UPDATE # 3 - March 24, 1997

PART 1: Classroom activities for Shuttle Team Online
PART 2: Your students on NASA's web
PART 3: A hydrogen leak is a worrisome thing
PART 4: Investigating a fire in space, and Dad at school
PART 5: Status of STS-83
PART 6: Subscribing/unsubscribing: how to do it

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES FOR SHUTTLE TEAM ONLINE


Shuttle Team Online provides a connection to the people who make
the shuttle fly. In addition, various classroom activities are available
to help teachers/parents link the people-stories with more
traditional aspects of school curriculum. Brief descriptions of these
curriculum supplements are provided here; more details can be
found on our Web site.

Two different activities encourage students to collaborate with other
students in remote classrooms: "Students Improve the Shuttle" and
"Shuttle Simulations."

"Students Improve the Shuttle" has students select a part of the
shuttle system to improve. Any shuttle area is fair game; the focus
has been kept deliberately broad to best help teachers integrate this
activity into a variety of subject areas. Each participant researches
and designs an improvement, and then provides their design to
NASA, where it is shared online. In the latter part of April,
classrooms from around the world will examine these designs and
provide feedback and critiques. Designers will have an opportunity
to revise their work, and then NASA experts will provide feedback.
This is a middle-school/high-school activity. For more details, see:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/improve

"Shuttle Simulations" has students pretending they are conducting
their own in-class space shuttle mission. Youngsters will first
perform a launch simulation with a NASA-provided script. Next,
while "on-orbit," an experiment will be conducted, collecting real
data. To complete the mission, a landing simulation will occur.
Classrooms will be then be teamed with others to share the
numerical data gathered and draw conclusions. This will work best at
the elementary/middle-school levels. Teachers have flexibility about
when they schedule their mission, but we hope you'll register your
intent to participate as soon as possible. Please visit:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/simulations
In addition to these two Internet-wide activities, there are two
collections of lesson plans available for in-class use (without sharing).

One set focuses on rockets and the underlying science, mathematics
and technology. The background includes: a brief history of rockets,
rocket principles and practical rocketry. Twelve different classroom
activities include: Pop Can Hero Engine, Rocket Car, Paper Rockets,
Balloon Staging and Project X-35. See
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/teachers/rockets

The other set of lessons focuses on microgravity science. You may
recall that the upcoming shuttle mission is dedicated to microgravity
research. Besides a background section, 16 different activities
include: Free Fall Demonstrator, Gravity and Acceleration, Inertial
Balance, Surface Tension, Candle Flames and Rapid Crystallization.
Go to http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/teachers/mg
We hope you'll use these resources to help make the connection for
your students to the real work shared in Shuttle Team Online.
We especially hope you'll join us in the first two collaborative
student activities.



YOUR STUDENTS ON NASA'S WEB


Shuttle Team Online is really about students taking an active role in
studying rockets, space and microgravity. We'd like to get pictures of
your students at work on these issues and/or samples of their work.
We will then display your contributions on NASA's Web. Many kids
will be very excited to point their browser to NASA and see themselves.

For ideas on what this might look like, please take a look at the
Kid's Corner from a different project (about Mars):
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/kids
The following information is intended to help you in submitting your
materials for posting to the Shuttle Team Online Web site. If you have
any further questions, contact Linda directly.

* If it is text:
Send it in the body of an email message to: 

* If it has pictures or diagrams:
It is always our hope that material that comes from the classroom
can be graphically represented on the Web. There are several choices:

If it already exists in electronic form, you can try enclosing the
pictures in a MIME-compliant mail message (if you are familiar with
how to do that...using an email package like Eudora or Pine), or

We can FTP it from a location you specify, or

If it is already on a Web page, we can simply point to it.

Please send Linda a note either with the goodies or with
instructions on how to get at the material (FTP site of Web address).


If these fancy digital techniques won't work:
Black and white diagrams can be FAXed to Linda Conrad
, or material can also be sent via U.S. postal mail to
the following address: Linda Conrad, NASA Ames Research Center.

Any text should be in electronic format. Photos and art will be
returned if you like.

We would very much like to feature the work of your students on
our NASA site. But we can only display your work if you send it....
so please share!



[Editor's note: Mike is a supervisor of the Main Propulsion/Space
Shuttle Main Engine branch at the Kennedy Space Center. These folks
make sure that the Shuttle orbiter's liquid propellant main engine
systems are assembled, tested, fueled, and fired properly.]

A HYDROGEN LEAK IS A WORRISOME THING 

Mike Wilhoit - http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/wilhoit.html
March 14, 1997
Next time you're in the kitchen, pour a cool glass of water and have
a big drink.

Guess what? You just swallowed rocket fuel! Sort of.

The Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) use the same elements
contained in that tasty sip of your water for their propellant, namely
hydrogen and oxygen. But in a much different form, and much colder
than your drink. Both propellants are in a cryogenic liquid state,
with the liquid hydrogen used at a temperature of about -422 degrees
Fahrenheit (deg F) and the liquid oxygen at about -289 deg F.
The cold, dense liquid enables the Shuttle to carry enough
propellant to reach orbit and still be able to store it in a small
enough volume to be manageable. But when the liquid is warmed
enough to turn it into a gas, the resulting mass occupies a much
larger volume. It doesn't take much liquid hydrogen to make a
significant cloud of hydrogen gas, which is extremely explosive if
mixed with air.

What does all this have to do with STS-83 and Columbia?

Plenty. During Columbia's last launch countdown for STS-80,
detection systems at the launch pad indicated a higher than normal
amount of hydrogen gas inside the orbiter's aft fuselage, where the
main propulsion hardware is located. Although some hydrogen is
expected to be observed during this operation, this particular amount
of hydrogen was unusually high, and suggested that somewhere in
the system there was a leak. Throughout the fuel loading and
countdown, the concentration of this hydrogen gas was carefully
monitored by the launch team. As propellant valves and pumps
were operated, any changes in this concentration were noted to try
to determine the location of where the hydrogen leak might be, and
if it might possibly worsen or even become dangerous.

 After carefully observing all of the data and discussing the situation
with many experts around the country, the team decided that the leak
situation was unusual, but acceptable, and that Columbia was safe to
fly. The countdown was even held for an extra 2 minutes and 47
seconds at the T-minus 31 second point to make one last safety
determination. Perhaps you noticed that additional countdown hold
if you were able to watch the launch day coverage.

Even while Columbia was still in orbit, system engineers held many
discussions to identify any possible causes for a hydrogen leak like
what was seen. Every possibility was considered before any were
rejected in order to be sure that nothing would be overlooked. The
data from STS-80 as well as several previous launches was reviewed
over and over again. After Columbia landed, the team examined and
tested the Orbiter main propulsion system extensively to try to find
any leaking hardware, but no leaks were found. The only hardware
that could not be examined, of course, is the External Tank (ET),
which is destroyed during re-entry into the Pacific Ocean near
Hawaii. There are seals inside part of the ET which, if they leaked,
could explain the observations on Columbia. And there is some
previous history of leakage with this seal design, although the ET
seals for STS-80 had tested OK prior to the launch.

 So, the team believes that it knows what could have been leaking, but
can't prove it completely since the hardware evidence was destroyed. Well,
you might ask, is Columbia going to be have another hydrogen leak for
this launch? That is the same question that the main propulsion
team has worked hard to answer ever since the last launch on
November 19. We believe the answer is no, but because the STS-80
ET is unavailable to examine we have to make plans just in case
there is another leak. In the last several weeks, there have been
many discussions among engineers and managers to determine how
to react if a leak occurs again. The primary concern is to keep the
astronauts, the ground support people, and the Space Shuttle itself
safe from injury or damage. If a leak occurs again, every member of
the engineering and management teams have to agree that the cause
and magnitude of the leakage is understood well enough before a
recommendation to fly that day is made, in the same way that
STS-80 was cleared to launch.

If you are able to monitor the pre-launch activities, either with
NASA Select TV or the Shuttle Web, here are some tips on how to
know if hydrogen leakage becomes an issue again. There are several
key engineers in the firing room whom you may hear discussing this
type of problem. They have communication "call signs" when they
are talking to the launch management team or to each other. They are:

CMPS - the Main Propulsion System (MPS) launch console
engineer/operator

CPROP - the senior MPS engineer in the firing room
pronounced "C-Prop")

TPROP - the senior ET and liquid hydrogen ground
system engineer ("T-Prop")

CHGD - the HGDS (Hazardous Gas Detection System) engineer
responsible for monitoring and evaluating the hydrogen
concentrations in and around the Shuttle and launch pad
(whose call name is sometimes shortened to "Haz Gas")

SPE - the senior NASA Shuttle Project Engineer

NTD - the NASA Test Director. If an unusual leak reappears, the team
is prepared to conduct a test to pressurize the ET earlier than normal
to try to predict how large the leak may become when the Shuttle is
in its final launch configuration. Ordinarily the final ET pressurization
occurs with less than 2 minutes to go before launch, and it was at that
time when the STS-80 leak was greatest. This test may occur during
the countdown hold at T-9 minutes, and if the results are
unacceptable it will cause a launch delay. If the leak does not
reappear, then the STS-80 hydrogen leak can be attributed to the ET
seals, and Columbia can rocket into orbit to conduct the microgravity
science mission of STS-83.



[Editor's note: Rick works for Boeing in Downey, California. He is a
product safety engineer and makes sure that any changes in a
Shuttle design, process, or procedure don't have an adverse effect on
safety. His daughter Starla is a student at Suzanne Middle School.]

INVESTIGATING A FIRE IN SPACE, AND DAD AT SCHOOL

Rick Hashimoto - http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/hashimoto.html
Week ending March 1, 1997:
Sun. 23 Feb - In the afternoon we attend a Bone Marrow Candidate
Search campaign at the Suzanne Middle School. I'm told that
since I'm registered already, I need not re-register. The wife
waits her turn to register herself.

