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"930107.DFC" (50605 bytes) was created on 01-07-93 07-Jan-93 Daily File Collection These files were added or updated between 06-Jan-93 at 21:00:00 {Central} and 07-Jan-93 at 21:00:25. =--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930107.REL 1/7/93: BIG BANG THEORY PASSES TOUGHEST TEST Paula Cleggett-Haleim Headquarters, Washington, D.C. January 7, 1993 Randee Exler Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. RELEASE: 93-5 The Big Bang Theory passed its toughest test yet with the latest results reported from NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) team at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Phoenix, Ariz., today. Precise measurements made by COBE's FIRAS of the afterglow from the Big Bang -- the primeval explosion that began the universe approximately 15 billion years ago -- show that 99.97 percent of the early radiant energy of the universe was released within the first year after the Big Bang itself. "Radiant energy" is energy emitted in any form of light, from x-rays and gamma rays to visible and infrared light or even radio waves. COBE's Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) was designed to receive the microwave and infrared energy from the Big Bang. "The Big Bang theory comes out a winner," said COBE Project Scientist and FIRAS Principal Investigator Dr. John C. Mather of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "This is the ultimate in tracing one's cosmic roots," Mather said. All theories that attempt to explain the origin of large scale structure seen in the universe today now must conform to the constraints imposed by these latest measurements. This includes theories that postulate large amounts of energy released by such things as black holes, exploding supermassive stars or the decay of unstable elementary particles. In other words, there were not a lot of "little bangs," as suggested by some theories. The Big Bang Theory predicts that the spectrum of relic radiation should be that of a perfect "black body" unless there were major energy releases more than a year after the explosion. (A black body is a hypothetical cosmic body that absorbs all radiation falling on it, but reflects none what-so-ever. A black body emits at the same temperature at every wavelength.) These latest FIRAS results reveal that later energy releases did not occur. The COBE scientists now can say that the temperature of the afterglow radiation is 2.726 degrees above absolute zero (273 degrees below zero on the Celsius scale) with an uncertainty of only 0.01 degrees. Today's announcement is the result of analyzing data from the FIRAS during its 10 months of observations. Hundreds of millions of measurements were combined to obtain these unprecedentedly pre "Making certain that all of the measurements were combined correctly required exquisitely careful work and lengthy analysis by a large team of COBE scientists," Mather reported. "We are seeing the cold glow still remaining from the initially very hot Big Bang. These results now limit the size of any 'after shocks' following the Big Bang. The closer we examine the Big Bang the simpler the picture gets," said Mather. "It took us 18 years of careful effort to reach this point, but now we can say that the Big Bang Theory has been tested against observations to a fine degree of precision," explained Mather. "Experimental evidence of the Big Bang was first found by Edwin Hubble in the 1920's. He found that distant galaxies in ever direction are going away from us with speeds proportional to their distance. Therefore, gallaxies that are farther away are going faster. This is exactly the pattern that would occur if the entire universe originated in a single explosion, now called the Big Bang. Papers on these results and their implications soon will be submitted to the Astrophysical Journal for publication. COBE, launched Nov. 18, 1989, is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications, Astrophysics Division, Washington, D.C. Source:NASA Spacelink Modem:205-895-0028 Internet:192.149.89.61 =--=--=-END-=--=--= =--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930107.SHU KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT 1/7/93 SPACE SHUTTLE WEEKLY STATUS SUMMARY Thursday, January 7, 1993 George H. Diller Kennedy Space Center Vehicle: OV-105/Orbiter Endeavour Mission Number: STS-54 Location: Launch Pad 39-B Primary Payload: TDRS-F/IUS-13 + Diffuse X-Ray Spectrometer (DXS) Launch Date: January 13 8:52 a.m. EST Inclination: 28.45 degrees Crew Size: 5 astronauts Mission Duration: 5 days 23 hours 33 minutes Nominal Landing: KSC Jan. 19 8:24 a.m. EST STS-54 IN WORK: - ordnance connections - hypergolic tank pressurization STS-54 WORK COMPLETED: - Range Safety command checks - TDRS battery charging - IUS/TDRS power-on stray voltage checks - DXS interim servicing - external tank purges - reactant system purges - install crew escape pole STS-54 WORK SCHEDULED: - external tank closeouts on Friday - solid rocket booster closeouts on Friday - IUS battery voltage checks on Friday - final payload closeouts on Saturday - begin launch countdown at 1 p.m. Sunday, January 10 - astronaut arrival at 3:30 p.m. Sunday - close payload bay doors at 8:45 p.m. Sunday Vehicle: OV-102/Orbiter Columbia Current location: OPF Bay 2 Mission: STS-55/Spacelab-D2 Inclination: 28.45 degrees Launch timeframe: February, wk 4 Nominal Landing Site: KSC Mission Duration: 8 days 22 hours Crew size: 7 STS-55 IN WORK: - troubleshooting payload bay door latching - installation of main engine heat shields - functional testing of waste containment system - testing of OMS/RCS redundant electrical system STS-55 WORK SCHEDULED: - payload bay door cycle and latch tests on Sunday - install Spacelab D-2 laboratory module on Monday - mating external tank to solid rocket boosters on Jan. 13 STS-55 WORK COMPLETED: - fuel cell checkout - freon coolant loop checkout - main engine installation - Spacelab tunnel installation ISSUES AND CONCERNS: Engineers