Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/DAILY_2/930615.DFC

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15-Jun-93 Daily File Collection
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6/15/93:  MEMORIAL SERVICES SET FOR DONALD K. "DEKE" SLAYTON

Billie Deason                   June 14, 1993
Barbara Schwartz

RELEASE  93-044

Memorial services for Mercury Astronaut Donald K. "Deke" Slayton have been set
for 1 p.m.  CDT Saturday, June 19, at the Johnson Space Center. The services
will be conducted on the north side of JSC Bldg. 1 and are open to the public.

Slayton, 69, one of the United States' original seven astronauts selected for
the Mercury Program, died Sunday from complications of a brain tumor.

The family requests that memorials be sent to The Mercury Seven Foundation at
6225 Vectorspace Blvd., Titusville, Fla., 32780; or to Give Kids the World at
210 S. Bass Rd., Kissimmee, Fla., 34746.
     Source:NASA Spacelink    Modem:205-895-0028  Internet:192.149.89.61
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KSC SHUTTLE STATUS 6-15-93

        KENNEDY SPACE CENTER SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT
                     Tuesday, June 15, 1993

KSC Contact: Bruce Buckingham

-----------------------------STS-57------------------------------

Mission: STS-57/Spacehab/EURECA-Retrieval  Orbital Alt. 287 miles
Vehicle: Endeavour/OV-105                 Inclination: 28 degrees
Location: Pad 39-B                        Crew Size: 6
Launch Date/Window: June 20, 9:38 - 10:49 a.m. EDT
Expected KSC Landing Date/Time: June 28, 8:34 a.m.
Expected Mission Duration: 7 days/23 hours (if cryogenics allow)

IN WORK TODAY:
*  Launch countdown preparations
*  Ordnance installation (Pad clear at 4:00 p.m.)
*  Aft compartment closeouts

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  Final SHOOT servicing (Wednesday)
*  Countdown set to begin 2:30 a.m. June 17
*  Crew scheduled to arrive at KSC 3:30 p.m. June 17

WORK COMPLETED:
*  External tank purges
*  Flight readiness test


-----------------------------STS-51------------------------------

Mission: STS-51/ACTS-TOS/ORFEUS-SPAS      Orbital Alt.: 184 miles
Vehicle: Discovery/OV-103                 Inclination: 28 degrees
Location: OPF bay 3                       Crew Size: 5
Mission Duration: 9 days/22 hours     Target Launch Date: July 17

IN WORK TODAY:
*  Main engine securing
*  Aft compartment closeouts
*  Hydraulic operations for aerosurface positioning
*  Final payload bay cleaning
*  Close payload bay doors

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  Strongback removal following payload bay door closing
*  Orbiter jackdown, weight and center of gravity checks
*  Rollover to Vehicle Assembly Building June 18/19

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Landing gear tire topoff
*  Installation of main engines
*  Test Ku-Band deploy assembly


-----------------------------STS-58------------------------------

Mission: STS-58/SLS-2              Orbital Altitude: 176 miles
Vehicle: Columbia/OV-102           Inclination: 39 degrees
Location: OPF bay 2                Crew Size: 7
Mission Duration: 14 days
Target launch period: Early/Mid September

IN WORK TODAY:
*  Preparations to install extended duration orbiter pallet
*  Waste containment system checks and tests
*  Install Ku-Band deploy assembly
*  Ball strut tie-rod assembly joint inspections
*  Orbital maneuvering system functional checks

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  Install extended duration orbiter pallet (Friday)
*  Helium system leak and functional checks

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Drag chute installation

     Source:NASA Spacelink    Modem:205-895-0028  Internet:192.149.89.61
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Daily News/Tv Sked 6-15-93

Daily News
Tuesday, June 15, 1993
Two Independence Square, Washington, D.C.
Audio Service: 202/358-3014


 % STS-61 workshop to be held June 16-17;
 % Pioneer 10, still exploring...;
 % Space Station Redesign hearing slated for June 17;
 % Launch Preparations continue for STS-57 mission.


Tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., a workshop will be held to brief the media on all
aspects of the first servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope. The
workshop will be held at the Goddard Space Flight Center and will broadcast
live on NASA TV. The second part of the workshop on June 17, which is to be
held at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, will not be carried
on NASA TV.

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

Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of the most distant manmade object, Pioneer
10, becoming the first spacecraft to explore beyond the orbit of Pluto. Pluto
currently is the most distant planet in the solar system.

Launched in 1972, Pioneer 10 had a design life of 21 months.  More than 20
years later the spacecraft continues to send back science data to Earth.

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

On June 17 at 10:00 a.m.  NASA Administrator Goldin, Dr. Gibbons of OSTP and
Dr. Vest, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on the Redesign of Space Station
are scheduled to testify before the House Subcommittee on VA-HUD- Independent
Agencies Appropriations Committee.



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



Working toward the targeted launch date of June 20, technicians at the Kennedy
Space Center plan to install the ordnance today and complete the aft
compartment closeouts.  Countdown is set to begin at 2:30 a.m.  EDT on June 17
with crew scheduled to arrive at the Kennedy Space Center at 3:30 p.m.

Mission duration is scheduled for 7 days 23 hours with a landing at the Kennedy
Space Center on June 28 at 8:34 a.m.  EDT


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


         Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA TV.
Note that all events and times may change without notice and that all times
listed are Eastern.


Tuesday June 15, 1993

        12:00 pm        NASA Today news program featuring stories on STS-57,
                        Pioneer 10, Gaileo and an exhibit at the Virginia Air &
                        Space Musuem.
        12:15 pm        Aeronautics & Space Report.
        12:30 pm        Setting the Stage for the Future.
          1:00 pm       Flight of Faith 7.
          1:30 pm       Assignment Shoot the Moon.
          2:00 pm       Reach for the Stars #5
          2:30 pm       Our Laboratories in Space.
          3:00 pm       Dr. Stone on TQM.

Wednesday, June 16, 1993

        10:00 pm        Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission Briefing Taped
          3:00 pm       Magellan Science Seminar (JPL) rescheduled from  2:00pm

NASA TV is carried on GE Satcom F2R, transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees West
Longitude, transponder frequency is 3960 MHz, 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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6/15/93:  ASTRONAUT BLUFORD LEAVES NASA

Ed Campion
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
June 15, 1993

Barbara Schwartz
Johnson Space Center, Houston

RELEASE: 93-113

        Col.  Guion S. Bluford, Jr., will leave NASA in July and retire from
the U.S. Air Force to join NYMA, Inc., Greenbelt, Md., as Vice President and
General Manager of the Engineering Services Division. NYMA provides engineering
and software support services to the Federal Aviation Administration, the
Justice Department, the Department of Defense and to NASA.

        Bluford was among the first group of Shuttle-era astronauts selected in
1978.  He has served as a mission specialist astronaut on 4 Space Shuttle
flights, making history as the first African-American astronaut aboard STS-8 in
August 1983.  He also flew on STS-61A, the first German D-1 Spacelab mission in
October 1985, and two Department of Defense scientific research missions,
STS-39 in April 1991 and STS-53 in December 1992.  Bluford has logged over 688
hours in space.

        "I feel very honored to have served as a NASA astronaut and to have
contributed to the success of the Space Shuttle program.  I will miss working
with the people at JSC and the team spirit and esprit de corps that comes with
flying crew members in space," Bluford said.

        In addition to his flight assignments, Bluford has held numerous
technical assignments at Johnson Space Center, Houston, including working Space
Station Freedom operations, the Remote Manipulator System, Spacelab systems and
experiments, Space Shuttle systems, payload safety issues, and verifying flight
software in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory and in the Flight
Systems Laboratory.

        "Guy will be missed, but he leaves a legacy that is important to NASA
and to the nation.  There are many young people today who have been inspired to
pursue careers in science and engineering because of his achievements,"
Director of Flight Crew Operations David. C. Leestma said.
     Source:NASA Spacelink    Modem:205-895-0028  Internet:192.149.89.61
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STS-57 LAUNCH DAY WEATHER OUTLOOK

L-5 DAYS TO LAUNCH

George H. Diller
NASA Kennedy Space Center

Synopsis: High pressure will dominate.

