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contacting the payload bay doors (PLBD's), since RMS positioning clearances were not visible from any window or camera view.

LONG DURATION EXPOSURE FACILITY (LDEF) DEPLOY
The LDEF activities began on day 1 with a general inspection and a checkout of the Experiment Initiation System (EIS) using the RMS wrist camera. LDEF appeared to have undergone ascent without any damage and the six EIS talkbacks were nominally black. 

On day 2 the nominal slow rate (NSR) burn established the desired 254 nautical miles (nm) circular orbit. The deploy activities began with the activation of the EIS by rigidizing its RMS grapple fixture (post side). At 1 minute and 59 seconds after rigidization the six talkbacks turned white and remained white for the 5 minutes following derigization indicating nominal activation.  

The capture and rigidization of the starboard grapple fixture was nominal and the payload retention latches were released with nominal dual motor times. When the keel latch was released, the number 2 (aft starboard) ready-to-latch indicator went to barberpole as the LDEF moved slightly. A-Z translation of .03 to .05 fps was established and after 10 inches of motion the RMS digitals indicated that about 2 inches of forward translation, 1.5 degrees of negative pitch, and 1 degree of negative roll had resulted from RMS cross-coupling. The closed circuit television (CCTV) view from the B and C cameras (monochrome narrow angle) were marginal during the initial unberth/berth, but the pitch error was visible and contact with the forward edge of the berthing guides was suspected. The corrections were made and the unconstrained motion was apparent from the low frequency lightly dampened oscillations that resulted. The elbox camera ( color-wide angel lens) provided a usable, but marginal, +-X positioning cue. The remainder of the unberth/berth/unberth sequence was characterized by the same translation-pitch-roll cross-coupling. Significant reliance on the RMS digitals was required because of the lack of resolution of the CCTV views. The B camera was particularly dim until it instantaneously improved in the middle of the sequence. A variety of lighting conditions existed during the sequence and often caused the ALC of the B camera to oscillate badly. For the LDEF retrieval mission, a keel camera, properly illuminated and aligned with the existing target, should be the primary berthing aid (R).

While maneuvering the LDEF to the first point of the auto trajectory, it was not possible to precisely trim both the position and attitude. Trimming the position to within an inch resulted in an attitude error on the order of a degree, and trimming the attitude to within a couple of tenths of a degree resulted in a position error of 1 to 2 inches. This characteristic had not been observed in any simulations. The OPERATOR COMMANDED mode was able to simultaneously trim both positions and attitude. Its response was about the same as the simulators although it frequently slowed to near zero rates before the maneuver would terminate. 

The auto trajectory sequence was nominal and appeared to fly the same joint-rate-limited profile that was typical of all the simulators. The LAST POINT update was required at each pause point because of the low washout rates. Typically, the position and attitude would be within an inch and a couple tenths of a degree for several minutes with no appreciable rates.