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UPDATE # 99 - November 8, 1999 PART 1: A Full Plate A FULL PLATE
Thanks to the many who wrote encouraging words about the chat attendance issues. We will continue with a full plate of events for your participation, working in any way we can to make your attendance easier. Jenny Lyons' chat last Wednesday was terrific, and is available in archive form if you were unable to attend live. Now, this Wednesday, we have the treat of chatting with her husband, Doug Lyons, who is responsible for ensuring procedures and schedules are followed to produce a safe and successful shuttle launch. See the schedule of events that follows for links to this event. Though I've not listed December in the schedule below, be sure to mark your Wednesdays, especially the 8th for the WebCast from the Vehicle Assembly Building. Some lessons helps are already online. Naturally, we will be taking a bit of a recess during the academic breaks both this month and next. It may not be about the Shuttle or ISS, but don't forget the Mars Polar Lander's anticipated arrival at Mars on December 3. I know many school children sent their names on this flight. Though I don't know specifics at this time, keep an eye on the Learning Technologies Channel schedule page for programming surrounding this event. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/schedule.html 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 practice sessions. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qchats/practice/ ->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 part of the Landing to Launch Series. To register and see the whole schedule go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/ksc99 ->Wed., Nov. 17, 1999: 10-11:30a.m.PST(1-2:30p.m.EST, 6-7:30p.m. GMT) With Space Shuttle Discovery and Space Shuttle Endeavour in the Orbiter Processing Facility preparing for possible December and January launches, Brand Secosh and Mike Ciannilli toured the OPF and will share footage from that visit with you for this exciting segment of the Landing to Launch series. Lesson helps are online to help in preparation. Join us: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/ksc99/nov ->Wednesday, November 17, 1999: 1 p.m. PST (4 pm EST, 9 pm 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 THIS WEEK'S PUZZLE CHALLENGE
We are initiating a new puzzle in conjunction with our two series: Space Shuttle Countdown: Landing to Launch http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/ksc99 and Focus: International Space Station: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/iss99 We're trying something a little different this time. Each clue is based on a picture from one of the NASA photo archives and will typically relate to an area that we are looking at in one of the series above. Participation in the series is not required, but it will help! Scoring will be based on accuracy and detail. Partial answers do receive partial score, so anyone can try! Deadline for answering the first question is Monday, November 15. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/ksc99/puzzle The puzzle is based on a java applet, so there might be a delay in loading. SURVEY FEEDBACK - HELP FOR THE YOUNGER STUDENTS I will continue to respond to notes received as a result of our survey question: What needs were not met that you would like to see addressed in the future? * Realizing that this forum is for kids of all ages, while in elementary school some material could be more geared to elementary age kids, possibly an area for them oriented for their age group. This is a topic that is brought to our attention quite often. I'd like to address my answer to those of you teaching on this level in three stages. 1. We hear you and are working on it. I have just placed online a series of lesson helps for the November sequence of the Space Shuttle Countdown: Landing to Launch series that are geared toward younger students with the help of a student intern from a local university. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/ksc99/nov I continue to pore through NASA's archives of lessons in pursuit of K-3 level plans and will continue to place them in the Teachers' Lounge as I find them: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/teachers 2. We'd like your understanding: We are not in the business of creating curriculum usually. We typically use what we have available that is related to projects we engage in. Insofar as the material we do originate, such as bios and journals, I need to tell you that the fact that even high school students can understand some of these journals is due to some terrific editors we have in the field that, with the permission of the author, help to put some technical jargon into common English. Still, some of the topics are tough to understand! 3. I have had on occasion an offer to help from a teacher or parent who is already simplifying some of the journals for their young students. Unfortunately, those offers have not resulted in actually receiving any material. If you are one of those, I would like to ask that you share your work with other teachers and parents. This can be done by simply sending me what you've done. Naturally, I will check it for accuracy so you needn't worry if you're not certain. I can then post them as Junior Journals online for the use of our younger students. This would be a tremendous help! In the meantime, we will continue to do what we can to respond to our early education learners. They are, after all, our future! [Editor's note: In our last Updates, Tim explained the organization structure and primary positions in Spaceflight training. Here he discusses his new roles as Simulations Supervisor. ] WHAT CAN WE BREAK NOW - NEW JOB BRINGS NEW CHALLENGES
