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UPDATE # 16 - July 1, 1997 PART 1: Field journals explained FIELD JOURNALS EXPLAINED
The stories below are examples of Shuttle Team Online Field Journals. The intent of these journals is to show the diversity of real tasks involved in the flying the shuttle, and give snippets of the life of shuttle team members. A few sentences will be included as background to help orient you toward the story that follows. Also, almost all authors have their biographies (with more background) on our Web site - the stories will include pointers to these bios to make it easier to connect to the richer backgrounds. Still, when reading some of these journals, you may feel like you've come in during the middle of a play, and that you are being forced to leave before it's over. The journal entries might not have the full background that folks are looking and hoping for. We'll try to share what we know about why these folks do what they do, but it definitely won't always have a neat start, middle and end. That would be great, but part of the cost of sharing the real world is that the real world is messy and hard to describe. Hopefully these Field Journals will still be useful and interesting. [Editor's note: Jose is a design engineer. He is involved in software development of unique checkout systems used during space station and shuttle processing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Also he puts together the computer systems that communicate with the item being tested.] CHECKING FOR ICE
Jose Marin http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/marin.html April 4, 1997 As part of our hardware/software development cycle, design engineers like to get as much input as possible from our customers. I am part of a team that is responsible for the development of a system that makes life easier for the Shuttle's "Ice Team." After the Shuttle's external tank has been filled, the "Ice Team" goes out to the launch pad to see if there is any ice buildup in different "key" areas of the external tank. If there is any ice, it is then measured to make sure it will not cause any problems during the launch. The "Ice Team" gathers meteorological data from the launch pad (temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, etc.). All of this data is used to calculate the probability of ice buildup at different levels of the launch pad. Our new system under development automatically receives all the data from the meteorological stations at the Kennedy Space Center. It then calculates the ice buildup probability. These calculated values are then sent to be displayed at the "Ice Team's" console located at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Control Room. Our calculated values are then compared with the measured values gathered by the "Ice Team" at the launch pad to make sure there are no discrepancies. Before, during, and after the launch, our customer has access to our data. Later in the week we will meet with our customer and go over any constructive criticism they may have. This evaluation process is used to improve our product to be delivered in the near future. [Editor's note: Bill is a manager for a group of propulsion and fluid systems engineers. These people help design, build, and test many of the rocket engines, valves, and propellant tanks on the Space Shuttle Orbiter vehicles. Also Bill's group is looking at new rocket engines and propulsion system ideas that will help us return to the moon and even travel to Mars.] SUPERVISING ROCKET ENGINEERS
Bill Boyd http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/boyd.html June 25, l997 On a typical day for a supervisor, we start out at 8:00 a.m. with a short meeting for the Engineering Directorate at Johnson Space Center. There are roughly 8 divisions in the Engineering Directorate. Division management meets for approximately 10 minutes in a teleconference with the head director, reviewing issues for the day, what events are upcoming, and what problems have arisen. After the meeting with the head director, we will spend about 10 minutes within the division discussing what is occurring internally. By the time 20 minutes have passed, we're able to go back to the various office areas where the workers are and start working with them. A typical day will also involve a series of visits to different areas for approximately 30 minutes and reviewing what individual workers are involved in and what questions they may have. I will try to help in any way I can or, as a result of the earlier meetings, give them some direction. These activities would take me to the beginning of the next hour, 9:00 a.m. As in any organization, meetings are a necessary evil. However, I would not say that we are overwhelmed by meetings. For example, we will have peer reviews of projects going on, and try to schedule those every couple of weeks--we bring a project in that people are working on and allow those people to give us a review of what types of analyses their doing, what type of hardware is being developed, what the status is on drawings that are being developed, and what the status is on fabrication shops that are producing hardware. Additionally, if we have some hardware that is going to be tested, we review what some of the test issues are, and the test status. If we have data, we review them; if we have hardware going into an actual vehicle, we will review the status of that. These sorts of meetings are very common for the various projects that we have. Usually late in the morning, we'll try to go to the test area and review the status of the hardware or the test build up, and make sure we don't have any issues that we need to work with. If there are, we can or find people to work with them. An example of a typical issue we deal with arose when we had a test program going on, which was testing