Frontier Status 121
Frontier Status October 30, 1998
A very big week on the Frontier! Three expendable rocket launches
and a high profile Shuttle launch. Meanwhile, things continue to
degrade in Russia with the failure of a new missile and the near-
collapse of the Glonass navigation system.
Headlines of the week of October 30 include:
- John Glenn returns to orbit with Discovery and her crew.
- Launch of Deep Space-1 with SEDsat-1 on Delta 2 rocket
- Launch of Progress M40 on Soyuz-U
- Launch of Ariane 4 with AfriStar
- Russian missile failure.
SHUTTLE
After a short hold to recheck a pressure sensor and a
second hold to clear an aircraft out of the launch zone, Discovery
was launched from Launch Pad 39B on October 29 at 2:19 pm EST.
The launch into a perfect Florida sky proceeded nominally--placing
the Orbiter into a 300 nautical mile orbit inclined 28.5 degrees.
Remote cameras recorded a cover, thought to belong to the drag
chute, falling to the ground soon after main engine start. The
missing door will not impact the safety of the mission. Both SRBs
were recovered intact and are being returned to port (NASA).
By launch time, media coverage included over 4000 accredited
members of the media. Viewing of the launch by over a million
people in Florida was comparable to that of the Apollo launches.
Retired astronauts from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle
program as well as active astronauts were pressed into service to
provide expert information on almost every major network. Walter
Cronkite provided a historic counterpoint for CNN viewers. In an
era where Shuttle launches typically receive fifteen-second blurbs on the
evening news, network television provided coverage of the launch
for over an hour. Schools, hospitals, and businesses across the nation
were reported to have taken time off to view the launch (NASA;
Flatoday; CNN).
While John Glenn and experiments on aging and sleep highlight the
media coverage, the mission contains over eighty experiments and
scientific investigations. Of these the microgravity production of the
super-insulator aerogel (astrogel) has the potential to revolutionize
the way windows on Earth are made. Some of the other equipment
and experiments flying on the Shuttle include:
- SPARTAN-201 (fifth flight)
- Microgravity Glovebox
- PCAM and APCF protein crystal growth units
- STES vapor diffusion unit
- UVSTAR, STAR-LITE, SEH and SOLCON astronomical
telescopes
- US Navy Postgraduate School PANSAT (Petite Amateur Navy
Satellite)
- European Space Agency's TPX II thermal control system
experiment
- Bellarmine College's 'Hearts in Space' experiment
- ACVS (Autotrack Computer Vision System)
- and several get-away specials.
(Jonathan's Space Report)
ISS
The Unity connecting module was moved to the launch pad
where it will be loaded into the Shuttle Endeavor. The first
American-made component of the sistenn-nation International Space
Station will be launched December 3 and connected to the previously-launched
Zarya control module in orbit. Installation of the 25,000pound
Unity into the payload bay will begin on November 13.
Unity features two conical connectors, six miles of electrical wiring,
216 fluid and gas lines and 50,000 mechanical items. More than
half a dozen major components remain in the Space Station
Processing Facility with up to half a million pounds of components
expected to be completed by the end of the year (NASA).
Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space has delivered to Kennedy Space
Center the first solar array flight wing and mast canister to Boeing,
the ISS main contractor. The 108 x 38 -foot solar panel is the
largest ever built for space flight and is the first of eight to be
attached to the space station. Each wing is composed of two
blankets with 84 panels--82 containing 200 solar cells each. When
all eight solar wings are deployed, they will contain 262,400 solar
cells. The advanced solar-array technology has been flight tested in
a solar array replacement placed on the Mir space station. The
theoretical system maximum power output is 246 kilowatts--enough to
power 200 homes. After fifteen years of service the system
is expected to degrade to 75% of its peak power. The first solar
wing is expected to be launched on the Shuttle in August of 1999.
Lockheed is building the solar wings under $450 million contract
(Lockheed Martin PR).
PROGRESS/MIR
Sunday, October 25, a Soyuz-U rocket
carrying the Progress M40 supply vessel was launched from
Baikonur (4:14 UTC). The launch, to provide Mir with needed
supplies and equipment was delayed for ten days while the Russian
government sought funds to pay for the booster. The craft carried
food, fuel, New Year's gifts and an experimental space mirror. The
100-foot diameter experimental mirror, dubbed Znamya 2.5 or
Banner, will be unfolded in February when the Progress is
scheduled to pull away from the station. The Progress also
contained experimental equipment for the French/Slovak visit to the
station in February. Progress 39 was undocked from the station on
October 25 (23:03 UTC) to create space for the new freighter.
