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UPDATE # 111 - February 29, 2000 PART 1: Did you know? DID YOU KNOW?
Besides the keeping you informed on the status of the orbiter processing in this newsletter, we try to keep you informed in the News pages online of the many press releases that deal with the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. This could include anything from the recent: Mission daily reports, see: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/news/2000/02-22.txt Periodic reports on the ISS, see: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/news/2000/02-24b.txt Earth applications of shuttle missions, see: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/news/2000/02-24c.txt Mission selection planned for launch in 2005, see: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/news/2000/02-28.txt The index is at: http://quest.nasa.gov/space/news/press.html Stay in the know! Linda Conrad lindac@quest.nasa.gov SPECIAL FEATURES COMING UP:
->Monday, March 13 at 1:00pm PST, we will feature a WebCast with Astronaut Mike Anderson. The focus of this event will be on Technology Centers created by HUD (Housing and Urban Development) to serve the inner city youth. Naturally because it will be on the Internet, everyone is invited. See: http://quest.nasa.gov/ltc/hud ->The week of March 13 through 17 will mark a cooperative effort between NASA Quest's Space Team Online and Classroom Connect. Throughout the week, the space shuttle will be spotlighted, complete with chats, mystery sounds, questions and other challenges. See: http://quest.nasa.gov/space/events/cc ->Segment 3 of the SRTM WebCasts: Mission Follow-up has been postponed to accommodate schedules. The new date will be March 28th. Mark your calendar as we chat live with principals in this important mapping mission. We are hoping to have one of the astronauts who was involved in the mission join us too. See http://quest.nasa.gov/ltc/jpl/srtm.html [Editor's note: Jennifer is a biomedical engineer. At NASA Kennedy Space Center she works with different sensors, like the use of ultraviolet and infrared light to locate hydrogen fires from the pipelines on the launch pads. Jennifer chatted online during the Black History Month chats. Her chat is archived at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/chats/archive/02-24-00jm.html ] DUSTING OFF THE OLD COLLEGE TEXTBOOKS http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/murray.html February 11, 2000 Hi everyone! Although I have participated in chats with the Space Team Online, this is my first journal so I feel like I have a lot to tell you. As you know from my biography, I work in the Engineering Development Laboratory. Over the past year I have been involved with the development of a hydrogen detector /calibration system, and more recently with an environmental engineering project that was set up in a heat plant in the middle of the summer! But despite the heat, I found the project to be fascinating. Ordinarily, electric plants give off steam that contains pollutants --namely nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. These pollutants are harmful to the earth's ozone layer as well as to our lungs. A team of engineers developed a unique process to convert these pollutants to an intermediary compound that can easily be combined with water for disposal. This water-based disposal can be used for fertilizer and is a great alternative to polluting the air. Michelle Collins is the NASA engineer who completed this project for her Ph.D. in environmental engineering. Michelle designed a system of pipes to siphon off a part of the steam that is naturally disposed of in the air at the heat plant in order to use for the experiment. Because the steam had relatively no pollutants present, pollutants were introduced into the system for the experiment. The goal was to see what percentage of the injected pollutants could successfully be converted into a liquid. This project involved knowledge of chemical properties, chemical reactions, as well as physics. I was inspired to dust off the old chemistry and physics books so that I could understand all facets of the project. Also I learned about different industrial aspects to ensuring the health and safety of people. Since that time I have been awarded the George M. Low NASA Fellowship. This fellowship is a one-year program of engineering graduate study. I have chosen to work on a Ph.D. in electrical engineering emphasizing digital image processing. I am particularly interested in biomedical imaging processing techniques utilizing MRI, CT, and ultrasound technology. I am excited about being able to devote myself to full-time study but equally understand that the work will be challenging. I will learn the fundamentals of sensor technology with application towards image processing utilizing 1-, 2-, and 3-dimensional techniques. This knowledge will be useful in developing automatic detection systems such as for the hydrogen detection system that I have worked on, landing systems for aircraft, as well as medical imaging projects including better ways to detect breast cancer. These are all current research areas at NASA. I have been involved in several programs here at Kennedy Space Center that I am very proud of. One of these programs is the Kennedy Space Center Y2000 Marrow Registration Drive that is going on at this time. Please visit our web site to find out more about this program! This is the third year that I am co-chairing this event for NASA and what a job it is! We are coordinating our efforts with companies from Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Station, and Patrick Air Force Base. Our goal is to educate the entire workforce so that they are aware of what marrow is, why we need to have marrow registration drives, and why we need for all of our employees to consider becoming potential marrow donors. But I will talk to you more about this next time. STATUS OF ORBITER PROCESSING
RE: MISSION: STS-101, 3rd ISS Flight (2A.2a) - carrying SPACEHAB Over the weekend, the flight crew visited KSC and completed the crew equipment interface test with inspections of the payload and orbiter. Technicians completed leak checks of Atlantis'9 crew module and docking system. Monday, main engine heat shield close-outs were in work, and auxiliary power unit servicing is under way. Wiring inspections in Atlantis'9 crew module are ongoing. RE: MISSION: STS-92 -- 4th ISS Flight (2A.2b) Workers are checking Discovery'9s power reactant storage and distribution system and are performing functional tests of the orbiter'9s docking mechanism. Auxiliary power unit No. 1 is being installed in the vehicle this week.
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