Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT_ZIP/spacedig/V16_5/V16NO572.ZIP/V16NO572

Text File | 1993-07-13 | 35KB | 887 lines

Date: Sat, 15 May 93 05:00:07
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V16 #572
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Sat, 15 May 93       Volume 16 : Issue 572

Today's Topics:
    Buzz Aldrin's Race for Space vs. Buzz Aldrin's Space Adventure
                 DC-X and publicity... is there any ?
             Details of DC-X followon vehicle firming up.
   Excess Shuttle criticism was Re: Shuttle 0-Defects & Bizarre? DC
 Excess Shuttle criticism was Re: Shuttle 0-Defects & Bizarre? DC-X?
                              Gps launch
                      Pegasus, X-ray telescopes
                    Soyuz and Shuttle Comparisons
Why we like DC-X (was Re: Shuttle 0-Defects & Bizarre? DC-X?) (3 msgs)

    Welcome to the Space Digest!!  Please send your messages to
    "[e-mail]", and (un)subscription requests of the form
    "Subscribe Space <your name>" to one of these addresses: listserv@uga
    (BITNET), rice::boyle (SPAN/NSInet), utadnx::utspan::rice::boyle
    (THENET), or [e-mail] (Internet).
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 10:28:53 GMT
From: Dave Michelson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Buzz Aldrin's Race for Space vs. Buzz Aldrin's Space Adventure
Newsgroups: sci.space

I've recently seen both of these "multimedia" packages on the shelf at
the local computer shop...  If nothing else, they certainly look
similar!   Can someone comment on the respective merits of the two
packages?  (To be quite honest, though, Dinosaur Adventure looks more
interesting!)

--
Dave Michelson  --  [e-mail]  --  University of British Columbia

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 12:38:06 GMT
From: "Allen W. Sherzer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: DC-X and publicity... is there any ?
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:

>  Its seems a bit scarry to me that such a project which for the first
>time in years promisses some hope in changing the current trend in
>massively overpriced boosting capability, lacks much publicity.

That may change next month; at least I hope it will. A couple of hundred
journalists have requested press passes for the test flights. Sustaining
that publicity however, will be a problem.

  Allen

--
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Lady Astor:   "Sir, if you were my husband I would poison your coffee!"   |
| W. Churchill: "Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it."             |
+----------------------33 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX-----------------------+

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 13:17:51 GMT
From: "Allen W. Sherzer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Details of DC-X followon vehicle firming up.
Newsgroups: sci.space,talk.politics.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jon Leech) writes:

>|> this vehicle can be built within the Clinton Administration which will help
>|> it gain administration support.

>    Wow. I didn't think there were any rooms in the White House tall enough
>to hold DC-X, let alone the followon.

Jon, we are talking about the feds here! You think the White House is
the only administration building?

>    I take it you meant to say that the followon is something the
>Administration may be willing to support?

It means that the vehicle can fly during the Clinton Administration so
he can claim credit for it.

  Allen

--
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Lady Astor:   "Sir, if you were my husband I would poison your coffee!"   |
| W. Churchill: "Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it."             |
+----------------------33 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX-----------------------+

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 12:58:13 GMT
From: Dave Stephenson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Excess Shuttle criticism was Re: Shuttle 0-Defects & Bizarre? DC
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Charlie Prael) writes:

>[e-mail] (Dave Stephenson) writes:

>> On the other hand the Space Shuttle was to be the orbital monkey
>> wrench. It was to do the work of all the other specialized launchers,
>> small and large. There is such a thing as too much generalization.
>> When does a multi-use device become a 'camel'? Build for a specific
>> purpose, then see if the device will adapt, don't build in over
>> generalization. Remember that the DC program is a research program,
>> lots to be learned before thinking of Moon flights, but it is nice
>> to dream.

>Dave--- You're actually more right than you might like to think.  There
>are some excellent lessons in this in, say aviation history (and within
>the last 30 years, too).


