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UPDATE # 44 - June 19, l998 PART 1: Changing of the guard, STO style CHANGING OF THE GUARD, STO STYLE
As you can probably tell by the long silence, my schedule has become hectic as the Quest Projects have become just one of my responsibilities here at NASA Ames Research Center. With the journals below, I have attempted to launch and land the STS-91 mission (all of which happened since last I wrote...yikes!) A lot has happened since the last STO Update. My apologies. The summertime, with classrooms on vacation, it is typical for Quest to slow down our interactive focus. Instead we take the time to update and reevaluate our status, and prepare for the next academic year. But don't think that nothing will be happening. I hope you'll join in the International Space Station (ISS) festivities described below. Meanwhile, my horse ride here is over and Linda Conrad will be taking over the reigns of these Space Team Online (STO). You may remember Linda for her great work on NeurOn (http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron) which just ended. Now NeurOn's loss is STO's gain. It is difficult to give up this part of my personal interaction with you all, but some things must be. In any case, please know that I will remain "in touch" and no less interested in the goings-on at Space Team Online. Your network pal, Marc SUMMER PLANS
School is out for many, but Quest will continue to provide a schedule of
events for those who can join us. It's a really good chance to fine-tune
your skills and participate in some exciting opportunities:
->ISS QuestChats - As we look forward to the completion of the
International Space Station, many NASA scientists and engineers
continue to develop technologies that will allow humans to live and
work in space for long periods. Our summer series of QuestChats will
focus on the work NASA people are involved in for this and similar
exciting events for the future! See the growing schedule at:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/chats//#ISS
Space is still available for these QuestChats:
Friday, June 26, 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time: Andy Bradley, computer
engineer
Thursday, July 9, 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time: Michael Hogue,
physicist
->Virtual Tour of the ISS mockup and training facility in Internet
audio/video
July 16 and August 19 at 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Pacific
Please join our tour guide at Johnson Space Center in Houston,
Texas. You will be able to ask your questions during the tour and have
them answered during the event. For more information, web over to:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/sto/tours/
UPCOMING CHALLENGE PROJECT
Plan to join an upcoming feature of Space Team Online entitled "The Challenge Project" and taking place aboard the Scott Carpenter Space Analog Station. This project will culminate in a 7-day mission September 23-30 submerged in a lagoon in Florida in this fully functional habitat built to teach space life support systems. As the October shuttle flight of STS-95 approaches, and the world's focus turns to Senator Glenn's re-flight after 37 years, the themes of maintaining wellness and learning throughout the aging process are obvious topics of interest. The Challenge Project anticipates that mission by addressing the subjects of physical fitness and lifelong learning as seen through the lives of an intergenerational crew, assembled from a broad spectrum of careers, each personifying this choice of lifestyle. A Website is in the process being built to house this project. It is located at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/challenge These Space Team Online Updates will keep you informed. THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK!
We want to thank those of you who took the time to respond to our survey. Your positive remarks remain our encouragement, and your suggestions for improvement are extremely helpful. With your insights, we can make Quest better! Later this summer we'll publish the results for you to see. If you've not had the chance to be heard, you can still respond online at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/survey If you haven't yet shared your valuable thoughts, please do it now. [Editor's note: Steve Sokol is lead forecaster at Johnson Space Center, which means that his weather tracking is crucial to shuttle flights. Below he gives his perspective on the launch of STS-91. Beware of intense weather jargon. If you have questions, send them to Steve via http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/ask/question.html] OUR LAST MEETING WITH OUR FRIENDS ON THE MIR SPACE STATION http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/sokol.html May 12, l998 The Space Shuttle Discovery is scheduled for launch from the Kennedy Space Center on June 2, 1998, at 6:05 p.m. EDT (2205 UTC). The launch window will be just 5 - 10 minutes long in order for the shuttle to rendezvous with the Russian Mir Space Station. The 23rd flight of Discovery will be launched into a 51.6 degree inclination by 173 nautical mile orbit. The primary Transoceanic Abort Site (TAL) will be Zaragosa, Spain. Alternate TAL sites will be Moron, Spain and Ben Guerir, Morocco. The 10-day shuttle flight will bring astronaut Andy Thomas home after more than 130 days on Mir. The flight will mark the final Shuttle/Mir Docking mission. These missions were a precursor to the International Space Station, maintaining a continuous American presence in space and developing the procedures and hardware required for an international partnership in space. STS-91 will also carry the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Investigation (AMS) into space to investigate anti-matter and dark-matter in space and study astrophysics. Weather could play a significant role in both launch and