The Galileo probe spacecraft has revealed a number of surprises about the atmosphere of our solar system's largest planet, while astronomers have discovered evidence for two more large planets orbiting other stars.
On Monday, January 22, NASA officials released the "quick look"science results from the Galileo probe, which entered Jupiter's atmosphere last month. The results, which included far less water than predicted and no evidence of a predicted cloud structure, may force scientists to revise their theories regarding the formation of the solar system's largest planet.
Among the surprises in the data was the relative lack of water. Planetary scientists had predicted that the probe would encounter a thick water cloud in Jupiter's atmosphere. Water had been spectroscopically observed during the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact 18 months ago, and other evidence from the impacts pointed to a water abundance up to ten times greater than for the Sun.
However, the Galileo probe found water only equal to solar abundances. In addition, no distinct water cloud was detected by the probe's instruments. Two other predicted cloud layers, one of ammonia ice and the other of ammonium hydrosulfide, were detected, but at much lower levels than predicted.
The probe also found only one-half the helium predicted. This suggests that the helium in the atmosphere may have "rained out" to the core at some point during the giant planet's history.
The probe also found another surprise in the planet's wind structure. Winds were expected to be as strong as 350 km/h (220 mph) high in the atmosphere, dropping off with depth. However, the probe registered winds as strong as 530 km/h (330 mph) which remained constant with depth.
"This provides evidence that the energy source driving much of Jupiter's distinctive circulation phenomena is probably heat escaping from the deep interior of the planet," Dr. Richard Young, project scientist for the Galileo probe, said.
The probe also detected a band of intense radiation 50,000 km (31,000 mi) above the jovian cloud tops.
"The quality of the Galileo probe data exceeds all of our most optimistic predictions," Dr. Wesley Huntress, NASA's associate administrator for space science, said. "It will allow the scientific community to develop valuable new insights into the formation and evolution of our solar system, and the origins of life within it."
The previous week, astronomers from California were adding to our inventory of extrasolar planets, when they announced the discovery of two planets orbiting stars over 35 light-years from the Earth.
Geoffrey Marcyof San Francisco State University made the announcement Wednesday, January 24 at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in San Antonio.
Marcy and colleague Paul Butler announced planets around two stars; 47 Ursae Majoris (UMa), in the constellation Ursa Major, and 70 Virginis (Vir), in the constellation Virgo. Both stars are similar in spectral type to the Sun.
The planet around 70 Vir has a mass of at least 6.5 times the mass of Jupiter and is in an eccentric orbit with an average distance of 0.43 AU from the star, approximately the same distance as Mercury is from the Sun. The surface temperature of the planet is 85 degrees C (185 degrees F), neglecting any influences by any atmosphere the planet possesses.
Despite the warm temperatures, the planet is "cool enough to permit complex molecules to exist, ranging from carbon dioxide to complicated organic molecules," Marcy told Reuters.
The planet around 47 UMa has a mass of at least 2.3 times the mass of Jupiter, and orbits about 2.1 AU from the star in a circular orbit. The planet takes three years to go around the star. Its surface temperature is well below 0 degrees C (32 degrees F), although it is possible temperatures in the planet's atmosphere would be warm enough to support liquid water.
Marcy and his group used the 3-meter (120-inch) Shane telescope at Lick Observatory, between San Jose and Santa Cruz, to discover the planets. They looked at specific wavelengths in stars, searching for shifts in the wavelength caused by the Doppler effect. These shifts are due to a "wobble" as the star orbits a common center of mass with another body; in this case a large planet.
NASA administrator Daniel Goldin praised the report. "The exciting part is we found the planets where water could exist. And we know on Earth wherever we find water, we find life. That gets the mind thinking," he said.
Searching for other planetary systemshas become a science priority at the space agency, with programs proposed or in progress to use telescopes and spacecraft to look for planets around other stars.
"[Star Trek captain] Jean-Luc Picard had no trouble finding planets, but we professionals did," Marcy said. "And now, finally, there's a site for Jean-Luc and for extraterrestrial life."
The National Space Society used the opportunity of the Galileo probe press conference January 22 to tell those who had protested the launch of the spacecraft, which uses nuclear materials as a power source, that their fears of a devastating launch accident had been unfounded.
"We were told that the launch of these probes would be dangerous and would produce little scientific value," NSS Executive Director Lori Garver said. "The results here speak for themselves."
The Galileo spacecraft uses radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) as its primary power source. RTGs use the natural decay of radioactive elements -- usually plutonium -- to provide power for the spacecraft. The fuel is encased in a special container designed to survive a launch accident.
Anti-nuclear activists picketed the launch of Galileo in 1989 and had also tried to stop the launch in court, claiming that the RTGs posed a significant environmental hazard.
"If Galileo had produced a disaster, its opponents would be saying 'we told you so,'" NSS director Glenn Reynolds said. "But since their overblown fears turned out to be wrong -- just as we said at the time -- it's our turn."
Astronomers released an image of a small but deep slice of the sky, revealing over a thousand new galaxies that may date back to as early as only a billion years after the Big Bang.
The image, called the Hubble Deep Field (HDF), is a compilation of 342 separate images taken in four filters over ten days in late December, combined to create a single color image. The image revealed up to 1,500 new galaxies, some as faint as 30th magnitude.
While computing distances to galaxies is problematic, the faintest galaxies are most likely to be the most distant ones, up to ten billion light-years away.
