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UPDATE # 130 - September 8, 2000 PART 1: Watch for Changes on NASA Quest WATCH FOR CHANGES ON NASA QUEST
NASA Quest's website redesign is almost completed. We expect to go public with our new look within the next week. NASA Quest has become huge over the last few years, and so we are having to prioritize the moving of data into the new format, so please bear with us. If you don't see your favorite in the first draft, please let me hear from you. We hope you'll find our new look fun and easy to navigate. Take a little time with the new site to become acquainted with NASA Quest as a whole. You'll see that Space Scientists Online has been renamed Solar System Online to accommodate subject matter surrounding the sun and the planets (including Earth). The newest addition to NASA Quest is Deep Space Online. And Aerospace Team Online will be hosting an exciting new series entitled Virtual Skies, an air traffic management project for students and teachers in Grades 9-12. On Space Team Online we watched the successful launch of STS-106 this morning. See the chat below with Chris Gerty for some up-to-date word on that mission. The next scheduled launch will be that of the100th Shuttle Flight on October 5. If all goes as expected, we will be planning an exciting week of activities surrounding that launch. World Space Week just happens to be October 2-6 - a coincidence? Let's work together for the best year yet! Linda Conrad lindac@quest.nasa.gov UPCOMING EVENTS:
Please be sure to visit each site before the scheduled time. Usually these
events require pre-registration and some include preparation.
->Wednesday, Sept. 13, 10 -11am PDT (1-2:00pm EDT, 5-6:00pm GMT)
Join us for a live webcast tour of the Mockup and Training Facility for
NASA's ISS Astronaut Program. Registration information coming soon to:
http://quest.nasa.gov/space/events/iss
Requires pre-registration.
->Thursday, Sept. 14, 10:30 -11:30 am PDT (1:30-2:30pm EDT, 5:30-
6:30pm GMT)
QuestChat with Chris Gerty as he will be chatting right after his shift
on-console during the flight of STS-106. Chris Gerty is part of a team
that helps researchers and scientists prepare their science experiments
and equipment for shuttle launches. The team makes sure the equipment
travels to and from space safely, and functions properly during a
mission.Read Chris Gerty's profile at:
http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/gerty.html
Pre-register and join the chat from:
http://quest.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi?prj_sto
->Thursday, October 12, 10 -11 am PDT (1-2:00pm EDT, 5-6:00pm GMT)
QuestChat with Sharon Cobb who researches and studies new materials to
determine how they will be affected by gravity.
Pre-register and join this chat from:
http://quest.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi?prj_sto
To see a complete listing of NASA Quest's offerings, see the schedule of
events at: http://quest.nasa.gov/common/events
[Editor's note: Diane works to get payloads stowed on the shuttle and then transferred and integrated onto the ISS so that scientific experiments and research work can be accomplished. The payload she's working on now has particular interest for kids!] WAITING TO DO SCIENCE ON THE ISS http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/mcmahon.html August 29, 2000 Interviewer: Lori Keith We are getting closer to launch for ISS Flight 4A, also known as STS-97. (Remember, ISS stands for International Space Station.) This flight is scheduled for launch on November 30, 2000. The Crew Earth Observation payload and the Education Seed Growth Kit payload will be operational on-orbit after the 4A docking with Space Station. The Education Seed Growth Kit is an education payload, and part of its on-orbit operations is connected with the Jason Foundation. The kit contains seed pouches and a water syringe. One of the crewmembers will inject eight seed pouches with the water. Half of these pouches will be stored inside of a locker (in the dark) and the other half will be stored on the outside of the locker (in the light). The temperature is monitored, along with the light exposure each group gets. During a two-week period, electronic still camera images/pictures will be taken each day and these images will be downlinked in real time for distribution to schools that are participating in this project. There will also be four hours of on-orbit videotaping, which will be brought back and used in education videos. There is another activity for this payload that provides scientific data using additional seed pouches. This activity occurs after the 5A.1 shuttle flight is docked with Space Station. Starting at return minus seven days and ending at return minus one day, three pouches a day will have water injected into the pouches and will then be restowed. When the shuttle lands, the payload will be off-loaded within the first few hours. The Principal Investigator (PI) takes the seeds and preserves them