>The implications is that the DC/SSTO program, if it is to succeed, must
>have a clear task right from the start.  Something like, say, "an orbital
>C-130, designed to carry cargo quickly, easily, simply, into orbit and
>back down again."

>Nah. That'd be too easy.

Thanks, I published an invited editorial on this subject in the
Interdisciplinary Sciences Review in 1988. It started " Only
someone from Hi-Tech R&D would walk into the Sistine Chapel look
up at the roof and say 'What magnificent paints and brushes they
had.'  and went on to mention that in aviation if you are found
with an adjustable spanner in your tool box you can be fired. An
adjustable spanner by trying to fit all nuts, fits none of them
properly, and so damages all of them. In the demanding environment of
the air the adjustable wrench is rightly considered a lethal instrument.

(A little overdone, but that what editorials are about)
--
Dave Stephenson
Geological Survey of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada              *Om Mani Padme Hum 1-2-3*
Internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 13:14:52 GMT
From: "Allen W. Sherzer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Excess Shuttle criticism was Re: Shuttle 0-Defects & Bizarre? DC-X?
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:

>This argument doesn't hold water.  Criticism of the Space Station has
>bought us little but delays.

I disagree. Delays have been brought on largely because the ciriticism has
been ignored.

>If we had just shut up and bent metal,
>we'd have a Space Station right now instead of the ninth redesign.

Avation Week, November 12, 1990, page 26:

   Johnson space center engineers said the current station concept,
   a design that has evolved since 1984 is flawed in many respects
   and would have required a significant reworking no matter what
   the program budgets.

   "the original station deisign proved to be essentially broken from
   the start", one engineer in Houston said.

   The new design proposals where briefed last week to the NASA
   astronaut corps. Many astronaust have the view that "proper
   integration of the current design has been totally lacking."

From 1984 to 1990 NASA was spending billions designing a station which
couldn't be built. All during this time many on the outside where saying
the same thing. Yet NASA fought the 1990 redesign tooth and nail saying
it wasn't. We still have Dennis Wingo insisting everything was just fine
in 1990 except for the nasty Congress.

The problem isn't criticism, the problem is a close-minded attitude
toward it.

>If you don't like the manned space program or the way it's being run,
>don't just sit there and complain.  Get down here to Houston and put
>your career where your mouth is.

With all due respect, I believe I am doing far more to fix it up
here in Michigan than I could in Houston.

   Allen

--
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Lady Astor:   "Sir, if you were my husband I would poison your coffee!"   |
| W. Churchill: "Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it."             |
+----------------------33 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX-----------------------+

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

Date: Thu, 13 May 1993 23:37:46 -0500
From: Keith Stein <[e-mail]>
Subject: Gps launch
Newsgroups: sci.space

Next GPS launch is scheduled for June 24th.

 * Origin: No. VA Astronomy Club 703-256-4777 (1:109/118)

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

Date: 14 May 1993 10:05:22 -0500
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Pegasus, X-ray telescopes
Newsgroups: sci.space

Hi:
    Can somebody indicate to me where I could find some
literature about PEGASUS and about X-ray telescopes using the coded
mask technique ??
    Thanks

[e-mail]
Alberto Colavita
Microprocessor Laboratory
ICTP

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 12:56:34 GMT
From: "Allen W. Sherzer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Soyuz and Shuttle Comparisons
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Gary Coffman) writes:

>>As a rough guess I would say that in 10 years Shuttle has delivered
>>to LEO about as much as Saturn V did in 4 years.

>We have to be careful to define what is payload and what is propulsion
>and spacecraft structure.

Often Shuttle lifts satellites with upper stages. Yet we still consider it
payload. Ten Saturn flights over about 4 years delivered to LEO roughly the
same as 50 shuttle flights over 10 years.

>of course Saturn lifted more than Shuttle,
>but it's cost to orbit in same year dollars was higher.

