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UPDATE # 100 - November 15, 1999 PART 1: WOW - Could it really be #100 WOW - COULD IT REALLY BE #100?
It's hard to believe, STO Updates have reached the triple digits! Somehow that feels like cause for celebration. In less than three years, STO has accumulated a great team of experts who communicate with eager students to inform and inspire them to achieve their goals! We've recently received your enthusiastic response and encouragement to continue with our mission here at NASA Quest, Space Team Online. What a way to usher in the Thanksgiving season. I feel tremendously grateful for the opportunity to be where I am, participating in this exchange of ideas and news surrounding the space program; working with NASA personnel who are willing to invest in the future by volunteering their time to communicate with students; and working with you as we try to make this project respond to the needs of students of all ages. Thank you! Linda Conrad UPCOMING EVENTS
Please be sure to visit each site before the scheduled time. Usually many
events require pre-registration and some include preparation. Remember,
you
can get help if you've never chatted online before. Join your chat host,
Oran Cox, during one of his practice sessions.
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qchats/practice/
->Wed., Nov. 17, 1999: 10-11:30a.m.PST(1-2:30p.m.EST, 6-7:30p.m. GMT)
With Space Shuttle Discovery and Space Shuttle Endeavour in the Orbiter
Processing Facility preparing for possible December and January launches,
Brandt Secosh and Mike Ciannilli toured the OPF and will share footage
from that visit with you for this exciting segment of the Landing to
Launch series. Lesson helps are online to help in preparation. Join us:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/ksc99/nov
->Thursday, November 18, 1999: 10:00 a.m. PST(1-2p.m.EST, 6-7p.m. GMT)
Women of NASA QuestChat with Joyce Dever. See her profile at:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/women/bios/jd.html
Joyce will chat about STS-103, scheduled to launch December 2, 1999.
For more information, see the schedule at:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi?Dever
->Thursday, November 18, 1999 11-12noon PDT(2-3p.m.EDT, 7-8p.m. GMT)
QuestChat with Steven Daugherty
Steven leads a group of designers working on the integrated active thermal
control (ATC) system for the International Space Station
(ISS). See his profile at:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/daugherty.html
For more information, see the schedule at:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/iss99/
->Friday, November 19, 1999 10:00 a.m. PST(1-2p.m.EST, 6-7p.m. GMT)
Aero Design Team Online presents a QuestChat with Ray Oyung
Ray Oyung is part of a team that tries to find ways of reducing the
effects of fatigue, sleep loss, and disruptions to the body's internal
clock on flight crews during flight operations. Included here because his
work often impacts shuttle crews. See:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi?prj_adto
->Tuesday, November 23, 1999 10:00 a.m. PST(1-2p.m.EST, 6-7p.m. GMT)
Webcast continuing the series Focus: International Space Station
Tour the Mock-Up and Training Facility at Johnson Space Center and ask
your questions. See: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/iss99
To see a complete listing of NASA Quest's offerings, see the schedule of
events at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events
THIS WEEK'S PUZZLE CHALLENGE SURVEY FEEDBACK - More Specifics on Live Chats
I will continue to respond to notes received as a result of our survey question: What needs were not met that you would like to see addressed in the future? *Be more specific about the logistics of live chats. I had a class of 15 with 15 computers. I didn't know if each student could ask a question or if I should moderate the students' questions and only send from one computer. I'm really happy to report that throughout the summer and into this fall, Oran Cox, our QuestChat manager, has been busy responding to needs that folks have expressed with regards to getting to know the chat process better. He has developed a site that deals specifically with the how-to and other questions. You can find it beginning at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qchats/welcome/ Specific to the question above, I will respond and then encourage you to join Oran during one of his practice chats and ask his personal opinion. Here's mine, if your question had to do with number of questions allowed: As a former classroom teacher, I think teaching appropriate and intelligent questions is a big part of almost any inquiry-based learning. If I had a class of 15, even given 15 available computers, I would still group the kids so that they could experience the process of "fine-tuning" their queries before going public. They stand to learn a lot more from that group process than they would from an answer to a hasty question. Beyond that, I believe that it is important to consider that the time is limited for expert response. If the chat room is full of participants, given 15 computers from one site, even limited to 2 questions each, the expert would receive 30 questions from your site alone. It can take some experts all of the available 60 minutes to respond to those, leaving no time for other classrooms. If too many questions are asked, often students are disappointed by not seeing their question answered live. If your comment/request above was more about the moderating of questions asked than what I have responded to, then the answer is a bit different. We do typically moderate questions before placing them in the "Main" chat room. We anticipate that students will be supervised at their site. If a student from a given site acts inappropriately, that site may be blocked from posting questions for a short time to give the local supervisor a chance to "deal with" the issue. If that is insufficient to put a stop to the problem, the site will be blocked for the rest of the chat. [Editor's note: Felix is a design engineer at Kennedy Space Center, though here he illustrates the lifelong learning process that is encouraged at NASA.] BUSY WITH SCHOOL http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/soto_toro.html November 11, 1999 Interviewer: Brandt Secosh Many of the Kennedy Space Center employees