September-October 1982:space activities report

SPACELAB FOLLOW-ON

The European Space Agency’s Spacelab Development Pro¬gramme is gradually drawing towards its conclusion: the flight unit, in its first configuration, was delivered to NASA at the end of 1981, and the second configuration was due to be delivered this summer. Integration work is proceeding accord¬ ing to plan for a launch in September 1983.

ESA’s activities in this field will not, however, end with the Spacelab 1 mission. It is about to embark on a new related programme: Spacelab Follow-on. On 15 April, the contributions of ESA Member States participating in this new programme reached 80.8 per cent of the financial envelope of 155.9 million Accounting Units (mid-1980 prices), thus enabling work to start immediately.

There are three elements to this new programme, the most important of which is the development of a European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA) to be launched and retrieved by the Space Shuttle. This programme element also includes the development of a core payload for the first mission, mainly oriented towards Microgravity research with particular emphasis on Material and Life Sciences, as well as the first flight, scheduled for early 1987.

EURECA is a re-usable payload carrier designed to suit European user requirements. With a payload mass of up to 1500 kg, it can stay for six months or more in orbit and will provide essential services for its payload, including high electrical power and heat rejection capability. A basic performance characteristic is its low gravity disturbance level which is an essential feature for Microgravity research. After deployment into space by the Shuttle, an on-board propulsion unit will propel the carrier into a higher orbit where the drag on its large solar arrays will be low. There the payload will be switched on and operated by remote control. Although the experiments will be highly automated, they will nevertheless be monitored from the ground. At the end of its mission, EURECA will return to low orbit where it will be recovered by the Shuttle Orbiter and brought back to Earth together with its payload equipment and processed material samples, for refurbishment for its next mission. EURECA can thus be described as a re-usable ‘free flyer’ which will enable longer duration missions to be carried out in an economic way.

The two other elements of the Spacelab Follow-on Programme include improvements to be made to Spacelab itself and preparatory studies for future space platform elements.

X-RAY OBSERVATORY MIRRORS

Twin $1 million contracts have been awarded to two optical companies to build precision mirrors representative of those to be flown on NASA’s Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), an orbiting X-ray observatory proposed for launch later in the decade.

The double contract award, announced on 6 April, assigns responsibility for parallel but independent work toward the building of these test mirrors (not intended to be flown in space) to the ltek and Perkin-Elmer corporations. Each of the contracts is two years in duration.

At the end of the contract period, the two companies will be expected to present their individual approaches to the grinding and polishing of the actual mirror which will be built for the observatory in the late 1980’s.

The test mirrors will be smaller than the mirror to be flown in space. According to Carroll Dailey, the study manager of the Marshall Space Flight Center’s AXAF activity, "The purpose of the test mirrors is to allow NASA to evaluate the ability of these contractors to achieve the level of performance we desire. We’re seeking a greater precision than previously achieved in X-ray optical systems.”

Proposed for launch in 1989 or 1990, the observatory would be technologically superior to any X-ray facility previously sent into space. Weighing 11 ons and measuring 14 by 43 feet, it would be carried by the Space Shuttle and placed in an orbit 300 miles above the Earth for operation over a lifetime of about 15 years. The observatory is expected to view X-ray sources toward the very edge of the observable Universe.

NASA STS CHANGES

NASA’s Offices of Space Transportation Systems and Space Transportation Operations were merged on 15 May. Maj. Gen. James A. Abrahamson (USAF) heads the new Office of Space Transportation Systems. The combined office was responsible for the fourth and final development flight of the Space Shuttle and for the operational flights, as well as further Shuttle procurement and expendable launch vehicles.

Dr. Stanley I. Weiss, who had headed the Space Transportation Operations became-NASA's Chief Engineer, succeeding Dr. Walter C. Williams, who plans to retire later this year. Because of the importance of this function and the preparation for the STS-4 launch, this change required a short period of transition.

The Chief Engineer’s office took on added responsibilities for institutional safety and for reliability and quality assurance. Williams, who had been Chief Engineer since 1976, continues to consult on Shuttle systems engineering and safety.

