Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/STATION/STFAPL92.NWS

Text File | 1992-09-09 | 30KB | 506 lines

"6_10_8_19.TXT" (29003 bytes) was created on 05-04-92
STATION BREAK    VOL. 4 NO. 4, APRIL 1992

HANDS-ON SPACE CENTER:  STUDENT EXPECTATIONS ROCKET

        Eighth grade students in one of Cheyenne, Wyoming's, junior
high schools are eagerly awaiting the "lift off" of a hands-on
space center next month.
        Exploration for creating such a hands-on center began about a year
ago, when two Carey Junior High School teachers decided there was a lot
of duplication in their programs.  The Carey Center of Exploration was
the brainchild of Robbie Wensky, a science teacher at Carey, and Paul
Crips, an industrial technology instructor at Carey.
        The concept is funded by two grants, one is a federal Chapter 2
grant, known as the Stephens Act, and the other is the Wyoming
Centennial Trust Fund for Innovative Education.  Also, aid from NASA,
which included a set of blueprints for Space Station Freedom, from NASA
prime contractor McDonnell Douglas Space System's Company, the
University of Wyoming, local mentors and the school district.
        As part of the overall program, a space station simulator is being
built.  It will be housed in a semi-trailer and moved while students are
inside to simulate flight.  Blueprints from the Space Station Freedom
program are the basis for the simulator.  NASA officials and Cynthia
Griffin, research analyst for McDonnell Douglas, were instrumental in
providing technical assistance.
         The Wyoming Army National Guard also is building a wind tunnel
and U.S. West is providing technical expertise in the area of optical
fibers communication that will be incorporated into the simulator.  A
school official donated a satellite dish to the program.
        Dr. Melanie Jensen, Carey principal, said she is encouraged by the
"spirit of cooperation" from all agencies working with the space center
program.
        She added, "this type of cooperation will give our eighth graders
an experience that will stay with them when they possibly are ready to
lift off on a real-life space mission."
        The curriculum will include space missions the students must
complete, Crips said.
        "They will have to solve tremendous amounts of problems, with the
idea that they must share their information with others in the program,"
he said, adding the program will provide students with the necessary
skills for critical thinking.
        "I want to give students the understanding of the vastness of the
cosmos," Crips said.  "No longer can we be complacent with our little
world.  We have to reach out."
        Doug Wellock, a civil engineer for Wyoming's Department of
Transportation, has been working with the Carey instructors on the space
simulations or missions that will help students in understanding the
importance of math concepts.
        "I hope that through my understanding of mathematics I can make
eighth graders understand that math is like a second language and should
be applied to all areas in school regardless of the subject," Wellock
said.  He added math concepts that are learned through application-
driven curricula, which the space program can provide, will be a long-
lasting learning experience "where students will not perform a memory
dump two weeks after the class is over."
        Some of the problems students will face include living in near-
zero gravity (simulated by using magnetic boards), how to eat in near-
zero gravity, environmental concerns and the effects of solar storms.
        Two University of Wyoming professors visited Carey and are
impressed with the efforts there.
        Dr. Jack Rudolph, professor of vocational education at the
university, said he thinks the program will address the needs of at-risk
students in the areas of math, technology and science.
        "Eighth graders will find a new interest in mechanical systems
that space technology requires and this will invigorate them into
thinking of new and innovative ways to learn," Rudolph said.
        Crips said he thinks today's students are not less informed but
usually just want to be challenged.  They will be challenged in the
program in many ways, including reading and interpreting technical
journals written for college graduates.
        "I'm not sure that in the formal sense of education, the kids'
questions are being answered," Crips said.  "I want to get away from
traditionalism as much as possible.  I want to whet their appetite and
then they can go out and quench their thirst."


BUSH NOMINATES TRW'S GOLDIN AS NASA ADMINISTRATOR

        President George Bush announced at a press conference last month
that he is nominating Daniel S. Goldin of TRW to be the new NASA
administrator.
        If confirmed Goldin would replace NASA Administrator Richard
Truly, whose last day was April 1.
        Truly said of the nomination, "I am pleased to learn that
President Bush intends to nominate Daniel S. Goldin as the next
administrator to NASA.
        "Mr. Goldin has a long history of working in the space arena, in
both NASA and DOD programs, and the NASA team stands ready to support
him.
        "The continued achievements of NASA's space and aeronautics
research programs are vitally important to the nation, and Mr. Goldin
will be arriving at a time of great challenges and opportunities for the
future.  I wish him every success as he comes to this elite
organization," Truly said.
        In his most recent position, as vice president and general manager
of the TRW Space & Technology Group, Goldin has managed the development
and production of some of the nation's most advanced spacecraft, the
study of cutting-edge technologies, and the design and manufacture of
space science instruments.
        Goldin's first professional position was as a research scientist
for NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland.  There he worked on
electric propulsion systems for human interplanetary travel.


