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UPDATE #108 - February 7, 2000 PART 1: STS-99 to Launch Friday STS-99 TO LAUNCH FRIDAY
We're certainly keeping a good thought! It sounds like all is going well in the planning for this new launch date. Now if the weather will just cooperate... If you'd like to watch the launch, see the links at: http://quest.nasa.gov/ltc/sto/launch We have rescheduled the on-orbit WebCast from the 9th to the 15th - see the schedule below - assuming a successful launch on the 11th. Join us for this and the many other opportunities listed below. Linda Conrad lindac@quest.nasa.gov UPCOMING EVENTS:
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, 10-11am PST (1- 2pm EST, 6- 7pm GMT) QuestChat with Michael Ciannilli Mike focuses on all of the Orbiter systems along with the full compliment of systems on the external tank and solid rocket boosters. See Mike's profile at: http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/ciannilli.html Join the chat from: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi?prj_sto Pre-registration is required ->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 ->Tuesday, February 15: 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.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/jpl/srtm.html ->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 Rick'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 ->Thursday, February 24, 11am-12 noon PST (2-3pm EST; 7-8pm. GMT) Black History Month and National Engineers' Week QuestChat with Tony Bruins . Tony works to generate new ideas and develop systems that can be integrated into and work together to support mission operations. . See Tony's profile at: http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/bruins.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 ->February 25, 2000 Deadline to register your class for the March 2000 Lift Off! Lift Off takes place March 20, 2000 In cooperation with MC2 Learning Systems "Projects From Space" is offering your students the chance to join the men and women of NASA who are working to make survival in space a reality. Through research and collaboration with other classrooms across North America, students will be learning and creating an understanding of space survival. For more information see: http://quest.nasa.gov/space/events THIS WEEK'S PUZZLE CHALLENGE Question #9 deadline was extended since it was not ready for last week's Update: Due February 14, 2000: Picture clue: Go STS-99! A successful mission does not takeoff without months -- or even years -- of training both by the crew and the launch/flight teams. It is the countless hours of hard work that culminates into a launch. This week, five astronauts and a NASA flight surgeon are spending their time doing special training. A newspaper article read, "...NASA astronauts had planned to spend this week in -40 C [-40 F] temperatures beating back wind-whipped snow while with bright blue skies and a relatively balmy temperature of -3° C [27° F]." Name this "chilly" training spot and give some reasons for training [Editor's note: Brandt is Space Team Online's correspondent from the Kennedy Space Center. As such he serves as liaison to our expert, producer of our WebCast series, camera man, journalist - you name it! His "can do" attitude shows as he shares the events surrounding the January 31 launch attempt.] MAYBE TOMORROW http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/secosh.html January 31, 2000 All right! After a great Super Bowl weekend, I was expecting to follow up with the STS 99 launch on Monday at 12:47 P.M. As I left my house, I began to have some doubts due to the weather. It was misty, and the temperature was a lot lower than expected. I had just checked the launch updates prior to leaving, and everything was still a go. I got to the office and picked up my pass to the viewing area. My primary job for the day was to get the launch on film for later use by the Quest Team. My pass would take me to the Banana Creek viewing area - one of the best the Center has to offer. After arriving at Banana Creek, I found a good vantage point to film from and tested my equipment. Everything looked good, and I was ready to go! Shortly after the equipment checks, the mist had turned to rain. To protect the equipment, I packed up and moved inside the Saturn Apollo Facility. While waiting out the rain, I had the pleasure of talking to many people from all over the world! Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and Denmark, to mention a few. Everyone was very excited about the launch but skeptical of the weather. In the meantime, they had plenty of time to marvel inside the Saturn Apollo Facility. This is a place that I would recommend all of you to visit if you come to Kennedy Space Center. The building is built around an actual Saturn V rocket that was intended for the Apollo program. After years of sitting on its side at Kennedy Space Center, it was given the respect that it certainly deserves - a home! This rocket is HUGE - 363 feet long with five engines on it that are also huge. In the photograph at right, you can compare the size of the people in the foreground with the Saturn rocket. I was not able to find an angle to get the entire rocket in the picture because it is so big. The Saturn rocket was the workhorse of the Apollo program and brought many moments of pride to the space program and our nation! Several hours had now gone by, and my attention was focusing on what was happening on launch pad 39A with the STS-99 crew. The weather was already in question, and then it was announced that a technical issue regarding the Master Computer had come in to play. The launch window was only two hours, and we were just about 20 minutes away from the window. As time went on, it was becoming more obvious that weather alone would put the mission on hold. The word finally came that the mission would be postponed for 24 hours. Hopefully, the weather will clear up and the technicians will have some time to address the Master Computer issue. In any case, I will be back at it tomorrow and eagerly looking forward to the launch and the beginning of the SRTM! 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 NASA Shuttle managers announced Friday that the launch of mission STS-99 has been set for Feb.11. The window opens at 12:30 p.m. EST and extends for 2 hours, 10 minutes. Extended scrub turnaround activities continue at the pad as technicians removed and replaced the faulty Master Events Controller (MEC) from Endeavour's aft engine compartment. Testing of the replacement MEC indicated the new controller is operating properly. Work to reconnect ordnance is currently underway and aft engine compartment closeouts will be complete today. The launch countdown will begin at the 43-hour mark at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 8 and the crew will return to KSC at about 12 noon today.
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