landing. With an early evening launch and near noon landing, showers and thunderstorms and crosswinds may be factors. Discovery is scheduled to land on June 12, 1998, at 11:36 am EDT (1736 UTC) at the Shuttle Landing Facility, Kennedy Space Center. The alternate landing site is Edwards AFB, CA. I will be the SMG lead forecaster for STS-91. I will be working my 80th mission overall (15th as mission lead) during STS-91. The TAL forecaster and assistant lead will be Wayne Baggett. The Lead Techniques Development Unit (TDU) meteorologist will be Tim Oram. All SMG landing weather forecasts will be issued on AFOS under PIL JSCOAVJSC and on NWS Family of Services with WMO header FXXX01 KHOU. Forecasts and information with links to NASA Shuttle information can be accessed on the Internet at: http://shuttle.nasa.gov/weather. For more general information about the STS-91 mission and the space program visit the NASA Space Shuttle Homepage at: http://shuttle.nasa.gov. [Brandt Secosh is part of the Quest Team stationed at Kennedy Space Center. Below he brings us a first-timers view of a shuttle landing] WATCHING STS-91 http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/secosh.html June 12, l998 Wow! It is hot here at Kennedy Space Center! I just came back from the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), to see STS-91 bring Astronaut Andy Thomas back home from his stay aboard the Russian Space Station Mir. For me this was an event that I had never attended before and I was quite excited. We boarded our bus from the Kennedy Space Center Headquarters Building and made the 15 minute drive to the SLF. I was tasked as a guide for this trip. On the way out to the SLF I informed all of the riders of what their actions should be in the event that anything go wrong during the landing operation. The doors of the bus opened to a temperature of 93 degrees (F) with a heat index of 105 to 110 degrees - HOT! The winds were easterly at 9 knots gusting to 15 knots, so runway 15 would be used for the landing. Approximately 500 people were there to view the landing. The SLF has a speaker system set up so that all of the viewers are aware of the progress of the shuttle landing and what phase it is in. Twenty minutes to go! During that time all of the viewers were alive with the anticipation of seeing Discovery come home. Now somebody pointed to a little white speck in the sky and everyone turned to look at it. The speck was Columbia and in short order it began getting larger and more identifiable. Next came the very familiar sonic boom. The sonic boom is really two distinct claps that occur a fraction of a second apart, and are audible to the human ear. It is the noise produced by an aircraft flying at supersonic speeds. The vehicle, in effect, compresses the air in front of the nose and the wing, creating shock waves that spread away from the aircraft. We could now all see Columbia maneuvering through a 180 degree turn to align with runway 15. Alignment looked great and then came the landing gear. The landing gears are deployed only after the spacecraft has an indicated airspeed of less than 300 knots (345 mph) and an altitude of approximately 250 feet. Next was the main gear touch down followed by the nose gear. The Drag shoot was deployed followed by the rollout. The entire event was a beautiful sight to see. All of the viewers applauded and began moving toward the buses to take shelter from the heat. As I mentioned earlier this was my first live landing and I have to say that it was just as impressive as the launches are to me! I hope that each of you will get the opportunity to witness this someday! Publisher quality photos of the landing can be found here. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/captions/hotpics.htm Shuttle Landing Facility Information can be found here. Shuttle Landing Facility http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/facilities/slf.html The entire sequence of events for landing operations can be found here. Shuttle Landing Operations http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/technology/sts-newsref/stsover-landing.html Astronaut Andy Thomas comments can be found here. Astronaut Andy Thomas http://shuttle.nasa.gov/shuttle-mir/mir25/status/week12/thomas.html
Below, we'll provide some details about the post flight work being done after STS-90 and the subsequent processing of Columbia as it prepares to fly again as STS-93. 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 The end of May saw the successful removal of Columbia's main landing gear brake assembly and downloading of the orbiter's experiment recorder data. Neurolab and the Spacelab transfer tunnel from Columbia's payload bay were removed. Piece by piece, systems were removed and tested. The nose landing gear wheel and tire was inspected and GAS canister removal and hypergolic deservicing were completed. Columbia's main engine was removed, a replacement completed and fuel cell was installed. Technicians replaced the nose landing gear wheels and tires. The main propulsion system was inspected and Columbia's orbiter maneuvering system leak and functional testing and electrical checks were completed. Technicians removed Columbia's extended duration orbiter (EDO) pallet. Main propulsion system leak and functional testing began. This month, the commander and pilot flight seats were removed from the orbiter and portions of Columbia's flight deck floor were replaced. Workers performed standard torque checks of the wing-to-fuselage bolts and conducted gaseous oxygen system leak checks. Drag chute installation was completed. The payload bay doors were opened, the orbiter's Ku-band antenna was stowed in the payload bay, and the doors were closed yesterday. Work to install Columbia's auxiliary power units No. 3 and No. 1 has been rescheduled for next week. SUBSCRIBING & UNSUBSCRIBING: HOW TO DO IT!
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