"We are clearly seeing some of the galaxies as they were more than ten billion years ago, in the process of formation," Robert Williams, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute and primary investigator on the project said.
A number of follow-up observations, in wavelengths ranging from radio to X-rays, are scheduled for the near future. The field will be imaged again with the HST after a new infrared camera is installed in 1997.
The shuttle Endeavour and its six-man crew completed a nine-day mission in January, retrieving a Japanese science satellite and performing two spacewalks. However, the lack of a 1996 budget for NASA threats to delay future missions.
During the STS-72 mission, the shuttle retrieved the Space Flyer Unit (SFU), a Japanese satellite launched last year by an unmanned Japanese booster. The satellite, which can be reused for future missions, carried a number of scientific experiments. The crew also deployed and retrieved OAST-Flyer, a NASA science payload which flew free of the shuttle for two days before being captured and returned to Earth.
Also, three astronauts performed two spacewalks, each over six-hours long. During the first, astronauts Leroy Chiao and Daniel Barry tested construction techniques to be used during the assembly of the international space station. In the second, Chiao and Winston Scott performed further tests, and Scott tested the heating elements in his suit by standing in shadow for 35 minutes in temperatures approaching -75 C (-100 F).
While STS-72 was a success, future missions are imperiled by the lack of a NASA budget for fiscal year 1996. NASA is currently operating off a continuing resolution as its 1996 budget has not been approved. NASA officials say the next mission,STS-75, scheduled for launch February 25, will launch as scheduled regardless of the budget situation. However, the next mission,STS-76, which features the third docking between Atlantis and the Russian space station Mir, could be postponed from its March 21st date unless a budget is approved.
New directors have been appointed at three NASA centers this month as new personnel take over the reins at the Ames Research Center, Johnson Space Center, and the Marshall Space Flight Center.
Dr. Henry McDonald was named director of Ames on January 19. McDonald comes from Penn State University, where he was assistant director of computational sciences and professor of mechanical engineering at the university's Applied Research Laboratory. McDonald, a native of Scotland, worked for British Aircraft Corporation and United Technologies before founding Scientific Research Associates, Inc. His appointment takes effect March 4.
George W. S. Abbey was named director of JSC on January 23, effective immediately. Abbey had served as acting director of JSC since last summer. Abbey joined NASA in 1967 after serving as a pilot in the Air Force and has served in a number of managerial and administrative positions since.
Dr. J. Wayne Littles was named director of Marshall on January 16. Littles replaced G. Porter Bridwell, who announced his retirement January 11. Littles, the current associate administrator for the Office of Space Flight, joined NASA in 1967 and spent nearly all his career at Marshall. Littles takes over as director on February 3.
An Australian engineering company reached an accord this month with a Russian launch services company to create an Australian commercial launch site by mid-1997.
ASC Engineering of Adelaide signed an agreement with an unnamed Russian company January 13, according to the Australian Space Office. The Australian company will prepare a launch site at the Woomera range, and the Russian company will provide the launch vehicles.
The accord comes after meeting between members of the Australian Space Office and Russian launch interests. The Australian Space Office has been trying to encourage the development of a commercial launch industry in Australia for some time.
Japan unveiled an ambitious 10-year plan for space exploration this week. The plan, the first review in 6 1/2 years, calls for developing a manned space plane, a series of unmanned missions to the Moon, and an interest in placing a large astronomical telescope on the Moon... Claudie Andre-Deshays will be the first French woman in space when she spends two weeks on the Mir space station this July. The 39-year-old scientist will study the effects of microgravity on neurological and vascular systems. She will be the seventh French astronaut, or "spationaut"... NASA has completed work on a lightweight composite hydrogen tank for the DC-XA vehicle. The tank is the largest of its kind to survive flight testing conditions. The DC-XA is scheduled to start flight tests this May.
The Challenger accident a decade ago fundamentally altered the direction of America's space program, and tragically laid bare the fact that space exploration remains hazardous and will continue to be so for years to come, according to Lori Garver, Executive Director of the National Space Society.
"The Challenger accident led NASA to restrict use of the Space Shuttle," Garver said. "It prompted new safety measures, put an end to flying commercial payloads, and caused NASA to emphasize scientific missions."
The Space Shuttle, as originally conceived, was to be a replacement for America's fleet of expendable launchers. Advocates argued the Shuttle orbiter, with its huge payload bay, could be used to ferry commercial, scientific, and defense satellites to and from space. The Canadian-built robotic arm would allow astronauts to repair satellites in orbit and conduct scheduled maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope. And the Shuttle could launch planetary missions and conduct microgravity research.
As a result of the Challenger accident, NASA reviewed its Shuttle policy, and the agency decided the crew should not be placed at risk to launch commercial payloads, which could be orbited by expendable rockets.
For nearly three years all Space Shuttle flights were grounded. Two missions were flown in 1988. Today, the space agency can afford to fly the shuttle only six to eight times annually. Current missions focus on scientific research and training for astronauts in preparation for building the International Space Station, the first segment of which will be transported to orbit by the Shuttle in late 1997.
As America pushes back the frontiers of space, erecting the space station and venturing beyond, inevitably there will be further setbacks.
"Valuable lessons have been learned from the Challenger accident," Garver said. "Safety has been enhanced. But space travel remains risky, and we must guard against overreacting if another tragedy should occur. As a nation, we must dare to accomplish difficult tasks. Much of what is worth doing comes with adversity. It tests our mettle and strengthens our resolve."
