UPDATE # 45 - July 9, l998

PART 1: New beginnings
PART 2: Challenge Project Progress
PART 3: STO has video!
PART 4: Come Chat with us
PART 5: Spread the word and get a NASA party pack
PART 6: The joys of testing systems
PART 7: If at first you don't succeed, ...
PART 8: Status of Columbia Processing
PART 9: Subscribing & unsubscribing: how to do it!

NEW BEGINNINGS

I'm somewhat awed at the formidable task of stepping into Marc's shoes and
communicating with you through these Updates of the Space Team Online
project. STO's audience includes a host of veteran teachers, on whom I
hope I can count for the expertise that only comes from real life in the
classroom application of the endeavors we initiate here at Quest. 

For those of you whom I have never met, let me just briefly introduce
myself. I've been hanging around with the Quest Team for quite some time
now, though I've yet to complete my first year on board full time. Up
until last fall, I was a classroom teacher (Should I tell you that I
taught Spanish?) How I got from there to here is not as complicated as it
seems, but it could be boring. Suffice it to say, in September, I traded
in the annual middle school student nose-count of 180 kids in one
classroom (not at the same time!) for the countless students around the
world that are reached through NASA Quest projects on the worldwide web.
It's been a great move! 

I've just graduated from managing an exciting Quest project called NeurOn.
In case I didn't holler loudly enough to catch your attention on that one,
do take a peak at:         http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron
    
Though that project will no longer be "active" in the real sense of the
word, it can always be acted upon, because we do not intend to let it die!
It was thrilling to experience the enthusiasm with which NASA personnel
got involved in sharing their lives and jobs with classrooms around the
word. Happily, some of the Neurolab folk will be joining us in Space Team
Online as they move into new responsibilities for International Space
Station and other Shuttle flights.

The STS-90 crew members joined us here at NASA Ames Research Center for a
celebration of the successful Neurolab flight just last month. Their live
and video presentations are available for viewing, with a snapshot or two
at:     	http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/team/journals/crew
Enjoy!

I'm delighted to say that the above referenced video, though not our first
archived on Quest, is representative of a new thrust in Quest offerings
provided for users with the "higher end", faster computers. (See below the
announcement of curriculum based videos now online at Space Team Online.)
I know the wheels of progress can grind slowly in providing speed and
capacity to the classroom, so wherever possible we will let you know where
you can obtain VHS copies of the online offerings. 

Well, I've "chatted" enough! Don't miss the upcoming summer and fall 
plans. Your inputs and ideas are encouraged. Let us hear from you. There's
always 
     --the discuss maillist: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/discussion.html
     --the weekly teacher chat: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/chats.html
or write to me directly at: 

Thanks for "listening"
Linda Conrad

CHALLENGE PROJECT PROGRESS

In case you missed it in the last Updates, inspired by the STS-95 return
to space of Senator Glenn scheduled for October of this year, "The
Challenge Project" features the challenge to all of us to maintain
wellness and learning throughout the aging process. Sponsored by NASA's
Life Sciences Division, the Challenge Project will focus on the lives of
real people who have chosen to surmount life's challenges with a positive
attitude and who view fitness, life-long learning, and imagination as
critical to the quality of life. The setting will be a 7-day underwater
mission, September 23-30, 1998, aboard the Scott Carpenter Space Analog
Station (SAS).  This fully functioning, submersible habitat serves NASA
Life Sciences Outreach efforts as an analog setting that demonstrates the
concepts and challenges of systems needed for human exploration of space. 

Join us even now as the project evolves. The Website now includes a
description of the Scott Carpenter Space Analog Station and promises to
soon be "alive" with the autobiographical profiles of the aquanaut crew
members and interactive projects for the classroom. It is located at:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/challenge

STO HAS VIDEO!

ANNOUNCING: Space Team Online has added video:
In our attempts to broaden the uses of the Internet to include "higher
end" technologies, we now have online three segments of the video series
Liftoff to Learning. Videos may be viewed using free RealPlayer. They are
also available from your local NASA Teacher Resource Center or to order
from NASA CORE in VHS format. You'll find instructions at:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/photos/videos/liftoff.html

The segments include:

Living in Space, a 10-minute clip that demonstrates the differences of
	doing simple, daily functions in the microgravity environment of
	space.

Go for EVA, a 14-minute clip that illustrates how space suits work,
	especially in space walking.
         
All Systems Go, a 34-minute clip that shows some of the changes that occur
	in the human body while in microgravity.
 

