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UPDATE # 89 - August 25, 1999 PART 1: Launching a New Scholastic Year with
New Ideas LAUNCHING A NEW SCHOLASTIC YEAR WITH NEW IDEAS
Rumor has it that some of you have been in classes for awhile now! We at NASA Quest have been busily exploring new ways to help you incorporate the excitement of NASA's people and science into your plans. My next Update will be an overview of what STO offers, but I wanted to alert you to two especially exciting series before you fill your calendar: * KSC Shuttle Countdown: Landing to Launch Building on our Kennedy Space Center Behind-the-Scenes series last year, we have been developing a regular combination of WebChats and WebCasts to explore the processing of the Orbiters. This series will include teacher's resources to be used in the classroom in preparation for each segment. The majority of the live events will be held on Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. The developing schedule can be found at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/ksc99 * Focus: the International Space Station Coupled with the monthly tours from the Johnson Space Center, we will be hosting chats with team members from JSC who are working on the ISS. The developing schedule can be found at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/iss99 As usual, we are anxious and open to suggestions that can help you to better take advantage of the NASA Quest offerings. Please let me hear from you if I can be of help. Please use my address below instead of responding to this Update. Let's make it a successful launch! Linda Conrad UPCOMING EVENTS
Please be sure to visit each site before the scheduled time. Usually these events require pre-registration and some include preparation. ->Thursday, August 26, 1999 1-2 p.m. PDT (4-5 EDT, 8-9 GMT) Prepare for upcoming QuestChat events with Oran Cox. Oran Cox will lead an online practice session to answer any questions you have about NASA QuestChats. First time chatters welcome! http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qchats/practice/ ->Wednesday, September 15, 1999: 11- noon PDT (2-3 EDT, 6-7 GMT) QuestChat with Steven Daugherty. Steven ensures the active thermal control (ATC) system functions properly on the ISS. This is part of our Focus: International Space Station series. Read Steven Daugherty's profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/daugherty.html Pre-register at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/iss99 ->Wednesday, September 22, 1999 10-11a.m. PDT (1-2 EDT, 5-6 GMT) Webcast from the International Space Station Mock-Up and Training Facility at Johnson Space Center. This is a virtual tour with opportunity to ask questions, part of the Focus: International Space Station series. See: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/iss99 ->Wednesday, September 29, 1999 10-11:30a.m. PDT (1-2:30 EDT, 5-6:30 GMT) INTRODUCTION to KSC Shuttle Countdown: Landing to Launch [Editor's note: Chuck is a "storable propellants engineer" at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, which means that he makes sure the supply and quality of propellants are delivered to facilities like the launch pad.] A NEW PROCESS http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/cdavis.html August 20, 1999 Reporter: Brandt Secosh I recently received a call from Chuck Davis, one of our veteran Space Team Online members. Chuck called to let me know that he was involved with the testing of a new spacecraft fueling procedure that he and Charlie Smith, of Boeing, had developed. He asked if I would like to come by and observe the process for a journal write up. Chuck advised me to meet him at the SAEF II facility. I gladly accepted and started for the door. Whoa! Wait just a minute. Where and what was this "SAEF II facility"? I had not heard of this one before. Chuck gave me the directions and I was soon standing in front of the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility # 2 (SAEF II). This facility was designed and constructed to accommodate ordnance installation, liquid propellant (hypergols) loading, hazardous systems tests and checkout, buildup, and any other potentially explosive or hazardous operations. To find out more about the facility please visit this link: http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/payloads/lssm/facility/saef2.html Chuck met with me and cleared me through the security process. We then donned covers for our shoes that help to keep the cleanroom clean and then went into a rectangular chamber where vents blew off the major dust particles on our clothes (and messed up our hair). Finally we entered the high bay area of the facility where the testing was already in progress. The first thing I noticed was the personnel that were wearing some pretty wild looking suits! Chuck explained that the suits are referred to as Self-Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble (SCAPE) suits. They are standard suits that are used during any Hydrazine operation. The ongoing test was a complete simulation of the newly developed fueling process and all of the personnel were simulating their roles as realistically as possible. These same personnel will use this