Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/DAILY_1/930211.DFC

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11-Feb-93 Daily File Collection
   These files were added or updated between 10-Feb-93 at 21:00:00 {Central}
                                         and 11-Feb-93 at 21:00:49.

=--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930211.REL

2/11/93:  AAAS TO HONOR NASA SCIENTIST FOR OZONE RESEARCH

Brian Dunbar
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.          February 11, 1993


Mary Gannon
American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, D.C.


RELEASE:  93-26

        NASA scientist Dr. Robert Watson will receive the Scientific Freedom
and Responsibility Award from the American Association for the Advancement of
Science (AAAS) on Monday, Feb. 15.

        The AAAS will honor Dr. Watson, Director of the Process Studies Program
Office in NASA's Earth Science and Applications Division, Headquarters,
Washington, D.C., and Dr. Dan Albritton of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) for their contributions to the scientific and policy
discussions on global ozone depletion.

        The AAAS cited Dr. Watson and Dr. Albritton "for their leadership in
gaining international scientific consensus on threats to the stratospheric
ozone layer that laid the groundwork for the signing of the 1987 Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer."

        Under Watson and Albritton, research by NASA, NOAA and other U.S. and
international organizations helped establish that chemical byproducts of human
industry are causing significant depletion of ozone high in the atmosphere.
This depletion increases the risk of skin cancer and cataracts and raises
questions about possible damage to food crops and the microscopic organisms
that are an important part of the ocean food chain.

        International scientific assessments, several of which Dr. Watson
chaired, led to a nearly global consensus to phase out chemicals that deplete
ozone.

        Dr.  Watson, who received his Ph.D. in chemistry from London University
in 1973, was also the U.S. representative to the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change Science Working Group.

        The award will be presented at the society's annual meeting at the
Sheraton Boston Hotel & Towers, Boston. The Scientific Freedom and
Responsibility Award honors scientists and engineers whose actions protected
the public's welfare, furthered public policy debates, fulfilled the social
responsibility of scientists and engineers or defended scientists' professional
freedom.
     Source:NASA Spacelink    Modem:205-895-0028  Internet:192.149.89.61
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=--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930211.SHU

KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT 2/11/93


              SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT
              Thursday, February 11, 1993

George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center


Vehicle: OV-102/Orbiter Columbia       Current location: Pad 39-A
Primary payload: Spacelab D-2          Crew Size: 7
Orbital altitude: 184 sm               Inclination: 28.45 degrees
Mission Duration: 8 days 22 hours      Landing Site: KSC
Launch timeframe: NET Mar. wk 2


STS-55 IN WORK:

- preparations to remove high pressure oxidizer turbopumps
- TCDT countdown dress rehearsal
- astronaut commander/pilot Shuttle Training Aircraft flights
- astronaut safety walkdown of Pad A
- astronaut briefings on Columbia/Spacelab status
- STS-55 Flight Readiness Review


STS-55 WORK COMPLETED:

- solid rocket booster fuel isolation valve leak checks
- astronaut fit check of launch and entry suits
- astronaut M113 orientation and driver training
- astronaut emergency egress classroom training
- Flight Readiness Test of main engines and aerosurfaces


WORK SCHEDULED:

- TCDT T-0 at 11 a.m. on Friday
- Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) alignment on Friday
- removal of first liquid oxygen turbopump from orbiter on Sunday
     Source:NASA Spacelink    Modem:205-895-0028  Internet:192.149.89.61
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=--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930211.SKD

DAILY NEWS/TV SKED 2/11/93

Daily News
Thursday, February 11, 1993
Two Independence Square,
Washington, D.C.
Audio service: 202/358-3014

 % Columbia's launch to await change-out of main engine LOX turbopumps;
 % Similar pump considerations are underway for two other orbiters;
 % Astro-D scientific satellite expected to be launched this evening from
   Japan;
 % Joint astronomy mission will combine several new technologies in one
   satellite;
 % Marshall to exhibit "Why America Explores Space" theme in Boston today.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

NASA's Office of Space Flight management yesterday decided to remove and
replace the high pressure oxidizer turbopumps on Columbia's three main engines
as a precautionary measure.  The decision will mean that the launch of Columbia
for the STS-55 dedicated German Spacelab mission will be delayed until early
March. The work to remove and replace the pumps will be done with Columbia
remaining at Launch Pad 39-A.  The replacement and testing of newly-installed
pumps is expected to take nearly three weeks to finish.  An additional 12 days
is expected to be required to complete the processing of Columbia to make it
launch -ready.

