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Space Team Online Web ChatDate: September 4, 1997 Featuring: Greg Katnik
Chris: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 10:59AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . So, who is in here and where are you from ? I'll start. I am from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I attend the University in Calgary and am entering my second year of engineering, pursuing a mechanical engineering degree, my age is 19. Chris: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:01AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Greg, if you are here yet, I'm glad to have the opportunity to ask you a few questions. Saints: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:00AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . We have a group of fifth grade students who study earth science and space. We are very excited to be participating in our first chat. Oran/NASA Chat Host: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 10:59AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Hello and welcome to our Shuttle Team Online participants. Welcome to today's chat with Greg Katnik from NASA Kennedy Space Center. Greg is part of a team at NASA Kennedy Space Center that assembles the space shuttle, external tank, and solid rocket boosters together in preparation of a launch. Once the assembly is complete, Greg inspects all parts of the shuttle, launch pad and rockets just before the launch, and later studies films made of the launch. Oran/NASA Chat Host: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:00AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . And now, here is Greg Katnik to answer your questions. Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:01AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Hello from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, home of the Space Shuttles! Saint Michael Lutheran School: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:01AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, how long does it take for a space shuttle to get out of Earth's atmosphere? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:02AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . Saint Michael Lutheran School, it takes 8.5 minutes of burn time for the engines on a Shuttle to get it into orbit. Lab/Saint Michael: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:01AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, do you have to wear a special suit while doing inspections? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:04AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Lab, yes I wear a special suit made of nomex, which is fire resistant. It is also orange in color for high visibility and has special "rescue straps" attached to it. 5th Grade/Saint Michael : . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:02AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, have you ever gone up in a space shuttle? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:06AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . 5th Grade, no I have not flown in a Shuttle, but I have been inside it many times while putting it together in the Vehicle Assembly Building. Saint Michael Lutheran School: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:05AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, were you ever hurt while you were fixing the spaceship? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:07AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Saint Michael Lutheran School, no I have never been hurt while working on the Shuttle. However, we have to be very careful all the time since we work around the explosive propellants and on high platforms (255 feet above the ground). Saint Michael Lutheran School: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:05AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, do you think that there will be extra vehicular activities on Mars? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:09AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Saint Michael Lutheran School, yes, I think there will be a lot of EVA activity on Mars. The atmosphere is almost non-existent, so excursions will have to be done in space suits. Chris: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:05AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Greg, would you say that being hired to work at NASA requires more degrees, or just hard work? There seems to be a myth that to be hired on at NASA you must have many degrees from a university; is this so, or would you say that it is more work ethic and who you are (that gets you hired) than it is the number of degrees you have? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:12AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Chris, I have only one degree - B.S. in aerospace engineering. I have been so busy here at NASA for the last 14 years, I have not even had time to complete a master's degree. At the time I was hired, I had "worldly" experience including a high school community outreach program with McDonnell Douglas followed by a college CO-OP program with McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis. NASA was much more interested in my exposure to the industry and if I could talk intelligently about the Shuttle rather than having a lot of degrees. Saint Michael Lutheran School: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:06AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . .Mr. Katnik, what would happen if someone spilled gas and you did not know it? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:13AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Saint Michael Lutheran School, we have all kinds of detectors all over the place to detect spills, fires, and toxic vapors. The alarms are extremely loud, believe me! Saint Michael Lutheran School: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:09AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, have you ever found anything that could be harmful to the people on the space ship and prevented a tragedy from occurring? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:16AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Saint Michael Lutheran School, we have never found anything right before launch that would have been a hazard to the flight. We do hundreds of inspections to catch things early. For example, we found some cracks in the metal doors on the underside of the Orbiter two weeks before launch. The doors could possibly have broken off in flight because of that. But the cracks were repaired and the Shuttle flew safely. 