Progress M40 docked with the aft docking port of Mir without
incident on October 27 (5: 43 UTC). After the docking of M40,
instructions were sent to the nearby Progress M39 sending it into the
atmosphere. This is the third and final Progress for this year (AP;
Chris v.d. Berg).
During the course of the week prior to the arrival of Progress M40,
a spent stage for the Lacrosse-2 mission passed within 4.6 Km of
the station. The crew were informed, but appeared not too
concerned.
The French experiment delivered on the Progress will be placed on
the exterior of the station during a space walk on November 11.
The walk was originally slated for November 15, but was moved up
to minimize risk associated with the Leonid meteor shower. The
crew will also retrieve Russian experiments during the five-hour walk
(Chris v.d. Berg).
RUSSIA
A test of one of Russia's new intercontinental ballistic
missiles at Plesetsk ended in failure last week. The Topol-M missile
exploded during its first stage and fell to the ground harmlessly nearby.
The missile system, which features a single warhead, is expected to
replace the RS-18 and RS-20 multiple-warhead missiles which are to
be deactivated by 2007, according to the yet-to-be-ratified START-II
treaty. Russia hopes to replace 35 to 45 missiles per year with $30
million Topol Ms beginning in 2000. This was the fifth test launch
of the new system (AP).
Russia's Glonass navigation system is in danger of collapse from
lack of money. The fiscal problems are so severe that Russia has had
to offer European nations co-ownership of the system and its
segment of the radio frequency (SpaceNews).
DELTA 2/DEEP SPACE
At 8:08 am EDT, Saturday, a Delta 2
rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Station. The launch
was delayed briefly from an extended T-4 minute hold due to an
electrical issue. The launch then progressed normally. On board
was the innovative Deep Space-1 (DS-1) NASA spacecraft and a
small student satellite, SEDsat-1, equipped with cameras and
amateur radio equipment. SEDsat-1 was deployed from the side of
the second stage of the Delta rocket 88 minutes after launch. The
first of the new Millennium Program, DS-1 was given its final boost
from the Delta about 50 minutes after the launch. The third stage
burn of the Delta pushed the vehicle to an initial velocity of 39,600
kph relative to the Earth.
Deep Space-1 is a technology demonstrator that will test twelve new
systems including a fuel-efficient ion engine. This is the first time
such an engine has been used for main propulsion for an exploration
mission. It is currently in use by a few commercial satellites for
station-keeping. Early in the flight two other of the technologies,
the 3600-cell solar concentrator arrays and a small deep-space
transponder have already been validated. The craft's star tracker is
operational, but appears to occasionally fail for 1-2 seconds. The
intermittent problem is under investigation. A thirteen-minute delay was
experienced in acquiring telemetry from the spacecraft from an
instrumented aircraft. Controllers were then able to acquire
telemetry from the ground station in Australia. The craft is expected
to fly 120 million miles over the next nine months to pass within six
miles of asteroid 1992 KD (Flatoday; NASA; JPL).
ARIANE 4/AFRISTAR/GE-5
An Ariane 44L was launched
from Kourou, French Guiana at 5:16 pm EST on Wednesday,
October 28. With four liquid strap-on boosters, this is the most
powerful of the Ariane 4 configurations. The upper stage of the
rocket was equipped with the SOELDA dual launch system.
Carrying both Afristar and GE-5, Flight 113 boosted a combined
4946 kg into orbit--a record for the Ariane 4 system. Afristar was
released 20 minutes and 21 seconds after launch. GE-3 was
released 23 minutes 30 seconds into the flight (Arianespace PR;
Flatoday).
Afristar was built by Matra Marconi Space/Alcatel Space Industries
to provide digital radio broadcasts in Africa for WorldSpace. The
2739 kg spacecraft is stabilized on three-axes, has 5,500 watts of
power, and is expected to have a lifetime of twelve years. The satellite
will be placed at 21 degrees East Longitude, where it will provide
digital radio, video and text signal across the African continent. The
craft has three down-link beams with time-division multiplexing.