process to fuel NASA's MAP and Triana spacecraft next year. This test was winding down after its third week and so far everything was working very well. The intent of the test was for the personnel to learn the system, learn what it can do, what it can't do, and to work out any issues associated with the process. The simulation used water instead of Hydrazine for safety purposes. Each step of the process was being controlled and monitored by Chuck, Charlie, and others. Schematics (drawings) of the system were on the tables and each time a valve was opened or closed it was checked off. The manual for this process was available that contained step-by-step instructions and checklists for each step. Each step required the controller to verbally talk to the technicians wearing the headsets inside of their SCAPE suit. The technician would then acknowledge the step and report back with what action they had taken. The whole process was very detailed and controlled. Spacecraft fueling operations have been conducted at KSC since the beginning of the space program. What makes Chuck's process unique is that it will actually be KSC personnel who will be fueling the spacecraft. Historically, the spacecraft builder - typically Goddard Space Flight Center or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory or their contractors - would fuel their own spacecraft. Many years ago, each spacecraft had its own, unique fueling equipment and process. More recently, some systems have become more general enabling the system to fuel different spacecraft types. However, the personnel have to be trained (the missions could be years apart) and equipment evaluated for safety each time it was to be used at KSC. Chuck's idea was for KSC to provide the fueling process as a service to the spacecraft customer. The new KSC equipment and procedure is general enough so that it can be used to fuel most any type of NASA spacecraft. This is the last step in a five-year long process of shifting the payload customers away from using their own expensive, mission-specific propellant equipment towards using generic KSC-based propellant equipment. The major benefits are decreased spacecraft fueling costs and increased safety because there is less equipment involved and the procedures are used all the time. Below is an example of a schematic used in the 80+ page procedure. At the conclusion of todayÕs test, Chuck will be off to attend the Mars Conference in Colorado. That will be another journal, but for now - Congratulations Chuck on the development and acceptance of this new process! [Editor's note: Following a career as a space suit technician in which he maintained and suited up the astronauts for the Apollo missions, Ron Woods is now a flight equipment engineering technician. In this capacity, with his team he finalizes space suit packages and is the last check point for equipment the astronauts use during a mission. The journal below includes pictures online: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov /space/team/journals/secosh/08-05-99.html ] DRESSING FOR THE OCCASION By: Brandt Secosh http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/secosh.html Following a visit with Ron Woods http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/woods.html August 5, 1999 Almost every place you go to requires that you dress a certain way. When you go to the beach you wouldn't wear a tuxedo! When you go to church you wouldn't wear a bathing suit! When astronauts go into space they also dress for the occasion. I recently visited the Flight Crew Hardware Office that is located in the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF). Ronald Woods took the time out of his busy schedule to show me around the shop and explain how they prepare space suits each time a mission departs Kennedy Space Center. The room that I visited Ron in was VERY clean and everything had its place. It reminded me much of being in a hospital. The long stainless steel tables and shiny floor gave that feeling of an operating room where everything is accounted for action by action. I never realized that there was so much to a space suit before this meeting. Ron also took the time to explain how the hardware is processed at Kennedy prior to each mission and it was equally as impressive. Many of the things that we take for granted here on Earth have to be reconsidered for use in the microgravity environment of space. An example of this would be the act of simply placing something on a table. In space, placing something is no guarantee that it will be there when you reach for it again. Everything is packed a certain way and most items are tethered so they don't float off. I will not be able to address all of the issues regarding space suits in this journal; however, I would like to refer you to this web site so that you can conduct your own research regarding space suits! http://tommy.jsc.nasa.gov/~woodfill/SPACEED/SEHHTML/suitnasa.html Here are some pictures that I took during my visit that will help you to visualize the construction of space suits. Ron demonstrates how the helmet attaches to the fiberglass upper torso of the space suit. He points out that the ring that the helmet attaches to has been a standard size from many