are troubleshooting difficulty latching the payload bay doors. As a result Spacelab D-2 installation has been rescheduled from today until Monday. The initial troubleshooting will focus on the strongbacks attached to the doors. It is not clear at this time whether there might be direct schedule impact. In the VAB, the left forward booster segment which was destacked immediately before the Christmas holidays has been restacked and leak checks have been successful. Vehicle: OV-103/Discovery Mission Number: STS-56 Location: OPF Bay 3 Payloads: ATLAS-2/ODERACS/SSBUV/SPARTAN/SUVE Launch timeframe: March, wk 3 Crew Size: 5 Mission Duration: 8 days Inclination: 57 degrees Nominal Landing Site: KSC STS-56 IN WORK: - inspections of 17-inch quick disconnect - liquid oxygen main propulsion system leak checks - reinstall wheel and tire assembly - orbiter hydraulic servicing - Ku band antenna testing - radar altimter testing - potable water servicing - tile removal and replacement/tile repairs STS-56 WORK COMPLETED: - remove and inspect drag chute hardware - flush and drain waste management system - removal of forward reaction control system STS-56 WORK SCHEDULED: - hypergolic deservicing this weekend - reconfigure payload bay for ATLAS-2 - humidity separator flow performance testing ISSUES AND CONCERNS: Source:NASA Spacelink Modem:205-895-0028 Internet:192.149.89.61 =--=--=-END-=--=--= =--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930107.SKD DAILY NEWS/TV SKED 1/7/93 Daily News Thursday, January 7, 1993 Two Independence Square, Washington, D.C. Audio service: 202/358-3014 % STS-54 processing activities continue on schedule for Endeavour's Jan. 13 launch; % Hubble team announces discoveries at Phoenix meeting, COBE results presented; % NASA selects 36 more Small Business Innovation Research contracts for $19. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Final closeout activity for the STS-54 payloads is underway at the Kennedy Space Center as the launch processing team there prepares Endeavour for its scheduled launch next Wednesday, Jan. 13, at 8:52 am EST. Technicians there yesterday completed main engine closeouts and began work on installation of the orbiter's onboard computer mission software memory. Tomorrow, the processing team will begin external tank closeout activity. The launch countdown begins at 9:00 am EST on Sunday, Jan. 9. The flight crew is scheduled to arrive from Houston later Sunday afternoon. The mission is scheduled as a 5-day, 23-hour flight with nominal landing at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at 8:24 am EST. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Astronomers, using data from the Hubble Space Telescope, announced at the American Astronomical Society's Phoenix meeting today the discovery that an astrophysical object long held to be unusual is in fact two merged galaxies. The object, Markarian 315, has fascinated astronomers for a decade because of a huge jet of gas spewing out from its core out to a distance of 240,000 light years. Markarian 315 is half-a-billion light years from Earth and is believed to harbor a huge black hole, which the Hubble astronomers now believe has been refueled by galaxy merger. The jet, the team reported, is probably a remnant of the time the galaxies actually merged. In another presentation made at the Phoenix meeting, scientists using data from the Cosmic Background Explorer reported that continued analysis of the data obtained on the background radiation present in every quadrant of the sky has imposed severe new restrictions on theories which purport to explain the radiation. The new measurements precisely gauge the background radiation at 2.726 degrees above Absolute Zero (degrees Kelvin). Based on theoretical constraints, this new measurement limits the amount of energy which could have been emitted after an initial Big Bang and essentially places the Big Bang theory in the solid forefront of cosmological evolution theories. Other theories have suggested a succession of lesser bangs at differing periods following an initial bang as a means of establishing the finely- detailed structure of the present day universe. The Big Bang does not provide a means, by itself, of explaining the complex structure seen throughout the universe in the form of galaxy clusters, super clusters and strings of clusters. Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select TV. Note that all events and times may change without notice, and that all times listed are Eastern. Live indicates a program is transmitted live. Thursday, January 7, 1993 Live 10:00 am STS-54 crew pre-flight briefing with STS- 54 crew from Johnson Space Center. at 4:00 and 8:00 pm and 12:00 midnight the broadcast schedule of the day repeats. NASA Select TV is carried on GE Satcom F2R, transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees West Longitude, transponder frequency is 3960 MegaHertz, audio subcarrier is 6.8 MHz, polarization is vertical. Source:NASA Spacelink Modem:205-895-0028 Internet:192.149.89.61 =--=--=-END-=--=--= =--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930107A.REL 1/7/93: HUBBLE DISCOVERS A DOUBLE NUCLEUS IN CORE OF ACTIVE GALAXY Paula Cleggett-Haleim Headquarters, Washington, D.C. January 7, 1993 Jim Elliott Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore RELEASE: 93-006 Astronomers, using the Hubble Space Telescope, now believe that a galaxy they have observed for a decade actually is composed of two merged galaxies and that the collision has provided new fuel for a massive black hole which is spewing out a jet of gas and other matter 240,000 light-years long. The galaxy is Markarian 315 located about 500 million light-years from Earth. The collision and refueling theory emerged after the Hubble Telescope revealed that the galaxy has a double nucleus or two core-like regions. The brighter core-like region is believed to harbor the massive black hole which accounts for the tremendous amounts of energy produced by the galaxy. The fainter nucleus is considered to be the