Gerald D. Griffin, previously Deputy Director of the Kennedy Space Center and the Dryden Flight Research Center, returned to NASA. Initially, he is working with Abrahamson on Shuttle operational planning. Later this year it is planned that he will move to Houston as Director of the Johnson Space Center. He will succeed Dr. Christopher C. Kraft, Director since 1972, who has announced his plan to leave NASA following the fifth Space Shuttle flight.

In announcing the organisational and personnel changes, NASA Administrator Beggs said, “As we approach the end of the Shuttle developmental flights and the beginning of the initial operations, we want to prepare the organisation for operations. During this same time, planned retirements give us the opportunity to name several new key managers for the period ahead. These changes will give us an efficient organisation with strong leadership for the future.”

EUROPEAN SENSING SATELLITE

The European Space Agency is about to embark on a major new programme: the first ESA Remote Sensing Satellite Programme, known as ERS 1. On 15 May 1982, contributions from participating states reached the level of the financial envelope laid down for starting the system definition phase (Phase B) of the ERS 1 programme. The final decision to proceed with phase C/D (hardware development) will be taken at the end of 1983.

The main objective of the ERS 1 programme is to give Europe the ability to take part in both the management of the Earth’s resources and the monitoring of its environment. ERS 1 aims, in particular, at establishing, developing and exploiting the coastal, ocean and ice applications of remote sensing data. The satellite’s nominal payload consists of:

1. Active microwave instrumentation (AMI) combining the functions of a synthetic aperture radar (SAR), a wave scatterometer and a wind scatterometer, with the aim of measuring wind fields and the wave image spectrum, and of taking all-weather images of coastal zones, open oceans, ice areas and over land;

2. Radar altimeter (RA) with the aim of measuring significant wave-height and providing measurements over ice and of major ocean currents;

3. Laser retroflectors for accurate tracking from the ground;

4. The Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR), an additional package, to be provided and funded by the UK and resulting from an announcement of opportunity to the scientific community. This is a 3-channel infrared radiometer for accurate sea-surface temperature measurements.

The above payload will be carried on a platform based on another model of the Multi-mission Platform developed in the framework of the French SPOT programme.

ERS 1 will permit worldwide coverage. Direct transmission to ground stations will be provided and onboard recorders will give access to data from any part of the world, except for the SAR, for which, due to the high bit-rate, only real-time trans¬ mission is possible. The ground segment will be dimensioned in such a way that certain ERS 1 data will be processed and delivered in near real-time (3 to 6 hours) to users interested in monitoring rapidly-changing dynamic phenomena.

Apart from the scientific results expected from the mission, which will be of great interest to researchers in physical oceanography, glaciology and climatology, ERS 1 will provide information that will help to develop commercial applications of immediate practical use. Better short and medium-term weather and ocean condition forecasts can be expected; these are of particular importance not only for shipping but also for 4he planning and operations of off-shore industrial complexes, such as oil rigs. More accurate sea-surface temperature measurements will be made which will help with the location of fish species living in the vicinity of the sea surface (e.g. tuna) thus improving the management of fish resources. The monitoring of sea-ice and icebergs will also contribute to increasing the safety of shipping and off-shore oil activities in far northern areas.

Launch into a Sun-synchronous circular orbit at an altitude around 700 km by an Ariane 2 or 3 is planned at the end of 1987. Its lifetime is expected to be 3 years. ERS 1 is considered to be both an experimental and a pre-operational system, preparing the way for a fully operational multi-satellite system in the 1990s.

INDIAN LAUNCHER

The extensive Indian space programme has so far relied on small, expendable national launchers or buying space on other nations’ rockets for satellites requiring more exotic orbits. For example, Insat 1 was launched by the US into geostationary orbit to provide communications and meteorological services. By the mid-1980’s, however, India hopes to have a booster capable of reaching these more difficult orbits. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is planned to take 1 tonne payloads into 1,000 km Sun-synchronous polar orbits using two liquid propellant engines which will be returned to Earth for re-launch. A larger vehicle for placing 3 tonnes in geostationary orbit is expected for the next decade.

