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S P A C E T E A M O N L I N EUPDATE # 82 - May 10, 1999 PART 1: We need your help WE NEED YOUR HELP
I was a teacher for 10 years (not too long ago), and I understand that as the school year winds down, your time is not necessarily your own. To name just a few impositions on your time: assemblies get called at what seems like the spur of the moment, parents become suddenly anxious to discuss their student's progress (before it gets documented on the report card!), and packing up your things before summer school invades your classroom can keep you so preoccupied that you don't even have time to get excited over the vacation time you've planned. So if you're a teacher, I'm definitely in your corner and understand. What I have trouble understanding and really could use your help with is this: We have continued a rich chat schedule thanks to the efforts of QuestChat Project Manager Oran Cox. Each chat has been replete with registrants, but for all too many chats in the last few months, at the time designated, no one has shown up. As you may understand, this puts us in a very awkward situation. We've reserved an hour of a very busy NASA expert's time to chat with "our kids" and no kids come. So far the experts have been gracious and rescheduled. I know teachers to be very considerate people who very aware of the value of time to a busy person, yet even when we write asking, "What happened?" we've gotten no response. We are frankly stymied and open to any suggestions you can give regarding solutions. We certainly do not want to lose the enthusiastic support we've gotten from our team members, yet we remain aware that the YOU are the reason we set these chats up. When a classroom signs up, and doesn't show, they potentially exclude another classroom that might have been there. We cannot leave chats with unlimited registration if we hope to satisfy our customer (the students) with a personal response to their question from a NASA expert. Please help us to remedy the situation so that these valuable interactions may continue. Respond with helpful suggestions directly to Oran at ocox@mail.arc.nasa.gov Speaking of chat extravaganzas: Johnson Space Center expert Luis Rodriguez suggested and has helped us put together a marathon chat celebrating International Space Day: Thursday, May 27th. This chat will span the hours of 4 to 9 a.m. PDT (6 to 11 a.m. CDT; 7 a.m. to 12 noon EDT; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. GMT) and include 3 to 5 experts per hour. So far, 12 countries have confirmed their participation including Argentina, Bolivia, Columbia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Madagascar, Panama, Philippines Rumania, and Bulgaria. Several of our volunteers will take this opportunity to exercise their bilingual skills and respond in Spanish, French, German, etc. It should be a great international event, and naturally, you are invited to join in. See details in the schedule of events below. We at NASA Quest will continue our projects through the summer. If you're taking the time off (lucky you!), we'll see you in September. If you'll still be lurking online, teaching summer school or another kid-related activity, planning for next year, or just enjoying STO for yourself, we will be here, though at a reduced intensity as we rethink our projects and plan for next year. We will continue to hold two to three chats per month, and I will send out e-mail updates about twice per month. As usual, I remain anxious to get your inputs in planning for the upcoming scholastic year. Please let me know how STO can best meet your needs. Let me hear from you, Linda Conrad Space Team Online project manager NASA Quest Team UPCOMING LIVE EVENTS:
QuestChats require pre-registration. ->Tuesday, May 11, 1999, 11 AM Pacific Daylight Time: William Foster, a ground controller works in the White Flight Control room, which is the new front room of NASA's Mission Control Center (MCC). He is one of many people responsible for providing flight controllers with space shuttle data and maintaining voice and data communications between the MCC and the space shuttle. Currently, Bill is assigned ascent/entry duties and is scheduled to support the next several shuttle launch and landing operations. Read his profile and field journals at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/foster.html Register at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/chats/index.html#chatting ****Anticipating STS-96 launch-May 20, 1999: **** ->Thursday, May 13, 1999, 8:30 AM Pacific Daylight Time: Mike Ciannilli monitors all of the systems on the orbiter as they are tested and resolves any conflicts during systems testing that may arise. He helps find solutions to any problems that occur during testing. Additionally, Mike is known to NASA Quest members as the narrator of several special online video events! Read his profile and field journals at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/ciannilli.html Register at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/chats/index.html#chatting ->Tuesday, May 18, 1999, 11 a.m. PDT (2:00 p.m. EST) Lonnie Moffitt works directly with the NASA astronauts. He meets