5th Grade/Saint Michael: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:09AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, do you enjoy your job? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:14AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . 5th Grade, I love this job! Not only is it exciting, but no one else in the entire world does it, not even the Russians! 5th Grade/Saint Michael: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:10AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, did you inspect the Mars Pathfinder? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:17AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . 5th Grade, No, I did not have the chance to work on the Mars Pathfinder. It launched on a different vehicle and I work on Shuttle exclusively. However, I did work on Galileo and Ulysses. Saint Michael Lutheran School: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:10AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, what are the conditions of the launch pad after a launch? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:19AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Saint Michael Lutheran School, the launch pad looks like it has been through an inferno. The exhaust plumes of the rockets can be as hot as 3,000 degrees. They burn the deck paint away, burn some of the surrounding grass, and I have even seen it melt some of the deck steel. Saint Michael Lutheran School: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:11AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, did you ever inspect the Challenger? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:20AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Saint Michael Lutheran School, yes, I did inspect the Challenger and was on the launch pad that night. Commander Scobee waved at me from his window when I was leaving the tower. Saints/Saint Michael: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:11AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, what kind of problems have you found? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:21AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Saints, some of the problems we have found include cracked insulation on the External Tank. Did you know it shrinks 6 inches when the incredibly cold cryogenic fuels are loaded onboard and cause it to contract? Saints/Saint Michael: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:11AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, is NASA going to visit any other planets? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:23AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Saints, NASA wants to visit all the planets, and to visit them repeatedly. For example, the Cassini satellite launch in October will be going to Saturn. As you know, most of the planets have been visited already. 5th Grade/Saint Michael: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:11AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, what was your favorite shuttle to inspect??? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:24AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . 5th Grade, strangely enough, I don't have a favorite Shuttle. I guess because they are all similar in construction. But they were fun to inspect when they were brand new - sort of like just getting a new car from the factory. Saint/Saint Michael: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:15AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, when you inspected, did anyone get stuck? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:25AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Saint, what do you mean "someone got stuck?" Do you mean trapped in a dangerous position? Saint/Saint Michael: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:26AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, yes. Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:50AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Saint, so far no one on my team has ever been trapped in a dangerous position. We do a lot of training on the best ways to fight fires, give first aid, and escape from the pad. We also try to do everything as safe as possible so no one will ever be in a position like that. For example, when I am on the 255-foot level of the tower and standing at the "edge," I wear a special harness that would catch me after only a 6-foot drop if I should ever fall off the edge. Chris: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:16AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Greg, I understand you work on many parts of the shuttle, but more specifically what exactly is your job with the SRBs? Are you responsible for the structural inspection ( i.e., bolts, seals etc.) or are you involved also in the filling of the SRBs with the fuel and such ? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:27AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Chris, I am part of the group that "stacks" each segment of an SRB to make up the complete rocket. We also deal with the joints between each segment, the hold-down posts that attach it to the deck, the parachutes on top, the nozzle underneath.... just to name a few. Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:29AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Chris, the segments come from a factory in Utah already loaded with the solid fuel. In fact, I heard the train engineers are sometimes a little nervous pulling two million pounds of propellant cross country. But yes, I deal with all the nuts, bolts, struts, closeouts, etc. H.Lindekleiv: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:17AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Greg, you began working in NASA in 1983. Were there many worries about the O-rings and the cold weather before the Challenger accident, January 28, 1986? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:31AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . H. Lindekleiv, we at Kennedy Space Center were not aware of any O-ring concerns while putting the segments together. However, the booster design center (Marshall) was working on the problem. They did not complete the solution before the accident happened. We at Kennedy found out about these concerns during the investigation. jeff/aronhomeschool: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:20AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . What determines the severity of a problem in terms of canceling a shuttle launch? