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S P A C E T E A M O N L I N EUPDATE # 73 - March 8, 1999 PART 1: Don't let the technology keep you
away! DON'T LET THE TECHNOLOGY KEEP YOU AWAY!
What a busy week we had last week with the excitement that always surrounds astronaut presence. We started the week with a chat online with Julie Mikula who manages the Flight Simulation Laboratories (SimLab) Facility that includes the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS). The astronaut pilots are required to visit twice per year to train at this center. Space Team Online participant, Lonnie Moffitt http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/moffitt.html arranged with Julie to let us film in the VMS building as Astronaut Paul "Paco" Lockhart gave us an insider's view of the VMS over the Learning Technologies Channel (live video, that is). That event is archived at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/sto/vms I took some photos as the day unfolded and will write a photo-journal in the next couple of days so you can relive it with us. Lonnie will be returning to continue with the discussion of astronaut training from the perspective of Flight Crew Operations at Johnson Space Center, this Thursday, March 11 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Join us live from the Learning Technologies Channel Studio! Also live this week is a webcast tomorrow (March 9) with Dee O'Hara, the first nurse to the first astronauts as part of the Female Frontier's project. See the schedule at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/frontiers/schedule.html If you have not attended a webcast before, please don't let the technology scare you. It is so exciting to be able to see the expert you're interacting with, it's well worth the few moments of time it takes to get ready. There is a page designed to walk you through it at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/frontiers/how-to.html For these events you will want to have time to download and install the RealMedia player, the software that makes it possible to see the video stream. There is no charge for the player if you take care to follow the links that include the word "free". It just takes a little time, but, once you've done it, you let yourself into a whole new world of interactivity. Join the fun! Linda UPCOMING LIVE EVENTS: ->Tuesday, March 9, 11:30 a.m. PST (2:30 p.m. EST) Female Frontiers WebCast with Dee O'Hara, First Nurse to NASA's First Astronauts. For more information see: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/sto/frontiers/ ->Tuesday, March 16, 1999 - 11:00 a.m. PST (2:00 p.m. EST) Chat with Kathryn Sullivan, First American woman to walk in Space See her profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/frontiers/sullivan.html Registration open 3/2/99 at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/frontiers/schedule.html ->Thursday, March 11 Ð 10:00 a.m. PST (1:00 p.m. EST) Join the webcast with Lonnie Moffitt as he continues the discussion of astronaut training from the perspective of Flight Crew Operations at Johnson Space Center. See Lonnie's profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/moffitt.html Join us at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/sto/vms/ ->Tuesday, March 16, 1999, 11:30 AM Pacific Time (2:30 PM EST) Felix A. Soto-Toro, electrical designs engineer, reviews, designs, builds, tests and implements engineering designs used in the Shuttle and Payload Operations Development Laboratories to improve safety. Felix will receive and answer questions in Spanish and English during this chat. Read Felix A. Soto-Toro's profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/soto_toro.html Register at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/chats ->Wednesday, March 17, 10:00 a.m. PST (1:00 p.m. EST) Tour of the ISS Mockup and Training Facility at JSC Join us for the on-going tour guide at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas for our regularly scheduled tour of the International Space Station mockup and training facility. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/ltc/sto/tours/index.html ->Wednesday, March 17, 8:30 a.m. PST (11:30 a.m. EST) Chat with Jean Bartik, First programmers started out as "computers." See her profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/frontiers/bartik.html Registration coming soon at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/frontiers/schedule.html ->Tuesday, March 23 10:00 a.m. PST (1:00 p.m. EST) Chat with Sally Ride, First American woman in Space. See her profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/frontiers/ride.html Registration coming soon at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/frontiers/schedule.html ->Wednesday, March 24, 10:00 a.m. PST (1:00 p.m. EST) Space Team Online Presents "ISS Behind the Scenes" Join us for the continuing series of broadcasts from the Kennedy Space Center ISS program. This month we feature the Space Station Processing Facility. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/sto/iss/series2.html ->Friday, March 26, 10:00 a.m. PST (11:00 a.m. EST) Female Frontiers Webcast with Shirley Temple Black, First female chief protocol, first child actress to win Academy Award. