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UPDATE #107 - January 31, 1999 PART 1: A 24-hour scrub A 24-HOUR SCRUB
They got to T-9 and made the decision: STS-99 would not fly in January. Hopefully tomorrow will be the day. Earlier in the countdown, Launch Control was trying to determine the status of the master computer and extended the hold at T-20 for much longer than scheduled. At T-9 the official call seems to have been the weather. The central Florida are was socked in. According to STO correspondant, Brandt Secosh, it looks like according to weather reports, thereีs a 60 percent chance of launch tomorrow - same time. At this point, this should not affect the WebCast scheduled for February 9. Tune in tomorrow and keep a good thought. You may watch the launch (hopefully) from links at: http://quest.nasa.gov/ltc/sto/launch 'Til next week, Linda lindac@quest.nasa.gov
Special Features:
February is Black History Month. To celebrate, NASA Quest will host a
series of QuestChats and forums with African American scientists and
engineers who contribute their work in support of NASA's mission and
goals. The schedule which may be added to over time can be found at
http://quest.nasa.gov/qchats/special/mlk00/
Additionally, the week of February 22 through 25 is National Engineers'
Week. We will host a series of QuestChats with NASA engineers. See
http://quest.nasa.gov/qchats/special/eweek00/
->Wednesday, February 9: 10am- Noon PST (1-3pm EST, 6-8pm GMT)
Segment 2 of the SRTM WebCasts: Mission Status during 11-day orbit.
Ask questions of Payloads experts during the mission of the Shuttle Radar
Topography Mission (SRTM). Join us from:
http://quest.nasa.gov/ltc/jpl/srtm.html
->Thursday, February 10, 2000; 10-11am PST (1- 2pm EST, 6- 7pm GMT)
Webcast from the International Space Station Mock-Up and Training Facility
at Johnson Space Center. Join us from:
http://quest.nasa.gov /ltc/sto/tours/index99.html
->Tuesday, February 15; 9-10 am PST (12-1 pm EST; 5-6pm. GMT)
QuestChat with Diane McMahon
Diane participates in all stages of International Space Station (ISS)
payload processing. She is responsible for getting payloads stowed on the
shuttle and then transferred and integrated onto the ISS for science
experiments and research work. See Diane's profile at:
http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/mcmahon.html
Join the chat from: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi?prj_sto
->Wednesday, February 16; 9-10 am PST (12-1pm EST; 5-6pm. GMT)
Dionne Jackson is responsible for identifying and testing and metal alloys
that are used as flight hardware and in supporting equipment and
structures. See Diane's profile at:
http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/jackson.html
Join the chat from: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi?prj_sto
Pre-registration is required
->Wednesday, Feb. 16; 10-11:30am PST (1-2:30pm EST, 6-7:30pm GMT)
Webcast: The long trip to the Launch Pad:
Part 6 of the Landing to Launch Series
Mike and Brandt show you up close the Mobile Launch Platform, the Crawler
and the Crawlerway - describing that 3 1/2 mile pilgrimage. Details of the
webcast including lesson plans are available at:
http://quest.nasa.gov/space/events/ksc99/feb
->Thursday, February17; 11:30 am -12:30 PM (2:30pm EST; 7:30pm. GMT)
Black History Month QuestChat with Janis Davis-Street
Janis is part of a team whose job is determining the nutritional
requirements for astronauts as they venture into space. See Janis' profile
at: http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/davis.html
Join the chat from: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi?prj_sto
Pre-registration is required
->Tuesday, February 22, 9-10 am PST (12-1 pm EST; 5-6pm. GMT)
National Engineers' Week QuestChat with Angie Lee
Angie plays an important role in preparing experiments to fly on the space
shuttle or for the International Space Station (ISS). She helps
scientists develop and obtain the materials
they need to make their experiments work in space. See Angie's profile at:
http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/lee.html
Join the chat from: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi?prj_sto
Pre-registration is required
->Tues., Feb. 22; 10:30-11:30am PST (1:30-2:30pm EST, 6:30- 7pm GMT)
National Engineers' Week QuestChat with Rick Hashimoto
Rick is responsible for ensuring that any changes in Space Shuttle design
or processes or procedures do not cause problems. See Rick's profile at:
http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/hashimoto.html
Join the chat from: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi?prj_sto
Pre-registration is required
->Wednesday, February 23; 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM Pacific
National Engineers' Week QuestChat with Steven Daugherty
Steven is responsible for ensuring that primary systems are designed and
work together properly for successful operation of the International
Space Station (ISS). See Steven's profile at:
http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/daugherty.html
Join the chat from: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi?prj_sto
Pre-registration is required
->Thursday, February 24; 10-11 am PST (1-2 pm EST; 6-7pm. GMT)
Black History Month QuestChat with Jennifer Murray
Jennifer has been involved in applying ultraviolet light to oxygen and
hydrogen sensors. The sensors detect gas leaks or flames from
pipelines on the space shuttle launch pads. See Jennifer's profile at:
http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/murray.html
Join the chat from: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi?prj_sto
Pre-registration is required
Friday, February 25; 9-10am PST (12-1pm EST; 5-6pm. GMT)
National Engineers' Week QuestChat with Keith Zimmerman
Keith is responsible for educating the Russians about NASA's systems and
operations on the ISS, and learning and educating people in the U.S. about
the Russians' support of the space station. See Keith's profile at:
http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/zimmerman.html
Join the chat from: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi?prj_sto
Pre-registration is required