surviving core of a galaxy that recently merged into Markarian 315. "The galaxy's active core presumably harbors a black hole which has been re-fueled by the galactic collision," said Dr. Jack MacKenty, Assistant Scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. "The Hubble images provide support for the theory that the jet-like feature may be a 'tail' of gas stretched out by tidal forces between the two galaxies as they interacted," explained Dr. MacKenty, Assistant Scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute. "The jet feature is most likely a remnant of a merger between Markarian 315 and a smaller galaxy," said MacKenty. This observation best explains the extraordinary 240,000- light-year long jet-like feature of Markarian 315. An image of the core of Markarian 315, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera shows a second, fainter nucleus located approximately 6,000 light-years (or 2 arc seconds in angular separation) from the galaxy's bright central nucleus. One light-year equals approximately 5.8 trillion miles (9.3 trillion km). Galaxy mergers may be one mechanism for driving gas deep into the heart of a galaxy, astronomers believe. This raw material fuels massive black holes, theorized to be the "central engines" in Seyfert galaxies and other active galaxies. The Hubble Space Telescope's high spatial resolution allows astronomers to probe the cores of Seyfert galaxies in unprecedented detail. In exposures taken with ground-based telescopes, the companion nucleus is drowned out by the brighter Seyfert nucleus. The report on this discovery is by Drs. John MacKenty and Andrew Wilson of the Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore; Richard Griffiths of The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; and Susan Simkin of Michigan State University, East Lansing. The report was delivered at the 181st Meeting of the American Astronomical Society meeting in Phoenix, Ariz. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. Source:NASA Spacelink Modem:205-895-0028 Internet:192.149.89.61 =--=--=-END-=--=--= =--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930107B.REL 1/7/93: SPACE STATION FREEDOM PROPULSION FIRING TESTS UNDERWAY Jim Cast Headquarters, Washington, D.C. January 7, 1993 Kyle Herring Johnson Space Center, Houston Anne McCauley/Evelyn Smith McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, Huntington Beach, Calif. RELEASE: 93-7 Static firing tests of a propulsion development test article for Space Station Freedom began in late December at NASA's White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) in New Mexico. The test series will validate the concept and preliminary design of the propulsion module to be used for space station attitude control, orientation, speed and altitude control and avoidance of space debris. "Freedom is no longer a 'paper-station'," commented Richard Kohrs, Director of the Space Station Freedom Program in Washington, D.C.. "And the beginning of critical tests with the propulsion module system at White Sands represents the next and certainly not the last in a long string of reality checks for Freedom focussing on launch of the first element in the assembly sequence in about 3 years." "We have seen Space Station Freedom progress from concept to design and now to validation of hardware," said Larry Morata, Vice President and General Manager of McDonnell Douglas Aerospace (MDA) Space Station Division. "We are on the way to constructing a facility that will promote science and exploration for years to come." During Shuttle's second space station assembly flight, two propulsion modules will be positioned on Freedom. Two more will be added following man-tended capability and an additional pair will be added prior to permanently manned capability. Early propulsion modules will have 13 thrusters located at both ends and on top of each module. On later modules, the number of thrusters will be scaled down to nine. The thrusters can be fired independently, allowing precise positioning of the station. The article being tested in New Mexico has 10 small thrusters, each with an operational range of 9 to 25 pounds of thrust and three large thrusters with 20 to 55 pounds of thrust. MDA Space Station Division, under contract to the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston, is responsible for the development and testing. McDonnell Douglas previously carried out structural dynamics and vibration testing at JSC. The test series will continue at WSTF as needed to complete validation of the design. Source:NASA Spacelink Modem:205-895-0028 Internet:192.149.89.61 =--=--=-END-=--=--= =--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930107C.REL 1/7/92: COUNTDOWN FOR STS-54 LAUNCH OF ENDEAVOUR BEGINS SUNDAY, JAN. 10 George H. Diller January 8, 1993 Kennedy Space Center KSC Release No. 01-93 The countdown clock for the STS-54 flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. (EST) Sunday, Jan. 10 at the T-43 hour mark. The countdown includes 24 hours and 32 minutes of built-in hold time leading up to the opening of the launch window at 8:52 a.m. (EST) on Wednesday, Jan. 13. At the start of the countdown, the launch team in firing room 3 of the Launch Control Center verifies the Shuttle vehicle is powered up and that the data processing system and backup flight control system are operating. Flight software stored in the orbiter's twin memory banks will be reviewed, computer con- trolled display systems will be activated, and the backup flight system general purpose computer will be loaded. Preparations also start at the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen storage farms for loading the external tank with super cold, or cryogenic, propellants. Orbiter navigation aids are turned on and tested and the inertial measurement units are ac- tivated. In parallel with these activities, the launch team prepares for loading Endeavour's onboard fuel cell storage tanks with liq- uid oxygen and liquid hydrogen reactants. Also performed at the start of the