Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT_ZIP/spacedig/v08/V8_252.ZIP/V8_252

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From ota Tue Jun 14 03:07:18 1988
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Date: Tue, 14 Jun 88 03:07:00 PDT
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Subject: SPACE Digest V8 #252

SPACE Digest                                      Volume 8 : Issue 252

Today's Topics:
             Space station names
              US-USSR space cooperation
            Re: When in doubt, nuke it...
        Space Station Work Packages (longish)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:         Tue, 24 May 88 11:59:54 EDT
From: "Jerry Davis Rsch. Statistician" <[e-mail]>
Subject:      Space station names

How about "Station Silmarill", the shining jewel in the sky!

-Jerry
BITNET JDAVIS@GRIFFIN
Acknowledge-To: <JDAVIS@GRIFFIN>

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

Date: 24 May 88 07:50:04 GMT
From: sonia![e-mail]  (Eric Behr)
Subject: US-USSR space cooperation

Here is a NASA summary of cooperative efforts & plans involving the
SU.
=====================================================================

U.S./SOVIET SPACE COOPERATION

U.S./USSR Space Science Agreement

     The U.S./USSR agreement on cooperation in space science was
signed in Moscow by Secretary Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister
Shevardnadze on April l5, l987.  The agreement establishes joint
working groups (JWG) in five areas:

       o  Space biology and medicine
       o  Solar system exploration
       o  Space astronomy and astrophysics
       o  Solar-terrestrial physics
       o  Earth sciences

     A total of l6 cooperative project areas are listed in the
annex to the space agreement covering the five disciplines listed
above.  Additional projects may be added to the annex by mutual
agreement through an exchange of diplomatic notes.


Status of Joint Working Group Activities

Space Biology and Medicine JWG

     NASA and its Soviet counterparts have agreed that meetings
of all five JWGs will take place over the next year.  The
U.S./USSR Space Biology and Medicine JWG met in early August l987
in Moscow and Nal'chik, USSR.  Agreement was reached at this
meeting on NASA participation in three upcoming Soviet
biosatellite missions (in October l987, l989 and l991); exchange
of biomedical data from the U.S. Shuttle and Soviet Salyut 7 and
Mir space station missions; establishment of implementation teams
on biomedical data standardization, exobiology and
Shuttle/Spacelab flight experiments; and production of a joint
publication surveying progress in space biology and medicine.

     NASA-sponsored scientists participated in the Soviet Cosmos
l887 Biosatellite mission which took place from September 29 to
October 12, l987.  A total of 27 U.S. experiments were conducted
in connection with this mission, which flew 2 primates, l0 rats
and a variety of biological and plant speciments for a l3-day
mission.

     Despite problems with one of the monkeys which managed to
free one arm in flight, and landing 3000 km northeast of the
planned nominal landing site, mission science objectives were not
seriously affected.  This is the sixth USSR biosatellite mission
inwhich NASA has participated.  Previous missions took place in
l975, l977, l979, l983 and l985.

Solar System Exploration JWG

     At the U.S./USSR Solar System Exploration JWG meeting,
December 7-13, a range of implementing activities to carry out
the six solar system exploration projects enumerated in the
U.S./USSR space agreement were discussed.  Teams are to be
organized to implement cooperation in coordination of Mars
missions, reciprocal scientific participation in the USSR Phobos
and U.S. Mars Observer missions, Mars landing site selection,
Venus data exchanges and lunar, cosmic dust and meteorite
exchanges.

    NASA is cooperating with its Soviet counterparts in
connection with the l988 USSR Phobos mission which will
investigate the planet Mars and its moon Phobos, utilizing NASA's
Deep Space Network for position tracking of the Phobos landers.
Prior to the recent Solar System Exploration JWG meeting, two
technical meetings to discuss tracking requirements took place,
the most recent on November 16-20.  Equipment and compatibility
testing will occur in the Soviet Union and the United States
(Goldstone, Calif.) early next year.

Other JWG Group Meetings

     The Space Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Solar-
Terrestrial Physics Joint Working Groups will schedule meetings
in l988 to discuss the following topics:

Space Astronomy and Astrophysics JWG

     o  Exchange of scientific data in the field of radio
        astronomy
     o  Exchange of scientific data in the fields of cosmic
        gamma-ray, x-ray and sub-millimeter astronomy.
     o  Exchange of scientific data and coordination of program
        and investigations relative to studies of gamma-ray burst
        data.