WHY MERGE SPACELAB/STATION UTILIZATION PROGRAMS?

Q:      What was the purpose of merging the Spacelab and Space Station
Utilization programs?
A:      First, it is a strong attempt to closely align the Spacelab
program and space station utilization so that payload investigators will
not see a large difference between the way they work with Spacelab in
1996 and the way they work with space station in 1998.  This new
organization does not have separate Spacelab and space station
divisions.  Instead, it has functional divisions covering both Spacelab
and space station.
I want an individual in this organization to be able to go to Marshall
Space Flight Center on Tuesday to work an issue for Spacelab and then
attend a meeting on Wednesday about space station payload issues.  I
want it all to be worked together as a unit.
             Second, we want to send a message that it is time to start
learning how to use the space station as it currently exists.  Some
design changes will come along as we move toward critical design review
and beyond, but that doesn't mean that potential payload researchers
cannot start learning how to design and operate their experiments to fit
the preliminary design.  We cannot wait for the design to be perfect.
If we do, we will never be able to use it.  This design is good enough,
and it's time to start learning to use it.

Q:      Which program will benefit more?
A:      Both programs (and our users) will benefit.  It is likely that
ideas which the station people come up with, for instance, on how to
integrate payloads at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., can be integrated
into the Spacelab program.  But I think the legacy may be a bit more
general from Spacelab to space station because some of the station
details are still being defined.
             One of the lessons we have learned from Spacelab is that the
use of Mission Peculiar Equipment (e.g., to fit individual payload
equipment into the Spacelab racks) is very time consuming and manpower
intensive.  This has reinforced our desire to work with a standard that
we will expect payload equipment to fit.  We already have the
International Standard Payload Rack which the space station program is
developing.  All United States and international users must design their
payloads to fit this standard.

Q:      Will Spacelab be terminated once Freedom is operational?  Why?
A:      The pressurized Spacelab module, which flies in the Shuttle cargo
bay will probably no longer be flown once we reach man-tended capability
in 1997.  At that point, the station's capabilities in power and data
transmission will be much greater than Spacelab, and so it will be more
efficient to use Space Station Freedom.  A crew will be able to work
aboard the space station for 13 days or longer.  We will continue to fly
Spacelab's unpressurized pallet, because the space station will have
limited attached payload capability for observing instruments.

Q:      What kind of lessons have been learned?  What do you expect to
learn?
A:      Spacelab has been around for some years and our thought is not to
forget and then have to relearn those lessons.  Lessons, for instance,
about how to process payloads at KSC, how to treat and work with payload
investigators, and how to train crews.

Q:      What is the process for scrutinizing the space station program?
A:           The people in this office will be working together to assure
that everything good about the Spacelab program is used for space
station and that the difficulties we've faced in Spacelab are avoided.
If changes are required, we will work through the normal mechanisms of
the space station control boards.

Q:      What is being learned physiologically on Spacelab?
A:      Some of the research we are doing now, for example, on the recent
International Microgravity Laboratory mission, will help us to
understand more about crew health.  Short stays in space are not a
problem, but when we are up there for longer periods, we need to
understand what is necessary to keep the crew healthy.  We want to learn
what kind of exercise is proper and won't take up too much of the crew
time or disturb microgravity experiments in progress.

Q:      Will station training differ from Spacelab?
A:      We will try to merge the training concepts so that the transition
for our customers is relatively invisible.  Ultimately what we have to
consider is time and money for training in mockups.  We have to decide
how many laboratory mockups will be required, as well as how to train
crews for a station mission in July while also training another crew for
September or October.  This could be difficult using one mockup because
the configuration of some experiments could be different.

Q:      Will this change in organization save the program money in the
long run?  How much?
A:      We don't have a specific number because we've just begun.  We do
expect to save money because we expect to be learning how to operate the
station and its ground facilities more
efficiently.