countdown is the final stowage, microbial sampling and water level adjustment of the crew waste management system. At T-27 hours, the countdown will enter its first built-in hold. This is a 4-hour hold which extends from 5 to 9 a.m. on Monday, January 11. When the countdown resumes, the launch pad will be cleared of all personnel in preparation for loading the fuel cell storage tanks. Servicing of the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen fuel cell supply tanks is scheduled to start at the T-25 hour mark. Servic- ing activities take approximately five hours. When servicing of the fuel cell tanks has been completed, the pad will be reopened for normal work, and the countdown will enter the second planned hold. During this four-hour hold at the T-19 hour mark, the orbiter mid-body umbilical unit used to load the super cold fuel cell reactants into the orbiter will be demated. This hold will extend from 5 to 9 p.m. on Monday. When the countdown resumes, technicians will complete final vehicle and facility closeouts and begin activating the orbiter's communications systems and configuring Endeavour's cockpit for flight. The main propulsion system and shuttle main engines are prepared for cryogenic loading. The orbiter's flight control system navigation aids and com- munications systems will be activated, and switches in the cock- pit will be configured for loading of the external tank. The stowable mission specialist seats will be installed in the flight and mid-decks. The countdown will enter the next built-in hold at T-11 hours at 5 a.m. on Tuesday. During the hold, time critical equipment will be installed in the orbiter's cockpit and the in- ertial measurement units will be activated and warmed up. At about 11 a.m., the rotating service structure will be moved away from the vehicle to the launch position. This hold is scheduled to last 13 hours, 32 minutes, or until 6:32 p.m. on Tuesday. At T-9 hours, the onboard fuel cells will be activated, and the launch team will begin evacuating the blast danger area at T-8 hours, or about 9:32 p.m. Tuesday. The final items to be placed in the crew module are now stowed aboard, and the joint heaters on the solid rocket boosters are also turned on at this time. At T-7 hours, 30 minutes, conditioned air that is flowing through the orbiter's payload bay and other areas will be switched to gaseous nitrogen in preparation for loading the ex- ternal tank with super-cold liquid propellants. The inertial measurement units will transition from the warm up stage to the operate/attitude determination mode at T-6 hours and 45 minutes. At T-6 hours a steering check of the orbital maneuvering system engines will be performed. The countdown will enter another planned built-in hold at the T-6 hour mark at approximately 11:32 p.m. Tuesday. During this one-hour hold, final preparations for loading the external tank will be completed and a pre-tanking weather briefing will be conducted. Chilldown of the lines that carry the cryogenic propellants to the external tank will begin at the T-6 hour and counting mark, at 12:32 a.m. Wednesday. Filling and topping of the exter- nal tank should be complete at the beginning of the planned hold at T-3 hours which will start at 3:32 a.m. Wednesday. This hold is two hours in duration. During this time, the ice inspection team will perform a survey of the tank's outer in- sulation, and the closeout crew will begin configuring the crew module and white room for the flight crew's arrival. Liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen will be in a stable replenish mode during this time to replace the propellant that "boils" off. The astronauts are scheduled to be awakened at 3:57 a.m. Wednesday and have breakfast. Their breakfast is scheduled at 4:27 a.m. After eating, the crew will receive a briefing on world-wide weather conditions via satellite from Mission Control in Houston. The flight crew will suit up in their partial pressure suits, then leave the Operations and Checkout Building at about 5:37 a.m., at T-3 hours. They will arrive at the pad white room at about 6:07 a.m. where they will be assisted by white room per- sonnel in getting into the crew cabin. Just prior to the T-1 hour mark, the test team and the flight crew will get another weather update, including observa- tions from an astronaut flying in a Shuttle Training Aircraft in the KSC area. The last two built-in holds will be 10 minutes in duration and will occur at the T-20 minute mark or at 8:12 a.m. and at the T-9 minute mark or at 8:33 a.m. During the final hold, the flight crew and ground team receive the NASA Launch Director's and the Mission Management Team's final "go" for launch. Milestones after the T-9 minute mark include start of the ground launch sequencer; retraction of the orbiter access arm at T-7 minutes, 30 seconds; start of the orbiter's auxiliary power units at T-5 minutes; pressurization of the liquid oxygen tank at T-2 minutes, 55 seconds; pressurization of the liquid hydrogen tank at T-1 minute, 57 seconds; and the electronic "go" to Endeavour's onboard computers to start their own terminal countdown sequence at T-31 seconds. The orbiter's three main en- gines will start at T-6.6 seconds. COUNTDOWN MILESTONES Launch - 3 Days (Sunday, January 10) Perform the call-to-stations at T-43 hours. Begin check out of the backup flight system and review flight software stored in mass memory units and display systems. Astronauts arrive. Load backup flight system software into the orbiter's fifth general purpose computer. Begin stowage of flight crew equipment. Inspect the orbiter's mid and flight decks and remove crew module platforms. Start external tank loading preparations. Launch - 2 Days (Monday, January 11) Enter first planned built-in hold at T-27 hours for a dura- tion of 4 hours. Activate orbiter's navigation system. Resume countdown. Start preparations for servicing fuel cell storage tanks and begin final vehicle and facility closeouts for launch. Clear launch pad of all personnel and load liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen reactants into the orbiter's fuel cell storage tanks. Enter second planned built-in hold at T-19 hours for four hours. After the loading operation, the pad will be reopened for normal work and orbiter and ground support equipment closeouts will resume. Demate orbiter mid-body umbilical unit used during fuel cell loading. Resume countdown. Activate orbiter communications systems and prepare Shuttle main engines for propellant tanking and flight. Launch - 1 Day (Tuesday, January 12) Install mission specialist seats in crew cabin. The tail service masts on the mobile launcher platform will be closed out for launch. Enter planned hold at T-11 hours (5 a.m.) for a duration of 13 hours and 32 minutes. During this hold, the orbiter's inertial measurement units will be activated and kept in the "warm up" mode and film will be installed in the numerous cameras on the launch pad. In addition, safety personnel will conduct a debris walkdown and the pad sound suppression system water tank will be filled. The rotating service structure will be moved to the park position during this hold at 11 a.m. Perform orbiter ascent switch list in crew cabin. Resume countdown at 6:32 p.m. Install time critical flight crew equipment and perform the pre-ingress switch list. Start fuel cell flow-through purge. Activate orbiter fuel cells. Configure communications at Mission Control in Houston for launch. Clear the blast danger area of all non-essential personnel and switch orbiter purge air to gaseous nitrogen. Enter one-hour planned built-in hold at T-6 hours (11:32 p.m.). Launch Day (Wednesday, January 13) Resume countdown. Launch team verifies there are no viola- tions of launch commit criteria prior to cryogenic loading of the external tank. Start loading the external tank with cryogenic propellants. Complete filling the external tank with its flight load of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants. Perform open loop test with range safety and conduct gimbal profile checks of orbi- tal maneuvering system engines. Perform inertial measurement unit preflight calibration and align Merritt Island Launch Area (MILA) tracking antennas. Enter two hour hold at T-3 hours. Closeout crew and ice in- spection team proceeds to launch pad. Resume countdown at T-3 hours (5:32 a.m.) Complete closeout preparations in the white room and cockpit switch configurations. Crew departs astronaut quarters at Operations and Checkout Build- ing for the pad. Flight crew enters orbiter. Astronauts perform air-to-ground voice checks with Mission Control in Houston. Close orbiter crew hatch. Begin range safety final network open loop command check, perform hatch seal and cabin leak checks, begin the inertial measurement unit preflight alignment and range safety closed loop test. The white room is closed out and the closeout crew moves to fallback area. Primary ascent guidance data is transferred to the backup flight system. Enter planned 10-minute hold at T-20 minutes. Resume countdown. Transition orbiter onboard computers to launch configuration and start fuel cell thermal conditioning. Close orbiter cabin vent valves. Backup flight system transitions to launch configuration. Enter planned 10 minute hold at T-9 minutes. Resume countdown. Start automatic ground launch sequencer (T-9 minutes). Retract orbiter crew access arm (T-7:30). Start mission recorders (T-5:30). Start APU's. Arm SRB and ET range safety safe/arm devices (T-5). Start liquid oxygen drainback (T-4:55). Start orbiter aerosurface profile test (T-3:55). Orbiter transfers to internal power (T-3:30). Start MPS gimbal profile test (T-3:30). Pressurize liquid oxygen (LO2) tank (T-2:55) Retract gaseous oxygen vent arm (T-2:55). Fuel cells to internal reactants (T-2:35). Pressurize liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank (T-1:57). Deactivate SRB joint heaters (T-1:00). LPS go for start of orbiter automatic sequence (T-0:31 seconds). Start SRB gimbal profile test (T-0:6.6). SRB ignition and liftoff (T-0). Source:NASA Spacelink Modem:205-895-0028 Internet:192.149.89.61 =--=--=-END-=--=--= =--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:6_2_2_42_4.TXT COUNTDOWN FOR STS-54 LAUNCH OF ENDEAVOUR BEGINS SUNDAY, JAN. 10 George H. Diller January 8, 1993 Kennedy Space Center KSC Release No. 01-93 The countdown clock for the STS-54 flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. (EST) Sunday, Jan. 10 at the T-43 hour mark. The countdown includes 24 hours and 32 minutes of built-in hold time leading up to the opening of the launch window at 8:52 a.m. (EST) on Wednesday, Jan. 13. At the start of the countdown, the launch team in firing room 3 of the Launch Control Center verifies the Shuttle vehicle is powered up and that the data processing system and backup flight control system are operating. Flight software stored in the orbiter's twin memory banks will be reviewed, computer con- trolled display systems will be activated, and the backup flight system general purpose computer will be loaded. Preparations also start at the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen storage farms for loading the external tank with super cold, or cryogenic, propellants. Orbiter navigation aids are turned on and tested and the inertial measurement units are ac- tivated. In parallel with these activities, the launch team prepares for loading Endeavour's onboard fuel cell storage tanks with liq- uid oxygen and liquid hydrogen reactants. Also performed at the start of the countdown is the final stowage, microbial sampling and water level adjustment of the crew waste management system. At T-27 hours, the countdown will enter its first built-in hold. This is a 4-hour hold which extends from 5 to 9 a.m. on Monday, January 11. When the countdown resumes, the launch pad will be cleared of all personnel in preparation for loading the fuel cell storage tanks. Servicing of the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen fuel cell supply tanks is scheduled to start at the T-25 hour mark. Servic- ing