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UPDATE # 28 - November 2, 1997 PART 1: Publishing schedule for this maillist PUBLISHING SCHEDULE FOR THIS MAILLIST
Normally we plan to publish these updates-sto messages about once per week. Over the last month, however, the lag between messages has doubled. We regret the reduced output and at this time plan to resume our regular weekly schedule. In addition, the frequency of the special MSL-1 reports designed for high school/college students has also diminished. These too will now return to a weekly schedule. LIVE TOUR OF SPACE STATION ON NOVEMBER 14
A mockup of the International Space Station (ISS) exists on the ground at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. This facility is as close as possible to the real ISS which is scheduled for launch beginning in 1998. The mockup is where astronauts routinely practice operations amidst the realistic configurations. Using a variety of online technologies, astronaut Kevin Chilton will be leading a virtual tour of this mockup. Network video, audio and Web graphics will bring the special event to you, and cyber questions will be encouraged via an interactive chat. The virtual tour is scheduled for Friday, November 14, from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Pacific (3:30-4:30 p.m. Eastern). If you plan to participate, please visit NASA's Learning Technologies Channel (LTC) at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc There you will find information about the special software you will need to pre-configure for enjoying the video or audio feeds. [Editor's note: Glen is a technician who works on the inside of the shuttle fleet, in the crew compartment, and on the flight deck. People call Glen a Ground Astronaut because he sits in the crew compartment and flips the switches and circuit breakers during pre and post-flight system checks. He is one of the last people to leave the Orbiter before tanking and launch, and one of the first to enter the Orbiter after a landing on the runway. If that sounds cool, IT IS! But it is not all fun. Glen also has to clean the "potty" and vacuum the floors. Here Glen shares part two of his story about meeting the shuttle when it lands. Glen's job is to drive the white room truck and open the shuttle hatch. In part one, Glen prepared his vehicle to go.] BEING THERE WHEN THE SHUTTLE LANDS (Part 2) Glen Davis http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/gdavis.html October 6, l997 It's going to be about one hour before we'll have the orbiter on the ground. There are canals full of water on both sides of our convoy. The canals are full of wildlife. For now, everyone's attention is on an alligator that is on the other side of the canal. I'd say it is about six feet long. Suddenly an extremely loud "boom-boom!" breaks the silence. The wild life scatters to the four winds. Everyone's heart skips a beat as they spring to their feet. The loud "boom-boom!" is the sonic signature that a space shuttle is straight overhead and about five minutes from touch down on the runway ahead of us. Everyone's eye's are looking up to see if they can spot the shuttle against the blue sky as it drops to Earth. I spot a small white triangle high against the dark blue sky. The white triangle is the reflection of the Sun against the shuttle's tiles. The shuttle crosses overhead heading southeast. It makes a long right turn coming around and lining up with the south end of runway 33. You can see how fast the shuttle is diving by its angle and the vapor coming from its wing tips. As the shuttle approaches the end of the runway, the commander has to raise the nose up into the air to slow his speed for touch down. Once the nose is up and the speed is down, the pilot will deploy the gear. He'll touch down at around 180 to 220 miles per hour. Just before the halfway mark the pilot will deploy the drag chute to help slow them down. When the convoy commander receives the "wheels have stopped" call from the shuttle commander, both the forward and aft convoy will start moving toward the orbiter. The air erupts with the roaring of the crowds and the roaring of the trucks as they race toward the orbiter. Both teams will stop 1500 feet from the orbiter. From 1500 feet, we can hear the "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" of the three auxiliary power units (APUs). The APUs are what power the orbiter hydraulics. A group of individuals called the Safety Assessment Team will put on ranger air packs and approach the orbiter. They will be checking to see if any of the hazardous liquids that are on board the orbiter are leaking. Once the checks are complete, the assessment team will give the OK for the rest of the convoy to advance toward the orbiter. Once the convoy commander has cleared me to approach the orbiter, I will approach it from its left side. I'll make a wide turn coming close to the grass at the edge of the runway then turn left 90 degrees and stop. Scott and I will get out and lower the front stabilizers to within three inches of the ground. The "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" is louder and very eerie. I can smell ammonia from the cooling system. Scott will go up the steps to the white room and open the door and release the straps holding the seal. I will inflate the seal. The orbiter move director will stand under the orbiter's hatch and along with Scott direct me toward the orbiter by hand signals. The move director will tell me to stop when the air-seal touches the orbiter and compresses slightly. Now that I have spotted the truck I can lower the stabilizers. I climb out off the truck and retrieve the grounding cable. With cable in hand I head for the nose wheel well. The orbiter is very hot and I can smell the distinct odor of heated parts. I locate the grounding hole and insert the cable. I gather all the stuff Scott and I have in the truck cab and head up the stairs to open the hatch. I have to do all this before the crew transport vehicle is spotted over the stair case. Scott has already started to remove the two carrier panels that protect the hatch opening holes. Once we remove the panels we can install the milk stool. The milk stool is what we use as a handling fixture. We will now wait until the CTV has positioned itself. The flight surgeon will step out of the CTV and when he is ready we will open the hatch. These events take us up to hatch opening. My next journal will be what happens after hatch opening... [Gwyn analyzes the radiation that an astronaut gets from the space environment when he or she is on-orbit. This analysis is done both before and during the Shuttle flight to ensure that the astronaut does not receive too much radiation. Gwyn also supports NASA astronauts who fly on the Russian Space Station Mir and she will be involved with future support for the International Space Station support.] TRACKING SUN STORMS FOR STS-86