At the opening of the launch window at 09:37 a.m. conditions are forecast to
be:

Clouds:  low level scattered
Visibility: 7 or miles or greater
Wind - Pad 39B: SE/08 knots
Temperature:  78 degrees
Dewpoint:     70 degrees
Humidity:     76%
Precipitation: very slight chance of showers

Other weather concerns: no other significant clouds or weather

Probability of launch weather violation on Sunday: 10%
                      tanking violation on Sunday:  0%

Cape Canaveral Forecast Facility
Department of the Air Force
6/15/93
     Source:NASA Spacelink    Modem:205-895-0028  Internet:192.149.89.61
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TRANSFER ORBIT STAGE FOR THE STS-51 MISSION

         During the STS-51 Space Shuttle mission, the Transfer Orbit Stage
(TOS) will boost a communications satellite from low-Earth orbit into
geosynchronous transfer orbit with a maximum altitude of 21,519 nautical miles
(39,853 km).  This will be the second mission of the Transfer Orbit Stage, and
the first time it has flown on a Space Shuttle mission.  The TOS's payload, the
Advanced Communications Technology Satellite, sponsored by NASA, will test
technology for the next generation of communication satellites.

       The Transfer Orbit Stage was first used in September 1992 as the upper
stage booster for NASA's Mars Observer mission.  Following launch on an
expendable rocket, the TOS successfully propelled the spacecraft on a
trajectory which is taking it from Earth orbit to the Red Planet.

       The Space Systems Projects Office at NASA'S Marshall Space Flight Center
in Huntsville, Ala., manages the TOS program for NASA. That role involves
ensuring TOS compliance with overall mission requirements, including those for
integration with the launch vehicle and satellite, and flight safety
requirements.

  Transfer Orbit Stage Description

       The Transfer Orbit Stage, built by Martin Marietta Astronautics Group in
Denver, Colo., for Orbital Sciences Corp. in Dulles, Va., is a single-stage,
solid-propellant rocket system.  It is the latest addition to NASA's upper
stage fleet, which includes a range of vehicles to boost satellites or
spacecraft in the second step of their journey to geostationary orbit or toward
interplanetary destinations.

       TOS, constructed primarily of high-strength aluminum alloy, weighs
20,780 pounds (9,351 kg) including fuel.  It is almost 11 feet (3.3 m) long and
about 7.5 feet (2.3 m) in diameter.  The satellite, weighing 6,108 pounds
(2,749 kg), is mounted on top of the Transfer Orbit Stage. Portions of both the
satellite and TOS are covered with gold foil multi-layered insulation for
thermal protection from the sun.  Major elements of the TOS system are a solid
rocket main propulsion system, a navigation and guidance system, a reaction
control system which is used to adjust TOS attitude or local pointing, and an
airborne support equipment cradle that holds the satellite and upper stage in
the Shuttle cargo bay and facilitates deployment from the orbiter.

       The ORBUS-21 solid rocket motor main propulsion system, manufactured by
United Technologies Chemical Systems Division in San Jose, Calif., will give
the primary thrust for the 110 seconds of powered flight.  To provide the
59,000 pounds of thrust (264,792 newtons) to inject the satellite into its
transfer orbit, the motor will use 18,013 pounds (8,171 kg) of the solid rocket
propellant HTPB (hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene).  Pitch (maneuvering upward
or downward) and yaw (turning to the left or right) will be controlled during
the burn by gimballing the nozzle of the solid rocket motor with two thrust
vector control actuators.