NEW LAUNCH VEHICLE
The Space Shuttle is designed with 25-year-old technology. It continues to provide a valuable service and is essential to launching the space station. Still, NASA is looking to build a new launch vehicle that is less expensive and safer to operate.
In 1993, the space agency initiated the X-33 and X-34 programs to develop and validate the technology needed to construct a completely Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV). NASA originally sought to build such a craft in the 1970's, but because of budgetary limitations, it settled on a design that included an expendable fuel tank and solid rocket boosters, which are inherently dangerous.
As part of the X-33 program, three aerospace companies now are competing to develop the next-generation launch vehicle. This summer, NASA will select the final RLV design, then work will commence on building a half-scale version for flight testing. Once tests have been completed and the technology validated, NASA hopes industry will be able to fund, construct, and privately operate a full-scale RLV.
The new launch system will be remotely piloted, and eventually human-rated and able to transport crews to and from the space station, as well as conduct other missions.
Both the Space Shuttle and expendable launchers require an army of personnel to painstakingly assemble the vehicles. The Shuttle is only partially reusable and costs nearly a half billion dollars per flight. NASA predicts the expense of operating the RLV will be dramatically lower because each mission does not require the manufacturing and assembly of new, costly parts, such as the external tank. In addition, the RLV will be efficient and easy to maintain.
The X-34 program includes the development of a small, multi-stage reusable vehicle that will be launched atop a 747 jetliner. It will be able to transport small, commercial payloads to space, then return to Earth, landing on a runway. In the near term, the X-34 will function as a testbed to validate new technology needed to construct the RLV. Flight testing of the X-34 is scheduled to begin in late 1997.
"The RLV is smarter, safer and simpler," Garver said. "The launch vehicle will boost America's aerospace industry ahead of its competition and create many high-paying jobs for America."
"The U.S. once dominated the world in launching commercial payloads," Garver said. "Now Europe controls more than 55 percent of the market and is steadily gaining ground. The RLV program is America's ticket to leap-frogging the competition and recapturing lost markets."
"The best way to honor the memories of the crew of the Challenger, and of all the men and women who have given their lives to explore the frontiers of air and space, is to continue their bold tradition of exploration and innovation. That's what the people of NASA do every day. They push the boundaries of knowledge and human endeavor to improve and enrich life on Earth today and secure a better future for all of us tomorrow.
"We will not waver from that commitment. But human beings have always taken great risks to reap great rewards. Space flight is inherently dangerous and every member of the NASA team understands those risks.
"I'm proud of the women and men of NASA. They're blazing the trail to the future. They're building the components of the International Space Station. They're constructing spacecraft that will explore the farthest regions of the Solar System and the universe, and satellites that will monitor the health of our own blue planet for years to come. They're conducting cutting edge research that will make airplanes faster and safer, and they've made the Space Shuttle the most capable, reliable and versatile spacecraft in the world."
Whenever the topic of the 1980s arises, inevitably someone will ask the question: "Where were you when the Challenger blew up?" Like so many others, I have answered the question enough times so that my response is automatic. It is not a very remarkable story; the details are not much different from those of many others who were in school at the time of the accident.
Rather than give another retelling of essentially the same story that millions of others have told, let me share my experience of a much more rewarding event: the day the shuttle started flying again. It's the story of perseverance, persuasion, and a paper clip.
Over two and a half years had passed since Challenger before NASA was ready to launch another shuttle. Extensive inquiries had been performed, numerous reports had been issued, spreading blame for the accident about and recommending numerous improvements in safety.
Finally, on September 29, 1988, the stage was set for America's return to space. The shuttle Discovery was on the launch pad, its five-man crew ready for a four-day mission whose real purpose, other than launching a NASA communications satellite and performing experiments, was to assure the space agency and the world that the shuttle was in business again.
The launch was scheduled for just before 9 am, Central time, on a Thursday morning. I was in school, having just started my senior year of high school a few weeks before. We had made arrangements to watch the launch on a TV in a physics classroom, so we could witness what was supposed to be our triumphant return to space.
Then disaster struck.
Not the earthshattering disaster of 32 months before, but something nonetheless disturbing. The launch was delayed.
There were apparently two reasons for the delay. One was a problem with some fuses in the astronauts' pressure suits. The other was with lower-than-expected winds in the upper atmosphere. Neither was a show-stopper, but the delay was annoying at the very least.
We kept an eye on the TV as the physics class wore on. The shuttle stubbornly sat on the pad, as technicians swapped fuses and mission controllers kept their eye on the wind. The problems looked like they were going to be fixed, but the question was, how soon?
For us, the answer was, "Hopefully before 10:05." That's when physics class ended, and most of us went on to calculus, in a classroom without a TV. We watched nervously as the hands of the clock approached the fateful hour with the shuttle on the ground.
Five after ten arrived, and the shuttle was on the ground, although now it looked like it would be launched in the next half-hour. As we left, the physics teacher, Mr. Todd, told a few of us, "I have an extra TV I use as a monitor for one of the computers. If you can get permission, you're welcome to borrow it and take it to class to watch the launch."
With the hope of watching the launch renewed, a few of us hurried to the other end of the building, where Mr. Rosenthal taught calculus. We asked if we could bring in a TV to watch the launch. He hemmed and hawed a little. He didn't seem eager to disrupt his lecture about derivatives for a shuttle launch.
We kept on the case. It soon became clear that most, if not all the class, was eager to see the launch, if for nothing else than to relieve the tedium of a calculus lecture. Finally, Mr. Rosenthal relented. If we could get a TV, we could watch the launch.