activities take approximately five hours. When servicing of the fuel cell tanks has been completed, the pad will be reopened for normal work, and the countdown will enter the second planned hold. During this four-hour hold at the T-19 hour mark, the orbiter mid-body umbilical unit used to load the super cold fuel cell reactants into the orbiter will be demated. This hold will extend from 5 to 9 p.m. on Monday. When the countdown resumes, technicians will complete final vehicle and facility closeouts and begin activating the orbiter's communications systems and configuring Endeavour's cockpit for flight. The main propulsion system and shuttle main engines are prepared for cryogenic loading. The orbiter's flight control system navigation aids and com- munications systems will be activated, and switches in the cock- pit will be configured for loading of the external tank. The stowable mission specialist seats will be installed in the flight and mid-decks. The countdown will enter the next built-in hold at T-11 hours at 5 a.m. on Tuesday. During the hold, time critical equipment will be installed in the orbiter's cockpit and the in- ertial measurement units will be activated and warmed up. At about 11 a.m., the rotating service structure will be moved away from the vehicle to the launch position. This hold is scheduled to last 13 hours, 32 minutes, or until 6:32 p.m. on Tuesday. At T-9 hours, the onboard fuel cells will be activated, and the launch team will begin evacuating the blast danger area at T-8 hours, or about 9:32 p.m. Tuesday. The final items to be placed in the crew module are now stowed aboard, and the joint heaters on the solid rocket boosters are also turned on at this time. At T-7 hours, 30 minutes, conditioned air that is flowing through the orbiter's payload bay and other areas will be switched to gaseous nitrogen in preparation for loading the ex- ternal tank with super-cold liquid propellants. The inertial measurement units will transition from the warm up stage to the operate/attitude determination mode at T-6 hours and 45 minutes. At T-6 hours a steering check of the orbital maneuvering system engines will be performed. The countdown will enter another planned built-in hold at the T-6 hour mark at approximately 11:32 p.m. Tuesday. During this one-hour hold, final preparations for loading the external tank will be completed and a pre-tanking weather briefing will be conducted. Chilldown of the lines that carry the cryogenic propellants to the external tank will begin at the T-6 hour and counting mark, at 12:32 a.m. Wednesday. Filling and topping of the exter- nal tank should be complete at the beginning of the planned hold at T-3 hours which will start at 3:32 a.m. Wednesday. This hold is two hours in duration. During this time, the ice inspection team will perform a survey of the tank's outer in- sulation, and the closeout crew will begin configuring the crew module and white room for the flight crew's arrival. Liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen will be in a stable replenish mode during this time to replace the propellant that "boils" off. The astronauts are scheduled to be awakened at 3:57 a.m. Wednesday and have breakfast. Their breakfast is scheduled at 4:27 a.m. After eating, the crew will receive a briefing on world-wide weather conditions via satellite from Mission Control in Houston. The flight crew will suit up in their partial pressure suits, then leave the Operations and Checkout Building at about 5:37 a.m., at T-3 hours. They will arrive at the pad white room at about 6:07 a.m. where they will be assisted by white room per- sonnel in getting into the crew cabin. Just prior to the T-1 hour mark, the test team and the flight crew will get another weather update, including observa- tions from an astronaut flying in a Shuttle Training Aircraft in the KSC area. The last two built-in holds will be 10 minutes in duration and will occur at the T-20 minute mark or at 8:12 a.m. and at the T-9 minute mark or at 8:33 a.m. During the final hold, the flight crew and ground team receive the NASA Launch Director's and the Mission Management Team's final "go" for launch. Milestones after the T-9 minute mark include start of the ground launch sequencer; retraction of the orbiter access arm at T-7 minutes, 30 seconds; start of the orbiter's auxiliary power units at T-5 minutes; pressurization of the liquid oxygen tank at T-2 minutes, 55 seconds; pressurization of the liquid hydrogen tank at T-1 minute, 57 seconds; and the electronic "go" to Endeavour's onboard computers to start their own terminal countdown sequence at T-31 seconds. The orbiter's three main en- gines will start at T-6.6 seconds. COUNTDOWN MILESTONES Launch - 3 Days (Sunday, January 10) Perform the call-to-stations at T-43 hours. Begin check out of the backup flight system and review flight software stored in mass memory units and display systems. Astronauts arrive. Load backup flight system software into the orbiter's fifth general purpose computer. Begin stowage of flight crew equipment. Inspect the orbiter's mid and flight decks and remove crew module platforms. Start external tank loading preparations. Launch - 2 Days (Monday, January 11) Enter first planned built-in hold at T-27 hours for a dura- tion of 4 hours. Activate orbiter's navigation system. Resume countdown. Start preparations for servicing fuel cell storage tanks and begin final vehicle and facility closeouts for launch. Clear launch pad of all personnel and load liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen reactants into the orbiter's fuel cell storage tanks. Enter second planned built-in hold at T-19 hours for four hours. After the loading operation, the pad will be reopened for normal work and orbiter and ground support equipment closeouts will resume. Demate orbiter mid-body umbilical unit used during fuel cell loading. Resume countdown. Activate orbiter communications systems and prepare Shuttle main engines for propellant tanking and flight. Launch - 1 Day (Tuesday, January 12) Install