COME CHAT WITH US

International Space Station Chats: Join our QuestChat moderator Oran Cox
as he explores the multiple roles involved in the ISS with STO team
members.

->Next chat:
Tuesday, July 21, 1:00 p.m. pdt: Robert Dempsey, I.S.S. flight controller
	Robert is part of a large team that works with each computer
	system that will operate the  International Space Station. Read
	Robert's journal below and his autobiography at 
		http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/dempsey.html

The Space Team Takes Flight with Summer Aerospace Chats!
Our previous chats focusing on the International Space Station gave us an
idea of how humans will be living in space. A major component of the ISS
efforts will be the vehicles used to take us there and beyond. As the
shuttle fleet ages, we are searching for alternative space vehicles to
transport humans into space. We also have our sights set toward developing
spacecraft that allow humans to travel further into space. Aprille
Ericsson, from the Women of NASA project  http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/women, 
and Grant Palmer, from the Aero Design Team Online project http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero, 
make guest appearances during our series of Aerospace Chats. They join
Andrew Petro from the Space Team Online project to discuss their
involvement in spacecraft design. They are just three of the many NASA
scientists, engineers, and researchers involved in this important work.
Schedule coming soon!

All STO chats are listed at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/chats

SPREAD THE WORD AND GET A NASA PARTY PACK

We at Quest have a problem, and we would like your assistance.  We have a
reasonably good website, but not enough people know about it.  We would
like to inform people of our existence, so that they may take advantage of
the materials we offer.  We were hoping that you might be able to help us
out in this area.

Basically, we have assembled some packs of cool posters and
information, and we would be willing to give one of these "party packs" to
anyone who helps us spread the word.  Such help would consist of the
following:
  * Getting a local newspaper to publish an article about Quest.
  * Getting five or more people to join the Quest mailing list (which they
    can do by sending a message to listmanager@quest.arc.nasa.gov and
    writing   subscribe sharing-nasa   in the message text).
  * Doing a presentation about Quest at a local teacher conference.
  * Any other useful activity that spreads the word about Quest. Let us
    know what ideas you think of.

Please consider helping us get the word out.  If you do so, please tell us
so we can send you signs of our gratitude. If you need information to help
you spread the word (such as the above info on how to join the mailing
list), feel free to send me a note with your question.  Furthermore, if
you need flyers to pass out for a presentation or whatever, you can E-mail
me and I will send you some.

Steve Haas
shaas@k12-dev.arc.nasa.gov

THE JOYS OF TESTING SYSTEMS
by Robert Dempsey
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/dempsey.html

May 21, l998
Currently, I am in Huntsville where we are performing hardware/software
integration (HSI) tests. This is where the lab hardware and the software
that will operate the system are being brought together for the first
time. This may sound trivial but the components that are being brought
together for the first time have been produced by a myriad of groups from
around the country working solely from a large number of paper design
documents. The intent of the HSI test is to initialize the systems and
operate them to a point which ensures that everything works as designed.
The lab, undergoing the HSI test, is seen in the picture.

There is a great deal of preparation that goes into one of these tests and
requires people from all the contractor sites (California, Texas, Florida
and Alabama) to camp out here for extended periods of time. Since I was
working on other things, I came out here only last Friday. However, I had
been monitoring the status for several months, ready to fly out at a
moment's notice. Finally, I had gotten word that the test was ready
(actually, that it had begun). So I flew out here, having the usual fun of
canceled flights, missed connections and lost luggage, only to find out
there was a glitch holding up the test. 

But in this job you never sit around doing nothing. I helped the local
teams out by walking through the test procedure, or script, as we call it.
This is a step by step guide to everything we are going to do. For
example, to turn on a single computer requires many steps including
connecting the power, verifying the power is as expected (i.e., correct
current and voltage), turning on the power to the computer and then
verifying that the computer booted up completely and properly. This
sequence takes about 30 minutes. Anyway, we have to figure all this out in
advance. This is done by reading all the 'user manuals', talking to
engineers who have designed and built the equipment, and meeting with
those who have performed stand-alone tests of some of the equipment. The
intent is to get the script to the point where the testers can step
through the actual procedure quickly. Of course, changes are always being
made; new realizations are made that there is a problem in the script, and
so forth, requiring numerous changes. Before the test we perform a dry run
where we walk through every step and make sure it is clear and correct.
And I too am learning the system. That is the main reason I am here.
Hopefully I will be able to bridge that gap between learning how the
system is designed to work on paper and how it actually works. Armed with
this information, I will return to Houston and tell my fellow controllers
of my findings.