previous space suit designs. This photograph shows the upper torso of the space suit. The shell is made of hard fiberglass and has numerous receptacles for communications and water. It must be aligned with the other components of the space suit to enable circulation of water and gas into the liquid cooling ventilation garment and its return. All fabric-to-hardware connections are made with either mechanical joints or adhesive bonding. Materials used in the construction of the suit are selected to prevent fungus or bacteria growth; however, the suit must be cleaned and dried after flight use. Ron explained that the space suits and hardware that are received in their shop are meticulously inspected and so is the paper work that accompanies each item. This shop is the last configuration checkpoint before the equipment goes to the pad for launch! Each piece of hardware will eventually go into the space shuttle in a very specific location. This is important because of weight distribution and balance in the orbiter, and it allows the crew to account for all items that are accompanying them on the mission. An actual drawing called the crew compartment configuration drawing dictates where each item of hardware will go. It is much like packing your suitcase to go on a long trip. Months prior to a mission, a daily telephone conference takes place called the mission management briefing. If there are any changes to the crew compartment configuration they are identified during this meeting and then documented in the crew compartment configuration drawing. All of the equipment is contained in what is referred to as lockers, volumes, or kits. A locker is a container that is packed in a very specific manner. A volume may be hard or soft and fit into contours of the orbiter or underneath the floor. A kit is usually an item that will contain many components but be used to support a specific function. An example of this would be oxygen lines or cabling to power an experiment. Experiments are also processed through the Flight Crew Hardware Office and undergo the same inspections that deem them flight worthy - or not. Even food is checked and identified for each crewmember. Each crewmember selects their food from a pre-flight meal list for the duration of the mission. The Commander's meals are identified with a red dot. A yellow dot identifies the pilots' selection and so on. All of this food is contained in a volume. There is also a "fresh food" menu that the astronauts select from. Examples of this type of food are bananas, fish crackers, peanut butter, flour tortillas, and many other selections. Once the lockers, volumes, and kits are checked out and closed, they are not opened again until the astronauts use them. After all of the items are packed, they are placed in a "flight crew vehicle" that transports them to the pad. This may take several trips and follows a particular order with the most perishable items being last - such as experiments. This entire process takes almost two weeks! Ron points out that this is only part of the job. Once an orbiter returns to Earth, all of the items are once again accounted for, inspected, and delivered to specific locations. We will follow up on that process in Ron's next journal! 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. Space Shuttle Columbia and its five astronaut crew members successfully landed late night July 27, 1999 on KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility runway 33, completing its 5 day, 1.8 million mile journey. This was the 19th consecutive Shuttle landing at the Florida spaceport and the 12th night landing in Shuttle program history. Following an early morning press conference, the crew of STS-93 flew back to their homes and families in Houston, TX. Preliminary indications of the orbiter after touchdown show its lower surface sustained 155 total hits, of which 40 had a major dimension of 1-inch or larger. The main landing gear tires were reported to be in good condition for a landing on the KSC concrete runway. Several hours after touchdown, Columbia was towed to orbiter Processing Facility bay 3 where post mission inspections began. July 28 workers off loaded the unused onboard cryogenics and safed the vehicle for additional inspections. Engineers in the OPF made initial visual inspections of the No. 3 main engine nozzle and the apparent hotwall ruptures in three adjacent coolant tubes. Engineers believe these ruptures resulted in a small hydrogen leak that occurred during Columbia's launc. The damaged area was removed from the nozzle and sent to the Rocketdyne facility in Conoga Park, CA for analysis. Also, access to the orbiter's aft engine compartment continues in order to allow workers to troubleshoot a problem that caused an apparent short circuit on one of the electrical busses that feed controllers on the right and center main engines. The center main engine primary controller was shutdown shortly after booster ignition and the backup controller for the right main engine was disqualified. The solid rocket boosters were towed to Hangar AF and inspections began July 26. Initial indications show both boosters to be in excellent condition following launch.
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