[Editor's note: Steve is the Lead Meteorologist for STS-99. This is a copy of a document that Steve prepared for his job, pertaining to this mission.] by Steve Sokol http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/sokol.html January 28, 2000 PREFLIGHT SUMMARY FOR STS-99 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPACEFLIGHT METEOROLOGY GROUP HOUSTON, TEXAS January 14, 2000 First Space Shuttle Mission of 2000! STS-99 on Radar Topography Mission to Map the Earth The Space Shuttle Endeavor is scheduled for launch from the Kennedy Space Center on January 31, 2000 at 17:47 UTC (12:47 EDT). This will be a high inclination mission (57 degrees) at an altitude of 127 nautical miles. The launch window will be 122 minutes long. The primary Transoceanic Abort Site (TAL) will be Zaragosa, Spain; with alternates of Moron, Spain and Ben Guerir, Morocco. The primary objective of this Radar Topography Mission is to map the Earth's surface in great detail. The space radar will bounce signals off the surface of the Earth to be received by two onboard antenna systems and combined by computers at a ground facility to produce 3-D images of the earth with an accuracy of 53 feet. The regions to be mapped contain 95 percent of the world's population. Because the shuttle will fly over most of the globe's surface, enough data will be acquired to generate the most complete topographic map of the Earth's land surface. A secondary payload will be EarthKAM, a NASA sponsored program that allows middle school students to take photographs of the earth from a camera aboard the Space Shuttle. Kevin Kregel will be Endeavor's Commander. The Pilot will be Dominic Gorie. Mission Specialists include Gerhard Thiele, Janet Kavandi, Janice Voss, and Mamoru Mohri. Endeavor 's landing is scheduled for February 11th at 21:55 UTC (16:55 EDT). The SMG Lead Forecaster will be Steve Sokol working his 86th mission and the 16th as Mission Lead. Wayne Baggett will be the Assistant Lead and TAL site forecaster. Mark Keehn will be the Techniques Development (TDU) Meteorologist. The Spaceflight Meteorology Group web site is http://www.srh.noaa.gov/smg. Updated launch and landing times are available at http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/schedule/schedule.htm [Editor's note: Tracy works for a group that gets launch experiment hardware from other NASA space centers, from universities, and from foreign sponsors ready for launch. They install the experiment hardware they receive in or on a standard carrier so that it can fly somewhere in the space shuttle orbiter.] BACK AT KSC! http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/gill.html January 25, 2000 Interviewer: Brandt Secosh It is good to be back at Kennedy Space Center! I returned to KSC on 5 January, and I am doing my best to get back up to speed. Thanks to the Kennedy Space Center Graduate Fellowship Program, I have attended school over the last year the University of Florida for my Masters degree in Aerospace Engineering. The program is a great experience and challenging, to say the least! My background is in Electrical Engineering so I had to work double duty to get into the Aerospace mindset. I initially had to spend some time reviewing math and concepts that I hadn't used in a while. After a month I was back up to speed and ready to go. One of the big changes that I saw since I was in school last, was the utilization of the Internet. It was nice to be able to email my professor and to have communications outside of the classroom. I still like the classroom environment best, but I think the Internet provides a great supplement to long distance learning. I will be working on my thesis over the next few months. For my thesis I will be designing and building a circuit to mimic the response on the International Space Station power switches on a test stand used to perform International Space Station simulation. The current system is too fast and has a large "switch bounce." Switch bounce is a transient spike in the voltage and current when a mechanical switch is close to allow the flow of electricity. The spike is a lull in the flow that doesn't affect everyday electrical items like typical lights in a house but can be a problem with sensitive electronics. ISS power switches are solid state relays instead of mechanical contractors, so they do not suffer from switch bounce. I learned a lot during this program and was also able to give a little advice on several of the projects that are taking place at UF. A Mars Rover project was one of the ongoing projects as well as a satellite project. Most of the advice I was able to contribute from my NASA experience concerned basic electrical design in space regarding voltages and converters. Prior to beginning school last year I was worked with Experiment Integration and was involved in the MEIT testing for the International Space Station. I will now be working with Space Station Utilization and will focus on ISS experiment racks and Shuttle mid deck experiments. I am excited about being back and Kennedy Space Center and look forward to contributing to the space program! So, let me wish all of you a happy New Year and I will keep you updated as often as possible!
STATUS OF ORBITER PROCESSING - PREPARING FOR STS-99 Typically this area is devoted to processing of the Columbia Orbiter. At this time Columbia is in California being refurbished, so we will continue to use this area to update you on the mission in focus, in this case, STS-99 As of January 30: Shuttle managers confirmed today that the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour remains on schedule for Jan. 31 at 12:47 p.m. After a final review of data gathered on a defective main engine fuel pump seal from orbiter Discovery, engineers determined that Endeavour's main engine fuel pumps are safe for flight. The analysis indicates that the possibility of having a defective seal onboard Endeavour is very unlikely. The standard pre-tanking mission management team meeting occurs at 3:30 a.m. tomorrow and loading of the external tank with about 500,000 gallons of liquid propellant is slated to begin at about 4:30 a.m. Shuttle weather forecasters now indicate a 40 percent chance of favorable weather on Monday. The forecast calls for scattered to broken clouds at 3,000 feet, and broken clouds at 10,000 and 25,000 feet; visibility at 7 miles; winds from the northwest at 12 peaking to 16 knots; temperature at 62 degrees F; relative humidity at 60 percent; dewpoint at 48 degrees F; and the possibility of rain showers in the area. The primary concerns are low cloud ceilings, the possibility of thick clouds and the chance of showers. Processing Milestones: Rotating Service Structure retracted . . . . .(Jan. 30 at about 6:30 p.m.) External tank loading . . . . . . . . . . . . (Jan. 31, 4:30 - 7:30 a.m.)
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