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Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #242

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 11 : Issue 242

Today's Topics:
               * SpaceNews  09-Apr-90 *
         JSC newsletter summary, 23 March 90
             REMOVE APSEY FROM SPACE MAIL
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 8 Apr 90 00:42:01 GMT
From: pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!crdgw1!ge-dab!tarpit!peora!tsdiag!ka2qhd![e-mail]  (John Magliacane)
Subject: * SpaceNews  09-Apr-90 *


Bulletin ID: SPC0409

                              =========
                              SpaceNews
                              =========

                         MONDAY APRIL 9, 1990

SpaceNews is published and distributed weekly around the world on USENET
and Amateur Packet Radio.  It is available for unlimited distribution.


* COMET AUSTIN *
================
The April issue of Astronomy Magazine has an article on observing
Comet Austin, packed with info, charts, event predictions, etc.

The following table was given in the article.  It gives, for each week
during the best period, the estimated magnitude, best time to look,
altitude (in degrees) from the horizon and direction at twilight,
and some comments.  I have added more comments gleaned from the text.
All are oriented to viewing from the northern hemisphere, specifically
from the US.

  Week of Mag. Phase   Time       Alt.  Dir.                Notes
  ------- ---  -----  -------     ----  ----    ------------------------------
  Mar 25   3   New    Evening       7    W      Twilight interferes
  Apr  1   2   First  Evening       6    WNW    5 deg above Mercury 4/1
  Apr  8   1   Full   Evening       4    NW     Brightest, but near sun
                                                13 deg to right of Mercury 4/8
  Apr 15   1   Last   Morning      11    NE     Improves rapidly
                                                1.5 deg SW of Beta Andr 4/19
  Apr 22   2   New    Morning      19    NE     Excellent
                                                south of M31 5 deg 4/25
                                                tail might cross M31 4/19-4/22
                                                rises 3am 4/25, tail rises 2:30

  Apr 29   3   First  Morning      28    ENE    Good early in week
  May  6   3   Full   Morning      38    ENE    Moon hurts visibility
  May 13   3   Last   Morning      51    E      Better late in week
  May 20   3   New    Morning      56    SSE    Excellent
  May 27   4   First  Early Morn.  38    S      Good after midnight
                                                Crosses M17 morning of 5/31
  Jun  3   5   Full   Midnight     24    S      Moon overwhelms comet
  Jun 10   6   Last   Late eve.    19    S      Better late in week
                                                5 deg S of Antares 6/11-12
[From: James R. B. Davies via UUCP]


* STS-31 NEWS *
===============
Liftoff of the tenth flight of Discovery is scheduled for 9:21 AM EDT
(1321 Z) on April 12 from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., launch pad 39-B,
into a 330 by 310 nautical mile, 28.5 degree orbit. Nominal mission
duration is expected to be 5 days 1 hour 15 minutes.  Deorbit is
planned on orbit 75, with landing scheduled for 10:36 AM EDT (1436 Z)
on April 17 at Edwards Air Force Base, California.


Launch Site:            Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Launch Complex:         39B

Orbiter:                Discovery (OV-103)
Altitude:               330 nm circular
Inclination:            28.45
Duration:               5 days, 1 hour, 15 minutes

Landing Date/Time:      April 17, 1990, 10:36 a.m. EDT

Primary Landing Site:   Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

Abort Landing Sites:    Return to Launch Site -- KSC

                        Abort Once Around - Edwards AFB, Calif.

Crew:                   Loren J. Shriver - Commander
                        Charles F. Bolden Jr - Pilot
                        Steven A. Hawley -  MS-2
                        Bruce McCandless II -  MS-1 and EV1
                        Kathryn D. Sullivan - MS-3 and EV2

Cargo Bay Payloads:     Hubble Space Telescope
                        IMAX Cargo Bay Camera

Middeck Payloads:       Ascent Particle Monitor (APM)
                        Investigations into Polymer Membrane
                        Processing (IPMP)
                        Ion Arc (Student Experiment)
                        Protein Crystal Growth (PCG-III)


=================================================================
                                        RELATIVE
EVENT                           MET     VELOCITY  MACH   ALTITUDE
                             (d:h:m:s)    (fps)            (ft)
=================================================================