are constantly seeking to improve themselves and the space team effort by attending advanced schooling. Felix Soto-Toro is no exception to this. Felix is taking advantage of the offer to study for a year at the University of Central Florida. This will lay the groundwork for his Doctorate! Felix has the belief that by obtaining a higher degree, he would be better qualified as an astronaut candidate. This has been a dream and a goal for Felix since he began working at Kennedy Space Center over nine years ago. I have every reason to belief that he will make it! The program that Felix is involved with is known as the NASA KSC Graduate Fellowship Program. This is a great opportunity to sharpen technical skills and Felix highly recommends this to anyone that can accommodate this opportunity in their schedule. While at UCF, Felix also stays in contact with schools using desktop video-conferencing equipment. Felix has been very involved in inspiring students towards careers in engineering and is eager to offer his guidance and experience. Felix wishes you all the best for the upcoming holiday season and the pursuit of your career goals through education. [Editor's note: Roger is a test engineer at Kennedy Space Center and, among other things, is responsible for deciding how to test ground support equipment for use at the space shuttle launch pads.] PACKING HARDWARE FOR SPACE FLIGHT http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/koss.html November 10, 1999 Interviewer: Brandt Secosh As hardware for the International Space Station arrives at Kennedy Space Center, it is received, tested and then prepared for delivery into space. Many of the items are packed into modules to keep them contained, protect them and allow them to be transportable. Each and every item packed in the modules needs to be packed in a certain location, conform to a certain weight criteria and must be secured. There are several reasons for this: The total weight must be at or less than the maximum allowable weight. If the weight of the module exceeds the maximum allowable weight, it could cause the shuttle not to reach the desired orbit. The location is very important because we want to distribute the weight as evenly as possible within the module. If there is uneven weight within the module, it could cause the Orbiter to exceed loading criteria. Aircraft, as well as spacecraft, are loaded according to weight and balance. These are two critical components that can't be exceeded. When you consider the balancing point of an aircraft, you can consider it to be the point about which an aircraft would balance if it were possible to suspend it at that point. Once this point is located it is referred to as the Center of Gravity (CG). The CG will change each time an item is loaded. This is all OK, if it doesn't exceed the CG range. As an example, lets say that an aircraft was in balance and then we added weight to the nose of the aircraft. This could cause the nose of the aircraft to become too heavy causing the CG to shift in that direction. If the CG range were exceeded, it would cause the aircraft to become unsafe and not be able to perform as it was designed. The only way to correct this would be to either reduce the weight or to move the weight to a location that would cause the CG to fall back in range. These same principles also apply to an orbiter. Finally, each item must be securely fastened within the module. If any of the loaded items shifts around after it is packed, it would cause the CG to also shift. Roger Koss and his team have recently completed testing a hydraulic jack system that allows items to be loaded into a module known as the Rack Insertion Device (RID). This system allows items that are stored in the RID to be precisely located and secured for flight. This system will be used to load and deliver most of the components of the International Space Station that will be departing the Kennedy Space Center on board the Space Shuttle. One of the major factors in developing this system was that the jacks would have to withstand load forces from different directions during launch operations. That is to say that the jacks would have to sustain direct load forces as well as side load forces. Using computer software, an artificial environment was created to simulate the stresses that the system would be exposed to during launch. After perfecting the design on the computer, the jacks were modified and are now in the final phase of acceptance! STATUS OF ORBITER PROCESSING - PREPARING FOR STS-103
Typically this area is devoted to processing of the Columbia Orbiter. At
this time Columbia is in California so we will continue to use this area
to update you on the mission in focus, in this case STS-103, the Hubble
Servicing Mission:
Space Shuttle Discovery rolled out to Launch Pad 39B on Saturday,
Nov. 13. First motion from the Vehicle Assembly Building began at
7:27 a.m. and the Shuttle was hard down at the pad by 2:17 p.m.
Discovery had been scheduled to begin its transfer to the pad at
2 a.m., but inspections of minor external tank foam damage delayed
the departure.
While Discovery was in the VAB, workers completed efforts
to replace Shuttle main engine No. 3 and the solid rocket
booster range safety cable. The Shuttle Interface Test
validated all Space Shuttle connections prior to rollout. Final
checks of the replaced main engine will be completed at the
pad. Launch pad validations are under way and installation of
the payload into Discovery's payload bay is slated for tomorrow.
The seven-member flight crew arrived at KSC Sunday
afternoon and will participate in Terminal Countdown
Demonstration Test activities through Wednesday. The launch
day dress rehearsal concludes Wednesday at 11 a.m. with a
simulated main engine cutoff. Shuttle managers will convene
the STS-103 Flight Readiness Review on Friday, Nov. 19 to
discuss the overall readiness of all Space Shuttle systems for
flight.
Major Processing Milestones: (targets only)
Payload installed into orbiter . .. . . . . . . . . . . . (Nov. 16)
Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test
(crew dress rehearsal) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Nov. 17)
Flight Readiness Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Nov. 19)
Shuttle main engine test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Nov. 23)
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