They where pretty much the same in terms of cost/pound. A resurected
Saturn would cost only $2,000 per pound (if development costs are ignored)
which is five times cheaper than Shuttle.

    Allen


--
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Lady Astor:   "Sir, if you were my husband I would poison your coffee!"   |
| W. Churchill: "Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it."             |
+----------------------33 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX-----------------------+

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 13:10:44 GMT
From: Dave Stephenson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Why we like DC-X (was Re: Shuttle 0-Defects & Bizarre? DC-X?)
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (fred j mccall 575-3539) writes:

>In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Richard A. Schumacher) writes:

>>Indeed, "man-rating" is a holdover from a time when people
>>were converting ICBMs into spacecraft launchers. These
>>were multimillion dollar assets that were supposed to destroy
>>themselves in use! Do people "man-rate" commercial aircraft?

>Well, actually, they sort of do man-rate commercial aircraft.  I
>believe it's called an Airworthiness Certification.  I'm not sure how
>much goes into actually 'man-rating' a booster, but I would suspect
>that the testing required for an Airworthiness Cert on a totally new
>design would be at least comparable.

>>No. Ships? No.

>Hmmm.  Not sure what's required for ships.  Probably not much, since
>if a ship goes down it doesn't hurt too many people other than those
>on the ship and those who invested in it.  If a plane or spacecraft
>goes down, it can make quite a nasty mess on the ground, should it
>land in an inappropriate place.

>--
Hmmm... Lloyds has been doing it for centuries. You want insurance,
you better have a well found, Bristol fashioned ship. Supertankers
make nice messes too! If you do not have insurance, you may sail the
high seas, but a lot of ports will be closed to you. If your ship
does not meet port inspection, it can be impounded.
Of course we may see  rust bucket 'flag of convenience'
 DC's launched from Panama
one day.


--
Dave Stephenson
Geological Survey of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada              *Om Mani Padme Hum 1-2-3*
Internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 13:20:55 GMT
From: "Allen W. Sherzer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Why we like DC-X (was Re: Shuttle 0-Defects & Bizarre? DC-X?)
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (fred j mccall 575-3539) writes:

>Well, actually, they sort of do man-rate commercial aircraft.  I
>believe it's called an Airworthiness Certification.

DC will get an airworthiness certification. Expendables can't get one
since it involves testing by actually flying the bird.

   allen

--
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Lady Astor:   "Sir, if you were my husband I would poison your coffee!"   |
| W. Churchill: "Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it."             |
+----------------------33 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX-----------------------+

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 13:16:13 GMT
From: Dave Stephenson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Why we like DC-X (was Re: Shuttle 0-Defects & Bizarre? DC-X?)
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Henry Spencer) writes:

>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Richard A. Schumacher) writes:
>>>If DC-Y carries people into orbit, then it's gonna need that toilet...
>>
>>Are you sure? Not too many trucks, busses or cars have toilets...

>I'm not sure what things are like in the less orderly parts of what was
>once British North America :-), but up here the inter-city buses always
>have toilets.  As do the trains and the airliners.

>(However, I do agree with Richard that if you're planning short missions,
>it may not be worth the trouble of providing anything more than a urine-
>disposal rig and a few baggies.)

Its the thought of staggering down the aisle at 3g's to the small room
past the Cabin staff when you HAVE to go worries me. Rough Air is bad
enough.
--
Dave Stephenson
Geological Survey of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada              *Om Mani Padme Hum 1-2-3*
Internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 4 May 93 17:53:33 EST
From: [e-mail]

PRESS INFORMATION NOTE Nr.09-93
Paris, 3 May 1993

XXVIIth ESLAB Symposium : frontiers of Space and
ground based astronomy

Some 180 astrophysicists from more than 20 countries will
gather in the week from 10-14 May at ESA's Research and
Technology Centre, ESTEC, in Noordwijk (the Netherlands)
to review, at the 27th ESLAB conference, the state of
observational astrophysics and cosmology. The 15th
anniversary of the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) as
well as the formal completion of the original mission of
ESA's  Hipparcos spacecraft have been reason to review the
enormous advances made in the last decade.