by Tim Terry http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/terry.html November 2, 1999 Interviewer: Lori Keith I have been keeping quite busy this last year. Training always maintains a rigorous schedule, whether you are the trainer or the trainee. My position has changed a bit since I last wrote. I have moved from the Team Lead position to that of Simulation Supervisor (Sim Sup). I have described these positions and a few others in my last journal, if you would like to read about it. Between February and May, I was busy learning my new job, while still supporting my old one. I had to achieve certification for my new position, so I began going through the training flow. Though both jobs are similar in managing a team, training a crew, setting up scenarios, and performing ascents/entries/orbits - the audience is much different. The things you need to know about the audience, the facilities, and your responsibilities are quite different. It takes about six months or so to go through the training flow. I am almost finished, lacking only a few items to be complete. One of the activities I need to perform for certification is to observe a Joint Integrated Simulation Working Group, or JISWG, with a customer (that is Russia, in this case). We use the term "customer" to describe whom we are working for and supporting with our missions - Russia, the Hubble Space Telescope crew and flight control team, etc. We have joint meetings with our customer's simulation supervisor and other representatives of their training processes to discuss the upcoming training flow for a specific mission. In the meetings, objectives are determined, and any issues surrounding the flight are uncovered. The training scenarios are a result of the agreed upon objectives. The JISWG I will observe is associated with mission STS-92 / ISS-3A. Later, I will be the lead Simulation Supervisor for mission STS-98 / ISS-5A, when the United States Laboratory will be delivered, assembled, and activated as part of the International Space Station. STS-98 / ISS-5A will require some joint integrated simulations, so other trips to Russia may be required to address the objectives and any issues. For Integrated Simulations, the Sim Sup and the Simulation Control Area (SCA) team (located in Building 30) sit down ahead of time and generate scenarios for a day's activity. After the scenarios are generated, the Sim Sup gathers them into a script package to be used for a particular simulation. This script package is distributed to the teams involved in Buildings 30 and 5 (Building 30 is where MCC / Mission Control Center is located and Building 5 is where the simulators are located). The difference between integrated sims and stand-alone sims is that when the MCC is not involved, the SMS (Shuttle Mission Simulator) team generates the scenarios and executes them while pretending to be MCC. In an integrated sim, the SCA team generates scenarios, with the SMS team implementing the scenarios' malfunctions from Building 5 while the SCA team observes and evaluates the flight control team(s) response. As a Team Lead from the SMS side, I was concerned primarily with issues pertaining to the Orbiter and the flight crew. As a Sim Sup, I must also concern myself with the flight control team(s) and all of the communications and the network systems. During an integrated sim, the Orbiter, the crew, all the communication links to and from space, all the ground networks, Building 30 facilities, the workstations and the local networks are all possible targets of our malfunctions. For example, occasionally we'll break a flight controller's workstation or a particular communications link. I must admit, it's challenging and a lot of fun working to mess up or break things. Our job is to try to trip up the professionals as a means of teaching them lessons. The scenarios that we script help get everyone involved in thinking on a larger scale. It is very interesting to sit down with a team of instructors, go over the mission's plan of operations for the day, and then figure out how we can really mess up the timeline by introducing failures of one form or another. Many times, one failure has no consequence for anything else, yet other failures affect many systems through connections of one sort or another. These simulations are great practice and are the best way to stimulate team problem-solving skills. So much learning comes out of these sessions, both for the crew and flight control teams, as well as the training teams involved. Flight-specific simulations are those directed at preparing a team or teams for a particular mission. When I am not doing flight-specific sims, we do many generic sims. Generic sims are designed to train teams of flight controllers who are not certified. Just as I had to achieve a certification for the Sim Sup position, flight controllers must achieve a certification through experience and practice. Once a flight controller is certified, he or she is assigned to work particular missions. Until next time - keep sending those great questions to Space Team Online's Q&A. I am sent questions to answer from time to time and am always impressed with what kinds of questions are asked. [Editor's note: In this journal, Bill Foster puts aside his usual role, and uses his NASA expertise as ground controller to help create a somewhat realistic picture of the real NASA for an upcoming movie.] Hollywood Comes to the Johnson Space Center (Again) http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/foster.html November 3,1999 Saturday, August 7th, was unusual in the Mission Control Center (MCC) for several