mission specialist seats in crew cabin. The tail service masts on the mobile launcher platform will be closed out for launch. Enter planned hold at T-11 hours (5 a.m.) for a duration of 13 hours and 32 minutes. During this hold, the orbiter's inertial measurement units will be activated and kept in the "warm up" mode and film will be installed in the numerous cameras on the launch pad. In addition, safety personnel will conduct a debris walkdown and the pad sound suppression system water tank will be filled. The rotating service structure will be moved to the park position during this hold at 11 a.m. Perform orbiter ascent switch list in crew cabin. Resume countdown at 6:32 p.m. Install time critical flight crew equipment and perform the pre-ingress switch list. Start fuel cell flow-through purge. Activate orbiter fuel cells. Configure communications at Mission Control in Houston for launch. Clear the blast danger area of all non-essential personnel and switch orbiter purge air to gaseous nitrogen. Enter one-hour planned built-in hold at T-6 hours (11:32 p.m.). Launch Day (Wednesday, January 13) Resume countdown. Launch team verifies there are no viola- tions of launch commit criteria prior to cryogenic loading of the external tank. Start loading the external tank with cryogenic propellants. Complete filling the external tank with its flight load of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants. Perform open loop test with range safety and conduct gimbal profile checks of orbi- tal maneuvering system engines. Perform inertial measurement unit preflight calibration and align Merritt Island Launch Area (MILA) tracking antennas. Enter two hour hold at T-3 hours. Closeout crew and ice in- spection team proceeds to launch pad. Resume countdown at T-3 hours (5:32 a.m.) Complete closeout preparations in the white room and cockpit switch configurations. Crew departs astronaut quarters at Operations and Checkout Build- ing for the pad. Flight crew enters orbiter. Astronauts perform air-to-ground voice checks with Mission Control in Houston. Close orbiter crew hatch. Begin range safety final network open loop command check, perform hatch seal and cabin leak checks, begin the inertial measurement unit preflight alignment and range safety closed loop test. The white room is closed out and the closeout crew moves to fallback area. Primary ascent guidance data is transferred to the backup flight system. Enter planned 10-minute hold at T-20 minutes. Resume countdown. Transition orbiter onboard computers to launch configuration and start fuel cell thermal conditioning. Close orbiter cabin vent valves. Backup flight system transitions to launch configuration. Enter planned 10 minute hold at T-9 minutes. Resume countdown. Start automatic ground launch sequencer (T-9 minutes). Retract orbiter crew access arm (T-7:30). Start mission recorders (T-5:30). Start APU's. Arm SRB and ET range safety safe/arm devices (T-5). Start liquid oxygen drainback (T-4:55). Start orbiter aerosurface profile test (T-3:55). Orbiter transfers to internal power (T-3:30). Start MPS gimbal profile test (T-3:30). Pressurize liquid oxygen (LO2) tank (T-2:55) Retract gaseous oxygen vent arm (T-2:55). Fuel cells to internal reactants (T-2:35). Pressurize liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank (T-1:57). Deactivate SRB joint heaters (T-1:00). LPS go for start of orbiter automatic sequence (T-0:31 seconds). Start SRB gimbal profile test (T-0:6.6). SRB ignition and liftoff (T-0). 12/22/92: JANUARY 13 SET FOR THE FIRST SPACE SHUTTLE FLIGHT OF 1993 Ed Campion Headquarters, Washington, D.C. December 22, 1992 George Diller Kennedy Space Center, Fla. EDITORS NOTE: N92-110 NASA managers today set Jan. 13 as the launch date for the first Shuttle mission of 1993. Designated STS-54, the flight has two primary objectives -- deployment of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-F) and astronomical observations of invisible x-ray sources within the Milky Way Galaxy with the Diffuse X-ray Spectrometer. A space walk (EVA) to evaluate training methods and gain additional EVA experience also will occur during the mission. The launch window opens at 8:52 a.m. EST and extends for 2 1/2 hours. The mission duration is planned for 6 days. Landing is scheduled for Jan. 19 at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Commanding the STS-54 mission will be John Casper, making his second flight. Don McMonagle, also making his second flight, will be the Pilot. The three mission specialists for STS-54 are Mario Runco, making his second flight; Greg Harbaugh, making his second flight, and Susan Helms, making her first flight. Source:NASA Spacelink Modem:205-895-0028 Internet:192.149.89.61 =--=--=-END-=--=--= =--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:6_7_11_11.TXT 1/7/93: BIG BANG THEORY PASSES TOUGHEST TEST Paula Cleggett-Haleim Headquarters, Washington, D.C. January 7, 1993 Randee Exler Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. RELEASE: 93-5 The Big Bang Theory passed its toughest test yet with the latest results reported from NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) team at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Phoenix, Ariz., today. Precise measurements made by COBE's FIRAS of the afterglow from the Big Bang -- the primeval explosion that began the universe approximately 15 billion years ago -- show that 99.97 percent of the early radiant energy of the universe was released within the first year after the Big Bang itself. "Radiant energy" is energy emitted in any form of light, from x-rays and gamma rays to visible and infrared light or even radio waves. COBE's Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) was designed to receive the microwave and infrared energy from the Big Bang. "The Big Bang theory comes out a winner," said COBE Project Scientist and FIRAS Principal Investigator Dr. John C. Mather of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "This is the ultimate in tracing one's cosmic roots," Mather said. All theories