Mon. 24 Feb - The first phone call of the day (around 5:30 a.m.
PST) is from Miles Whitnah, the NASA Headquarters (Washington
D.C.) member of our Joint Safety Assurance Working Group (JSAWG)
member asking whether I had heard or seen anything related to the
fire that occurred on the Mir. My reply was that I have no
knowledge or information related to the fire. Miles then gave an
account of the information that he had - that the fire initiated
from the solid oxygen generating cartridge carried on-board the
Mir and lasted about 90 seconds. I was informed that three Mir
fire extinguishers were used to put out the flame.

 I then relayed the information to other working members of our working
group. I then searched the Internet to see if any newswire
service had additional information about the fire. About mid-day
a NASA Shuttle-Mir Management Tag-Up occurred where additional
information was received about the Mir fire - that the six Mir
crew members each wore a gas mask for about 20 minutes then
switched to filter masks that they will all be wearing overnight.
We were informed that aside from minor irritation, the crew were
in good shape. This was the beginning of the search to
understand and determine the cause of the fire of the
supplemental oxygen generating cartridges system on the Mir.

Gary Johnson, the NASA co-chairman of JSAWG requested a special
Tuesday morning teleconference with the Russian JSAWG to find out
what they know about the fire. JSC faxed a letter to Russia with
our concerns and questions.

Tue. 25 Feb - The teleconference was initiated by the NASA
Teleconferencing Center at 7:30 a.m. CST with the participating
NASA centers and Rocket Science Corporation - Energia, our
Russian counterpart. The Russians confirmed the use of three
fire extinguishers, the oxygen generating cartridge material and
its decomposition process. Special panels have been formed to
investigate the incident to determine the extent of damage and to
determine the cause of the fire. Other important information
related to this subject was discussed at this teleconference.

During the day, a meeting was held to discuss the next meeting
with the Russians at JSC and the travel arrangement of each of
the travelers from Boeing Downey.

In the evening, I attended the performance of the Suzanne Middle
School's 7th grade Band and the Challenger Band for the pre-
festival music session. This was interesting in that the program
contained the list of instruments and the various grading
criteria that the judges will be using during the actual music
festival scheduled for March 20th.

Wed. 26 Feb - Part of the day was spent coordinating the next
Joint Safety Assurance Working group meeting with the Russian at
JSC. The rest of the day was working on some of the documents
that will be reviewed at the above meeting.

Evening - This is the last coaching session for the Mathcounts
team at Suzanne Middle School before the California state
competition at University of California at Irvine. I conduct
this session using tests administered during the National
Mathcounts competition during the 1986-1987 school year. As
expected and due to the difficulty of these problems, the members
and team get about half of them correct.

Thu. 27 Feb - Called JSC Security to obtain information on the
paperwork and arrangements that are necessary to obtain a
temporary badge for our admission to JSC during the upcoming
meeting with the Russians.

The Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance (SRQA) at Boeing
Downey is visited by Mr. David Valentine - who is here from
United Space Alliance (USA) to become familiar with the Shuttle
SRQA activities at Boeing North American (BNA). A presentation
is made to him by various BNA engineers and managers.

Fri. 28 Feb - The morning is spent listening to the presentation
of the Shuttle-Mir Flight Techniques panel where topics of
concerns and issues are presented for resolution and information
by the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD).

Sat. 1 Mar - In the morning I take and return our daughter, Starla,
to and from the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center
where she attends Japanese Language classes. The afternoon is
spent trimming the Italian Cypress trees in the back of our house
 -some thirty or so that will grow to 30-40 feet high if they are not
trimmed. We have them trimmed to no more that 8 feet high.



STATUS OF STS-83


The next scheduled shuttle mission is STS-83, a 16-day microgravity
lab scheduled for launch on April 3 at 2:01 p.m. EST. Before launch,
we'll provide periodic updates about preparations for the mission.
These reports will contain jargon and unfamiliar terms; our intent is
not to confuse you, but to provide a glimpse at all the details involved.
Detailed daily reports can be found at the NASA Shuttle Status web
site at http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/status/status.htm
Since the last updates-sto message, the practice launch countdown
finished. This practice went very well and gave everybody
(including the astronauts) a chance to review the launch procedures.

Workers removed and replaced a low pressure fuel turbo pump on
main engine No. 1, and leak checks on this pump were conducted.
Engineers ran a Helium Signature Test of the main propulsion system
(everything was complete and good) and the rudder speed brake was
tested.

The Flight Readiness Review (FRR) was conducted at the Kennedy
Space Center. The FRR is an agency-wide management review of the
upcoming Space Shuttle mission conducted prior to each launch.
Managers reviewed outstanding concerns remaining from
the previous Shuttle mission and discussed preparations on going to
support the launch of Columbia. After the meeting, NASA managers
set April 3 as the official launch date. Mission Specialist Donald
Thomas, who suffered a broken ankle following a routine training
exercise on Jan. 29, was officially cleared to fly as planned.


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