Gwyn Smith http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/smith.html September 28: 8:30 a.m. - I arrived at my console position. I'm not in the mission control center "front room" that you see on TV. I'm in a "backroom" that supports the SURGEON position in the "front room." Since we monitor radiation because it may affect the astronauts' health, we support the doctor in the "front room." The Space Radiation Analysis Group (SRAG) supports the shuttle missions by being "on-console" from 8:30 - 12:30 each day and then being on a pager for the rest of the day and night. Sometimes we get calls in the middle of the night and have to come into work. 9:30 - I have reviewed the notes from the previous three days of flight. There were two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on the Sun on September 23-24 . If these CMEs result in geomagnetic storming at the Earth, the crew will receive more radiation than predicted. But don't worry . . . the dose will still be very small. It takes several days to see anything at Earth because the Sun is very far away. 10:45 - The geomagnetic storm is not expected to reach us today . . . and may miss the Earth entirely. 12:30 - I have spoken with the SURGEON and told him that there will be no dose increase today. September 29: 8:30 - Hi, I'm back on-console again. Things have been quiet through the night. They do not expect the geomagnetic storm to happen . . . it missed the Earth. 11:30 - I just spoke with the Space Weather Forecasters in Boulder, CO. They are like the weather forecasters that you see on TV, but they forecast what will happen on the Sun and how that will affect us. There was another CME on Saturday, and since this one happened at a different place on the Sun, they expect that this will result in a geomagnetic storm at the Earth. We are waiting for some satellites that surround the Earth to detect the radiation. September 30: 9:30 - The storm has not gotten here yet. It is expected early tomorrow morning. I do not have to be on-console again until Saturday, but will keep you informed of the storm. October 4: 8:30 - The storm hit on Wednesday (October 1) morning . . . this is not like a thunderstorm. You can't see it, but there is equipment on satellites that can detect the radiation. Sometimes, if these storms are strong, they interfere with communications and cause power outages. The astronauts will receive a little extra radiation because of this storm. But, again, don't worry, they are not in any danger. They get extra radiation when they pass through the electron horns. The astronauts can see when they do this by where the aurora is. When they are north of the aurora borealis and south of the aurora australis, they are in the electron horns. This happens when they are over northern Canada and south of Australia. 11:30 - Things are back to normal now. The storm effects have gone away. 12:30 - This has been an exciting flight. I have used my knowledge of space physics during this flight to understand what was happening on the Sun and how that would affect the astronauts on STS-86. These missions are never boring . . . there is always something new happening and, as you can imagine, the Sun is very unpredictable.
Below and in the future, we'll provide some details about the post flight work being done after STS-94 and the subsequent processing of Columbia as it gets ready to fly again as STS-87. 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, "In the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF)," the remote manipulator system was installed and work on Columbia's elevons concluded. Midbody and aft-body close- outs concluded, followed by payload bay cleaning and close-out. Columbia was placed onto the orbiter transport system for transfer to the VAB. First the orbiter was jacked down, and the weight and center of gravity were determined. Columbia rolled into the VAB transfer aisle at about 6 a.m. Oct 24. The orbiter was then mated to the external tank and solid rocket boosters in high bay 3 over the weekend. The Shuttle interface test was then concluded successfully. Mission STS-87 will be the first launch from Pad 39B since STS-81 in January, when a major modification period began at the launch site. Last week, technicians worked to remove debris from a gear mechanism on the Rotating Service Structure. Water blasting and borescope inspections took place in preparation for the gears to be rotated. Though managers expected Pad 39B to be ready for loading of the USMP payload, support preparations for Pad 39A took place in case it was needed. Workers successfully concluded troubleshooting the gear mechanisms at the base of the Rotating Service Structure (RSS) and after functional tests proved positive, Pad 39A ceased being actively considered as a backup for this launch. The U.S. Microgravity Payload (USMP) was transported to the pad and was transferred to the payload change-out room. The payload canister was then returned to the Operations and Checkout Building. The Space Shuttle Columbia arrived at launch Pad 39B on Thursday afternoon (Oct 30). Pad validations are in work and a hot fire test of auxiliary power unit No. 2 is complete. The Rotating Service Structure was fully extended. The payload bay doors were planned to be opened over the weekend, allowing vertical payload installation to begin. STS-87 SCHEDULED OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only): * Install USMP into orbiter (Nov. 1) * Flight Readiness Review (Nov. 3) * Crew arrival for TCDT (Nov. 3 at 9:30 a.m.) * Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (Nov. 4 and 5)
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