May 1983:space activities report

BEYOND SPACELAB AND ARIANE

1983 is ESA's "Spacelab year ": Europe's efforts over the past ten years will come to fruition this autumn with the first Spacelab mission. As a follow-on, work has been proceeding over the last two years on possible ESA activities in the Space Transportation field for the late 1980's and 1990's. In 1982, the Spacelab Follow-on Programme, covering the development of a European retrievable carrier, Eureca, got underway. 1982 also saw the start of Ariane 4 development designed to meet needs for more powerful launchers from 1985.

Ariane 4 and Eureca represent the completion of Europe's Space Transportation Systems Programme as it was planned ten years ago. The time has now come to decide on future European needs in this area. A number of European States have now entrusted the Agency with a new programme - the Space Transportation Systems Long Term Preparatory Programme (STS-LTPP) - which covers the study of the different options beyond Ariane and Eureca in sufficient detail to enable Europe to lay down a long-term policy and thus to decide on new Space Transportation programmes before the end of 1985. On 14 January nine ESA Member States had subscribed to this new programme, providing the required 75 per cent of the total financial envelope (about $11 million in 1983 terms) to enable the programme to get underway.

The STS-LTPP deals with three main themes:

Maintaining an independent launch capability to meet the requirements of European and other users, competitive with other systems (eg the US Shuttle);

The capability of carrying out orbital operations developed either independently or in cooperation with NASA. A combination of an in-orbit system with an advanced European launcher would enable Europe to carry out Shuttle-type missions with, for example, satellite repairs and return to Earth;

Maintaining Europe's access to manned systems, begun by Spacelab, both by taking part in US space station activities and by studying the evolution of a European in-orbit system towards manned capability.

Such studies have already started; towards the end of 1982 some contracts for preliminary studies on possible European participation in the US space station programme were awarded. In parallel, other contracts were placed in industry aimed at defining future European launchers beyond Ariane and systems for in-orbit services (docking, assembly, satellite repairs, etc.).

NEW ASTRONAUT GROUP?

It appears that NASA might call for applications for Shuttle astronaut candidates this year, writes Dave Shayler. The first two Shuttle groups, of Pilots and Mission Specialists, were selected in 1978 and 1980 and are now seeing flight experience. The new 1983 group would undergo a 12 month training course to make them eligible for missions beginning in about 1985. By then most of the pre-Shuttle era astronauts will have retired and the job of flying the reusable spacecraft will have passed on to the newer groups.

SHUTTLE LAUNCH SCHEDULE

As the rate of Shuttle launches increase, the number of astronauts and payloads going into space will rise dramatically. Spaceflight will publish occasional lists of the missions and their crews, updating them when necessary. Here is the first:

STS-7

Challenger

23 May/6d

Crippen, CDR, 1

Hauck, PLT

Ride, MS

Fabian, MS

Thagard, MS

Telesat-F

Palapa B-1

SPAS-01

OSTA-2

STS-8

Challenger

10 July/3d

Truly, CDR, 1

Brandenstein, PLT

Bluford, MS

Gardner, D., MS

Thornton, MS

TDRSS-B

Insat 1B

STS-9

Columbia

30 Sep/10d

Young, CDR, 5

Shaw, PLT

Parker, MS

Garriott, MS, 1

Lichtenberg, PS

Merbold, PS (ESA)

Spacelab 1

STS-10

Mattingly, CDR, 2

Challenger

14 Dec/?d

Shriver, PLT

Buchli, MS

Onizuka, MS

? AFSE

(Teal Ruby)

STS-11

Challenger

Jan 1984/7d

Brand, CDR, 2

Gibson, R.L., PLT

McCandless, MS

Stewart, MS

McNair, MS

Palapa

STS-12

Discovery

Mar. 1984/5d

Hartsfield, CDR, 1

Coats, PLT

Resnik, MS

Hawley, MS

Mullane, MS

? PS

TDRSS-C

CDR: Commander; PLT: Pilot; MS: Mission Specialist; PS: Payload Specialist; AFSB: Air Force Space Engineer. Number after crew position indicates number of previous missions.

Telesat-F. Palapa and Insat 1B are communications satellites, SPAS is a German experimental platform. OSTA-2 is a NASA science payload. Spacelab is the NASA/ESA laboratory, and Teal Ruby is a US Air Force test payload for tracking aircraft by infrared. Crippen will be the first man to fly in the Shuttle twice; Sally Ride will be the first US woman astronaut; Ulf Merbold will be the first ESA astronaut; and John Young will be the first to make six space trips.