The conference is structured in three main sections dealing
with the most important discoveries and advances
accomplished with the current generation of ground-based and
space telescopes;  the impact of this new information on our
understanding of the physical Universe; and the outlook on
future projects both on the ground and in Space.

This gathering of prominent and active scientists is especially
timely now that ESA's Horizon 2000 programme, the
Agency's long-term programme in the basic space sciences, is
reaching its half way mark. The unavoidable long lead
time for future spaceborne and ground-based astronomical
facilities, makes it extremely important to review the current
status at this stage to assure that the dynamic structure of the
Universe, which has only became obvious in the last decade,
is firmly taken into consideration for future plans. This
symposium may identify unforeseen directions for future
astrophysics, both theoretical as well as observational.

The press is invited to follow the introductory sessions of this
symposium on Monday 10 May at ESTEC in the Conference
Centre. The following representatives of the international
scientific community, as well as ESA scientists, will be
available for informal discussions between 15h30 and 16h30

D. Kniffen                 Compton Observatory         USA
J. Truemper                ROSAT                       Germany
S. Bowyer                  EUVE                        USA
B. Peterson                Multiwavelength             USA
F. Paresce                 Optical/HST                 Italy
E. Becklin                 IR, Large telescopes        USA



M. Tarenghi                Large Telescopes     Italy (ESO)
M. Longair                 Cosmology                   U.K.
A. Boyarchuk               President IAU               F.S.U.






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

Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 17:41:13 EST
From: [e-mail]

Press Release Nr.21-93
Paris, 27 April 1993

Spacelab D-2 in orbit

After a successful lift-off on 26 April 1993 at 14:50 hrs, (UT)
the second German Spacelab mission D-2 on board Space
shuttle Columbia has reached orbit and operations have started
as scheduled. On this occasion, ESA has sent up to space
facilities hosting a number of European experiments to
further expand the knowledge of basic phenomena in fluid
physics and material sciences, and particularly to perform for
the first time an integrated medical screening of the human
body in the absence of gravity.

From the DLR (the German Research Establishment for
Aerospace) control centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich,
almost 200 specialists are directing and controlling the
activities taking place on board the Shuttle. At the same time,
scientists from all over Europe, the United States and Japan
are interacting on a permanent basis with the crew of 7
astronauts, which includes two German Payload Specialists
from DLR, as they conduct experiments in the fields of
material sciences, life sciences, human physiology, Earth
observation and robotics technology.

While already seated in the orbiter waiting for launch, during
lift-off and the first hours of their presence in orbit (before
activation of Spacelab), the astronauts performed medical
experiments in connection with ESA's Anthrorack facility.
The change in the gravity pull on the human body from 1g
(normal weight conditions on Earth under the influence of
gravity) to almost 0g (weightlessness), causes an accumulation
of fluids  (blood and liquids) in the upper body which leads
to an increase in blood filling of the heart and the lungs,
gradually leading to a new equilibrium. The experiments in
Anthrorack which are being run in the first part of the mission
are suited to monitoring all these modifications and analysing
how the human body reacts and adapts to the new 'gravity-
free' environment.

In the first couple of days in space, during the phase in which
the astronauts could still suffer from space-motion sickness, an
experiment is being performed to monitor the adaptation
process taking place in the blood circulation and in the lungs.
On the 4th day of the mission the full set of tests on



Anthrorack will start on a daily basis and the astronauts will
have to undergo, at regular intervals, a number of tests during
exercise and at rest. Blood, urine and saliva samples will also
be taken to monitor and collect data on the endocrinological
system and the metabolism.

The results of the tests are being transmitted in real time to
ground at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC)
in Houston, and from there to the DLR Control Centre in
Oberpfaffenhofen where the teams of scientists who developed
the experiments are immediately able to record and analyse
them.

