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UPDATE # 97 - October 25, 1999PART 1: Time for Time to Change TIME FOR TIME TO CHANGE
As we near the end of Pacific Daylight Time, I thought I would a moment to revisit the subject of time differences. "Official" Pacific time (Pacific Standard Time or PST) is equivalent to GMT minus 8 hours. During Daylight Savings time (PDT) - that is, from last spring until next Sunday - we are at GMT minus 7 hours. When announcing events, I attempt to span the U.S. by posting Pacific and Eastern time with additional a reference to Greenwich Mean or Meridian Time (the prime basis for standard time around the world). All of this to say, I'm sorry that I cannot give precise times to everyone for each event. It would simply take too much space and time. I truly believe that giving these three hours as reference, besides the helpful site at: http://www.burbs.com/fcgi-bin/tzconvert.fcgi that converts time for you, should suffice. I hope you agree. Speaking of time, please note the change in time for the Landing to Launch chat with Larry Parker. Larry is the Air Traffic Controller that you met during the WebCast from the Shuttle Landing Facility. His schedule could not accommodate our regular Wednesday time, and he's such a crucial part of this segment that we've scheduled him for Thursday, the 28th. Before the chat you'll want to see the journal at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/journals/parker/10-22-99.html According to our most recent word, the current lull in launch activities will end with the launch of STS-103, the Hubble Space Telescope Servicing mission, scheduled for December 2. Keep an eye on: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/sto/launch We will update that information when we have more news. Keeping you connected, 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. Remember, you can get help if you've never chatted online before. Join your chat host, Oran Cox, during one of his weekly practice sessions. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qchats/practice/ Wednesday , October 27, 1999, 6:30am PDT (for 7 hours) 9:30am EDT, 1:30pm GMT NASA Space Transportation Day Conference will be Webcast for Educators. Attendees to the Space Transportation Day will see NASA's future plans and roadmaps for new activities (e.g., Spaceliner) and review current programs and projects (e.g., X-33, X-34, X-37, ASTP). For details on how to attend, see: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/sto/stday/index.html ->Thursday, October 28, 1999 10-11a.m.PDT(1-2p.m.EDT, 5-6p.m. GMT) QuestChat with Larry Parker, who works at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). He will be online to discuss his role in landing operations as part of our Space Shuttle Countdown: Landing to Launch series. See his profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/parker.html To register and see the whole schedule see: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/ksc99 Thursdsay, October 28, 1999: 11:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time QuestChat with STO/Women of NASA member Dian Hardison. See her profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/hardison For more information see schedule at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi Wednesday, November 3, 1999 10-11a.m. PST(1-2p.m.EST, 6-7p.m. GMT) QuestChat with Jenny Lyons Jenny follows the Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery through all of its ground testing and check out procedures. She also directs all the people, vehicles and activities on the runway after the Orbiter lands. See Jenny's profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/lyons.html This is a part of the Landing to Launch Series. To register and see the whole schedule go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/ksc99 Wednesday, November 10, 1999 10-11a.m.PST(1-2p.m.EST, 6-7p.m. GMT) QuestChat with Doug Lyons Doug is responsible for ensuring procedures and schedules are followed to produce a safe and successful shuttle launch. See Doug's profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/dlyons.html This is a part of the Landing to Launch Series. To register and see the whole schedule go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/ksc99 Wednesday, November 17, 1999: 1p.m. PST (4pm EST, 8pm GMT) QuestChat with STO and Women of NASA participant Lisa Shore. See her profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/shore.html For more information, see schedule at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi?Shore Thursday, November 18, 1999: 10:00 a.m. PST(1-2p.m.EST, 6-7p.m. GMT) Women of NASA QuestChat with Joyce Dever. See her profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/women/bios/jd.html Joyce will chat about STS-103, scheduled to launch December 2, 1999. For more information see the schedule at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events.cgi?Dever Thursday, November 18, 1999 11-12noon PDT(2-3p.m.EDT, 7-8p.m. GMT) QuestChat with Steven Daugherty Steven leads a group of designers working on the integrated active thermal control (ATC) system for the International Space Station (ISS). See his profile at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/daugherty.html For more information see the schedule at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/iss99/ To see a complete listing of NASA Quest's offerings, see the schedule of events at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events SURVEY FEEDBACK - ON BECOMING AN ASTRONAUT
Because I cannot respond to special notes in the Survey form unless an email address was included, I'm going to try to address some of the requests and questions here; especially those that are of general interest or repeated more than once: * I am very interested in becoming an astronaut myself and I would appreciate if there was more information on how to do so. I get at least one email per month with this same request. As a result, we are trying to put together a series of events surrounding this topic including selection processes, training, etc. But in the meantime, here's my best teacher response: The Astronaut Center is located at Johnson Space Center in Texas, and therefore they are best equipped to fully answer your request. However there are several places on the WWW where you can begin your research. The best way I know to find general information about NASA is to go to the top NASA page: http://www.nasa.gov and do a search from there. You can find pages relating to possible training, internships and jobs, see for instance: http://www.nasajobs.nasa.gov/ As you're interested in information on Astronaut training you'll want to see: So you want to be an astronaut