Solar-Terrestrial Physics JWG

     o  Coordination of observations from solar terrestrial
        physics missions and the subsequent exchange of
        appropriate scientific data.

Joint Summit Statement on U.S./USSR Cooperation in Global Change
Research

     The December l0 joint statement by President Reagan and
General Secretary Gorbachev endorsed "a bilateral initiative to
pursue joint studies in global climate and environmental change
through cooperation in areas of mutual concern, such as
protection and conservation of stratospheric ozone, and through
increased data exchanges...".

     The April l5 space science agreement called for coordination
of activities in the study of global changes in the natural
environment as one of 16 initial agreed projects.  A U.S./USSR
Earth Sciences Joint Working Group meeting is planned for the
first half of l988 to agree on concrete steps to implement
cooperation in this area in support of the two leaders
initiative.

Proposals for U.S./USSR Manned or Unmanned Mars Mission

     Recently there have been numerous press articles speculating
on the possibility of a joint U.S./USSR manned or unmanned
mission to Mars.  To date, there have been no official
discussions between the U.S. and Soviet Union on either a joint
manned or unmanned mission to Mars.

     Mars is one of the most attractive and potentially rewarding
subjects for exploration in our solar system.  NASA believes
there is great potential for mutual scientific benefit through
coordination between the two countries' Mars missions and
programs.

     The April space agreement outlines four specific areas of
cooperation pertaining to Mars exploration, as mentioned above:

    o  Coordination of the Phobos, Vesta and Mars Observer
       missions and exchange of scientific data
    o  Utilization of the U.S. Deep Space Network for position
       tracking of the Phobos and Vesta landers and subsequent
       exchange of scientific data.
    o  Joint studies to identify the most promising landing
       sites on Mars.
    o  Invitation, by mutual agreement, of co-investigators'
       and/or interdisciplinary scientists' participation in the
       Mars Observer and the Phobos and Vesta missions.

     At the present time, neither the U.S. nor the Soviet Union
is committed to join in a new major manned or unmanned Mars
mission.  The U.S. has not yet committed to unmanned missions
beyond the Mars Observer, much less to its own manned mission to
Mars.  The space science agreement signed in Moscow last spring
provides a logical starting point and potential foundation for
success in coordinated current and future space activities
between the U.S. and the USSR.

=====================================================================
                                                       Eric

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

Date: 24 May 88 17:05:17 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Joe Beckenbach)
Subject: Re: When in doubt, nuke it...

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Tom Neff) writes:
>I think you guys should be asking yourselves what you could put on board
>Mars Observer to give you 1m resolution or better at selected sites,
>rather than fantasizing about nuking a landing pad.

    Well, I guess I'd best talk early to the guys at my summer job;
they should be able to throw plenty of light on the subject. (No pun intended)
I think the numbers that were being tossed around were in the range of 1m,
but I'll check before committing anything to the network.
--
Joe Beckenbach    [e-mail]    Caltech 1-58, Pasadena CA 91125
Mars Observer Camera, GSE (Ground Support Engineering?) Programmer
Caltech Planetary Sciences        E&AS (CS) BS 1988

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

Date: 24 May 88 07:44:41 GMT
From: sonia![e-mail]  (Eric Behr)
Subject: Space Station Work Packages (longish)

>From NASA SpaceLink BBS [phone] (Huntsville, AL)
=====================================================================

SPACE STATION WORK PACKAGE FACT SHEET

WORK PACKAGE 1

     Marshall Space Flight Center is responsible for Space
Station Program Work Package 1, including responsibility for the
laboratory module, habitation module, logistics elements and
fabrication of the primary structure for the resource nodes.
Marshall also is responsible for development of the environmental
control and life support system, internal components of the
audio/visual and thermal control systems, as well as for
operational capability development for users in the laboratory
module.  The Johnson Space Center, through special provisions
within the Work Package 1 contact, will exercise technical
direction for the manned space subsystems.