Belgian, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Swedish,
Swiss and American scientists are involved in the Anthrorack
experiments.

ESA's Advanced Fluid Physics Module (AFPM) will be
switched on in the course of the second day of the mission.
The 5 experiments contained in the facility will determine how
absence of gravity influences the properties and behaviour of
fluids (liquid column dynamics, convection, capillary forces
and interfaces between immiscible liquids). The experiments,
which are being performed for scientists from the University
of Madrid (Spain), the Battelle Institute (Germany), the
University of Essen (Germany), the University of Naples
(Italy) and the University of Brussels (Belgium), will continue
until a few hours before landing.

The Crew Telesupport Experiment (CTE) is to be performed
between two portable computers and optical disc player
systems linked to a standard modem to allow communications
and exchange of graphic information (schematic diagrams,
digitised photos, etc) between astronauts on board and
scientists on the ground. It will be set up on the 4th day of the
mission. After a 10-minute set-up session, two half-hour
operational sessions are scheduled for this experiment. The
CTE, which was designed mainly to make Spacelab easier to
use and thereby make missions more cost-effective, will be
and essential aid for future European astronauts on Columbus
missions.

The Microgravity Measurement Assembly (MMA) was
switched on about five hours after lift-off. During the whole
mission the equipment will measure the level of residual
accelerations on board Spacelab and the data collected will be
used to support the other experiments on board and assess the
level of microgravity to which they are submitted. The current



MMA concept will help in defining the microgravity
measurement systems for the future Space Station laboratories.

Nearly a third of the programme of scientific work for the
Spacelab D-2 mission concerns the study of physical
phenomena occurring in the fluid phases when materials are
produced under microgravity conditions and the influence of
such phenomena on the quality of materials. Six ESA funded
experiments in the field of material sciences will be
performed during the mission, mainly for German researchers.

On the 5th and 6th days of the mission the HOLOP
(Holographic Optics) laboratory on Spacelab D-2 will give
European scientists an excellent opportunity to remotely
operate from Earth a fluid physics experiment investigating
liquid motion (convection). The MARCO (for MARangoni
COnvection) experiment, continues the telescience operations
initiated by ESA and already tested several times during
previous Shuttle missions. The HOLOP/MARCO telescience
experiment will be directly controlled by the investigators
from a remote centre in Cologne, the DLR Microgravity User
Support Centre (MUSC).




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

Date: Wed, 5 May 93 18:02:14 EST
From: [e-mail]

Press Release Nr. 22-93
Paris, 4 May 1993

Advanced Video-conferencing via satellite : Affordable -
Operational - Efficient

The European Space Agency (ESA), in cooperation with the
European Telecommunications Satellite Organisation
(EUTELSAT), Matra Marconi Space (France/UK) and
Joanneum Research of Graz (Austria), will be conducting
daily video-conferences by satellite from Kiev (Ukraine) to
various sites in Austria, the Netherlands and the United
Kingdom during the NeoCom'93 exhibition and congress
taking place in Kiev from 11 to 13 May 1993.

The wide coverage and point-to-multipoint capabilities of the
EUTELSAT satellites provide unique possibilities for multi-
location video-conferencing. These features are valuable
world-wide but they are particularly important when the
existing ground infrastructure is not fully developed, for
example, between Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the
former Soviet Union. EUTELSAT has made particular efforts
to respond to the needs for an instant telecommunications
infrastructure. In particular, EUTELSAT II-F4 and F5 have
been modified to bring Eastern Europe as far as Moscow into
the nominal service area.

Developed on behalf of the European Space Agency by
Joanneum Research and Matra Marconi Space, the DICE
system can simultaneously link up to four sites having DICE
Earth stations employing antennas of only 1.5 to 2.4 metres in
diametre and located at users' premises. It allows each of up
to four participating groups at great distances from one
another to be simultaneously present with the others as though
they were in the same room. This is achieved by use of high-
quality multipoint video, sound and data exchange techniques.