at: http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/astronauts/wannabe.html Information on selection and training at: http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/astronauts/training.html The Astronaut Selection Office at: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/ah/jscjobs/aso/ascan.htm A lot of good references at: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/outreach/jobsinfo/astronaut.html And then, Space Link provides for the educational sector a group of links at: http://spacelink.nasa.gov/NASA.Projects/ Human.Exploration.and.Development.of.Space/Astronauts/ It's a long address, and may take a couple of cut/pastes, but it's worth it because it includes some links that are more general to Astronauts (not just training). Hope this helps you get started. For more information you may want to write to: Astronaut Office NASA, Johnson Space Center Houston, TX 77058 Good luck! [Editor's note: Keith is one of six operations leads based at the Johnson Space Center in the International Liaison Office. As such he spends a lot of time in Russia, and has been there since mid September.] THE FIRST SNOW
by Keith Zimmerman http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/zimmerman.html October 18, 1999 The first snow fell in Moscow during the night and has continued throughout the day. Winter has arrived. It has been a busy month in Moscow. I've been here since September 18, and the work has been nonstop since I arrived. The last few weeks our team was short-handed at the worst possible time -- right as we were entering the period when we had to support round-the-clock ops (or operations) for three straight weeks. Everybody put in a lot of overtime to help us get through those weeks, and many of my shifts were at night. Now things are finally getting back to "normal" as replacements have arrived, and we are back to only supporting 16 hours a day. Of course, there is a series of big planning meetings starting up that we have to support over the next two weeks, in addition to working on console. So "normal" just means we don't have graveyard shifts plus we get one day off each weekend. During this past month, I was able to do a few things on my rare day off, including going to an opera at the Bolshoi (the ballet doesn't start until November). The good news is that they finally opened up a ticket office to the public, so we no longer have to go through scalpers to obtain tickets. This has made the price much more affordable ($25 for great seats). A few weeks ago, a few of us took the train to the nearby village of Sergeiv Posad, which is the spiritual center of the Russian faith. There is a monastery there, which has been around for about 500 years. During the Communist rule, the Russian church moved their headquarters to this complex to get it out of Moscow. The various cathedrals and chapels on the grounds are very impressive. The museum had an incredible collection of art that has been donated over the years. Plus, this place was out in the countryside and the trees were all changing color, so the scenery was fantastic. We even ate at a restaurant that has been visited by the wife of the Russian president and the Japanese prime minister. That's all for now. It's time for me to go get out all my winter clothes. [Editor's note: STS-96 (94), 26th Flight OV-103, ISS-02-2A.1! So what does it all mean? Lori, our Johnson Space Center correspondent was confused and decided to find the rationale behind all these codes. Here she helps us understand how helpful these designations can be!] HOW DO YOU TELL ONE FLIGHT FROM THE NEXT?
by Lori Keith http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/keith.html October 20, 1999 NASA, at any given time, is always working on many missions at once, with all in differing stages of progression. The shuttle program uses the flight designation STS, meaning Space Transportation System, and a flight number. Though these are planned in numeric order, sometimes things happen that cause flights to delay, so launches sometimes happen out of sequence. For instance, STS-96 went up before STS-93, and STS-103 is scheduled to go up next, hopefully in December. When they are launched out of order, it's because it's easier to do that than to change all the paperwork involved in a mission that has been in the planning and development stages for a couple of years. Since the planning stages of the International Space Station (ISS), space transportation flights have other ways of being designated when they involve the construction of the ISS. Sometimes flights are referred to by the name of the major part going up -- the FGB flight or the Spacehab flight. Though all manned U.S. flights are still STS flights and have a number designation, each flight also has other ways of distinguishing itself from other flights -- for example ISS Flights 1A/R, 2A, 2A.1, 2R, 1J/A, etc. To get a full understanding of what this means, you must understand the coding used on ISS construction flights. A = an American flight, funded and launched by the U.S. R = a Russian flight, funded and launched by the Russians J = a Japanese piece going up, launched by the U.S. E = a European Space Agency piece, launched by the U.S. When there are two letter designations, like 1A/R or 1J/A, this indicates that the flight is a joint venture between two space agencies. The first letter generally designates who built or funded the ISS parts going up and the second letter generally indicates who launched the mission. When a Russian flight goes up, if the vehicle is the Proton rocket, then this is a resupply mission with no crew aboard. If the Russian launch vehicle is the Soyuz rocket, then it is a crew rotation mission -- taking up new crewmembers and bringing home those whose rotation is up. Now in the case of flights like 2A.1 and 2A.2, usually on these flights no new station pieces are taken up for the construction. These are usually logistics flights taking up supplies, spare parts, tool bags, extra spacesuits, and anything that might need repairing. The last type of mission is the UF flights. These flights are Utilization Flights, and do not bring up pieces/modules, but the insides of them like racks and such. These can't always be brought up with the module because of the enormous amount of weight. The racks hold all the hardware, equipment and experiments. UFs will continue after station is built, and will carry up new payloads and bring home completed experiments. Even though these coding rules are made to maintain order, there is usually an exception to the rule somewhere, and you will find a few of those in the ISS schedule as well. Below are a few websites to check out for more information.
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