Afristar is the first of three planned satellites (ArianeSpace PR).
GE-5, built by Alcatel Space Industries, is a 1698 kg
telecommunications satellite with 16 k-band transponders. The
spin-stabilized craft has 3,150 watts of power and is expected to
have a life-time of twelve years. It will be placed at 79 degrees West
longitude. The spacecraft will provide telecommunications service
for GE American Communications. This launch completes GE
American Communication's coverage of the United States. GE
American is now negotiating with Lockheed Martin for the
procurement of two small satellites designated GE-7 and GE-8.
They will be launched on Ariane vehicles in 2000 and 2001
(Arianespace PR; LaunchSpace).
SATELLITES
GEOS-8
Problems with an attitude sensor caused the GEOS-8
weather satellite to enter a "safe hold" at about 4 am October 27.
The duties of monitoring Hurricane Mitch were transferred to
GEOS-10 which was switched to Full Disk Imaging Mode. This
mode covers a broader area, but provides images every 30 minutes
instead of 15 minutes. After a series of tests on the Earth sensor and
attitude control, the GEOS-8 was placed back in service (AP;
NOAA).
NOAA-15
The environmental weather satellite NOAA-15 has
completed testing and calibration. Launched on May 13, the satellite
will replace NOAA-12 which was launched in 1991 (NOAA PR;
LaunchSpace)
BUSINESS
Iridium
Motorola Announced October 30 that they have completed
testing and system readiness of the Iridium communications system.
Commercial service of the global, digital wireless communications
system is set to begin on November 1. To complete the network of
66 active satellites, Motorola had to achieve a number of "first".
This includes the creation of a digital packetized communications
network, inter-satellite crosslinks, hand-off satellite signals without
voice link interruptions, launch of 72 satellites on 15 rockets,
assembly line mass production of satellites, assembled and installed
12 gateways in 11 countries in 18 months, and integrated and tested
the digital wireless communications system in only 6 months
(Motorola PR).
Orbital Sciences
NASA announced the awarding of a Small
Expendable Launch Vehicle Services (SELVS) contract for small-
class payloads. The contract is for NASA and NASA-sponsored
small-class payloads. The awards went to Orbital Sciences and
Coleman Research Corp (LaunchSpace).
COMING EVENTS
Courtesy J. Ray, and R.
Baalke
(www.flatoday.com/space/next/sked.htm)
(newproducts.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/)
- November 4 - ILS Proton, PanAmSat-8, Baikonur, Kazakstan.
- November 6 - Delta 2, Iridium Mission -11, SLC-2 Vandenberg
AFB.
- November 7 - Shuttle Discovery lands, Kennedy Space Center.
- November 11 - Russian spacewalk to install external experiments,
Mir Space Station.
- November 19 - Delta 2, flight 263, Russian Bonum-1 comsat, pad
17B, Cape Canaveral Air Station.
- November 20 - Russian Proton, ZARYA CONTROL MODULE,
first ISS element, Baikonur Kazakstan.
- November 24 Ariane 42L, Flight 114, Satmex comsat, ELA-2,
Kourou, French Guiana.
- November 25 - Starsem Soyuz, Globalstar (four comsats), Baikonur,
Kazakstan.
- November 27 - Athena 2, Ikonos-1 (CRSS), SLC-6, Vandenberg
AFB.
- December 2 - Pegasus XL, SWAS, Vandenberg AFB
- December 3 - Shuttle Endeavor, STS-88, UNITY NODE 1
Assembly flight for the INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION,
Pad 39A, KSC.
- December 10 - Delta 2, Flight 264, Mars Climate Orbiter, Cape
Canaveral.
- December 14 - Shuttle Endeavor lands at KSC.
FRONTIER CENSUS REPORT
With the launch of the Shuttle Discovery, the current
population of space has risen from the baseline of two-all
Russians on the Mir space station--to nine, including five American
astronauts, one Spanish astronaut and one Japanese astronaut.
This marks the completion of 3337 days of continuous human
habitation in space since the reoccupation of Mir on September 7,
1989. The first element of the International Space Station is slated
for launch in 20 days.
SOURCES
DG
(c) Copyright Dale M. Gray October 30, 1998.
Dale M. Gray is the president of Frontier Historical Consultants.
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