remotely operated from inside the Shuttle to
demonstrate the feasibility of remote photography near the Shuttle or
station.

"The processing and training teams have done an excellent job getting
Columbia and its crew ready for this mission," said George Abbey, Director of
the Johnson Space Center, who chaired the Flight Readiness Review.

STS-87 will be Columbia's 24th flight and the 88th Shuttle flight in the
program's history.

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