A friend and I bounded back across the building and got the extra TV, a small 13-inch color set, from Mr. Todd. As we walked out the door we encountered a fellow senior on her way to chemistry class, across the hall. "What are you doing with that TV?" she asked.
"We're stealing Mr. Todd's TV so we can watch the shuttle launch," I explained.
"Oh," she said, and walked into class, as if these events happen on a daily basis.
We got the TV to the classroom, plugged it in and turned it on. Disaster. The screen was full of snow. If you looked hard enough, you could make out the outlines of the picture on the screen, but nothing else. We twiddled with the rabbit-ear antenna, trying to improve the picture. Mr. Rosenthal had become less eager to allow us to watch the shuttle launch; apparently he wasn't so keen on interrupting his derivatives lecture for static and white noise.
We were about to give up, when someone -- who I don't remember, other than it wasn't me -- tried one last thing. He took a paper clip, straightened out one end, and stuck it into the place on the back of the TV where the coaxial cable from a VCR or cable TV receiver would go. As if by magic, the picture became instantly clear. We would see our launch.
The rest of the story was anticlimactic: at 10:37 am, the shuttle successfully lifted off on the first post-Challenger mission. We had each won hard-earned victories: NASA got America back into space, and we were able to watch it. And I can remember the words of Mr. Rosenthal, as he turned off the TV after the launch: "This is a great day for the American space program. And now, getting back to derivatives..."
The first article covered the METEOR class of Russian Meteorological Satellites.
These articles will show that the collapse of the Soviet economy at the end of 1989 has not slowed down their rocket and sensor industries. Between 1988 and 1995 four new or upgraded satellite systems have gone into service and another three are scheduled to be launched this year (1996). Each Russian unmanned satellite (no matter what its name) is given a COSMOS number which is announced when it is launched. The number provides a means for the ground controllers to communicate with it, control it, to track it, and to keep a record its history. It also keeps our SpaceTrack facilities busy with their telescopes and radar, trying to determine its mission, its orbit, its type, and the location of its launch site.
To complement the METEOR-3 series, the same factory VNII Electromekhaniki designed and built the ELEKTRO Meteorology Satellite, placed in service in 1994 using the PROTON-K LEO booster with a DM2-1 second stage. It was launched from the spaceport at Baikonur in Kazakhstan, and then moved into an equatorial Geosynchronous (22,300 mile altitude) orbit. At launch the ELECTRO weighed 2300 kilograms (5000 lbs) which included a 650 Kg (1400 lbs) sensor payload consisting of a visible light telescope with medium resolution, and a midwave (10.5 - 12.5 uM) infrared telescope with a high resolution of 5 - 8 meters. Also aboard were a radiation and a magnetic sensor for measuring the effects of the local environment, and any special events that might occur.
One oddity about this satellite is the transmission rate of its Remote Data Collection Relay which is about the same rate as the low frequency transmitter that we are depending on from Galileo, 10 bps. This is probably used to record the data from the METEOR satellites as they pass by beneath ELECTRO which acts as a downlink to the data recovery station.
So the Russians have joined the circle of meteorological satellites fixed in geosynchronous orbit, providing weather data mapped over eleven time zones and in latitudes ranging from 60 to almost 90 degrees. These are very shallow viewing angles, good enough for rough mapping of the Russian weather which points out the reason why the galaxy of METEOR satellites has to be maintained in lower orbits. By cutting across swaths of the "Rodina" on each orbit, they provide a much better view of the weather conditions which can then be fitted into the large scale weather map provided by the ELECTRO satellite.
The next article will begin the discussion of the spy satellites starting with the RESURS series. This will be followed up by their OKEAN, ocean surveillance satellites which should bring us up to date on their remote sensing capabilities.
The mission specialists stared intently at the Navigation station screen. "That's it!" one announced while the other copied down the new coordinates of Halley's comet and called them into Mission Control. "Now how do we get there?" They grinned and tackled the keyboard again.
The Probe team was almost ready too, as they puzzled out the final instructions from Mission Control and attached the last particle density change detectors. Being in the clean room, their area was quieter than most, but the intensity and sense of anticipation was equally high.
"Sample number four is definitely contaminated. Let's reroute the water supply through tap number two." Life Support specialists made the switch and continued their monitoring; air quality was next.
Sound like last week's shuttle mission? Or if you guessed "simulation", you're right - but picture a class of 5th graders running a space station. The year: 2061 (a.k.a. 1996). Their mission: launch a probe into the tail of Halley's Comet! Then you can imagine the excitement, intensity, and involvement that really puts these kids 'out there' for a few hours.
And that is the mission of the Challenger Learning Center staff of the Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State College - to inspire kids to imagine themselves in the future, happily working in the fields of math, science and technology. In December, our speaker was Bruce Mattson, Flight Director at the Framingham Center. He says that, at an age when many of them are beginning to decide on which direction they want to focus, the Challenger Center supports these children to find that they CAN do the work, and that it can be fun too.
The flagship work of the Challenger Center is its simulated space voyages run for middle school children. Using two realistic mock-ups of a space station and mission control, the students take on different roles and responsibilities, they have to work together to successfully complete the mission. Each student (crew member) is assigned to one of these eight teams:
Each of the stations is rigged for some problems that must be solved and to promote communication (with each other and Mission Control), teamwork, and decision-making (particularly for problems with more than one right answer).