with different crew members as they rotate through technical jobs between their flight assignments. See Lonnie's profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/moffitt.html Register at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/chats/index.html#chatting ->Wednesday, May 19, 1999, 10 AM Pacific Time: Joe Delai works in the Space Station Hardware Integration Office (SSHIO) on the Space Lab Pallet. He works directly with other engineers on the development of the International Space Station. See his profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/delai.html Register at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/chats/index.html#chatting ->Wednesday, May 19, 1999, 10:00 a.m. PDT (1:00 p.m. EST) Webcast: Tour of the ISS Mockup and Training Facility at JSC Join us for our regularly scheduled guided tour of the International Space Station mockup and training facility at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. Information on this event may be found at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/sto/tours ->Thursday, May 20, 1999, 5:30 a.m. PDT (8:30 a.m. EDT) LIVE webcast coverage of the STS-96 Launch. STS-96 is a logistics and resupply mission for the International Space Station. It will be the first flight to dock to the International Space Station. The SPACEHAB double module will carry internal and resupply cargo for station outfitting. Stay posted at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/sto/launch -> Thursday, May 20, 1999, 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT) Diane McMahon, a experiment support scientist, has worked closely with scientists to incorporate their experiments into shuttle missions. However, she has recently changed positions at Johnson Space Center and will be online to discuss her new responsibilities. A new profile will be online soon at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/mcmahon.html Register at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/chats/index.html#chatting Thursday, May 27, 1999, 4 a.m. - 9a.m. Pacific Daylight Time: (7 a.m. to 12 noon EDT, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. GMT) Space Team Online Celebrates International Space Week! Join our international audience as they chat with members of Space Team Online and other NASA experts. Various experts will be online in a forum to discuss their careers supporting the U.S. space program. For more information see: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/chats/#May24 To register for any Space Team Online chats see: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/chats/#chatting FEMALE FRONTIERS PUZZLE
The online version is at:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/ffpuzzle
Question #8: Answers due by Wednesday, May 19, 1999
What is the advantage of having an X-ray observatory in space rather than
on the ground?
Question #7: Answers due by Wednesday May 12, 1999
What is Space Shuttle Columbia going to do after STS-93 (give the word(s)
the
KSC engineers use)?
Send your answers to Student Ambassador, Stephanie Wong:
wongtong@connect.ab.ca
Check your personal score at:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/ffpuzzle/scoring.html
Answer to Question #6: Which little satellite is Elizabeth Bloomer (STO
expert) worried about because if something goes wrong, it might be in the
shuttle's path? How heavy is it?
Microsat, 40-pounds
See Elizabeth's profile at: http://quest/space/team/bloomer.html
The answer above is contained in her journal entitled:
Busy with STS-93 and a worrisome little satellite and found at:
http://quest/space/team/journals/bloomer/01-19-99.html
RESPONDING TO YOUR NEEDS
Continuing with feedback on issues addressed in the last STO survey: *I'd appreciate it if the occasional live event was scheduled so as to be more accessible to Australian audiences. Now that I'm at university, I can see some of them more easily, but they're rarely in convenient time-slots for us out here. I know that an overwhelming majority of participants are from the US, but even one "especially for Australians" event would be nice. live online at Australian time!! I've responded already to the many requests from people who live in the many different time zones we serve, and I have often enjoyed and admired the enthusiasm of our Australian participants. Typically the best I can answer is that it is difficult to getting our experts to agree to some of the ghastly hours here that make us convenient to the other side of the planet. Also there's the obvious need to respond to those who pick up the tab for our services (the US public, through their taxes). But this time I have a positive suggestion: Join us for the International Space Day chats (described above) that have been timed to cater to the participants around the world. At least Luis and Oran will be online at 4 a.m. our time (9 p.m. Sydney time). *I would like to have access to transcripts of all question and answer sessions for future reference. I'm not sure if this request refers to the questions and answers that happen in our QuestChats or our Question and Answer section of the website. Either way, we do archive these exchanges. The archive for the QuestChats