Finally, we are ready to do the test. We suit up into the "bunny suits"
(white smocks and hair nets) to go into the clean room for a test
briefing. The clean room is an ultra clean area where the lab is being put
together and tested. To prevent problems on orbit (e.g., a hair getting in
and breaking a piece of equipment) you have to keep the work environment
very clean. After a 20-minute review of what we are about to do and
discussing any last minute changes, we break up and begin the test. Two
people are in the lab to monitor temperature and humidity (condensation
can damage equipment and if the temperature gets too high, computer and
power equipment will burn up). Others operate the test rigs that simulate
the rest of the station. As a flight controller, I sit in a computer room
monitoring the "telemetry" coming from the lab. In this way we get to see
how the systems we have been studying for years actually work. 

The test goes slowly but surely for a while and then we hit a snag. A
power switch was supposed to activate the main computer system but there
is "no joy", as we say. Two hours later we discover a power cable that was
unconnected for repairs and not replaced. With that fixed we resume the
test. Of course there are things we didn't anticipate when creating the
script so we have to troubleshoot some problems on the fly. 

But that is the nature of testing, and why we test in the first place, and
we continue on. Finally, we power up the main computer systems - the heart
of the Command & Data Handling (C&DH) system that I have worked on for so
long - when suddenly the loud clatter of the fire alarm clobbers our joy.
Since the seriousness of the situation is unknown, everyone evacuates,
killing the power to the lab quickly on the way out. After half an hour we
come back in and begin the clean up. There is a lot of paperwork and
reconfiguration to get the system back to a stage where we can resume
testing. The sudden transition to off is not only a danger to the
expensive equipment, but requires us to go back to square one. Three and a
half hours later we are ready to begin again. Later, I found out that
someone had left a bag of popcorn in the microwave for over 30 minutes
causing a small fire! 

With the reconfiguration complete, we resume the test. It's now 9 p.m.,
and I have been here since 7 a.m. Slowly, but surely, we step through the
procedure. So far the software and hardware are working as expected and in
some cases, better than expected. For example, one big concern we have is
that the computer systems will overheat before we can get the cooling
system going. And, in a classic catch-22 situation, we have to get the
computer systems running before we can turn on the cooling systems! We
should have enough time - providing there are no problems. Just one small
error (e.g., a key computer fails to boot up) could quickly eat up all the
time we have, causing a serious failure. Testing so far indicates the
systems are heating up slower than expected, which means we will have more
time in space to get the lab running. It's only a few minutes more but
that could be critical. I am also learning a great deal about the system,
which will help me later on during the Multi-Element Integrated Test
(MEIT) this fall where we connect all the actual elements together and
make sure they work together as a whole. Ultimately, I hope to know the
system in my sleep by the time it is actually in space. 

It has been a good, but long, day. After being here for 15 hours, the day
ends, and it is time to power everything down for the night. In the
morning, we get to do it all over again. If all goes well, we will
complete the first part of the test in about a week. Then the lab is
reconfigured for the next flight - 6A - where additional equipment will be
installed, and the test starts all over again. Other members from my
group, those concentrating on that flight, get to go through that. 

IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED, ...
by Stefan Rosner

http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/team/rosner.html

March 27, l998
Large complex payloads, such as Neurolab, customarily conduct a
comprehensive, integrated test called a "Facility Trial Run" (FTR) at the
launch site. Such tests are intended to be a "dry run", or "dress
rehearsal" of sorts, in which selected critical payload activities are
conducted using the intended
available facilities to identify any incompatibilities and to validate the
ground operations timeline. 

Such a test was conducted by Ames Research Center at the Kennedy Space
Center launch site support facilities during the summer of 1997. At this
time a large team of ARC Science, Operations and Engineering team
personnel traveled to KSC for several weeks to support these activities. A
great number of objectives were met during the Neurolab FTR, and at the
conclusion of the activity there was a debriefing in which the results
were presented and discussed. Action items were assigned to ensure that
when the time came for the actual mission, about six months later, the
time-critical ground operations would go smoothly and with no major
glitches which could jeopardize the scientific objectives of the mission. 

While this FTR was quite comprehensive and certainly worthy of at least
several Field Journals, this particular journal is about a second, much
smaller (and yet very critical) FTR activity that I coordinated and
supported and which finally occurred within just days of the STS-90
launch! 