Bruce reports that the program is a great success with both the teachers and the kids. And the more study time the classes put in up front, the better the quality of the simulation. The Challenger Center requires that at least teacher that accompanies the students must take the one teacher workshop. The classes usually begin studying space and related math and science 4 - 8 weeks beforehand, in their own class rooms. By the time they arrive, the students can spend less time learning the science and more time doing the simulation.
There are 24 Challenger Learning Centers across the nation and 2 in Canada. Altogether, they served over 600,000 children last year. The Framingham Center usually runs two simulations daily and has seen at least 7,500 in 1995. These Centers are funded by a non-profit organization formed by the families of the NASA Challenger disaster in 1986.
Ten years after the loss of the Challenger and her crew, the Framingham Challenger Learning Center is carrying on with the dream to reach for science and math and maybe even the stars.
A regolith rocket is a system that would use heated pulverized rock (regolith) as propellant. Such a system is ideal for launching payloads from the surface of the Moon, where regolith is abundant and other propellant choices would either be more difficult to manufacture or have to be imported from the Earth at considerable cost. A basic regolith rocket can be constructed and tested on the Earth at little expense; the Boston NSS chapter has chosen to work on designing and testing regolith rockets as a major project. In his talk, Bruce will discuss the basic concepts of regolith rockets and how NSS members can make an important contribution to this area of research and development.
Solar power satellites were first proposed by Peter Glaser in the late 1960s as a way to provide nearly limitless amounts of energy to the Earth cleanly. Since that proposal, SPS's have been believed by many to be an important long-term benefit of space exploration and development, but we are no closer to building an SPS today than we were nearly 30 years ago. Peter's talk will look at the history of the SPS concept, and future directions for solar power from space.
Sponsored by the National Space Society of North Texas
"Space Station: Two Years and Counting"
Saturday, March 16, 1996 from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM There will be an optional tour (free) and dinner (pay your own ticket) after the conference for those interested.
Ramada Inn Arlington
700 East Lamar Blvd. (near I-30 & Hwy 157)
Arlington, Texas 76011
Nearby attractions include Six Flags Over Texas, Wet-n-Wild Amusement Park, The Ballpark in Arlington, and the C. R. Smith American Airlines Museum.
Dallas/Fort Worth is a transportation hub served by I20, I30, I35, I45, DFW International Airport (American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and others), and Love Field (Southwest Airlines). The conference is centrally located between these two cities, only a few miles south of DFW Airport.
$12.95 Special Advance Rate, received before March 1st --
Includes Catered Lunch
$15.00 Regular Price, March 1st to March 15th --
Includes Catered Lunch
Additional tickets will be available at the door for $15.00, but we
cannot guarantee lunch for at-door registrants.
Make checks or money orders out to:
NSS of North Texas, P.O. Box 1671, Arlington, Texas 76004.
Sorry, but we cannot accept credit cards for conference registration.
We have secured a very good room rate at the Ramada of $49 for a room, with up to four people sharing the room (i.e. $12.95 per person for quad occupancy). This rate will be available for single or separate room checks for Friday the 15th and Saturday the 16th. As far as we know, this is the lowest rate available for this area, so we recommend staying at the conference hotel itself.
To reserve a room, contact and ask for Peggy Kahler at (817)265-7711 (Fax (817)861-9633). Be sure to tell her that you are attending the NSS conference.
The hotel does not have its own airport shuttle, so you will have to use an independent airport shuttle or provide for other transportation (Information about other shuttle services will be mailed with your registration conformation).
Loral Vought manufactures the Heat Rejection Subsystem and Photovoltaic Radiators for the Space Station. For those who are interested, we will have a tour of the Space Station manufacturing area after the conference (around 5:30 PM) and before dinner. We have limited transportation to the plant, so we are hoping to arrange car pools for those who do not bring their cars to the conference. So if you do bring transportation, we would really appreciate volunteers for carpool.
Carol R. Johnson
(214) 937-3587
Internet:in2space@ix.netcom.com
Compuserve:73302,3202
Curtis Kling
(214) 255-0521
Internet:kling@esd.dl.nec.com
PASA meets regularly for a business luncheon and formal meeting from 1- 3 pm, the third Saturday of every month at Smart Alex Restaurant, Sheraton University City, 35th & Chestnut. 2 hours of free parking with validation.
Scheduled activities: Sat., Feb. 17th, formal meeting; Sat., Mar. 16th, formal meeting; Wed., Mar. 20th, informal meeting; Thurs., Apr. 11th, informal meeting. Call Michelle for details.
Because our 1996 Mission Statement is: Asteroids: The Promise and the Peril, we plan a one-half day session on this topic for the 1996 New York Space Expo & International Space Development Conference, May 23-27, 1996. We have some preliminary ideas for topics and invited speakers, but ideas are still needed! Contact Michelle to help.
For the ISDC, we are also planning to build a working demo of a liquid-metal mirror for detection of near-Earth asteroids. If this proves to be too ambitious, we may instead build a mechanical-induction accelerator or a mass driver. Anyone interested in helping with this project should contact Earl Bennett at 610/644-8654.
Sign up for the ISDC. It's right in our back yard. Send $60 (check, MC, Visa, AE) to Space Expos of America, PO Box 71, Maplewood NJ 07040
During the last month MOSS members have taken pen (or keyboard, or phone) in hand to strike back at those who have disparaged our vision of a spacefaring civilization. I wrote a rebuttal to an article in the Orlando Sentinel which, yet again, inaccurately portrayed the Wake Shield materials science experiment as a waste of money. Although the letter was not printed (probably too long, even for a "My Word" column), I sent an email copy to the NSS chapters listserver. Perhaps someone else will successfully employ my argument in response to similar criticism elsewhere. At minimum, the editorial staff at the Sentinel may re-evaluate the tack they take on future Wake Shield stories.