by freezing them. The PI is investigating how plants adapt to microgravity by analyzing the plants' secondary metabolites. Crew Earth Obs (CEO) will also become operational during Flight 4A. This payload has been around for years and has flown on many shuttle flights. Although there are some targets specified prior to flight for image capturing, this payload will also be driven by real time events taking place on our planet. If there is a hurricane, typhoon, volcanic eruption, or other earth event, CEO will target photographing these activities, too. It is very exciting to see these payloads so close to flight at last! EarthKAM, another payload I work, starts on ISS Flight 5A, with the check out of hardware and software. It will be fully operational on Flight 5A.1. EarthKAM only operates for up to six months per year, during the months when schools are in session. (You can read more about EarthKAM in previous journals by Brion Au and Lori Keith.) I have baselined integration requirements documents for each of these payloads. These documents represent several months of coordination efforts. There is a space station rack called the WORF, which stands for Window Observation Research Facility. The WORF is a specially designed variation of the standard ISS rack, which fits around the US Destiny Lab window. Once the WORF rack is on orbit, EarthKAM and CEO will continue operations as subrack payloads of the WORF. At that time, I will no longer be the payload integration manager for these payloads. I am still working on the Biological Research Project (BRP). As the Payload Integration Manger, or PIM, I have had quite a bit of travel associated with this life sciences project. Recently, I have been in Tokyo, Japan and Ottawa, Canada. The flight dates for BRP payloads are much farther off (2004 and later), and we are still in the hardware development process. My trip to Japan was for another technical interchange meeting to discuss ways to reduce the weight of the centrifuge rotor and Centrifuge Accommodation Module (CAM). While I was there, I was able to see a mock-up of the 2.5-meter centrifuge rotor. It's a nice piece of hardware! The CAM launches on ISS Flight UF-7 (April 2006) with the centrifuge rotor installed. The CAM attaches to Node 2, and will also house the Life Sciences Glovebox (LSG) and Habitat Holding Racks. With the exception of the CAM, these are all BRP hardware for conducting life sciences research on ISS. The trip to Canada was to attend the Insect Habitat Preliminary Design Review (PDR). The Insect Habitat is scheduled to launch on ISS Flight UF-3 (September 2004). The Canadians are providing this payload. Special compartments and food trays have been designed to house the insects in the habitat, and there is a small built-in centrifuge to create gravitational force. The entire habitat can also be put into the large centrifuge, which can simulate gravitational environments up to 2g. A huge community of researchers works with drosophila, which is a type of fruit fly, and they will probably be the first insects to go to the Space Station. (These flies were some of the earliest creatures to have their DNA mapped.) The PDR went very well, and I really enjoyed Ottawa. It is a lovely city. I have a few more business trips planned before the end of the year. I will travel to Japan in October for the centrifuge rotor preliminary design review, and to the Netherlands around the end of November for the LSG delta PDR. The LSG is also scheduled to launch on UF-3. That will be a busy flight! STATUS OF ORBITER PROCESSING
RE: MISSION: STS-106, 4th ISS Flight scheduled for launch September 8
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Launch Pad 39B on schedule today at
8:45:47 a.m. The KSC launch team worked no significant issues during the
final countdown, and improved weather conditions supported a flawless
launch of mission STS-106.
The two solid rocket booster recovery ships, Freedom Star and Liberty
Star, deployed into the Atlantic Ocean yesterday at about 7:30 a.m.
Depending upon weather conditions during recovery operations, the ships
are expected to arrive at Hangar AF with both boosters in tow Sunday
morning. Booster inspections commence Monday followed by segment and motor
disassembly.
RE MISSION: STS-92, 100th Shuttle Mission scheduled for launch October 5
Last report: September 1
In the VAB, Space Shuttle Discovery's Shuttle Interface Test is ongoing.
This week, workers will complete final preparations for Discovery's roll
to Launch Pad 39A. The Z-1 truss is slated for payload canister
installation on Sept. 11. On Sept. 13, the Z-1 truss is scheduled to move
out to Launch Pad 39A for installation into the orbiter.
Milestones:
Shuttle roll to Launch Pad 39A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sept. 11
Payload to the pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sept.
13
Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test . . . . .Sept. 14-15
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