The decision to change out the pumps is based on an extensive examination of
paperwork associated with the turbopump seals.  There are two versions of
turbopump seals used in the shuttle main engines.  One version requires
inspection following each engine use; the other does not.  KSC technical staff
were not able to conclusively determine which version of the seals is being
used on Columbia's turbopumps for this flight.  Concurrently, KSC is also
examining the pumps on engines located on Discovery and Endeavour.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Astro-D, a cooperative X-ray astronomy satellite is expected to be launched at
9:00 pm today from the Kagashima Space Center in Japan. The project is a
cooperative venture between Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical
Science and NASA. The satellite will increase scientific capabilities for
imaging X- ray spectroscopy.

The satellite's instrument combines the X-ray gathering technology of the
conical-foil mirror used by the Broad Band X-ray Telescope flown on the Astro-1
mission with the detector technology being used for the Advanced X-ray
Astrophysics Facility. The new satellite will examine the spectra of low-energy
X- rays in the energy bandwidth between a few hundred up to 12 thousand
electron volts (keV).  The science investigations include all manner of objects
from stars to nebulae.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Marshall Space Flight Center will display their theme exhibit-Why America
Explores Space-during the annual meeting of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. The meeting opens in Boston today and lasts through
next Tuesday, Feb. 16.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


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, February 11, 1993
Live
12:00 pm        NASA Today news program.

12:15 pm        Aeronautics & Space Report.

12:30 pm        Best of NASA Today-NASA Visitor Centers.

1:00 pm         Gemini Science Program.

1:30 pm         STS-55-The D-2 Project.

2:00 pm         Starfinder program #2.

2:30 pm         J. Milam Walters on Total Quality Management.

3:00 pm         Total Quality Management program #34
                from the University of New Mexico series.

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
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=--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930211A.REL

2/11/93:  STS-55 REVIEW COMPLETED, LAUNCH DATE TO BE SET LATER

Ed Campion
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                  February 11, 1993


George Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.


NOTE TO EDITORS:  N93-7

        NASA managers today completed their review of the flight readiness of
Shuttle Mission STS-55, a mission dedicated primarily to the German Space
Agency for research in life and microgravity sciences.

        Because of a decision reached yesterday to remove and replace
Columbia's high pressure oxidizer pumps, a launch date for the mission was not
set.  Managers are still assessing the time it will take to perform the work
and resume launch preparations.  Tom Utsman, Director of the Space Shuttle
Program, said a launch date for STS-55 would be set the last week in February.

        The pumps being replaced feed super cold oxygen to the Shuttle's three
main engines.  They are being removed because a search of processing paperwork
could not conclusively determine that the pumps are equipped with a newer
version of turbine tip seal retainers.  The tip seals minimize the flow of gas
around the tips of the turbine blades to enhance pump performance and the
retainers hold the seals in place.

        The major payload for Space Shuttle Columbia and her 7 member crew is
the pressurized Spacelab module - designated Spacelab-D2 - which will allow the
astronauts to conduct a wide range of experiments in the microgravity
environment of space.  Some 90 experiments are planned during the mission.

        This will be the 14th flight of the orbiter Columbia and the 54th Space
Shuttle mission.
     Source:NASA Spacelink    Modem:205-895-0028  Internet:192.149.89.61
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=--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930211B.REL

2/11/93:  NASA SELECTS 11 DISCOVERY MISSION CONCEPTS FOR STUDY

Donald L. Savage
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                  February 11, 1993



RELEASE:  93-027


     NASA today announced the selection of 11 new science mission concepts in
the Discovery Program which have been identified for further study during this
fiscal year.

     The mission candidates were selected from 73 concepts discussed at the
Discovery Mission Workshop held at the San Juan Capistrano Research Institute
in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., last Nov. 16-20.  The potential projects were
those considered to have the highest scientific value as well as a reasonable
chance of meeting strict budgetary guidelines.

     Discovery missions are designed to proceed from development to flight in
less than 3 years, combining well-defined objectives, proven instruments and
flight systems, costs limited to no more than $150 million and acceptance of a
greater level of risk.