       TOS guidance and control avionics are based on a laser inertial
navigation system manufactured by Honeywell, Inc., in Clearwater, Fla. It acts
as the brains of the vehicle, sensing location and maintaining the proper
trajectory.  All TOS operations are performed autonomously with no ground
commanding required.  The guidance system uses laser gyroscopes with no moving
parts, thus reducing chances for malfunctions in space.  A telemetry and
encorder unit records performance data from all on-board electronics and sends
it to ground control at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

        The reaction control system thruster assembly, manufactured by
UTC/Hamilton Standard Division in Windsor Locks, Conn., correctly positions the
TOS and its payload, based on information from the laser inertial navigation
system.  The three-axis control system uses 12 small maneuvering rockets, which
rely on decomposed hydrazine as their propellant, to fine-tune the orientation
of the vehicle and its payload before solid rocket motor ignition.  The
reaction control system also slowly turns the satellite- TOS for thermal
control to avoid overheating from the sun.  The reaction control system makes
final attitude adjustments before TOS separation from the satellite.

       The equipment needed to adapt the satellite-TOS to the Space Shuttle is
called the airborne support equipment.  This equipment is manufactured by
Martin Marietta. Prior to deployment, the TOS rests in the aft cradle and is
clamped firmly in the Shuttle's cargo bay by the forward cradle.

Deployment Scenario

       During the STS-51 mission, Discovery crew members will initiate a
predeployment checkout to ensure that all critical TOS systems are healthy and
ready to deploy.  The upper forward cradle, similar to a clamp, will then be
unlatched and rotated open.  The satellite-booster will be elevated 45 degrees
out of the cargo bay.  If any problems are detected in the combined payload up
to this point, it can be lowered, relatched and returned to the ground.  If no
anomalies are detected, a pyrotechnic system will release the satellite-TOS and
springs on the cradle will gently nudge it out of the orbiter.  The
satellite-TOS will coast for 45 minutes while the Shuttle maneuvers to a safe
distance, 11.7 miles (18.8 km) away, to avoid a possible collision or damage
from the TOS solid rocket exhaust plume.  Once the Transfer Orbit Stage has
positioned the satellite in the proper attitude, the TOS solid rocket motor
will fire for 110 seconds, accelerating to the 22,800-mph velocity (36,680
km/hr) necessary to boost the satellite into its geosynchronous transfer orbit.
Then the Transfer Orbit Stage will make final attitude adjustments as the
satellite speeds toward apogee, the point farthest from the Earth in its orbit.
Shortly after rocket burnout, the satellite will separate from the TOS and the
TOS will make a perpendicular turn to avoid being in the satellite's path.
Later, thrusters and a solid rocket motor on the satellite itself will fire to
place the satellite into its final geosynchronous orbit.  The actual timing of
the satellite burn is controlled by commands from the ground.  A geostationary
orbit is one where a satellite takes 24 hours to complete one revolution, thus
appearing to remain motionless above a single place on the Earth.

  Extra-Vehicular Activity Tools

       If a mechanical problem with the TOS airborne support equipment were to
develop prior to or after deployment of the satellite-TOS, two astronauts can
use one or more specially designed tools to correct it.  The tools were
designed at Marshall Space Flight Center and tested under simulated weightless
conditions in the Center's Neutral Buoyancy Simulator water tank.  The actual
use of these devices is considered unlikely since the airborne support
equipment itself is fully redundant, with all systems having built-in back-ups.
     Source:NASA Spacelink    Modem:205-895-0028  Internet:192.149.89.61
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MAGELLAN  STATUS 6/14/93

Magellan Status Report for 6/14/93


1.  The Magellan Transition Experiment continues to go exceptionally well.  As
of midday the spacecraft had made 158 atmospheric drag passes and the apoapsis
has been reduced below 6600 km.  All subsystems are nominal.

2.  The orbit period is now under two hours, 48 minutes and shrinks by 10-12
seconds on every orbit.

3.  The solar panels continue to increase by 45-48 degrees C during the drag
pass, reaching a peak of 76.5 degrees C, but the limit is 160 degrees.  The
estimated maximum temperature of the High Gain Antenna is 120 degrees C against
a limit of 180 degrees.

4.  Late last week spacecraft controllers reduced the drag pass timing in order
to shorten the period during which the thrusters are used to maintain attitude
control.  This has dramatically reduced the propellant usage.  It now averages
0.015 kg/orbit, compared with 0.04 prior to the change.

