May 1980:space activities report

JAPANESE ASTRONAUT

Japan expects to fly a series of man-monitored space experiments during the next 15 years, according to Mr. A. Kubozono of the National Space Development Agency’s Office of Space Shuttle Utilization. A Japanese national will conduct the First Materials Processing Test (FMPT) aboard Spacelab which is tentatively planned for Japanese Fiscal Year 1984 (early 1985),writes Gerald L. Borrowman.

The National Space Development Agency of Japan is currently studying the equipment needed for the space experiments and calling for proposals from national institutes,universities and others. The current concept for the FMPT involves the use of a long Spacelab shared with other users. It will contain Japanese life sciences research equipment. Material sciences research equipment such as materials experiments and life sciences experiments will be mounted on a pallet. The FMPT is scheduled for launch in February of 1985 with one Japanese payload specialist. The activities of the Japanese on-board experiments will be monitored and controlled from facilities at Tsukuba Space Center in Japan.

The Japanese will have a four-step payload specialist selection procedure. In the first step the emphasis will be on professional and scientific qualifications; the remaining three steps will be primarily medical and physical evaluations. Four payload specialists will be selected even though only one will fly on the first Japanese Shuttle/Spacelab flight. The remainder will serve as ground backup crewmen for the first flight and will be available to fly on future Japanese missions.

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RADAR MAPPING OF VENUS

Studies which could lead to the development of an unmanned NASA spacecraft to make topographical radar maps of Venus in the mid-1980s are being conducted by Martin Marietta Aerospace - Denver Division, and the Space and Communications Croup, Hughes Aircraft Company, under contract to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

When the $500,000 study contracts are completed this summer, one of the two companies may be chosen to develop the Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar spacecraft, if the mission is approved by Congress.

Planned for a Space Shuttle launching and five month trip to Venus, the spacecraft would first be placed in a 300 by 19,000 km (185 by 11,800 miles) Venerian orbit for a two-month gravity study of the planet. The craft’s orbit would then be circularized at 300 km (185 miles) for a 120-day radar mapping sequence, which would cover nearly all the surface of Venus at low resolution 1.0 km (0.6 mile) and about 2.5 percent at high resolution, 100 metres, or 328 ft.

The primary mapping instrument aboard the spacecraft will be a side-looking synthetic aperture radar similar to one flown in 1978 aboard NASA’s experimental oceanographic satellite,Seasat.

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USSR SPACE STATION PLANS

A recent interview by the deputy Director of the Soviet Space Research Institute has thrown new light on Russian space plans for the 1980s. Professor Georgi Narimanov outlined the three main objectives of the Soviet piloted programme:

• Developing reusable transport and ferry systems

• Finding the correct balance of cosmonauts and automation in operating orbital stations

• Setting up space stations with crews of 20 to 30 cosmonauts orbiting for 2 to 3 years.

Experience gained with Progress and Soyuz spacecraft would help with the design of reusable Shuttle craft which would have two stages, both recoverable. However the most unusual aspect of the interview was when the Professor stated that “to obtain maximum lift capacity for the first stage it will probably use an air-breathing engine.”

Large stations, which will follow the advanced Salyut, will be made up of modules which can be docked with a central service area. Such modules will be standardised and of either cylindrical or spherical form.

A number of inferences can be drawn from this interview. First it gives us a good idea as to the size of space station the USSR is working towards. Such a station would require a Shuttle carrying a load of 8 to 10 crew members to make operations economically viable. Second, it confirms the approach of linking different modules and units together to build up such a station, highlighting the need for a space tug, of which Cosmos 929 was almost certainly the precursor.