Also in December, Barbara Harris and I responded to an anti-space "Ticked Off" message in the Sentinel. I sent the text of the anti- message, and some suggested responses, to everyone on the MOSS email list. Barbara had responded by phone to the paper before getting my message! I'm not sure if anyone else responded, and our replies haven't been printed yet; I'm still holding out hope for the week of the 7th. Both of these stories illustrate that it is becoming easier to get our message out. The Sentinel now takes Letters to the Editor via email, and the "Ticked Off" column is for our use as much as anybody's. Now each of us has even less excuse not to zip off that letter and make our pro-space feelings known. Remember, our mission is to "build public demand for space." We can't do that if we're quiet about why we think space is important.
Based on comments on his first draft our volunteer artist, Mark Chiacchira, has prepared four new logo designs. One is just a refinement of the initial "flags" logo, while the others are completely novel attempts. We'll choose our preferred design from these latest options at the January MOSS meeting. Thanks, Mark, for your hard work! Susan Turner has begun to enter program speaker information into her database. In order to produce a "first cut" tentative speaker list, Susan needs your 1995 speaker reference forms this month. If you volunteered to scan a journal or magazine, please try to complete your forms for all 1995 issues in time for the January meeting. If that's not possible, please complete your speaker forms by the end of the month and send them to Susan. We'll continue to refine the speaker list over the next year, but we need this database filled out now to give us someplace to start!
Through the intervention of NSS member and ham radio operator Robert "Ozzie" Osband, Amsat (the Amateur Radio Satellite Corporation) has invited members of the Metro Orlando Space Society to view the Phase 3-D satellite now under construction in its clean room facilities at Orlando International Airport. Operations Director of the Amsat Labs is Mr. Lou McFadden, a recent retiree from NASA's Johnson Space Center where he was responsible for the SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment) on the NASA side. He was also one of the ham operators at the JSC Radio Club station W5RRR, and has coordinated many of the scheduled ham radio contacts with schools around the world.
Although we will be able to actually enter the clean room, its walls are Plexiglass and everything inside can be seen. In addition to the tour, Ozzie will be checking the Keplarian elements for some of the amateur "birds" and see what we can listen in on with the in-house ham radio station while our group is in the labs. See you there!
We need to submit our X-Prize Space Tourism forms this month. Please collect as many survey forms as you can from friends, coworkers and family, and bring them to the January 14 MOSS meeting. Do not mail them yourself unless you cannot attend the meeting. The chapter will get credit towards the $100 prizes offered only if the forms are sent together in one, bulk package.
We have been invited by the Young Astronauts of Brevard County to participate in a Space Day event to be held at the KSC Visitor's Center on January 27, 1996. The event runs from 10 AM to 4 PM. We will erect our Nimlok display, distribute MOSS/NSS promotional materials, and collect Space Tourism surveys from visitors. Anyone interested in attending the event should meet at the Wendy's parking lot at SR 50 and Alafaya Trail at 8:30 AM. This will give us time to get our display area organized before the event starts.
The C.I.S. manned space station Mir with Mir-20 (call sign 'Uran') Cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko, Sergei Avdeyev and Thomas (DF4TR / DP0MIR) Reiter and will be appearing in the mid west US morning skies Jan 11th to Feb 7th, and return to the evening skies Feb 11 to March 3rd.
Amateur radio operators can log into the Mir 'Packet' (R0MIR-1) BBS on 145.550MHz simplex and soon on 435.775MHz uplink / 437.975 downlink MHz.
The cosmonauts also use the frequency 145.200MHz up and 145.800MHz down or 435.725MHz up and 437.925MHz down or 145.550Mhz simplex to talk or send SSTV video with amateur radio operators on the ground during their off-hours.
Look for MIRWATCH and other great space stuff on my web page at http://www.skypoint.com/~benhuset/ and EUROMIR '95 web pages at http://www.op.dlr.de/EUROMIR95.
Hello you people on Earth. This is not Santa Claus here, this is the Russian Space Station Mir calling, crew 20. As you are on Earth, we are celebrating Christmas Eve today, here in Earth Orbit, and we wish you all a Merry Christmas, a Peaceful and Happy New Year and I will hand over now to Yuri who will also direct some words to you.
Hello folks. This is your space station calling with a recorded TGIF Message. I guess this will be the last TGIF message for this year, so we all wish you an especially nice Friday Evening, and hope you have some especially nice drinks, please don't forget to have some drinks for us, for Yuri, Serge and myself. Many Greetings, 73 and Bye Bye.
Roma-zero-MIR Roma-zero-MIR
Mir Space Station
Russian Mir Space Station
Wishing you a Happy New Year!
This is Crew Number 20 of Space Station Mir here working. Yuri Gidzenko Board commander, Board Engineer Thomas Reiter, and myself Sergei Avdeyev Board Engineer #1. We wish you hello and A Very Happy Next Year!!! This is Mir Space Station.