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THE ASTRONAUTS OF STS-4

Thomas Kenneth Mattingly II

Ken Mattingly was born in Chicago, Illinois on 17 March 1936. He was selected as a NASA Group 5 astronaut in April 1966 and was thus available for the later Apollo lunar flights. He became the astronaut representative for the development of the Apollo spacesuit and backpack for EVA operations, and served on the support crews for Apollos 8 and 11.

Mattingly was assigned as Command Module Pilot of the third manned lunar mission, Apollo 13, but had to step down from the crew (John Swigert took his place) just three days, before launch because of his exposure to German measles. He flew as CMP on John Young’s Apollo 16 crew in April 1972 and became the second man to conduct an EVA in deep space.

From January 1973, Mattingly was assigned to Shuttle duties: Chief of Shuttle support, Astronaut Office; Technical Assistant to Manager of Orbital Flight Test Programmes (March 1978-December 1979); Head of Astronaut Office ascent/entry group (December 1979-April 1981). Between April and November 1981 he served as backup Commander for STS-2, and then held the same position for STS-3. He was named as Commander of the fourth Shuttle orbital mission last December.

Henry Warren Hartsfield, Jr.

Henry “Hank" Hartsfield was born on 21 November 1933 in Birmingham, Alabama. He served as an instructor at the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California before being selected as a Group 2 USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory astronaut in June 1966.

After the cancellation of MOL in June 1969, Hartsfield became a NASA Group 7 astronaut the following August. He was a support crew member for Apollo 16 and all of the Skylab flights. He was then assigned to Shuttle duties, working on simulations and flight controls systems hardware. By April 1979 he was assigned to Shuttle entry flight control systems and associated interfaces.

Hartsfield served as backup Pilot for STS-2 and 3 (with Mattingly as his commander) and was named as STS-4 pilot last December. He was the fourth Group 7 astronaut to fly, and the 48th American.

THE ASTRONAUTS OF STS-5

Vance DeVoe Brand

Commander for the first operational mission of the Shuttle will be civilian astronaut Vance Brand. Born in Longmont, Colorado on 9 May 1931, he flew as a fighter pilot with the Navy before working with the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation between 1960 and 1966. He graduated from the USN Test Pilot School in 1963 and worked on the F-104 “Starfighter” development programme.

Brand was selected as one of the 19 Group 5 astronauts in April 1966 and concentrated on the Apollo Command Module. He was the backup CM Pilot for Apollo 15 and should have flown the (cancelled) Apollo 18 lunar mission. He served as backup commander for Skylabs 3 and 4, as well as on the stand-by rescue crew. In January 1973 he was named as CMP for the Apollo-Soyuz mission flown in July 1975. He then moved on to Shuttle development work and was originally announced as Commander of STS-4 with Fullerton as his pilot

Robert Franklin Overmyer

Overmyer was born on 14 July 1936 at Lorain,Ohio. He joined the US Marine Corps on active duty in 1958 and in August 1965 he entered the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base. Upon graduation, he joined the second group of Manned Orbiting Laboratory astronauts and transferred to NASA in August 1969 as part of the Group 7 ex-MOL men.

Overmyer was part of the support crews for Apollo 17 and Apollo-Soyuz and in 1976 he moved on to the Shuttle programme. He flew as the prime T-38 chase pilot for the Enterprise drop tests of 12 August and 23 September 1977. He replaced Fullerton for the STS-4 mission when Haise left NASA in June 1979; the two-man crew later moving to STS-5.

William Benjamin Lenoir

In conjunction with Joe Allen, Lenoir will be the first of the NASA Group 6 astronauts, selected in mid-1967, to fly a space mission. He was born in Miami on 14 March 1939. Lenoir served as backup science pilot on Skylabs 3 and 4; in 1974 he was assigned to Shuttle development work, concentrating on payload support crew stations and displays for the physical sciences. In 1979 he was assigned to support development of Shuttle payload deployment and retrieval.

Joseph Percival Allen IV

Allen was born on 27 June 1937 at Crawfordsville in Indianna. He acted as a support crew member and mission scientist for Apollo 15; in 1973 he was granted a leave of absence and served on the President’s Council on International Economic Policy. He began Shuttle work in 1975 with special reference to Spacelab and payload support crew stations, con¬ trols and displays for the physical sciences. He acted as an STS-1 support crew member and Capcom.