that attempt to explain the origin of large scale structure seen in the universe today now must conform to the constraints imposed by these latest measurements. This includes theories that postulate large amounts of energy released by such things as black holes, exploding supermassive stars or the decay of unstable elementary particles. In other words, there were not a lot of "little bangs," as suggested by some theories. The Big Bang Theory predicts that the spectrum of relic radiation should be that of a perfect "black body" unless there were major energy releases more than a year after the explosion. (A black body is a hypothetical cosmic body that absorbs all radiation falling on it, but reflects none what-so-ever. A black body emits at the same temperature at every wavelength.) These latest FIRAS results reveal that later energy releases did not occur. The COBE scientists now can say that the temperature of the afterglow radiation is 2.726 degrees above absolute zero (273 degrees below zero on the Celsius scale) with an uncertainty of only 0.01 degrees. Today's announcement is the result of analyzing data from the FIRAS during its 10 months of observations. Hundreds of millions of measurements were combined to obtain these unprecedentedly pre "Making certain that all of the measurements were combined correctly required exquisitely careful work and lengthy analysis by a large team of COBE scientists," Mather reported. "We are seeing the cold glow still remaining from the initially very hot Big Bang. These results now limit the size of any 'after shocks' following the Big Bang. The closer we examine the Big Bang the simpler the picture gets," said Mather. "It took us 18 years of careful effort to reach this point, but now we can say that the Big Bang Theory has been tested against observations to a fine degree of precision," explained Mather. "Experimental evidence of the Big Bang was first found by Edwin Hubble in the 1920's. He found that distant galaxies in ever direction are going away from us with speeds proportional to their distance. Therefore, gallaxies that are farther away are going faster. This is exactly the pattern that would occur if the entire universe originated in a single explosion, now called the Big Bang. Papers on these results and their implications soon will be submitted to the Astrophysical Journal for publication. COBE, launched Nov. 18, 1989, is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications, Astrophysics Division, Washington, D.C. Source:NASA Spacelink Modem:205-895-0028 Internet:192.149.89.61 =--=--=-END-=--=--= =--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:6_7_2_16_3.TXT 1/7/93: HUBBLE DISCOVERS A DOUBLE NUCLEUS IN CORE OF ACTIVE GALAXY Paula Cleggett-Haleim Headquarters, Washington, D.C. January 7, 1993 Jim Elliott Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore RELEASE: 93-006 Astronomers, using the Hubble Space Telescope, now believe that a galaxy they have observed for a decade actually is composed of two merged galaxies and that the collision has provided new fuel for a massive black hole which is spewing out a jet of gas and other matter 240,000 light-years long. The galaxy is Markarian 315 located about 500 million light-years from Earth. The collision and refueling theory emerged after the Hubble Telescope revealed that the galaxy has a double nucleus or two core-like regions. The brighter core-like region is believed to harbor the massive black hole which accounts for the tremendous amounts of energy produced by the galaxy. The fainter nucleus is considered to be the surviving core of a galaxy that recently merged into Markarian 315. "The galaxy's active core presumably harbors a black hole which has been re-fueled by the galactic collision," said Dr. Jack MacKenty, Assistant Scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. "The Hubble images provide support for the theory that the jet-like feature may be a 'tail' of gas stretched out by tidal forces between the two galaxies as they interacted," explained Dr. MacKenty, Assistant Scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute. "The jet feature is most likely a remnant of a merger between Markarian 315 and a smaller galaxy," said MacKenty. This observation best explains the extraordinary 240,000- light-year long jet-like feature of Markarian 315. An image of the core of Markarian 315, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera shows a second, fainter nucleus located approximately 6,000 light-years (or 2 arc seconds in angular separation) from the galaxy's bright central nucleus. One light-year equals approximately 5.8 trillion miles (9.3 trillion km). Galaxy mergers may be one mechanism for driving gas deep into the heart of a galaxy, astronomers believe. This raw material fuels massive black holes, theorized to be the "central engines" in Seyfert galaxies and other active galaxies. The Hubble Space Telescope's high spatial resolution allows astronomers to probe the cores of Seyfert galaxies in unprecedented detail. In exposures taken with ground-based telescopes, the companion nucleus is drowned out by the brighter Seyfert nucleus. The report on this discovery is by Drs. John MacKenty and Andrew Wilson of the Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore; Richard Griffiths of The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; and Susan Simkin of Michigan State University, East Lansing. The report was delivered at the 181st Meeting of the American Astronomical Society meeting in Phoenix, Ariz. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. Source:NASA Spacelink Modem:205-895-0028 Internet:192.149.89.61 =--=--=-END-=--=--= =--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:9_4_2_5.TXT NOTE: This file is too large {133154 bytes} for inclusion in this collection. The first line of the file: EDUCATIONAL HORIZONS WINTER 1992 Volume 1 Number 4 Source:NASA Spacelink Modem:205-895-0028 Internet:192.149.89.61 =--=--=-END-=--=--= =--=END OF COLLECTION---COLLECTED 10 FILES---COMPLETED 21:11:43=--=