One of the important objectives of the original FTR which had not been met
at that time (due to a variety of hardware and personnel availability
reasons) was a validation of the pre- and post-flight hardware "turnover"
operations associated with the E088 / VFEU experiment. Due to the
complexity of this Aquatics experiment, these ground operations required
the use of elaborate, powered Ground Support Equipment (GSE), needed to
provide life support to the four flight toadfish specimens when they are
loaded into the Fish Packages (FPs), both in the off-line laboratory and
during transportation from the laboratory to the launch pad and into the
Orbiter and Spacelab. Because this had not taken place at the Payload FTR,
I was assigned an Action Item to coordinate and conduct an FTR to ensure
that everything would happen as planned during the critical preflight
turnover and transportation operations. 

I drafted a letter to the Mission Management Office (MMO) which outlined
the rationale for the test and requested limited technical and logistical
support from several KSC organizations. [Click on the link to see the text
of the letter that I drafted to the Mission Manager.] The response was
somewhat "lukewarm." Neither MMO nor KSC seemed convinced of the
importance of conducting such a test, and several members of the Mission
Management and KSC Payload Management and Integration Engineering teams
stated that large portions of the proposed FTR were not required and would
not be supported by KSC. A flurry of e-mails and teleconferences ensued in
which it was claimed by many that because the FPDUs had a standard power
plug, the White Room was already outfitted with compatible standard power
receptacles and the BTV had already been interfaced to the "shore power"
receptacles at the pad on previous missions, the entire validation could
be accomplished analytically as a paper exercise rather than by test. Even
I started to question the need for the test. After all (I thought to
myself) when I go to the appliance store and buy a toaster I don't request
a "Facility Trial Run" to ensure that the toaster will be compatible with
the standard line power and receptacle! 

Well, I've always said that "one good test is worth a thousand pages of
analysis and a hundred expert opinions," so in light of the perceived
risks associated with not performing this modest test, I decided to pursue
the matter further. The results were quite an "eye opener," as the
photojournal below demonstrates: 


We received the "green light" from KSC and MMO to proceed with the test.
March 27 was the deadline for the powered portions of the test which
required the use of the flight FPs, as they entered their preflight
hardware processing "flow" very soon after that date. The BTV arrived at
the SSPF loading dock, and the FPDUs were unpowered (one at a time) and
rolled from the off-line lab into the back of the van, where they were
again powered. 

This image shows both of the large FPDUs, each supporting two FPs, loaded
and powered in the back of the BTV, and restrained for the transportation
to the pad which was about a 30-minute drive at low speed. The BTV
generator and power bus were shown to be capable of powering both FPDUs.
So far, so good, though it was decided that it would be best to keep the
BTV speed down to below 30 mph and to plan an additional 10 to 15 minutes
for transportation to keep the bumps in route to a minimum! 

The BTV and test support convoy arrives at Pad 39B. Attempts are made to
power the BTV from a pad "shore power" receptacle so that the BTV
generator could be turned off while awaiting the go ahead to bring them up
to the 190-foot level for loading into the "White Room." This is where the
troubles began! The cable shown coiled on the ground was retrieved from
the access door (shown open) on the side of the BTV, but when the door was
opened, the cable was found "swimming" in a several inch deep puddle of
water which had accumulated in the stowage compartment, and was dripping
wet! Use of the cable in this condition would have been hazardous, so
plans to power the BTV from shore power were abandoned for the time being,
and technicians had to build a new cable which would need to be tested on
another day. 

Despite the problems with the BTV shore power cable, it was decided that
it would be valuable to check the shore power receptacle at the pad to
ensure that it could deliver the proper voltage to the BTV when the time
came. Again, there were unforeseen difficulties. The power receptacles are
of an "explosion proof" design with a threaded cap. The United Space
Alliance (USA) technicians were unable to remove the cap, which had rusted
onto the receptacle. Liquid Wrench was applied to the threads, but even
two technicians using the 4-foot-long pipe wrench (shown here in the hands
of the technician on the right) were unable to remove the cap! It seems
that the BTV had not been hooked up to the Pad 39B shore power in quite
some time! 

With the BTV shore power testing put off until the following week, pending
fabrication of a new cable and removal of the stubborn cap, the test
continued. We got word over the radio-net that the folks up in the "White
Room" were ready for the FPDU, so the first unit was powered down and
rolled out onto the BTV liftgate. This liftgate was neither completely
level nor flat, and was barely wide enough for the wheelbase of the FPDU
which is tall, somewhat top heavy, and weighs over 200 kg. (450 pounds)
when filled with water and loaded with two FPs! This was considered
hazardous, and those of us on the ground level got a bit nervous when one
of the wheels went over the edge and the FPDU started to tip towards us!
We decided that this part of the operation needed some improvement as
well, and started brainstorming about the use of a forklift, or possibly
even building a temporary loading dock and ramp! 