Launch                      00/00:00:00
Begin Roll Maneuver         00/00:00:09    160    .14         605
End Roll Maneuver           00/00:00:15    313    .28       2,173
SSME Throttle Down to 67%   00/00:00:28    656    .58       7,771
Max. Dyn. Pressure (Max Q)  00/00:00:51  1,155   1.07      25,972
SSME Throttle Up to 104%    00/00:00:59  1,321   1.26      33,823
SRB Staging                 00/00:02:06  4,145   3.77     159,670
Negative Return             00/00:04:06  7,153   7.15     341,470
Main Engine Cutoff (MECO)   00/00:08:33  24,768  23.18    361,988
Zero Thrust                 00/00:08:39  24,783  22.65    366,065
ET Separation               00/00:08:51
OMS 2 Burn                  00/00:42:38
HST Deploy (orbit  19)      01/05:23:00
Deorbit Burn  (orbit  75)   05/00:03:00
Landing  (orbit  76)        05/01:15:00

Apogee, Perigee at MECO:      325 x  27 nm
Apogee, Perigee post-OMS 2:   330 x 310 nm
Apogee, Perigee post deploy:  332 x 331 nm

[From: NASA]


* WELCOME ABOARD! *
===================
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* FEEDBACK WELCOMED *
=====================
Feedback regarding SpaceNews can be directed to the editor (John) via any
of the following paths:

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AX.25  : KD2BD @ NN2Z.NJ.USA.NA

MAIL   : John A. Magliacane
         Department of Electronics Technology
         Advanced Technology Center
         Brookdale Community College
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         U.S.A.


<eof>

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       "For every problem, there is one solution which is simple,
       neat and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken

------------------------------

Date: 10 Apr 90 01:57:34 GMT
From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!wuarchive!swbatl!texbell!nuchat![e-mail]  (Steve Nuchia)
Subject: JSC newsletter summary, 23 March 90

[rec.aviation folks:  I added you at the last minute for the Guppy material
    under "Quarter-scale model" below.  Followups to sci.space by default.]


_Space_News_Roundup_ is the weekly JSC employee newsletter.  I posted
a summary once before and never heard anything about it.  I'd like to
get a feel for whether or not this stuff is at all worth the thousands
of dollars it costs the net :-) and my typing time.  Thanks.

------
Ozone loss over Arctic documented

"NASA-coordinated" stufy released in March says chemical processes
that lead to ozone depletion in the Antarctic are present in the Arctic
as well.  Losses up to 17% in the winter of 88-89 are indicated.

"An `ozone hole' similar to the one that appears annually over the
South Pole is unlikely to occur in the north because of the different
weather patterns there."

Data were gathered on 28 flights of NASA ER-2 and DC-8 research
aircraft operating out of Stavanger, Norway in January '89.  Findings
to be published in the April _Geophysical_Research_Letters_.

------
Countdown test success clears way for launch   [STS-31, HST mission]

Terminal Countdown Demonstrattion test for STS-31 completed successfully.

"A significant leak was detected between main engine number 2's low-pressure
fuel turbopump and Discovery's main propulsion system Tuesday.  The 12-inch
diameter joint utilizes a Teflon-coated metal seal, which was to be replaced
after launch crews finished loading hypergolic propellants into Discovery's
on-board storage tanks [...]  An analysis of the data from the helium
signature leak check is continuing todetermine is that is the only leak."

[Rehash of the HST capabilities for those just waking up.]

------
Quarter-scale shuttle model arrives
JSC to run payload tests on original structural test article

"JSC is now a permanent home to a one-fourth structural scale
model orbiter designed and built by Rockwell in 1974."

... was the first structural dynamic test article of the shuttle...
used 74-78 to investigate how well launch and landing loads could
be predicted.  In storage at Rockwell in Downey, CA since 78.
Will live in the building 49  Vibration and Acoustic Test Facility,
where it will be used by the Structures and Mechanics Division
"to predict more accurately the forces payloads will experience during
launch and landing."

Predictions had been checked with measured flight data, "But the actual
measurements have sometimes shown that the predicted forces were
greater than those actually experienced.  We're trying to remove
conservatism from our predictions." [quoting Dave Hamilton, chief
of Loads and Structural Dynamics.]

The model weighs is 1/4 scale in length, but its weight (3000 pounds)
is 1/64 scale.  "Most important, however, `it matches the dynamic
characteristics of the orbiter."  A matching set of SRB and ET models
will arrive at JSC in April.  "Modal testing" of the orbiter alone
to being in June, testing of the whole stack in 91.

[Agh -- this was burried in the article!  They're retiring the Super Guppy!]

Photo of the model being disgorged from the Super Guppy at Ellington Field.

[The former Ellington AFB has finally renamed, and is now a city-run
general aviation field.  Using "field" has class, a rare commodity
when dealing with the city of Houston.]