MIR-station, 1.01.1996
Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all we want to wish you a happy, healthy, peaceful and successful new year! In case some of you tried to contact us yesterday afternoon or during the night might have recognized, that there was some interruption from our side. We are very sorry for that, but the power-supply for our two radios had failed. So we installed the old power supply and reset everything. Unfortunately, we will not be able to run the TM733 with this old power-supply, as it doesn't provide enough current. So let's see, what we can do about this. In the meantime the "old" ICOM-station and the "old" TNC are running.
Once again, all the best for the new year,
73's from Juri, Sergei Thomas.
The two Russian cosmonauts and a German celebrated the New Year on the Mir space station with brandy because it is hard to sip champagne in zero gravity, Itar-Tass news agency said.
One of the three men dressed up as Santa Claus, or Father Frost as he is known in Russia. A cargo craft recently brought small artificial fir trees, food and gifts for the cosmonauts.
NEXT RUSSIAN LAUNCH: February 21, 1996 Soyuz TM-23 / EO-21. Primary crew : Yuri Onufrienko, Yuri Usachev. The crew of Mir EO-20 is scheduled to return on Feb. 29th.
Among those in the crew who hold amateur licenses are, Astronaut Richard A. Searfoss KC5CKM who will serve as the Shuttle's Pilot, Mission Specialist Linda M. Godwin, N5RAX and Ronald M. Sega, KC5ETH, The remaining crew members include Commander Kevin P. Chilton, and Mission Specialists Shannon W. Lucid (who is expected to have her amateur license by that time) and Michael R. Clifford. Shannon will stay onboard Mir for 5 months.
ASTRONAUT THAGARD LEAVES NASA; RETURNS TO ALMA MATER: Space Shuttle Astronaut Dr. Norman E. Thagard has retired from NASA and returned to his alma mater,Florida State University. He leaves the space agency following five space missions, STS-7, 51-B, 30, 42, Mir-18/ STS-71, including a U.S. record four-month stay aboard Russia's space station Mir. Thagard has spent over 140 days in space -- more than any other American.
Thagard accepted the position of Visiting Professor Shuttle and Director of External Relations for the Florida A&M University - Florida State University College of Engineering, Tallahassee. His initial assignment -- effective Jan. 5 -- is teaching electronics, an area that has been a long-time hobby. Thagard has published several articles on digital and analog electronics design.
The following article was sent to me by the author. It appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 17, 1995
....Sadly, space officials in both countries are overlooking a spectacular opportunity for symbolism in connection with the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. There is a chance to pass an Olympic torch on an unprecedented route through outer space, to supplement the traditional earthbound relay from Greece to the site of the Games...
...Russian space workers have proposed sending a facsimile torch into space on Feb. 21 aboard one of their Soyuz spaceships, where it would be transferred to the Mir space station. The next visiting American shuttle crew would pick it up and bring it back to Earth on March 31, for later sending to Atlanta...
...A real torch with an open flame, of course, is out of the question in outer space. A specially designed "space torch" is the obvious choice, one that could make this unique voyage and later be carried into the stadium during the Opening Ceremonies.
During research visits to Russian space centers this year, I was approached by the originators of this idea, who knew of my reputation as a writer and commentator on international space activities. They asked me to relay their offer to officials at NASA and in the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.
Sadly, nothing came of my "front door" approaches. NASA never even responded to my letters. The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games politely turned down the idea. It did warn us, however, not to try to pull it off privately because it owns all world copyright rights to "Olympic torches" and could sue any free-lance publicity stunts.
But the opportunity seems too grand, and too fleeting, to be strangled by unimaginative officials. The Olympic spirit can for the first time literally soar out of this world, if the decision-makers involved can only break free of earthbound limits and raise their eyes to the skies and beyond.
Shuttle mission STS-72 has been completed with two satellite retrievals and two spacewalks. Endeavour completed its rendezvous with the Space Flyer Unit satellite on Jan 13. The SFU successfully retracted its solar panels, but failed to latch them, so the decision was made to jettison them. The first panel was ejected at 0935 UTC and the second at 0947 UTC. At 1057 UTC the RMS 303 robot arm was used to grapple SFU, and it was berthed in Endeavour's payload bay at 1139 UTC. SFU carried science and technology experiments for Japan's National Space Development Agency.
Endeavour then lowered its orbit to 302 x 311 km x 28.5 deg. The OAST-Flyer (Spartan 206) satellite was released using the RMS arm at 1132 UTC on Jan 14. OAST-Flyer carries an experiment to measure contamination caused by spacecraft outgassing, and a test of a laser-fired explosive separation device to make sure the device doesn't go off accidentally in sunlight. It also carried an amateur radio experiment.
Astronauts Leroy Chiao and Daniel Barry carried out a spacewalk on Jan 15. The airlock was depressurized at 0525 UTC, and NASA declared the EVA in progress at 0535 UTC. The hatch was opened at 0540 UTC. Chiao and Barry tested out Space Station equipment including a portable work platform and a rigid umbilical truss for carrying electrical cables and fluid lines. The astronauts returned to the airlock at 1130 UTC and closed the hatch 3 minutes later, returning their suits to orbiter power and repressurizing the airlock at 1144 UTC. NASA's official time for the walk was 6h 9m 19s, while I would give it an extra ten minutes (counting from depressurization rather than battery power).
On Jan 15-16 the Shuttle carried out a series of rendezvous burns to approach the OAST-Flyer Spartan, and on Jan 16 at 0947 UTC Wakata grappled the satellite with the RMS arm.