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:39AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Jeff, a Shuttle launch can be canceled for many reasons. The primary reason would be any problem that violates safety and is a threat to either the crew or the Shuttle. If something can fly safely, but prevent the mission from being accomplished, then we will delay until the problems are fixed. Sometimes smaller problems, like the failure of 1 out of 44 on-orbit thrusters, is not serious enough to alter the mission. There is enough back-up with the other thrusters to do the job. Saint Michael Lutheran School: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:18AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, will anybody ever build or live in space??? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:34AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Saint Michael Lutheran School, I think we will have to complete the space station in low Earth orbit first before astronauts can go to Mars. We need a "staging point" to put the vehicle together that will take them there. So I think it might not be until ten or fifteen years into the next century. Maybe earlier if everyone wants to make it a high priority. Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:36AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Saint Michael Lutheran School, yes, I believe we will live in space routinely some day. There are astronauts on the Russian Mir space station every day of the year right now. And we will be building the international space station within the next two years. Oran/NASA Chat Host: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:26AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Jeff, Welcome! You have a lot of company today. jeff/aronhomeschool: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:28AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Oran - thanks! how many people are here today? Oran/NASA Chat Host: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:46AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Jeff, we have at least two classrooms online today, in addition to four or five other participants, including yourself. 5th Grade/Saint Michael . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:19AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, have you been in a future spacecraft? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:37AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . 5th Grade, no, I have not been in a future space craft - yet! But if one ever comes to the Kennedy Space Center for launch, I will make a point of doing so!! Rusti/Saint Michael Lutheran School: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:23AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Greg, when did you make the decision to study space science? What has been you most profound memory at NASA to date? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:43AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Rusti, I decided to study aerospace topics in high school by watching the Apollo missions to the moon on TV and the visits I made to McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, where I got a chance to see what engineers did. My most profound memory at NASA was the successful launch of STS-26R, the first flight after the Challenger accident. We knew the whole world was watching to see what would happen and what we would be doing. We even saw that someone had put up a billboard in the Los Angeles area that said "Congratulations NASA!" It feels great knowing the whole country is behind you. jeff/aronhomeschool: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:24AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, what is the most difficult part of the inspection process? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:45AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Jeff, the most difficult part of the inspection process is paying attention to detail. Not all problems are immediately obvious and are only discovered by seeing little "clues." An inspection that is conducted too fast or too far away from the flight hardware may miss these little clues. Saints/Saint Michael: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:25AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, where do the spaceships go? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:47AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Saints, well, the spaceships go many places. On the ground, they are in hangars called Orbiter Processing Facilities. They come into the Vehicle Assembly Building when we attach one to an External Tank. Then they make a 3-mile trip out to the launch pad. When launched, they are in low Earth orbit from 100 to 400 nautical miles high (depending on the mission). The Shuttles then land on a three-mile runway here at the space center and are towed back to the hangars. Saint/Saint Michael: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:26AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, did anyone get burned by the launch pad? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:51AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Saint, to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever been burned by heat on a launch pad. However, I do know over two hundred people were killed on a Russian launch pad when one of their rockets exploded (many years ago). Saint Michael Lutheran School: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:18AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, when do you think astronauts will reach Mars or one of its moons? bob: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:39AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Greg, what is the worst problem you have ever found on a craft? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:58AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Bob, probably the worst problem, other than the Challenger accident, was the first main engine abort on the pad. That happened on STS-14, and even though we had the safing procedures in place, we were hoping we had accounted for everything. Also, we saw flames licking up the side of the Orbiter during the abort shutdown and our fire nozzles could not reach that high (the nozzles were subsequently redesigned to fix that). But it turns out the Shuttle tiles did not even notice this fire since they were designed to withstand the "fire" of re-entry. jeff/aronhomeschool: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:30AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik - do you ever find segments that are above or below weight requirements? