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UPDATE # 11 - May 16, 1997 PART 1: A pile of WebChats A PILE OF WEBCHATS
A series of webchats are scheduled through the end of May. These events provide an opportunity to meet live with the people who make the shuttle fly. To participate, you need access to a modern web browser. Also, you must RSVP ahead of time to get an enabling password. For more details please visit: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/interact.html The following folks are currently scheduled: Suzanne Cunningham, Wed, May 21, 10-11 am Pacific Suzanne is responsible for making sure the Thermal Protection System for the Space Shuttle Endeavour is ready to protect the spaceship and the people inside from the burning heat the ship feels as it plunges back to Earth. Charles Lloyd, Thur, May 22 10-11 am Pacific: Charles works to plan the science that will happen on the International Space Station (ISS). Paul Ronney, Thur, May 22, 11 am-1230 pm Pacific: Paul is an Alternate Mission Payload Specialist for the STS-94 mission. Along with the regular astronaut crew, Paul has been trained to fly in case one of the other Payload Specialists gets sick or is unable to fly for another reason. Steve Sides, Wed, May 28, 10-11 am Pacific: Steve is a space shuttle flight controller who is part of the team responsible for communication and data transmission equipment Steve also controls space shuttle cameras that send live pictures from space to Earth. WE NEED YOUR HELP
Since we are spending US taxpayer dollars on Shuttle Team Online, we have to demonstrate to NASA management that the project is having an outreach impact. To assess the impact, we will be conducting a number of email surveys over the next few weeks. Please help us by taking the time to respond to these surveys. Each one should only take a few minutes. A significant response rate to the survey will best help us make a case to NASA management that Shuttle Team Online is worth continuing into the future. If you receive these messages via email, you'll be included in the survey distribution. If, however, you read these messages on the web, please register your interest on the web at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/news/register.html Then we'll get your email and can include you in the surveys. Also, please help us by spreading the word about Shuttle Team Online. The more people who participate, the easier it is to conclude that the project should continue. So if you think they would be interested, tell your friends and family to sign up for the email list by sending a message to: listmanager@quest.arc.nasa.gov In the message body, write exactly these words: subscribe updates-sto SPACE SIMULATIONS UNDERWAY
A bunch of classrooms are now participating in the Shuttle Simulation activity. These classes have simulated a launch, collected data while "on-orbit", and then safely landed. Now, online, these classes are comparing data. if you registered for this activity but never got any email, please re-register. A few folks forgot to leave any contact information. See details at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/simulations [Editor's note: Jennifer is a coop student who works in a group that determines the shuttle's trajectory - the path that it flies around the Earth. She tells the shuttle when to burn the engines in order to move the orbit to where it is needed.] TELLING THE SHUTTLE WHERE TO GO http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/jones.html March 27, l997 Hi there, my name is Jennifer Jones. If you read my biography on the Shuttle Team page, you know that I am a cooperative education student at Johnson Space Center. Since I began working here in January, I have been involved with various projects in the Flight Design and Dynamics Division. The one I want to tell you about today is my Post Insertion Vector Study. About 40 minutes after a liftoff from KSC, the crew must perform a burn of the Orbital Maneuvering System Engines in order to "insert" the shuttle in its desired orbit. We call this burn OMS-2. If we didn't burn the engines to raise the orbit of the shuttle, it would just loop around the Earth and reenter the atmosphere. Before launch, the Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO) must predict where the orbiter will be after the OMS-2 burn. The prediction comes in the form of a state vector which is composed of six numbers - the three position coordinates of the orbiter and the velocities it is traveling in each of these directions. This vector is then sent to US Space Command at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. The people at USSPACECOM track debris and spacecraft that are orbiting the Earth. They take the vector sent from JSC and calculate whether any of the objects that they are tracking will come within a specified range of the orbiter at its post-OMS2 position. Currently, the flight rules list this range as a box with the orbiter at its center. The box is 10 km wide and tall, and 30 km long. If Space Command finds any conjunctions through the first two hours of the mission, they send a message to the FDO in the Mission Control Room at JSC. Following precautions in the flight rules, in the case of a conjunction prediction, the launch will be held to the next even minute to assure clearance. Right now I am studying the difference between the post-OMS-2 vector that the FDO predicted and the actual vector that was measured in flight. Analyzing these vectors will give us an idea of how well we are predicting the shuttle's trajectory. We need to send accurate predictions to Space Command so that they can correctly warn us of conjunctions with the orbiter. [Editor's note: Nick was a Mission Specialist recently at the California Space Camp. In this series of shorts, we've been sharing some experiences of various campers, to show that students can take on space roles