     "These missions represent a bold new way of doing business at NASA," said
NASA Administrator Dan Goldin. "By accepting a greater level of risk, we can
deliver high-return missions that are cost-effective, quicker from concept to
launch, and responsive to the present budget climate.  They promise to
revolutionize the way we carry out planetary science in the next century."

     "The Discovery Program is probably the most exciting new initiative in
planetary exploration," said Dr. Wesley T. Huntress, Jr., Director of NASA's
Solar System Exploration Division.

     "We now will be able to more effectively take advantage of emerging
technology and quickly - and relatively cheaply - undertake more new missions
of discovery than at anytime since the beginning of the space age.  Also,
because of the shorter time frames and lower costs, these missions will allow
greater participation from the academic and aerospace communities," Huntress
said.



    The 11 mission concepts to be studied are:

          % Mercury Polar Flyby has an objective to study the polar caps and
complete the photographic reconnaissance of the planet.  Principal
Investigator: Paul D. Spudis, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston.

          % Hermes Global Orbiter to Mercury involves remote sensing of the
planet's surface, atmosphere and magnetosphere.  Principal Investigator: Robert
Nelson, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

          % Venus Multiprobe Mission involves placement of 14 small entry
probes over one hemisphere of Venus to measure winds, temperature and pressure.
Principal Investigator: Richard Goody, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

          % Venus Composition Probe enters Venus' atmosphere in daylight to
measure atmospheric structure and composition on a parachute descent.
Principal Investigator: Larry W. Esposito, University of Colorado, Boulder.

          % Cometary Coma Chemical Composition aims to rendezvous with a
cometary nucleus at or near perihelion and conduct 100 days of scientific
operations.  Principal Investigator: Glenn C. Carle, NASA Ames Research Center,
Mountain View, Calif.

          % Mars Upper Atmosphere Dynamics, Energetics and Evolution Mission
will study Mars' upper atmosphere and ionosphere.  Principal Investigator:
Timothy Killeen, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

          % Comet Nucleus Tour involves study of three comets during a 5-year
mission, focusing on structure and composition of the nucleus.  Principal
Investigator: Joseph Veverka, Cornell University, Ithica, N.Y.

          % Small Missions to Asteroids and Comets involves four separate
spacecraft launches to study distinctly different types of comets and
asteroids.  Principal Investigator: Michael Belton, National Optical Astronomy
Observatories, Tuscon, Ariz.

          % Near Earth Asteroid Returned Sample will acquire samples from six
sites on a near-Earth asteroid and return them to Earth for study.  Principal
Investigator: Eugene Shoemaker, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz.

          % Earth Orbital Ultraviolet Jovian Observer will study the Jovian
system from Earth orbit with a spectroscopic imaging telescope.  Principal
Investigator: Paul Feldman, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

          % Solar Wind Sample Return mission aims at collecting and returning
solar wind material to Earth for analysis.  Principal Investigator: Don
Burnett, Calif. Institute of Technology, Pasadena.


     In addition, three concepts also were targeted for further consideration
this fiscal year.  They are:


7          % Mainbelt Asteroid Rendezvous Explorer would rendezvous and orbit
the mainbelt asteroids Iris or Vesta. Principal Investigator: Joseph Veverka,
Cornell University, Ithica, N.Y.

          % Comet Nucleus Penetrator would rendezvous with a comet and deploy a
penetrator into its nucleus.  Principal Investigator: William V. Boynton,
University of Arizona, Tuscon.


          % Mars Polar Pathfinder involves a lander which will carry out
subsurface exploration of the northern Martian polar cap by radar and a probe
to measure ice quantities and temperature.  Principal Investigator: David A.
Paige, University of Calif. at Los Angeles.


     "It was a difficult task narrowing the list down," said Dr. Richard Vorder
Bruegge, a member of the Discovery Advanced Study Review Group which made the
selections.

     A formal competition to make final selections of the missions to be
conducted will be announced possibly next year.

     "The formal selection process will be open to all interested parties.
Anyone will be able to submit a proposal for a Discovery mission in the formal
competition," said Vorder Bruegge. "These proposals will have to be more
extensive than the studies and include science rationale, spacecraft design,
observations, data systems -- a start-to-finish proposal for a new mission."