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:53AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Jeff, the segments are loaded in a very precise manner, so there is not much variation. However, each segment weighs 243,000 pounds, so a few pounds over or below is acceptable. Chris/University of Calgary Engineering: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:35AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Greg, in that NASA is looking at "faster, better, cheaper," it is possible that within the next 10 or so years the shuttle will be ousted from the space program to make way for something new. Are you learning about the new vehicles or is there a possibility that you will have to be re-trained to keep your job if something new comes along ? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:55AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Chris, yes, I hope Shuttle is phased out (eventually) to make room for new vehicles. Shuttle was on the drawing boards during the Apollo program, that's how old it is. Anyway, I am currently doing some work on X-33 and X-34, so we are trying to stay even with all the new vehicles. H.Lindekleiv: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:41AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Greg, actually, did your group get any problems because of the woodpecker which made serious damage on the coat on the ET on STS-70, Discovery? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 12:01PM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . H. Lindekleiv, yes, since we are responsible for the insulation on the ET, we had to repair over two hundred damage sites caused by the woodpecker. We also had to research preventative measures and scare tactics to keep woodpeckers away from future tanks. As an example, one of the scare tactics places plastic owls around the pad. Owls are a natural enemy of the woodpeckers. So far, it has worked. jeff/aronhomeschool: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:50AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, do you check for sabotage? We suspect the security at the launch pad is quite intense. Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 12:04PM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Jeff, yes, we have tight security around the pad, but NASA security handles that instead of my group. Did you know NASA has its own SWAT team? jeff/aronhomeschool: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:52AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, are the fuels that you use for the rockets given an odor so that you can smell them if they leak? The gas company here does that to our natural gas - so you can smell a gas leak. Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 12:07PM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Jeff, we do not use artificial additives to the fuels (which are liquid, rather than gas) for detection purposes. However, the cryogenic liquid oxygen and hydrogen will show up as white gaseous vapor if a leak causes the liquid to go to a gaseous state. So it is very visible. The other fuels, like nitrogen tetroxide, do have a distinct odor. But since they are so toxic, you are in big trouble if you ever smell it. jeff/aronhomeschool: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:46AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, can we still watch shuttle launches on TV via special cable stations? We haven't seen a shuttle launch in a long time. We will be down in Florida (west Palm beach) between Nov. 18-28 - any launches planned for that time? Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 12:03PM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Jeff, NASA puts out each Shuttle launch and landing on cable. But the cable company in your area decides whether to show it or not. Right now, Columbia is scheduled for launch on November 20th. jeff/aronhomeschool: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 12:06PM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, Nov. 20! Wow - how can we come see the launch? We will be in West Palm Beach at that time but could come up to Kennedy Space Center to see it. Greg/NASA KSC Engineer: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 12:08PM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Jeff, you can contact KSC Public Affairs, or visit the KSC web site, to order a pass and come on the center for the launch. Mrs. Clinger/Saint Michael Lutheran School: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:32AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Greg, we would like to thank you for answering some of our space-related questions. Our students enjoyed the time with you. These students attend Space Camp at Cape Canaveral, FL in January. We will be back visiting with NASA to further prepare for our visit. Best regards and thank you again. Oran/NASA Chat Host: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:53AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mrs. Clinger, thank you very much for joining us today. jeff/aronhomeschool: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:43AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Thanks Oran and Mr. Katnik! Chris/University of Calgary: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:56AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . This has been great! Chris/University of Calgary: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 11:58AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Greg, thanks for your help! I have to go now. E-mail me sometime if you get a chance, I have more to ask you. Thanks ! jeff/aronhomeschool: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 12:10PM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Mr. Katnik, thank you so much for this chat - and for taking the time to answer our questions! This has been informative and delightful - Thanks, thanks, thanks! Oran/NASA Chat Host: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 12:13PM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Thank you very much to everyone for joining us for today's chat with Greg Katnik from NASA Kennedy Space Center. A special thanks to Greg Katnik for joining us today! Oran/NASA Chat Host: . . . . Thu, Sep 4, 12:13PM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . Please join us again for our next scheduled Shuttle Team Online webchat!
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