The second spacewalk to test out Space Station tools and equipment was performed by Chiao and Winston Scott. It started a little behind schedule, with depressurization at 0534 UTC on Jan 17, and hatch opening at 0554. The spacewalk ended at 1234 UTC, for a duration of 7 hours 0 min (depress to repress) or 6h 53m 41s (on-battery-power to repress, the official NASA number). Scott tested out the thermal modifications to the spacesuit by standing in shadow on the Spartan Flight Support Structure while the Orbiter was turned to make the payload bay as cold as possible.
Endeavour closed its payload bay doors early on Jan 20, firing its braking rockets at 0641 UTC and reentered to a nighttime landing on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 0742 UTC on Jan 20. The next Shuttle mission is STS-75, with orbiter Columbia and the reflight of the 20 km long tethered satellite, which failed on its first flight in 1992.
I was wrong! Fred Cerkan informs me that STS-72 was not the first flight with no TAL requirement - STS-1, the very first mission, had no TAL requirement or TAL capability.
RS-1C's panchromatic camera has a resolution of under 6 m, not 10m as I said earlier. Thanks to several readers for the correction.
Know anyone who worked for ABL in the 1960s? I'm trying to find information on the MG-18 rocket, a version of the X-258 Altair II used as an upper stage on Scout and Thor. Any info welcome.
Ariane V82 was launched on Jan 12 from Kourou. It was an Ariane 44L model with the H-10-III upper stage. V82 carried two communications satellites, PAS 3R and Measat 1. PAS 3R is a Hughes HS-601 comsat with a launch mass of 2918 kg, to provide C and Ku band communications and television broadcasting services for the Atlantic Ocean region. It is due to be stationed at 43 deg W, and carries 16 C-band and 16 Ku-band transponders. PAS 3R replaces PAS 3, lost in a launch accident in 1994. MEASAT 1 (Malaysia/East Asia Satellite) is another Hughes satellite, this time the older HS-376 spin-stabilized model. Measat 1 is owned by Binariang Sdn. Bhd., the Malaysian telecommunications agency, and will provide C and Ku-band telecommunications services over Malaysia and the rest of SE Asia.
Delta 231 was launched on Jan 14 from Cape Canaveral Air Station and successfully rocketed to geostationary transfer orbit of 1357 x 35418 km x 21.0 deg. Payload of Delta 231 was Koreasat 2, a Lockheed Martin Astro Space AS3000 class comsat. Koreasat 1, launched last year, used up half its stationkeeping fuel reaching geostationary orbit after a launch malfunction left it in a lower than normal transfer orbit. The Koreasat (Mugunghwa) satellites are owned by Korea Telecom. The McDonnell Douglas launch vehicle was a 7925 model.
Kosmos-2327 was launched on Jan 16 from Plesetsk into a 947 x 1020 km x 83.0 deg orbit, characteristic of a navigation satellite in the Parus series. It is in the same plane as the Parus satellite launched in Nov 1993 and named Kosmos-2266. The ground track is consistent with an ontime launch at 1534 UTC. Launch vehicle was a Kosmos-3M from the Polyot organization.
It has now been confirmed that the capsule found in Ghana last year is the reentry vehicle from the German Express microgravity satellite which failed to reach its planned orbit in Jan 1995. Negotiations are underway for its return to Germany.
Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL.
DES.
Dec 2 0808 SOHO Atlas IIAS Canaveral LC36B Astronomy 65A
Dec 5 2118 USA 116 Titan 4 Vandenberg SLC4E Recon 66A
Dec 6 2323 Telecom 2C ) Ariane 44L Kourou ELA2 Comsat 67A
Insat 2C ) Comsat 67B
Dec 14 0610 Kosmos-2323 ) Navsat 68A
Kosmos-2324 ) Proton-K/DM2 Baykonur LC200L Navsat 68B
Kosmos-2325 ) Navsat 68C
Dec 15 0023 Galaxy IIIR Atlas IIA Canaveral LC36A Comsat 69A
Dec 18 1431 Progress M-30 Soyuz-U Baykonur LC1 Cargo ship 70A
Dec 20 0052 Kosmos-2326 Tsiklon-2 Baykonur LC90 Eorsat/Sci 71A
Dec 28 0645 IRS-1C ) Molniya-M Baykonur LC31 Rem.sensing 72A
Skipper ) Military 72B
Dec 28 1150 Echostar 1 Chang Zheng 2E Xichang Comsat 73A
Dec 30 1348 XTE Delta 7920 Canaveral LC17A Astronomy 74A
Jan 11 0941 Endeavour Shuttle Kennedy LC39 Spaceship 01A
Jan 12 2310 Panamsat 3R ) Ariane 44L Kourou ELA2 Comsat 02A
Measat 1 ) Comsat 02B
Jan 14 1111 Koreasat 2 Delta 7925 Canaveral LC17B Comsat 03A
Jan 14 1132 OAST-Flyer OV105, LEO Science 01B
Jan 16 1534? Kosmos-2327 Kosmos-3M Plesetsk Navsat 04A
Dec 7 Galileo Probe Entered Jovian atmosphere Dec 11 Kosmos-398 Reentered over Pacific Dec 18 Kosmos-2305 Deorbited Jan 20 Endeavour Landed at KSC
Orbiters Location Mission Launch Due OV-102 Columbia OPF Bay 2 STS-75 Feb 22 OV-103 Discovery Palmdale OMDP OV-104 Atlantis OPF Bay 1 STS-76 Mar 21 OV-105 Endeavour KSC RW15 STS-72 ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks ML1/ ML2/ ML3/RSRM-53 VAB Bay 1 STS-75