The elevator ride to the 190-foot level is astonishingly fast, and soon we
were rolling the FPDU down the gantry to the "White Room." The "floor" of
the gantry, like much of the Pad, is an open mesh, and looking down
through the mesh can be quite disorienting and vertigo-inducing if one is
afraid of heights! Measurements made on a previous facility walkdown had
already convinced us that larger diameter FPDU wheels were needed for the
mesh size of the gantry, and that the handles on the sides of the FPDUs
would need to be removed so that they would fit through the narrow door to
the White Room, so there were no surprises here! 

The White Room is quite small, and with other prelaunch operations
underway, we needed to abide by some "man loading constraints" so that we
wouldn't overcrowd the area. Here I am shown relaxing for a "photo
opportunity" at the entrance to the gantry, with the door leading into the
White Room shown at the far end. The small size of the White Room also
meant that only one FPDU at a time could be inside; the second FPDU would
need to remain powered in the BTV until the first two FPs had been loaded
into the Spacelab and the first FPDU could be sent down in the elevator. 

Here, IPT Lead Brad Berch is shown observing the positioning and power up
 of the FPDU in the White Room. In spite of the assurances we had been
given that appropriate power receptacles were already present in the White
Room, we heard that a crew of electrical technicians had been working
right up through the third shift the previous night replacing some of the
power receptacles to make them compatible with the FPDU power plugs! 


As you can see, we accomplished a lot on March 27, but needed to return
with one of the FPDUs the following week to try to improve the FPDU / BTV
loading and unloading operations at the Pad where there is no loading
dock. This was combined with the further powered testing of the BTV - Pad
shore power interface which could not be accomplished on the first test
day due to the cable and receptacle problems. 


Here, KSC / Bionetics technician and BTV driver John Carver (known as
"J.C.") is shown with the newly built replacement shore power cable in
hand. By now, the USA electrical technicians had somehow succeeded in
removing the power receptacle cap, but still there were problems. The new
surprise was that the new  cable plug was "keyed" differently than the
receptacle connector and would not  mate! J.C. is shown here modifying the
keying of the cable plug using a Swiss Army Knife corkscrew and was able
to make the cable mate. Now that's appropriate technology at work! 

With the BTV - Pad shore power plug modified so that it would mate, J.C.
looks on as the USA technicians mate the cable and discover that there is
no power on the contacts of the shore power receptacle! This was easily
corrected, but it was still important to work out even these minor
"glitches" now, rather than on L-2 days when the module late stow MVAK
schedule would be very impacted. 

After weighing all of the options and consulting with both the KSC Ground
Safety organization and the heavy lift operations personnel, it was
decided that a forklift, combined with some cargo slings attached to the
forklift blades, would be a much improved method of installing and
removing the heavy and ungainly FPDUs into and from the back of the BTV at
the Pad. The Pad certified forklift was secured and this operation was
demonstrated by the first shift technicians to everyone's satisfaction.

Later, at the request of the Pad operations lead, I coordinated with
Payload Comm. to produce a training videotape for the second shift
technicians (who would actually be performing this operation on L-2 days)
using the photographs that I took of this demonstration (including these
images). Finally, all of the pieces of this critical operation had "fallen
into place," but not without a lot of coordination and work. 


Lessons Learned: 

In this particular case, it would have been very easy to be discouraged by
the initial resistance that we encountered and to take the "path of least
resistance." Certainly, this would have made for fewer hassles during the
already hectic weeks leading up to the launch. However, I recognized that
much would have been risked by not pursuing this test and took a strong
stand for what I believed to be true. Though it was painful to do so at
times, in retrospect I and many others are very glad that I had. The
result was that at L-2 days, when everything needed to happen like
"clockwork" to meet some very aggressive schedules, everything worked as
planned! 

I leave it to your imaginations to envision what might have happened at
L-2 days had we not pushed so hard for this critical test! 

STATUS OF COLUMBIA PROCESSING

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

As Columbia continues  preparation for its next scheduled flight, STS-93
scheduled for January 1999,  the month of June ended with the servicing of
all three orbiter fuel cells and the beginning of corrosion repair of the
external tank umbilical doors which is still ongoing. The payload bay will
undergo functional tests this week. Plans are to install auxiliary power
units No. 1 and No. 3 beginning today.

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