ALDRICH TOUTS STATION'S SUCCESSES, 1992 GOALS

        This is an  an excerpt of Office of Space Systems Development
Associate Administrator Arnold Aldrich's testimony to the House Science,
Space and Technology Subcommittee last month.
        This is an exciting time to be involved with the space station
program.  This year is the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus'
voyage of exploration that led to his discovery of the new world.
        In commemoration of this
historic event, Congress and the United Nations have designated 1992
International Space Year.  How appropriate it is, then, to be here with
you today discussing Space Station Freedom.
        The themes of the International Space Year and the spirit of
Columbus voyage are embodied in the Space Station Freedom program; for
the primary mission of Space Station Freedom is to enable and  support
exploration and discovery.
        Space Station Freedom is essential for advancing the human
exploration of space and will lead to discoveries we cannot yet fully
appreciate or even comprehend.  By exploring and experimenting in the
space environment of low Earth orbit we will discover the effect of
microgravity in fields such as biotechnology, materials science and
combustion science.  We hope to discover the role gravity plays in the
growth of living cells, the formation of crystalline solids, and
combustion processes.  By exploring the long-term effects of
microgravity on living systems, we hope to discover how gravity has
affected the evolution of life on our planet.
        Development of effective countermeasures to the changes caused by
microgravity will enable humans to live and work productively in space
and to apply this knowledge to the advancement of health care on Earth.
        Developing the capability to build, operate and maintain large
systems in space will help provide the knowledge and experience we need
to continue our exploration of the solar system as we send men and women
back to the moon to stay and on to Mars.
        The United States is not alone in its desire to seek the benefits
that only a permanent orbiting laboratory in the unique environment of
space can provide.  As the largest international research and
development project ever undertaken, Space Station Freedom will test the
ability of multiple nations to work together toward a common goal and
will serve as a model for future cooperative technological endeavors in
this new world order.
        While the United States is the recognized leader of space
activities, the competitive nature of the world economic system makes it
challenging to stay ahead.  Space Station Freedom has an important role
to play in helping the United States maintain economic and technological
leadership in the increasingly competitive post-cold war world.  Certain
technologies should have applications to the commercial sector.
        Technologies and systems that will be advanced as part of Space
Station Freedom's development and operations include: environmental
control and life support; power generation; data storage, management and
distribution; thermal control; crew health care; structures and
materials; robotics and automation; operations and maintenance
techniques and logistics support.  Space Station Freedom is part of our
country's long-term investment in high tech research.  This investment
will help ensure our place in the future as the world leader among
industrialized nations.
        The space station program continues to make great progress as we
come one year closer to the launch of the first space station elements.
. .
        The detailed design is proceeding with system critical design
reviews to be held later this year.  These will culminate in an
integrated systems critical design review for the man-tended phase in
the spring of 1993.
        Our accomplishments this past year have not been limited to
engineering design.  We have made real progress in the development of
hardware.  For example, more than 32,000 of the space station's 64,000
solar cells for the first solar array have been built and are in
storage.  These are the cells that will be attached to the solar arrays
to collect the sun's energy.  The bypass diodes for the power management
and distribution subsystem have also been completed.
        In addition to building flight hardware, the space station program
has been busy developing and testing much of its prototype hardware and
systems.  Subsystem level testing of the environmental  control and life
support system have been conducted.  During these tests, volunteers
contributed perspiration and urine, which was reclaimed as shower and
drinking water.    The international standard payload rack was developed
and demonstration racks constructed of light weight composite material
have been fabricated and outfitted. . .
        NASA's centers and its contractors are continuing to make notable
progress on the development and testing of hardware.  Scheduled
activities for FY92 include: the predevelopment test of the temperature
and humidity control system (this month); the predevelopment test of the
atmospheric revitalization system (May); the drive motor qualification
test for the photovoltaic power module (May); the development test for
the cupola structure (June); the weightless environment test of the
airlock mockup (July); and the development test of the heat transport
system (September).
        Important progress is also being made on space station support
facilities.  The Johnson Space Center is currently outfitting the space
station control center and the space station training facility.  The
Kennedy Space Center is making significant progress on the space station
processing facility, which will be completed in 1994 (see photo above).
Work will continue on configuring and outfitting the payload operations
integration center at Marshall Space Flight Center. . .
        The Space Station Freedom program has come a long way.  The
program management is stable and we are on schedule and within cost
targets.  We have made real, tangible progress this year.  The program
continues to make critical advances every day.  And every day brings us
one step closer to fulfilling our nation's commitment to build a
permanently manned laboratory in space.
        Our nation will benefit from new scientific and technical
knowledge gained from the space station program in many disciplines that
will be directed at improving life here on Earth and enhancing our
international competitiveness. Perhaps as important, however, is that
Space Station Freedom is the next important step toward evolving man-
kind's capabilities to live and work in space and to explore and benefit
from this new frontier.