5.  COTM5, the next periapsis raise maneuver, has now been scheduled for orbit
#7800 early Wednesday. Even with the delay, the dynamic pressure is not
expected to reach the new Rtrigger pointS at 0.35 N/m2.

6.  Mission Planning Team has not yet recalculated the aerobraking duration,
based on the new 0.35 N corridor, but estimates the present margin at 15 days,
completing the experiment by July 30.

COTM = Corridor Orbit Trim Maneuver
     Source:NASA Spacelink    Modem:205-895-0028  Internet:192.149.89.61
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=--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:9_6_6_4.TXT

EVIDENCE FOR SOLID WATER FOUND ON JUPITERS MOON IO

Paula Cleggett-Haleim
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.          June 8, 1993

Diane Farrar
Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif.



RELEASE:  93-107

        Scientists have found water molecules frozen in the surface ices of
Jupiter's moon Io.

        "This is the first strong evidence of solid water on the surface of
this satellite," said Dr. Farid Salama, University of California, Berkeley, who
led the project at NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif.

        The absorption lines for water were found in the infrared spectrum of
Io by scientists onboard NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO).  The KAO has
a unique ability to conduct infrared astronomy while flying above 99 percent of
Earth's atmospheric water vapor.

        "We have finally seen the spectral signature of something for which
we've been looking for years -- water on Io," said Dr. Jesse Bregman of Ames
Research Center, who developed the spectrograph used with the KAO telescope.

        Io is the only body in the solar system, except Earth, known to have
intense volcanic activity.  The Voyager spacecraft discovered active volcanoes
on Io more than a decade ago.  Patches of sulfur and sulfur dioxide frosts
cover the satellite.  The water ice is combined with the more abundant sulfur
dioxide ice on Io's surface.

        Scientists know that Io's thin atmosphere consists mainly of gaseous
sulfur dioxide, but they have been uncertain about the main components of its
surface.  Their most fundamental question concerned the basic element,
hydrogen, Salama said.

        "Although most of Jupiter's satellites are covered with water ice, we
assumed that the 'hot', volcanically active moon Io had lost all of its
original water through vaporization and escape of the gas molecules from the
surface," Sandford said.

        Working with Salama and Bregman in detecting the solid water were Drs.
Louis Allamandola, Scott Sandford, Fred Witteborn and Dale Cruikshank of Ames
Research Center.

        Laboratory work on planetary ices done by Salama, Allamandola and
Sandford in 1988 first suggested the presence of water on Io. Their studies
were initially performed to explain weak bands in the spectra of Io obtained at
ground-based observatories by Witteborn, Cruikshank and Bregman.

        "Our lab work indicated that the weak bands were due to small amounts
of solid water mixed with the dominant frozen sulfur dioxide.

        We predicted that a stronger band could be found by telescope
observations above Earth's atmospheric water vapor," Salama said. "The presence
of water on Io raises important questions about the source of the hydrogen,"
said Cruikshank, an expert in solar system objects and among the first to
identify frozen sulfur dioxide on Io.

        "We want to know whether volcanic vents release the hydrogen or if
proton bombardment produces it within the frozen sulfur dioxide layer," he
said.

        "Our favored picture is that the water results from volcanic activity
on Io and that some water vapor venting occurs, leading to a mixing with sulfur
dioxide in the vent.  When the hot gas mixture expands out of the vent it
condenses into ices that fall back onto Io's cold surface," said Allamandola.

        "Studying the variation of water ice on Io with time and longitude
would tell us if the water correlates with volcanic activity.  We also need to
look at the finer structural details of the new band in Io's spectrum to
understand its thermal history and water concentrations," Salama said.

        NASA's planned next generation airborne observatory -- the
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy -- would give us the higher
resolution spectra we need," Witteborn said.

        The results are being presented today to the American Astronomical
Society meeting in Berkeley, Calif., and have been submitted to the journal
Icarus. This research was supported by the Space Sciences Division at Ames and
the Office of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
     Source:NASA Spacelink    Modem:205-895-0028  Internet:192.149.89.61
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