With digital compression techniques, up to 6O DICE carriers
can be accommodated on a single satellite transponder, thus
keeping operating costs within reasonable bounds. Many DICE
units are now in operation via EUTELSAT satellites. Thanks
to this flexible and mobile system, satellite video-conferencing



is offered by Matra Marconi Space and Joanneum Research to
business and other users throughout Europe.

During the NeoCom congress, trade and other visitors will be
able to talk with engineers and managers in Western Europe,
eye to eye, via satellite, over distances of nearly 2000
kilometres.

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

Note to editors : The DICE system is marketed by MATRA
MARCONI SPACE and JOANNEUM RESEARCH, which
can supply further product information.

For television stations : a 10 minute video on DICE is
available from ESA in BETACAM-SP and VHS formats.

This press release is issued jointly by ESA, EUTELSAT,
MATRA MARCONI SPACE AND JOANNEUM
RESEARCH.

For further information, please contact :
ESA Public Relations - Tel: [phone] - Fax:
+33.1.42.73.76.90
EUTELSAT Press Service - Tel: [phone] - Fax:
+33.1.45.38.37.00
MATRA MARCONI SPACE - Tel: [phone] - Fax:
+33.1 34.88.43.43
JOANNEUM RESEARCH - Dr. O. Koudelka
Tel :+43.316.465.746 - Fax: +43.316.463.697




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

Date: Wed, 5 May 93 18:07:31 EST
From: [e-mail]

Joint ESA/CNES Press Release n+ 23-93
Paris, 5 May 1993

International Colloquium - Paris, 10-13 May 1993
From optical to radar: SPOT and ERS applications

Following seven years of using the SPOT system (the third
satellite in the series, SPOT-3, will be launched in September
this year), and two years after the launch of ERS-1, the French
Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the European
Space Agency (ESA) are holding an important colloquium
with the title  From optical to radar: SPOT and ERS
applications

This is designed to show the relevance and complementary
nature of optical and radar data for operational applications,
using examples of the joint processing and use of data from
the SPOT and ERS Earth observation satellites.

Some sixty specialists from a wide range of countries will
meet in Paris to present their work on perfecting operational
methods and on incorporating these in actual projects.

Almost 350 persons are registered for the event, which will
provide an opportunity to discuss the following broad areas of
application:
-       Renewable resources: crops, water, forests, oceans, etc.
-       Non-renewable resources: geology, mine prospecting,
        etc.
-       Land management: town planning, transport, mapping,
        civil engineering works.
-       Major international programmes: environmental
        monitoring and management.

This programme will also make it possible to look at recent
technical developments in satellite image processing.

For further details, please contact:
ESA Press Office              CNES Press Office
8-10 rue Mario Nikis          2, place Maurice Quentin
F-75015 PARIS                 F-75001-PARIS



Tl: +(33)(1) 42 73 71 55     Tl: (+33)(1) 45.08.76.88
fax: [phone]     Fax: [phone]







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

Date: Fri, 14 May 93 14:22:30 CET
From: [e-mail]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phil Regan  Tecnodata Italia    Email : [e-mail]
Mission Support Systems  European Space Operations Centre
Darmstadt 6100 Bundesrepublik Deutschland  tel [phone]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


----------------------------Original message----------------------------




Press Release Nr.24-93
Paris, 7 May 1993

Selection of ESA astronauts for Mir Precursor flights in
1994 and 1995

Mr Jean-Marie Luton, Director General of ESA, has today,
Friday 7 May, selected the four ESA astronauts from among
whom two will be chosen to take part in the precursor flights
to Mir-1 scheduled in 1994 and 1995.

They are Pedro Duque and Ulf Merbold for the ESA/Mir
flight in September 1994 (mission 17), which will last 30
days, and Christer Fuglesang and Thomas Reiter for the
ESA/Mir flight in August 1995 (mission 19), which will last
135 days.