COMPASS:  AN INTERACTIVE SCHEDULING SYSTEM FOR GROUND AND ORBITAL
OPERATIONS

        An engineer is monitoring a series of tests in the avionics
development facility when the current test sequence terminates
abnormally.
        The system operators must quickly determine how much the overall
schedule will be affected if the test sequence is repeated.  They also
must quickly identify any opportunities to reschedule yet meet project
milestones.
        For example, a specialist aboard Space Station Freedom has
determined that a critical piece of equipment for an experiment has
malfunctioned.  Scientists on the ground suggest that the first three
iterations of the experiment be canceled while they revise their
procedures.  Operators must then quickly identify which payloads can run
in its place, making use of available time and resources.
        Scientists monitoring a slumbering volcano predict an eruption
within the next week.  They issue a request for a series of video images
to be taken from Freedom for a before-and-after comparison of the
surrounding regions.  Schedulers must identify the orbit opportunities
where the region is visible and when the necessary cameras, crew and
communications are available.  These three scenarios are vivid examples
of the intricacies of time-management.
        Scheduling is a difficult, labor-intensive and error-prone
process.  Unexpected events and changing requirements call for frequent
rescheduling.  What's more, the above scenarios will be repeated dozens
of times every week throughout the development and operational lifetime
of Space Station Freedom.  Thousands of people involved in development,
testing, training and operations must create schedules that support
major program milestones.  They must perform their work in accordance
with these schedules; they must be able to assess the impacts of delays
and unexpected events; and they must be able to revise their schedules
according to careful evaluation of alternatives.
        Software that supports this kind of decision support for
schedulers and managers is being developed by the Automation and
Robotics Division and the Software Technology Branch at Johnson Space
Center (JSC), with support from the Space Station Level I Engineering
Prototype Development activity and Advanced Programs Development in the
Office of Space Systems Development.
        Specific technology for schedule optimization is being developed
cooperatively with researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  The
goal is to produce a generic, portable library of scheduling software
that can be used on many different computers and adapted to new
applications with minimum effort.  The product of this effort is COMPASS
(COMPuter Aided Scheduling System), available through the Software
Technology Branch at JSC.  Using this tool will encourage the sharing of
schedules and supporting data, as well as enable different organizations
to synchronize their separate activities.
        Suitable for both activity and project scheduling, the computer
aided scheduling system can manage a wide variety of tasks with time
constraints, order constraints, the presence of environmental conditions
and the availability of resources.  Typical uses may include the
scheduling of experiments aboard the space station, personnel training
on simulators, or maintenance and logistics actions in support of space
station operations.
        The computer aided scheduling system is used much like a
spreadsheet to create and revise activity schedules.  Typically, the
user loads activity and resource data, creates a schedule using high-
level commands, and then saves the resulting schedule for later
publication or revision.  The user can control the sequence of the
scheduling process and the general placement of activities on the
timeline.  At the same time, the user can rely on the system to place
activities only at feasible times, taking into account all of the
preferences, constraints and requirements imposed on an activity.  The
user can schedule activities one at a time to precisely control the
resulting timeline or can command the computer to schedule everything
automatically, without human intervention.
        The computer aided scheduling system is written in Ada and uses an
X-Windows graphical user interface.  Facility calendars, Gantt charts
and resource usage/availability reports are based on a library of
generic presentation formats (i.e., Postscript).  Developed on Rational,
it has been designed for portability and currently runs on Sun3, SPARC,
Apollo, RS/6000 and VAX workstations.
        Porting to a new computer is generally accomplished in a few
hours.  The user interface is loosely coupled to the underlying
scheduling algorithm and can easily be customized or replaced by
respecting well defined command and display protocols.
        The computer aided scheduling system has been used for a variety
of analytic studies including the development of schedules for the Space
Station Design Reference Mission documents and Payload Accommodation
Studies.  It has been selected for use in the Space Station Avionics
Development Facility and Mobile Remote Manipulator Development Facility
and will likely find use in the Central Avionics and Software
Facilities.  Key components of the system have been designed to support
monitoring and evaluation of Freedom's onboard short-term plan.  Work is
nearly complete on a custom version of COMPASS for the Systems
Engineering Simulator at JSC.
        As an interactive system, the computer-aided scheduling system
reduces the effort required to produce and maintain high quality
schedules.  It provides the ability to schedule critical activities
while providing a full spectrum of automatic scheduling and optimization
capabilities.  It can be used off-the-shelf for problems that are
subject to basic preferences, constraints and requirements while its
modular architecture enables the rapid development of custom
applications.