reasons. First, I was there early on a Saturday with no GC related assignment. Second, the lobby of the MCC was filled with people tearing it apart. Large Plexiglas pictures were being removed from one wall of the lobby and every fluorescent light bulb in the area was replaced, even though they were all working. Even the small bulbs inside the three badge readers on the doors giving access to the mission control room were replaced. Next, a new group of people began hauling a large assortment of wires, tripods, lights, cameras and other unrecognizable equipment into the lobby. Within a very short time frame, the lobby had been transformed from the entrance to U.S. Manned Spaceflight mission control, to a set for the latest Clint Eastwood movie, Space Cowboys. A few minutes later, more people poured into the lobby as a contingent of cast and crew finished filming outside the main administration building at JSC and moved into the lobby of Building 30M, which provides access to the original control room. Clint Eastwood and James Cromwell (the farmer in Babe) were filming a confrontational scene in the lobby that culminates in them agreeing to terms on an important aspect of the plot. The scene involves Eastwood coming from inside the MCC through the heavy metal access doors, getting asked by a security guard to wait for Cromwell, then Cromwell coming through the same door and the two men having a somewhat heated discussion. At the end of the scene, they reluctantly shake hands on the deal and Eastwood goes out one of the side doors of the lobby. The whole sequence will probably take less than two minutes on screen, but took one to two hours to film. According to the crew, this is considered fast. Eastwood, who is also the director, evidently has a reputation for getting scenes done rapidly and not redoing them countless times to get them "perfect". Each part of the action was filmed from more than one direction, using one of two cameras. One camera was hand held, mounted on a bulky apparatus worn on the shoulder and waist of the cameraman. The other camera was mounted on a rolling platform that could raise and angle the camera, as the whole platform was rolled on wooden tracks. When the scene involved two people talking, it would first be filmed looking over the shoulder of one actor into the face of the other. The location each actor was standing at was marked with tape, then the whole setup was relocated in a remarkably short time. The scene was then repeated facing the other way, and once again using the handheld camera to catch the wide-angle view. Just about every take had at least minor mistakes, but Eastwood was satisfied with only two or three times for each. They will edit the three angles together, using the best parts of each take, to form a single error free scene. In order to get the effect they wanted, which included watching Eastwood leave the building and see through the glass walls as he walks away, the Plexiglas pictures had to come down. To get the lighting right, the fluorescent bulbs had to be changed. In order for Eastwood and Cromwell to exit through the entry only door, the security system had to be disabled and a floor tile puller, which is basically a large suction cup, attached to the inside of the door to act as a handle. During the filming, I got to sit less than three feet from the actors, just out of view of the camera. Other employees, who had been signed on as extras, wandered through the lobby on cue to give the feeling of a busy environment. They even had people staged far down the sidewalk outside, in camera view of the action. These were known as "deep background". After completing the filming in the lobby, it was lunchtime. I took some members of the crew on a tour of the MCC, then we went over to a catering truck and tent set up behind a nearby building for a truly amazing lunch. You had your choice of lobster, steak, numerous types of salads, fruit, pasta, all the trimmings and a variety of desserts. I had already been over to the tent earlier for breakfast, so I had gotten an idea of what to expect, and a year and a half earlier, I had a similar experience when Bruce Willis and the cast and crew of Armageddon had been at JSC. After lunch, I was asked to show James Cromwell and Donald Sutherland around the MCC. Sutherland was in a hurry to catch a plane, and seemed very preoccupied, but Cromwell was a real pleasure to meet. Watching the filming earlier, you got the impression of a hard and spiteful man. Outside of his onscreen character, he is a true gentleman. After Sutherland had to leave, Cromwell stayed in the MCC for nearly an hour, asking numerous questions about every part of the building. At one point on an elevator, an employee and his family got on (weekends are a popular time to bring family and friends on a tour of the facility). A young boy looked at Cromwell and his eyes opened wide. The father said, "Aren't you..." to which Cromwell simply said "the pig guy" or something to that effect. He was very gracious to them as well. After dropping Cromwell off at the catering tent, I went back to the MCC lobby, where the grips had almost finished putting everything back to normal. The cast and equipment had all relocated over to the simulators in Building 5, for more filming. On Sunday evening, I went to a cast and crew party at a local restaurant, and had the chance to meet more of the cast and crew. Donald Sutherland, James Garner and Marcia Gay Harden were there. Harden, who played Robin Williams' fiancˇe in Flubber, plays a "mission director," and will have several scenes in mission control. I invited her to sit in on a simulation the next day to see what it was really like in the MCC. She sat through