Debra J. Rahn Headquarters, Washington, D.C. March 10, 1994 (Phone: 202/358-1639) Jim Cast Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/358-1779) RELEASE: 94-40 REFLIGHT OF TETHERED SATELLITE SYSTEM CONFIRMED NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin and Italian Space Agency (ASI) Special Administrator Professor Giampietro Puppi have confirmed the reflight of the Tethered Satellite System (TSS). Target date for the mission is February 1996. NASA and ASI long have planned this reflight but a formal commitment awaited U.S. congressional approval for NASA to spend FY 1994 funds. TSS originally was flown on the Space Shuttle STS-46 mission launched July 1992. TSS deployment was curtailed when mechanical interference in the deployer reel assembly prevented full deployment of the satellite. The TSS reflight will focus on science objectives not accomplished on the STS-46 mission. NASA and ASI completed a study last year of the jointly-developed TSS and confirmed their judgement of its usefulness as a unique Shuttle-based experiment carrier. The TSS could place a satellite into the Earth atmospheric regions that are difficult to study. These regions lie above the range of high altitude balloon flights and below the altitude of free-flying science satellites. The mission announced today is expected to complete demonstration of the technology of deploying satellites on long, gravity-gradient stabilized tethers in space and through scientific investigations, to verify the value of such systems for scientific and technological research. TSS consists of a deployer system, 13.47 miles (21.68 km) of tether and a 1,139 pound (517 kg), 5 foot (0.15 m) in diameter spherical satellite. The satellite, developed by the Italian Space Agency, contains payload, service and propulsion modules. The payload module will carry several science instruments while the service module houses power, data handling, telemetry and navigation systems. Other TSS-1 instruments -- such as the Italy-developed core equipment -- are mounted in the Space Shuttle orbiter's cargo bay. - end -