BENDING MODULE METAL BEGINS AT BOEING

        Moving into the hardware-building phase for Space Station
Freedom's living and laboratory quarters, Marshall Space Flight Center's
prime contractor is using a money-saving one-manufactur-ing process.
        Building a long-lasting product is the key goal of Boeing Defense
& Space Group in Huntsville, Ala.  Boeing is using a special
manufacturing process to make sure the station's aluminum walls -- the
only thing between the comfortable environment of the modules and the
black cold of space -- are strong.
        The modules that make up the core of the space station must be
constructed from thick aluminum sheets, which start out straight and
flat, are machined into a waffle-grid pattern, then curved to form the
walls.
        Restraint-age forming is the "all-in-one" process Boeing is using
to form the sheets into walls.    The restraint-age forming technique
was developed during the Saturn program in the 1960s, but was not used
much in aerospace manufacturing until now, said Becky Wood, a Boeing
metallurgical engineer.
        Restraint-age forming applies the same mechanics used to "build" a
paper clip.  Metals can be bent to varying degrees -- bent a little, they
will spring back to their original shape; bent too much, they break.
        But if you bend them a little during heat treatment, they stay --
springing back toward their original shape.
        Restraint-age forming for space station panels requires an arc-
shaped tool with a hydraulic press suspended over it.  The flat panel is
placed between the tool and the press, and clamped in place at the
highest point of the tool's arc.
        The press is gradually moved down the arc, and clamped along the
edges as the press proceeds.  A vacuum also keeps the panel in place.
The whole tool is rolled into an oven and "aged" for several hours at
350 degrees Fahrenheit.
        When it emerges, it is more uniformly shaped and structurally
sound than a panel produced by the most common method of curving panel
sections: bump-forming.
        A technique called bump-forming was used during construction of
the prototype space station module, but several panels had to be
scrapped and replaced.  Bump-forming shapes panels by "pounding" them
into shape, and because of the large amounts of springback inherent in
the process, have to be drastically overformed, which can cause
cracking.
        Because restraint-aged panels are always formed to a precise tool
contour and don't go through the shock of bump-forming, follow-on panels
are virtually identical.  The edges line up better, making the welds
that hold the panels together stronger and easier to complete.
        Basically, the restraint-age forming process allows machinists to
take a two step process -- bump-forming, with its two discrete stages of
forming and aging -- and reduces it to a single process where forming and
aging are accomplished simultaneously.


PHILLIPS NAMED CHIEF SCIENTIST FOR STATION PROGRAM

        Dr. Robert Phillips, a physiology professor, was named chief
scientist for the Space Station Freedom program, by Office of Space
Systems and Development Associate Administrator Arnold Aldrich.
        In his two-year tenure, Phillips will be the principal advocate
for the space science community to the station program.
        Phillips was recommended by Dr. Lennard Fisk, Office of Space
Science and Applications associate administrator.  "We have always
sought to identify individuals who were recognized by the scientific
community as active researchers who will bring an independent
perspective to NASA's space station science planning process," said
Fisk.
        On leave from Colorado State University, Phillips earned a
doctorate in physiology from the University of California in 1964.
        Some of his major research and professional interests are:
adaptive responses to microgravity, particularly metabolic,
cardiovascular and musculoskeletal alterations; general interest in
'whole animal' biochemistry; the effect of environment and disease on
nutrition; and, the role of gravity in shaping life, among others.
        Phillips succeeds Dr. William Taylor who began his two-year tenure
in April 1990.


NEWS BRIEFS

*       NASA Administrator Richard H. Truly in March announced the
appointment of Aaron Cohen, Director of the Johnson Space Center,
Houston, as acting deputy administrator.

        Cohen has been director of the Johnson Space Center since October
1986.   He eventually  will return to Johnson as director.

*       The Italian aerospace firm Alenia (IRI - Finmeccanica Group) will
build two mini pressurized logistics modules for Space Station Freedom
as part of a contract with the Italian Space Agency (ASI).

        Boeing Defense and Space Group in Huntsville, Ala., will act on
behalf of NASA as systems engineering and integration manager, under a
memorandum of agreement signed with Alenia recently.  The modules will
carry supplies and experiments between Earth and the orbiting
laboratory.

        A memorandum of understanding signed by NASA and ASI provides for
the two agencies to undertake "a bilateral cooperative program including
the detailed design, development, production, operation and
utilization."

*       The Space Station Freedom Utilization Conference will be held Aug.
3-6 in Huntsville, Ala.  The conference will be a forum to explore
utilization activities from a researcher's perspective.  For information
contact: University of Alabama at Huntsville at [phone] or (800)
448-4031.  For program information contact: Eula Hume, BDM
International, Inc. at [phone].