a cryogenic cooler, a device that cools gas so cold that it becomes liquid. We went to view the test setup and discovered that a portion of the tank that liquid was accumulated in was not insulated. The engineer said, "We thought we analyzed that, and didn't think we needed to have insulation there. It would have been difficult to do." We would address this kind of issue by trying to get an explanation as to why it is acceptable or a plan to address the issue with a hardware setup. During the afternoon, the types of meetings we have are administrative and include review of budgets for the various projects we have and manpower estimates, if we're being asked to bring on a new project. The remainder of the day usually involves working directly with many of the engineers and trying to understand a particular problem or an issue that they're working with, or getting them to explain what they are doing, or ask me questions they may have. My view of a typical day for the engineers is that they have a various range of tasks they are involved in, from running application programs on computers to addressing analyses. For example, we may have a dynamics issue with a fluid system that is getting water hammer. We have tools that will address how to reduce the amount of water hammer, or surges in fluid lines. We also have CADCAM (computer aided design and modeling) systems, which engineers are using to develop drawings for hardware components to build in the shop and be tested, and there is a myriad of activity involving drawings which must be checked, signed-off, and released. So that process involves several steps. We have several engineers in the test and fabrication areas, where we are building up concepts for future flight vehicles. We have a program at Johnson Space Center, to develop the X-38, which is the prototype for the crew return vehicle from the space station. We have engineers from my group who are involved in building that vehicle on a daily basis, outfitting it with propulsion systems, landing gear, and other systems. This particular vehicle will land on a parasail, so we have engineers who are developing and implementing the wenches that will actually move the "risers" up and down to make the vehicle go in a direction we want it to. STATUS OF STS-94 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, the storable hypergolic propellants were loaded aboard Columbia and then pressurized. At the launch pad, ordnance installation and testing of the pyrotechnic initiator controllers was completed. Installation of the fabricated "pyro can" assemblies at the orbiter's external tank attach points was finished. Technicians noted two problem connectors while conducting aft compartment close-out work. A yaw actuator connector failed during testing and a pyrotechnic connector in avionics bay 6 was cracked. Both connectors have been replaced and retested. The aft compartment and solid rocket boosters were closed out. Payload revitalization and battery charging took place. Checkout of ColumbiaŐs avionics systems was complete On Sunday, the launch pad was closed for a checkout of the firing chain and the Space Shuttle onboard ordnance systems. This was followed by the loading of cryogenic reactants into the onboard fuel cell storage tanks located beneath the payload bay. The fuel cells will generate power for Columbia and the Microgravity Science Laboratory during the 16-day mission. Because of the extended duration mission, the reactant loading took approximately 12 hours to complete instead of the usual eight hours. On Monday, many of the late stowage time-critical middeck science experiments were stowed aboard. Also on Monday, the startracker underwent a functional check and the mission specialistsŐ seats were installed in the crew cabin. The orbiterŐs communications systems was turned on and checked out, and in the cockpit, the switches were configured for launch. Air Force weather forecasters are currently indicating a 90 percent probability of weather prohibiting launch of Columbia on July 1. The concern is for thunderstorms and associated rain, wind and lightning. Hoping to pre-empt the expected afternoon thunderstorms, NASA managers decided to move in the launch time for Columbia by 47 minutes. The 2 1/2 hour launch window will now open at 1:50 p.m.. The decision to launch early does remove one end of mission daylight landing opportunity at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, but still allows two daylight landing opportunities at KSC. The Rotating Service Structure was planned to be retracted to the launch position at about 8:30 p.m. Monday, pending weather. Loading of the external tank with cryogenic propellants was scheduled to begin at about 4:47 a.m. The astronauts will depart the crew quarters for the launch pad at 10:30 a.m. and begin boarding Columbia about a half hour later. The hatch will be closed and sealed at 12:20 p.m., leading to launch at 1:50 p.m. SUMMARY OF BUILT-IN HOLDS FOR STS-94 T-TIME LENGTH OF HOLD HOLD BEGINS HOLD ENDS T-11 hours 12 hours, 30 mins. 11:00 a.m. Mon. 11:30 a.m. Tues. T-6 hours 1 hour 4:30 a.m. Tues. 5:30 a.m. Tues. T-3 hours 2 hours 8:30 a.m. Tues. 10:30 a.m. Tues. T-20 minutes 10 minutes 1:10 p.m. Tues. 1:20 p.m. Tues. T-9 minutes 10 minutes 1:31 p.m. Tues. 1:41 p.m. Tues. LAUNCH DAY SCHEDULE 1:30 a.m. Wake up (Red Team ) 2:00 a.m. Breakfast (Red Team) 8:30 a.m. Lunch (Red Team) 8:55 a.m. Wake up (Blue Team) 9:25 a.m. Breakfast (Blue Team) 9:12 a.m. Crew Photo (All) 9:55 a.m. Weather briefing (CDR, PLT, MS2) 9:55 a.m. Don launch and entry suits (MS1, MS3, PS1, PS2) 10:05 a.m. Don launch and entry suits (CDR, PLT, MS2) 10:00 a.m. Crew suiting photo 10:30 a.m. Depart for launch pad 39A 11:05 a.m. Arrive at white room and begin ingress 12:20 p.m. Close crew hatch 1:50 p.m. Launch
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