now before they leave school.] THE MMU WAS MY FAVORITE THING April 1, 1997 I was a Mission Specialist. I did an experiment where I ran on the treadmill for one minute and took my pulse. I also learned that the space shuttle is also called an Earth Orbiter, and we learned about heat tiles they have when coming back to earth. The MMU was my favorite thing. I also like the chair that spun around. [In the future,] I would like to go into space. [Editor's note: Andy takes care of ground equipment for the shuttle. His specialty include cranes, platforms and heavy equipment. These cranes are used to lift shuttle parts (orbiter, payload, solid rocket boosters and external tank) so they can be put together. The heavy equipment includes the Astro Van used to transport the astronauts to the launch pads and the Crew Transport Vehicle used to transfer the astronauts from the orbiter after landings.] BRINGING ENDEAVOUR HOME http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/warren.html April 16, l997 In order to transfer orbiters from California to Florida, and vice versa, they are placed atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA for short) for flight. It's quite a sight to see the pair flying through the air. NASA has three devices for placing orbiters atop an SCA. Two of the devices are located at the landing sites in Florida and California. These are called Mate-Demate Devices (MDD). A third device is located at the Boeing facility in Palmdale, California, where the orbiters were manufactured and are returned for refurbishment. This device is called the Orbiter Lifting Frame (OLF). I recently returned to Florida after supporting the return of the orbiter Endeavour from Palmdale to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Endeavour had been refurbished and needed to be returned to KSC for its next launch. Here's a brief description of the operation. We flew out to California a few days prior to the scheduled operation in order to ensure the equipment was ready for the lift. The Orbiter Lifting Frame was checked out according to a maintenance procedure and was found to be ready for the operation. On the morning of the operation I arrived at work at 4:30 a.m. There was a pre-task briefing at 5:30 a.m. where everyone involved with the operation was given a brief description of the tasks, a weather forecast and special safety instructions. After this briefing the facility was checked a final time to ensure everything was ready. Endeavour was towed from a hangar at about 6:00 a.m. The operation starts at daylight because there is not enough lighting around the OLF to work in the dark and the operation takes about 8 to 10 hours if there are no problems. Endeavour was towed into position underneath the OLF structure. Next a four-point lifting sling was attached to the orbiter. The orbiter was then lifted slightly above the ground. The landing gear was retracted and the landing gear doors were closed. The next step was to configure the ferry doors over the 17-inch disconnects (these are the two fuel lines for the main engines). A problem was found with a bolt not being torque to the required specification. The operation was delayed while the engineers for this system decided whether or not we could make the ferry flight in this condition. A decision was made that the bolt must be properly torqued before flight. In order for personnel to enter the orbiter for this repair, the orbiter was lowered onto jack stands since the landing gear had been retracted. Since the repair would take several hours and then another four hours to complete the mate operation, a decision was made to stop the mate operation until the next morning. It was about 3 p.m. by this time. The next morning the mate operation began about 5:30 a.m. The orbiter was lifted approximately 60 feet off the ground and the SCA was positioned below it. The orbiter was then lowered (very slowly) onto the three mounts on top of the SCA. After all the connections between the orbiter and SCA had been completed, the sling was disconnected from the orbiter and raised to its upper limit. The SCA and orbiter were now ready for the flight back to Florida. Once the SCA and orbiter arrived at KSC, the Mate-Demate Device was used to remove and lower the orbiter. It was then towed to a processing facility to prepare for its next mission. STATUS OF STS-83 POST-FLIGHT PROCESSING
Below and in the future, we'll provide some details about the post flight work being done after STS-83 and the subsequent processing of Columbia as it gets ready to fly again as STS-94. These reports will contain jargon and unfamiliar terms; our intent is not to confuse you, but to provide a glimpse at all the steps involved. Detailed daily reports about Columbia's processing 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, Fuel cell voltage tests are complete. Evaluations of Columbia's fuel cell performance monitors are in work. Main engine installation and securing was completed this week; the forward reaction control system external installation was also completed and now the close-out of this system is in work. Ammonia servicing preparations are underway. Columbia's nose landing gear is closed for tile work and heat shield installation will pickup tomorrow. Spacelab reservicing was completed and experiment testing has now begun. A mass memory unit on the payload displayed an error message during testing, so technicians replaced it and retests will be performed next week. Structural inspections of the tunnel adapter revealed a need for additional protective paint - that work is in progress. In the VAB, the external tank was successfully mated to the two solid rocket boosters STS-94 SCHEDULED OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only): - Heat shield installation (May 17) - Spacelab transfer tunnel installation complete (May 20)
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