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/frontiers/schedule.html For continuing Female Frontiers schedule see: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/frontiers/schedule.html For March Space Team Online chats see: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/chats RESPONDING TO YOUR NEEDS Our recent survey asked: "Were your needs met?" and many responded with requests and suggestions for improvement. For the next several weeks I will attempt to respond to your comments: * Openline chat with the astronauts...As they "fly" by South Africa I must be able to speak with them on a open computer line ... On orbit communications with shuttle personnel is tricky business. For example, we are presently scheduling a brief interaction with Eileen Collins during the upcoming STS-93 mission. The permission to do so is at the discretion of the shuttle commander. In this case she is the focus of the Female Frontiers project and offered to do this for us. Even then, we have had to go through all kinds of hurdles to set it up. In short, the mission exigencies must always be considered first. Arranging down-link time for non-mission events is extremely limited and has to remain pretty flexible. I wish I had the ability to make this dream come true, but it is not within my control. You can, however follow the progress of the shuttle, and know exactly when it's overhead by going to JSC's Realtime Data site at: http://38.201.67.72/realdata/ ----------- **If it were possible, can you send the weekly e-mails in Spanish to me? Or it is impossible? **I would like to know the Internet address (e-mail address) of some astronauts ... Both of these are frequent requests: To the first, though we do have some in-house Spanish capability, we don't have the human power to respond to the many different languages of our readers. We have attempted in the past to supervise a core of volunteers who helped with Spanish translation, however, without funding for the endeavor, it became an impossibility to continue. Whenever possible, I do respond in Spanish to Spanish e-mail. The easiest answer to the request for e-mail addresses for astronauts is that there is a website that answers the questions: http://www.nasa.gov/qanda/where_get.html#addresses The Johnson Space Center is where the Astronaut Office is, and they have provided a very informative website that includes among other things the astronauts' official biographies. See: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/astrobio.html [Editor's note: Eric works in the Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center. As a Flight Dynamics Officer, one of his responsibilities is to make sure the shuttle follows the same path through space that was planned prior to liftoff, as well as to react to deviation from the plan.] WORKING MY WAY THROUGH FDO TRAINING http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/hammer.html Interviewer: Lori Keith February 23, 1999 It's been awhile since my last journal. I am further along in my training flow for Ascent FDO (Flight Dynamics Officer), which I began in September 1998. This is a long training flow compared to others. I became certified as an Orbit FDO (pronounced fido) in early 1997 and an Entry FDO in early 1998. I worked STS-88 as Entry FDO, and I'm assigned to work flight STS-99 as an Entry FDO. In the overall training flow for Flight Dynamics Officers, which is a front room FCR (Flight Control Room, pronounced ficker) flight control position, training starts in the orbit area for FDOs. We deal with the trajectory of the spacecraft, and the orbit phase (compared to ascent and entry) is a much less dynamic phase of flight. Things are happening slower, and there is more time to react. Training moves on from there to the more difficult and dynamic phases of entry and ascent. All three certifications are independent of each other but must be completed in a certain order - orbit first, then entry, followed by ascent. It takes about six years to get through the entire FDO training flow and obtain certifications for all FDO positions. Within a few months, I will be certified as an Ascent Trajectory Officer (TRAJ). There are two positions within each FDO area: trajectory officer and flight dynamics officer. The TRAJ is also a front room FCR position. The reading, workbooks, simulations (sims), and tasks for this certification are a bit different. Ascent sims are four hours long and include between four to six ascents during that time period. These simulations usually begin at "Lift off minus four minutes," include many failures, and run through MECO (Main Engine Cutoff) when the powered flight phase ends. Some sims run longer, concluding with the required maneuvers to reach orbit or with an entry to an abort landing site. Tasks are usually one-on-one training sessions with a certified operator. The reading and workbooks relate to the ascent guidance systems of the space Shuttle and go over the ground processors we use that are operational during the ascent phase. I am scheduled to work as an Ascent Traj for STS-96. Recently, I had the opportunity to fly with a crew in the SMS Motion Base Simulator. This simulator is the closest thing to