a couple of runs with us at the GC console. I called a real flight integration manager and asked if she had time to talk with Harden. She came over and they spent the next hour or so at the PDRS console (this is Payload Deploy/Retrieval position, responsible for the shuttle arm, and not used for ascent sims), talking about Harden's role and the real functions of the position. Harden finished off the morning with the flight director, then had to hurry over to a nearby building for filming. They continued filming in various buildings in and around the Johnson Space Center through the following Thursday, concluding with a fight scene in a local tavern. I went over to watch this, since it involved a staged fight between Clint Eastwood and Tommy Lee Jones. The place was very crowded and hot, however, so after watching a couple of set-up scenes filmed, I decided to get out of the way and out of the sweatshop. They had portable air conditioners running, with cool air being pumped in using long ductwork, but it was all directed in front of the cameras. I found out later that the shooting went on for several hours. I guess a fight scene is a bit more involved than a conversation. After the movie company left JSC, my involvement really began. I worked with Liz Radley, the Video and Computer Graphics Supervisor on the film responsible for recreating the displays in the MCC for the set they built in California. This involved coordinating high quality videotapes of several front screen displays, capturing high-resolution screen images of the workstations in the MCC, and helping with the "detail" information on the control room. The last effort was in support of the people responsible for building the MCC set itself. It included providing details on little things in the MCC, including pictures and plaques on the walls, flowers, candy and other items placed in the room, and correct configuration of front screens and clocks. Actual filming on the set, at Warner Brothers studio in Burbank, California, was completed in October and the set has been dismantled. I was invited to visit the set, but did not get an opportunity to get out there. I have been told by people that did see it that it was very good. The only real physical difference was aisles built between the consoles and walls for camera access. I wish the real room had these, but it is not wide enough. A couple of years ago, I went on the set of HBO's Apollo mission control set for their "From the Earth to the Moon" series. It was so realistic, I felt like I was in Houston, instead of at MGM/Disney Studios in Orlando, Florida. This one should be just as good. It has been a very interesting time, working with some of the people that make the magic of Hollywood come alive on the screen. I feel like I helped make the MCC, as represented in the film, a little more real to the people that see the movie. I am anxious to see the final result, but that will have to wait to the middle of next year. I've heard conflicting information on release date, showing it coming out sometime between May and August of 2000. I have been asked not to discuss specifics of the movie, but you can find some information on it at: http://www.corona.bc.ca/films/filmlistingsFramed.html http://www.cinescape.com/links/mvspacecowboysnr.html http://www.wired.com/news/print/1,1294,31945,00.html (not sure how long this one will be available) STATUS OF ORBITER PROCESSING - PREPARING FOR STS-103 this time Columbia is in California so we will continue to use this area to update you on the mission in focus, in this case STS-103, the Hubble Servicing Mission: Wiring repair and protection efforts were completed, and the payload bay doors were closed last week. Repairs on Discovery's No. 2 nitrogen tank are complete, and tests indicate that the temperature sensor is in working order. Aft compartment close-outs and structural leak tests were completed, and weight and center of gravity tests were conducted. Managers discussed an issue with engine No. 3 during their meeting. A broken drill bit measuring one-half inch in length and weighing less than one-half gram is located in a coolant cavity in the right engine, serial number 2045. The bit was broken during routine processing of the engine at KSC. KSC managers are developing a work schedule to replace engine No. 3 at the launch pad. Orbiter Discovery rolled out of OPF bay 1 last Thursday (11/4) at about 10 a.m. (EST) Later that day, it was mated to the external tank and solid rocket boosters stack in VAB high bay1. Electrical and mechanical connections concluded late Friday, and the orbiter/external tank umbilical mate occured Saturday. Over the weekend, workers began preparations for the engine No. 3 replacement work scheduled to happen at the launch pad. The planned rollout of Space Shuttle Discovery to Launch Pad 39B has been delayed beyond Tuesday, Nov. 9. During standard Shuttle Interface Test activities this morning, engineers in firing room No. 1 noted loss of command capability for a range safety cable that supports both solid rocket boosters. Subsequent visual inspections revealed damage to the SRB cross-strap cable that runs between the external tank (ET)/SRB attach points and through the ET intertank. KSC managers have decided to replace the cable and are developing a plan to accommodate the unexpected work. The impact of this work on the remainder of Discovery's processing schedule is being assessed. Preliminary reports indicate that an early December launch date is still achievable. The Hubble Servicing Mission cargo was transported to the launch pad early this morning and transfer into the payload change-out room is in work.
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