     The 11 mission concepts selected follow the first two Discovery missions
selected for Phase A studies last year.  They are the Mars Environmental Survey
(MESUR) Pathfinder, planned for launch in 1996, and the Near Earth Asteroid
Rendezvous (NEAR), planned for a 1998 launch.

     Phase A studies of the MESUR Pathfinder mission was awarded to NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. (JPL).  The Applied Physics Laboratory
of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. (APL), has been awarded Phase A
studies of the NEAR mission.

     MESUR Pathfinder is envisioned as a technical demonstration and validation
flight for the MESUR program, scheduled to begin in 1999.  The MESUR program
calls for building a network of about 16 small automated surface stations
widely scattered around Mars to study the planet's internal structure,
meteorology and local surface properties.

     NEAR would spend up to a year station-keeping with a near- Earth asteroid.
The NEAR spacecraft, probably carrying only three instruments, would assess the
asteroid's mass, size, density and spin rate, map its surface topography and
composition, determine its internal properties and study its interaction with
the interplanetary environment.

     "The study of planets provides other planetary examples against which to
compare our own Earth, in order to understand better how planet Earth works and
how it behaves," said Huntress. "The study of the solar system, and the
planetary bodies within it, also will help us to understand how our solar
system formed, how other solar systems might form around other stars, and
therefore lead us to answer whether or not there are other Earths and other
life in the universe.



     "To understand the uniqueness of the Earth, we need to understand the
other rocky planets in the solar system -- Mercury, Venus and Mars. To find
clues to the origin and evolution of the solar system we need to examine and
return samples from the oldest and most primitive objects in the solar system
-- comets and asteroids," Huntress said.

     The Discovery Program is managed by the Solar System Exploration Division
of the Office of Space Science and Applications, NASA Headquarters, Washington,
D.C.
     Source:NASA Spacelink    Modem:205-895-0028  Internet:192.149.89.61
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=--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930211C.REL

2/11/93:  ASTRO-D MISSION TO LAUNCH TONIGHT IN JAPAN

Allen Kenitzer
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.             February 11, 1993



RELEASE:  93-28

        Astro-D, a cooperative x-ray astronomy mission with Japan's Institute
of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and NASA, is scheduled for launching
tonight, Feb. 11 at 9 p.m.  EST, from the ISAS Kagoshima Space Center in Japan.

        Astro-D has been specifically designed to help understand the physics
of a variety of cosmic sources.  With its high sensitivity and high
spectroscopic capability, the investigations with Astro-D will span virtually
all classes of astronomical objects.  Astro-D is expected to make important
contributions to the advancement of astrophysics and cosmology.

        "We have done x-ray astronomy investigations with better imaging
characteristics and have done others with better spectroscopic sensitivity,"
said Dr. Steve Holt, Astro-D Project Scientist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center, Greenbelt, Md. "But combining relatively modest imaging performance
with powerful spectroscopic sensitivity gives us the ability to perform
literally thousands of observations that we could not do before."

        This high-capability x-ray observatory will launch on an ISAS M-3SII
rocket into a circular orbit, approximately 340-409 miles (550-650 kilometers)
above the Earth.

        The observatory combines the conical-foil mirror technology of the
Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT), which flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia in
December 1990, with the Charge Coupled Device (CCD) detector technology being
developed for the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), to perform
imaging spectroscopy in the wavelength band from less than 1 KeV (1000 electron
volts) to 12 KeV.

        The observatory is equipped with four sets of conical, grazing
incidence, thin-foil x-ray mirrors provided by Goddard. The mirror technology
was developed by Dr. Peter Serlemitsos and his Goddard colleagues.

        The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, under the leadership of Dr.
George Ricker, is providing two CCD-based detectors.  Japan is providing the
balance of the science payload, the spacecraft, the launch vehicle and overall
program management.  The Astro-D software was developed by a team of Japanese
and U.S. scientists from ISAS, Goddard and U.S. and Japanese universities.

        During early operations, the four telescopes will point at
approximately two targets per day.  This will be increased to as many as six
supernova remnants, stars, neutron stars, black holes, active galactic nuclei
per day by the end of the first year of operation.  These targets will include
and clusters of galaxies.

        A significant portion of the Astro-D observing time will be made
available to international investigators.  Under the guest observer program, 60
percent of the observing time is allotted to Japanese observers, 15 percent to