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SPACE TEAM ONLINEUPDATE # 53 - October 4, l998 PART 1: From Key Largo to STS-95 FROM KEY LARGO TO STS-95
There was certain nostalgia to leaving the Keys yesterday, I thought as I boarded the plane for home. We had worked hard, played some, and gotten to know each other at our best and at our worst! The team, however was undaunted to the end. We completed the interactive portion of the Challenge Mission aboard the Scott Carpenter Space Analog Station with a terrific webcast in which Dennis Chamberland, as commander of the station, and Christopher Roosa, from the space perspective given him by his father Apollo Astronaut, Stuart Roosa, wrapped up our mission and answered questions live. I must admit, after almost three weeks away, it was good to get home. Within the next several days we will have the full archive of events as they occurred for you to enjoy (again). STS-95 is the next big Shuttle event, and then we are looking forward to the STS-88, the first shuttle mission in the assembly of the International Space Station. We hope you'll keep tuned here as we keep you posted on those events and on ways in which you can actively engage in interactions with the NASA personnel involved. 'Til next week, Linda UPCOMING CHATS:
Thursday, October 8, 1998, 11 AM Pacific Time (2 PM Eastern Time) Ric Adams, project engineer involved in inspecting the space shuttle for any minor damage before, during, and after a mission. Read Ric Adams' profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/adams.html Thursday, October 15, 1998, 10 AM Pacific Time (1 PM Eastern Time) Liz Bauer, a hardware engineer at Johnson Space Center, is currently supporting the International Space Station effort through her work with the Ku-band system and Human Research Facility. Read Liz's profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/bauer.html [Editor's note: Gail is with the Environmental Management Systems at Kennedy Space Center. Below she describes her role for the Challenge Mission] A MISSION SUPPORT DIVER ON THE JOB http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/challenge/team/hebert.html September 29, l998 Life in the Keys is always interesting, but this mission coupled with a Category 2 hurricane has made this job a lot more interesting! I decided to take a few minutes this afternoon to write this journal entry. Since things have now basically settled into a routine, I can give the folks back home a look into my workday. We have a team meeting at 7:30. I love this port because there is no commute! Fifty feet and I am there! My morning duties vary, but I am a "mission support diver." I transfer personal items in a dry box to the Carpenter Station and also escort our guests to and from the Station. I also deliver meals. I carry a marine radio to monitor our activities while I am on land. A few times I have been called upon to dive before my first cup of coffee. I can do without those mornings! Additionally, I assist our visiting diving guest with equipment and ensure everyone enjoys their visit. Every day has been different, and I have had an opportunity to meet some extremely interesting people. I feel honored to have assisted with the Challenge Project. Our day generally ends around 5:30 p.m. Then it is clean-up time, change our clothes and hunt down dinner. By the end of my shift, I am usually ready to eat dinner. It has been decided that the mission will end on Thursday, extending it by one day. I still am amazed at the terrible damage around us from the hurricane. I am further amazed that this team was forced to evacuate, lost three days, but came back to business as usual so rapidly and didn't miss a beat! [Editor's note: Jeffrey is a payload mission operations engineer at Kennedy Space Center. As such he is responsible for managing Payload Operation activities for Shuttle and Space Station Resupply /Return Payloads. COOPERATING TO SEE SUCCESS
by Jeffery Beyer http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/beyer.html Interviewer: Brandt Secosh September 11, l998 This is my first journal with the Space Team Online, and I am excited to share what I do at Kennedy Space Center with you. My most recent project began in mid-March of this year and ran through July 1st at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. I was assigned as temporary duty (TDY) to the Boeing plant to work on the United States Lab component of the International Space Station. This was a new NASA program that allowed NASA employees to work side by side with the Boeing Company. The program was great and saved the Boeing Company a lot of money. It also provided the NASA employees with knowledge of how the testing was going and allowed us to become much more familiar with the hardware and software that is used on the Space Lab. When the U.S. Lab arrives at Kennedy Space Center for testing, and eventually the assembly flight that will place the Lab in space, we will be much more informed on what to expect. We had a total of 10 NASA employees participating in the program; all were from Kennedy Space Center. The Boeing company accepted all of us as one of their own and made us feel right at home during our TDY. During the first month, we were placed in specific areas of the Lab project, such as electrical, power, etc. to write the test procedures for each component. I wrote the required test procedures for the Environmental Control Life Support Systems (ECLSS) which included the temperature and humidity systems of the Lab. Additionally, I worked with the Fire Detector System and Water Recovery Management Systems. Writing the test procedure is a very meticulous process that considers all aspects of the system that I worked on. It is a sequential process that will be used to power-up and power-down the components of each system. If these steps are not followed correctly the result could be damage to the equipment, injury to an astronaut or damage to the International Space Station itself. After writing the test procedures we were able to run and test the procedure. When we found any problem areas we made the necessary corrections then and there. This was exciting because many times at KSC one team would write the procedure, a different team would test the procedure and a third team would write the corrections. But at the Boeing plant, we had enough time during our TDY to do it all! It was great to see how everything worked once the U.S. Lab hardware was powered up! Our work schedule was six days a week with teams working twenty-four hours per day. Occasionally we would get some time off, and I had the opportunity to enjoy the hilly countryside of Alabama; something we just don't have in Florida! We made a trip up to Nashville, Tennessee and I enjoyed that a lot! I also discovered why the area I was in is referred to as Tornado Alley. During my stay there were several Tornadoes in that area, and the town would set off the tornado warning sirens. This assignment was a great experience for me because most of my career has involved the operational aspects of a project. This allowed me to become directly involved with the engineering aspects of the U.S. Lab. I had apprehensions about doing this kind of work, but I found that I enjoyed it a lot and many of my colleagues complimented my work. SUBSCRIBING & UNSUBSCRIBING: HOW TO DO IT!
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