may be found at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/chats/archive/ and the Q&A section is categorized and stored at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/ask/index.html *I would welcome the opportunity to have my children participate in internships of some sort with NASA Student internships at NASA are handled at the field center level. As an example, here at NASA Ames Research Center in California there are 76 listing for internships listed at: http://server-mpo.arc.nasa.gov:80/EdAssoc/Queries/PosSea.taf For more information NASA-wide, see (if the line wraps, cut and paste both sections into your browser-no spaces): http://www.nasajobs.nasa.gov/jobs/student_opportunities/student_opportunities.htm [Editor's note: Mike will be moving into new responsibilities with the upcoming STS-96 flight. He is a flight control officer at the Johnson Space Center.] WORKING ON PROP CERTIFICATIONS http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/moses.html May 6, 1999 Interviewer: Lori Keith For the last year and a half, I have been spending most of my time training for console. I just certified for Orbit PROP, which has me working in the FCR (Flight Control Room or "front room"). My first certified flight is STS-96. I'm on the Orbit 2 team. Though my team isn't involved with the rendezvous or undocking, we are going to be doing the reboost. Lori Keith writes about the reboost in her latest journal about the sim. The last flight I worked was STS-88, and I worked as Ascent/Entry Consumables, one of our MPSR (Multi-Purpose Support Room or "backroom") positions. I think I wrote about Ascent Consumables training and certification in my first journal. After that, I worked the Orbit OREO and Ascent OREO training flows. OREO stands for OMS and RCS Engineering Officer. OMS is Orbital Maneuvering System and RCS is Reaction Control System. OMS uses engines and RCS uses jets to control the altitude and attitude, respectively, of the vehicle in space. Now I am working on my Ascent PROP certification. The simulations (sims) we do to train can be absolutely terrifying at times in terms of the amount of failures and the stress we perform under during these sims. Thank goodness they are just simulations and not the real thing. But this is why the sims are so important. They train us so diligently and throw more failures at us then could possibly go wrong that we pretty much become ready for anything. We are to become instinctive in our reaction to ensure that we save the system and put it in a configuration that we know. Then we take the data we have and analyze it to troubleshoot the problem so we can either fix it or try to work around it. The Ascent PROP position concerns the most dynamic phase of flight. You have seconds to diagnose and react to a problem as opposed to minutes or hours when in orbit. There is no time to double and triple check things, you must be right the first time or there could be serious consequences. I have participated in about four ascent sims, and like I said . . . it's terror! It takes about a year to get through the Ascent PROP training flow. As my training progresses, I'll become more and more comfortable sitting in the FCR during Ascent. I am also working on preparation activities for STS-101, scheduled for launch this coming December. I will be the lead PROP for this mission. This means I am the point-man for any issues that come up. The robotic arm folks contacted me because there was a conflict during one of their activities - the robotic arm will be blocking our jets. This becomes important information to be planned around in orbit. I attend lots of meetings and write and receive lots of e-mail. A lot of effort goes into getting ready for a flight, and it shows on console because very little goes wrong. Usually when there is a problem for the PROP group, instrumentation failure is more likely than hardware failure. Today, I am participating in a mission specific sim for STS-96. Lori Keith joined us for a few hours during this simulation. See her journal to read more about the sim. Other than work, I've been playing more roller hockey, but now that the weather is beginning to get hot, it's not quite as much fun. My wife and I are still in the process of remodeling the house. She works over in EVA here at JSC and recently got promoted. The new job has kept her very busy. [Editor's note: Lori is Space Team Online's correspondent at the Johnson Space Center. You will often see her name as she interviews our JSC experts and helps develop their journals with them. Often she is invited to experience behind-the-scenes special events, and here she shares one such experience with you.] SITTING IN ON AN STS-96 SIMULATION http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/keith.html April 27, 1999 I just love it when I get invited to sit in on a simulation in the MCC, or Mission Control Center. It's so exciting just being in that room. Today's simulation, or sim, was a mission specific sim for STS-96. Everyone involved was practicing operations that will occur while the Shuttle is docked to the International Space Station (ISS). Though the flight control team sitting in was the STS-96 team, the astronauts in the