ascent and entry besides actually doing it. It was neat to see what the crew goes through and how they react to the failures. It was fascinating to sit in the simulator just the way the astronauts sit in the Shuttle. The physiological effects of the simulator as it launches - vibration, rolls, yaws and pitches - are similar to the real thing. You really think you are taking off in the Shuttle. I really enjoyed it! I plan to fly with some friends in a private airplane to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras. I really enjoy having my pilot's license. I had jury duty last week. I was picked for the first round but was not picked for the final jury. I had never seen that part of the judicial system work before, and I thought it was quite interesting. I am also in the Navy Reserves, which keeps me busy one weekend a month and two weeks a year. It is tough to plan my two weeks around my duties here. [Editor's note: work at the Graphical Research and Analysis Facility Laboratory, or GRAF Lab for short. He makes computer models of tasks and equipment in order to test processes before they are done in real life. As he says, "It is like making a NASA version of 'Toy Story'."] IMAX, CAMERAS, AND OTHER STUFF ... March 1, l999 I know, it's been a while, but I have been busy. With the holidays, vacations, and things that come up, I haven't had time to write a new journal until now. Well, since I wrote last (in December, I think) I have been helping various groups at NASA with their work by providing them with pictures and stuff. How does this help them? Well, I'll tell you. One group is studying how the solar arrays move when given a gust from the shuttle. If they vibrate the same way each time the shuttle comes to visit, then they know nothing mechanically is wrong with the arrays. If they move slower or faster, then something has changed on the solar array panels, like dents, cracks, holes, or other damage. So checking how it vibrates can be an easy way of checking the health of the arrays and radiators. I helped this group by showing them what the camera can see from the shuttle because if you can't see or measure the vibration, the test is worthless. Another group I helped was the people in charge of the WVS equipment. WVS is short for Wireless Video System. It is a very fancy antenna. From what I was told, the WVS can receive the camera images from the space suits and transmit them into the space station. These WVS pieces (that I helped with) must be mounted on the outside of the International Space Station (or ISS for short) at various spots so that the antenna will always be in range. The big question was: Can the equipment fit through the airlock of the station? They planned to move the equipment out from storage (inside), pass it through the airlock, and mount it to the station (outside). Well, it can fit through the airlock, if anyone is wondering. A third group I helped was the IMAX group. A lot of planning goes into these IMAX - NASA movies, and they want the best angle filming the best scene. So how do you determine the best angle? By making a picture of course! Then you can just flip through the pictures and find the angle you want. Then, using the pictures simulated with different lens sizes, you can determine what zoom level you want. Okay, that's all I'm going to say for now. I did other things, but some of them are really boring so I will not go into the details. Finding coordinates, making copies, attending meetings, blah, blah, blah. Well, I am proud to say my wife's little sister, Becky, got into the Texas State High School band -- which is impressive by itself, but she is also a freshman, so it doubles the coolness level. And we got to visit San Antonio again as a bonus when we went to watch her play. So we saw the Alamo, a wax museum, Ripley's Believe It or Not museum, and a lot of other touristy sites. Oh, I almost forgot, I got a lot of neat computer games for Christmas and my birthday. Starcraft is keeping me entertained, but I just got Alpha Centari (Civilization 3) yesterday, so I have a new favorite. Debbie and I visited New York and saw several Broadway shows and played in the foot-deep snow. That was a big deal for us. We southern and central Texans may not see a foot of snow added up from each winter for a lifetime. Seeing a foot of snow fall from the sky in one day was just amazing. We visited relatives and saw the sites. I still can't wait till the next Star Wars movie comes out. -Kurt Bush an X-File fan Trekie and computer game player. STATUS OF COLUMBIA PROCESSING Below, we provide reports on the processing of Shuttle Columbia taken from the detailed daily reports found at the NASA Shuttle Status web site at http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/status/status.htm. At times 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. Columbia is jacked and leveled in VAB high bay 2 undergoing routine system observation during a temporary storage period. Columbia will remain in the VAB until mid-April, when Shuttle Discovery rolls out of OPF bay 1. Columbia will then be transferred to OPF (Orbiter Processing Facility) bay 1 to complete STS-93's orbiter pre-launch preparations.
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