"[The] model arrived at JSC via the final delivery by NASA's Super Guppy,
the Agency's 25-foot diameter cargo aircraft derived from a YC-97J tanker
vehicle."

"The Super Guppy's trip was the final chapter in a story that has continued
for two decades.  The cargo aircraft has delivered models of Apollo command
and service modules; lunar modules; Skylab; and a host of other hardware
to the Vibration and Acoustics Test Facility over the years, said Bill
Adams, test manager for the area."

"And it made the current deliver far more cost-efficient and easier than
it could have been," added Hamilton.  "It was ideal.  Without it, it
would have been a very wide load to ship cross-country, and we might
have had to take off the wings.  That would've been a major job and
a very big impac on us."

The plane's final flight will be from Ellington Field back to El Paso,
where it will be retired.

[Where do they get these people?  No mention of the status of the
rest of NASA's cargo fleet, the impact the retirement will have
on future missions, replacement plans, nothing.  Sheesh.  Anybody
know the scoop?]

------
Spherical Spin-Back
With help from area sailmakers, JSC engineers turn Kevlar
into inflatable Moon base prototype

[JSC is located on Clear Lake, which connects to Galveston Bay,
a major recreational body of water.  The Clear Lake area is one
of the biggest sailing areas in the Houston area.  For those who
might not know, sails are not flat, and considerable skill with
fabric is involved in their manufacture.]

Photo of people standing around an inflated ball ~2 meters diameter.
Drawings of inflation sequence for 10 meter 3-deck ball and conceptual
6-sphere moon base.

"JSC engineers in the Advanced Programs Office know that you can find
great things in your own backyard -- they took a look around the
marinas of Clear Lake and found the makings of an inflatable Moon
base prototype."

"The model lunar habitat -- a 7-foot diameter, slightly chunky
sphere -- doesn't look spectacular, but it didn't cost much
and has helped answer a lot of early questions," said project
engineer Mike Roberts.

"It's made of Kevlar and was built by U.K. Sailmakers of Clear Lake,
a natural choice because Kevlar, a past space program spin-off, is
now commonly used in making sails"

"It was a kind of reverse spin-off, or maybe a spin-back," said
John Frassanito, a consultant on the project.

The prototype is the first large inflatable Kevlar spherical chamber.
The Air Force has a Kevlar "inflatable emergency depth chamber" [???]
but it isn't spherical, "a shape that presented challenges."

"We'd gotten to a point where we felt like we needed a real
demonstration -- something physical to show, something
besides viewgraphs.  This was a great low-cost way to do it."  [Roberts]
The project cost about $11,000.

First prototype was ready in March 89, had problems with leaks
at the seams and wrinkles, which cause weakened areas.  It popped
before it reached its 8.6 psi design pressure.

"It really changed our ideas ... the pressures exerted at 8.6 psi
are extreme" [presumably he is talking about the stress on a large
structure at that pressure.]

"By October, a second version, using reinforcing tape to smooth
wrinkled areas and redesigned seams, was complete.  This time,
the structure held."

"Fully inflated, the exterior of it was as hard as a floor," Roberts
said.  "People have an inherent trust of metal, but that's not so
with inflatables.  An we built the prototype to show the strength
is can have."

It will be shown at the ESA Space Habitability conference and
the JSC annual engineering fair.  A third version "may be in
the works" [???] perhaps larger and trying out different shapes
and reinforcements.  "There is still a lot to learn".

"We got to use off-the-shelf material and that saved a lot
of time and money.  It is a great way to do your preliminary
engineering work.  It's an inexpensive way to get hands-on
experience.  It's good to make your mistakes on the cheap stuff."
[Roberts.  Why do I get the feeling this guy is going to need
a new job soon?  That kind of heresy isn't going to be very
popular around there.  Disposable prototypes indeed.  Who
does he think he's working for, anyway?]


--
Steve Nuchia          South Coast Computing Services      [phone]
"The study of the art of motorcycle maintenance is really a miniature study
of the art of rationality itself.  Working on a motorcycle, working well,
caring, is to become part of a process, to achieve an inner peace of mind.
The motorcycle is primarily a mental phenomenon."  -- Robert M. Pirsig

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 9 Apr 90 11:51 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: REMOVE APSEY FROM SPACE MAIL

Please remove me from your mailing list as we are receiving SPACE DIGEST
from one local source.

Thank you.
        Jim Apsey

------------------------------

End of SPACE Digest V11 #242
*******************