This selection was made on the recommendation of the ESA
European Astronaut Centre, following a series of physical and
medical tests.

In August the four astronauts start on a special course of
training for Mir missions at Star City, near Moscow in Russia.

About eight months before each mission, the ESA Director
General will nominate the astronaut chosen to fly and the
back-up.  The prime and back-up crews will then train in
parallel.  About a week before the mission, following the last
in the series of medical assessments, the final crew selection
will be made.
It is already planned that the ESA astronaut on the 1995 Mir
mission will carry out extravehicular activities.

The main objectives of these precursor flights are twofold:
operational and scientific.  The ESA astronauts will be able to
gain and develop experience of crewed flight in preparation
for the future programmes that it is currently planned to carry
out in cooperation both with the Americans and with the
Russians.  At the same time, a number of scientific
experiments, notably connected with microgravity (life
sciences, human physiology and materials science), will be
performed.



30-day ESA/Mir flight (mission 17) - launch in September
1994

Name:                                      Pedro DUQUE
Date and place
of birth:                              14 March 1963 in Madrid, Spain

Education:                 Degree in Aeronautical
                           Engineering from the
                           Polytechnic University of
                           Madrid

Marital status:            Married with one child

Experience:                Prior to his selection as an ESA
                           candidate astronaut, Mr Duque
                           worked as a software engineer
                           in the Flight Mechanics Group
                           at the European Space
                           Operations Centre (ESOC, an
                           ESA establishment) in
                           Darmstadt, Germany, where he
                           was in charge of orbit
                           determination of Earth-orbiting
                           satellites.

Name:                      Ulf MERBOLD
Date and place
of birth:                  20 June 1941 in Greiz, Germany

Education:                 Degree in Physics from Stuttgart
                           University (1968), Doctorate of
                           Science (1976)

Marital status:            Married with two children

Experience:                On leaving university, Mr
                           Merbold worked at the Max
                           Planck Institute of Metallurgical
                           Research in Stuttgart, Germany.
                           In 1977 he was selected by ESA
                           as a payload specialist for the
                           Spacelab-1 mission (STS-9),
                           which took place from 28
                           November to 8 December 1983.
                           This made him the first non-
                           American astronaut to take part
                           in a Shuttle mission.  His



                           second flight was on the
                           Spacelab IML-1 mission (STS-
                           42),from 22 to 30 January
                           1992.

 135-day ESA/Mir flight (mission 19) - launch in August
1995
Name:                       Christer FUGLESANG
Date and place
of birth:                   18 March 1957 in Nacka,
                           Sweden
Education:                 Master of Science in Physics,
                           Mathematics and Engineering
                           from the Royal Institute of
                           Technology (KTH) in
                           Stockholm; Doctorate in
                           Experimental Particle Physics
                           from Stockholm University.

Marital status:            Married with two children

Experience:                Mr Fuglesang worked as a
                           graduate student in experimental
                           particle physics at Stockholm
                           University.  In 1988 he joined
                           the European Organisation for
                           Nuclear Research (CERN) in
                           Geneva, Switzerland, where he
                           worked until 1990 as project
                           leader on the particle sub-
detector of the CPLEAR
                           experiment.  Prior to his
                           selection, he was a research
                           assistant at the Manne Siegbahn
                           Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.

Name:                      Thomas REITER

Date and place
of birth:                  23 May 1958 in Frankfurt-am-
                           Main, Germany

Education:                 Dipl. Ingenieur in Aerospace
                           and Technology from the
                           University of the Armed Forces,
                           Munich.  Trained as a test pilot
                           at the Military Flight Test



                           Centre in Manching, Germany.
Marital status:            Married with one child

Experience:                Mr Reiter trained as a jet pilot
                           with the United States and
                           German Air Forces and passed
                           out successfully from the
                           Empire Test Pilots' School in
                           the United Kingdom before
                           being selected as an ESA
                           candidate astronaut.


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End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 572
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