simulator, over in Building 5, were from the crew of STS-101. Mike Moses, who invited me to join today, is the front room PROP for STS-96. Mike's main responsibility for this mission, as the PROP Flight Controller, is to manage the hardware and to know how much propellant will be needed for each activity so he can assign which tank will provide fuel accordingly. No matter what, a minimum amount must be maintained to come home. Mike tells me that usually the hardware never fails, except during a sim, so most of what the PROPs do on orbit (during a flight) is manage the propellant. A record is kept of what is used, when it is used, and where it comes from. During a mission, if propellant gets low, all activities or experiments using it must be stopped. Extra propellant is maintained just to be on the safe side. Managing the propellant efficiently is very important. Propellant is used when the OMS (Orbital Maneuvering System) engines and the RCS (Reaction Control System) jets are fired off. The OMS engines are used to adjust altitude, and the RCS jets adjust attitude. Attitude, in space, means where something in particular is pointing. For instance, they want to keep the solar arrays, on the ISS, pointing at the sun; but as movement occurs, they must be adjusted occasionally to keep them in the right attitude -- facing the sun. When I arrived, the simulation had progressed to the point that the Shuttle was docked to the ISS and a reboost had been planned to occur in 45 minutes. The reboost will raise the ISS orbit by about three nautical miles. It does this in pulses where the primary RCS jets fire for 5.5 seconds, at 870 pounds of thrust; then the vernier RCS jets fire for about 130 seconds, at 25 pounds of thrust. This results in the Shuttle and the ISS making two types of movements to adjust the altitude. First the nose pitches up, and then the back end follows it up. FDO (Flight Dynamics Officer, pronounced fido with a long I sound) estimated that this reboost would use approximately 1071 pounds of fuel. The PROP group had to figure out where this fuel would be coming from. In this instance, they would be allocating fuel from two separate tanks, so a crossover had to take place. Mike explained that during a real mission, they would know ahead of time everything planned so they would have allocated fuel differently. Since the simulated reboost was going to take 21 pulses, it was decided the first 10 would use fuel from one tank and the last 11 would use fuel from a different tank. During the sim, while I was there, cabin pressure began to fall. The crew began closing as many hatches as they could. If the leak is on the ISS, the crew will stay and try to fix it. If the leak is on the Shuttle, the crew must undock and come home immediately before all their oxygen is gone. After some initial checking, the leak is believed to be a valve in the SPACEHAB module. This leak delayed the reboost by ten minutes. By the time I left, the crew was sure the leak was in the SPACEHAB and decided to power it down. The simulations always have many failures thrown in, which make them quite interesting to sit in on. Watching these experts train is always a treat. I really enjoy it, and I hope they invite me back soon. Space Team Online and the Learning Technologies Channel will present a live webcast of the STS-96 launch, Thursday May 20, from 5:30 am Pacific time through the launch. STO expert Mike Ciannilli will be in attendance with Brandt Secosh, NASA Quest host and correspondent from KSC. You will be able to interact with Mike using the chat room as he walks you through a blow-by-blow description of this important launch. Tune in if you can -- see you there. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/sto/launch/sts96 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. Payload bay radiator inspections concluded last Wednesday. Final inspection of Columbia's thermal protection system is under way and auxiliary power unit lubrication oil servicing resumed Friday. At last report, Columbia's drag chute door was to be installed on Friday. Inspections of Columbia's newly installed payload bay floodlights are complete. Functional checks of the orbiter maneuvering system and potable water servicing are in progress. Leak checks are in work on the exhaust ducts for auxiliary power units No. 1 and No. 3. The orbiter's nose and main landing gear is slated for installation this week. SUBSCRIBING & UNSUBSCRIBING: HOW TO DO IT!
If this is your first message from the updates-sto list, welcome! To catch up on back issues, please visit the following Internet URL: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/updates To subscribe to the updates-sto mailing list (where this message came from), send a message to: listmanager@quest.arc.nasa.gov In the message body, write these words: subscribe updates-sto CONVERSELY... To remove your name from the updates-sto mailing list, send a message to: listmanager@quest.arc.nasa.gov In the message body, write these words: unsubscribe updates-sto If you have Web access, please visit our "continuous construction" site at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space |
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