LABORATORY MODULE

     The U.S. laboratory module will be cylindrical, measuring
approximately 44 feet long and 14 feet in diameter and will
provide a shirt-sleeve environment for performing laboratory
functions.  The laboratory module will be capable of supporting
multi-discipline payloads including materials research and
development activities, materials processing demonstrations, life
sciences research and other space science investigations
requiring a pressurized area.  User-provided equipment that can
be housed in the laboratory module include furnaces for growing
semiconductor crystals, electrokinetic devices for separating
pharmaceuticals, support equipment needed to carry out a wide
spectrum of low-gravity experiments and applications, and a
centrifuge for variable gravity experiments in life sciences.

HABITATION MODULE

     Facilities for eating, sleeping, personal hygiene, waste
management, recreation, health maintenance and other functions
requiring pressurized space will be provided in the habitation
module.  The module will be the same size as the laboratory
module and will accommodate up to 8 astronauts.

     Using the health maintenance facility, astronauts will be
able to monitor their health through vital signs, X-rays and
blood samples.  There also will be exercise equipment for daily
physical conditioning.


LOGISTICS ELEMENTS

     These include elements required for transporting cargo to or
from the Space Station for the resupply of items required for the
crew, station, and payloads; and for on-orbit storage of these
cargos.  A key element will be the pressurized logistics carrier,
which will carry items used inside the Space Station modules.
The other elements include unpressurized logistics carriers used
for transporting spares used external to the Space Station
modules, fluids and propellants.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL AND LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM (ECLSS)

     The ECLSS will provide a shirt-sleeve environment for the
astronauts in all pressurized modules on the Space Station.  A
key feature is the regenerative design employed in the air
revitalization and water reclamation systems.

RESOURCE NODE STRUCTURE

     The resource nodes are required to interconnect the primary
pressurized elements of the manned portion of the Space Station
and also will house certain key control functions.  The equipment
provided by Work Package 1 consists of the resource node
structures, berthing mechanisms, racks, ECLSS, internal thermal
control, and internal audio and video communication systems.


WORK PACKAGE 2

     NASA's Johnson Space Center is responsible for the design,
development, verification, assembly and delivery of the Work
Package 2 Space Station flight elements and systems, which
include the integrated truss assembly, propulsion assembly,
mobile servicing system transporter, resource node design and
outfitting, external thermal control, data management, operations
management, communication and tracking, extravehicular systems
and guidance, navigation and control systems, and the airlocks.
JSC also is responsible for the attachment systems to the STS for
its periodic visits.  Additionally, JSC is responsible for flight
crews, crew training and crew emergency return definition, and
for operational capability development associated with operations
planning.  JSC will provide technical direction to the contractor
for the design and development of all manned space subsystems.

INTEGRATED TRUSS ASSEMBLY

     The integrated truss assembly is the Space Station
structural framework to which the modules, solar power arrays,
external experiments, Earth- and astronomical-viewing
instruments, and mobile transporter will be attached.

PROPULSION ASSEMBLY

     The propulsion assembly will be used to adjust or maintain
the orbit of the Space Station to keep it at the required
altitude.  Work package 2 has responsibility for the overall
propulsion system.  Technical direction for the thruster assembly
elements of the propulsion system will be provided by MSFC.

MOBILE TRANSPORTER SYSTEM

     The mobile servicing system will be a multi-purpose
mechanism equipped with robotic arms to help assemble and
maintain the Space Station.  The contractor will build the mobile
base; Canada will provide the mobile servicing system which
includes robotic arms and special purpose dextrous manipulators.

RESOURCE NODES

     The resource nodes house most of the command and control
systems for the Space Station as well as being the connecting
passageways for the habitation and laboratory modules.  Work
Package 2 will outfit the node structures provided by Work
Package 1 to accomplish the objectives of each node.

EVA SYSTEMS

     Extravehicular activity (EVA) systems includes equipment
such as the extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) or spacesuit,
provisions for communication, physiological monitoring, and data
transmission, EVA crew rescue and equipment retrieval provision,
and EVA procedures.  Airlocks for crewmember extravehicular
activity also will be designed as part of Work Package 2.

EXTERNAL THERMAL CONTROL

     The external thermal system provides cooling and heat
rejection to control temperatures of electronics and other Space
Station hardware located outside the modules and nodes.

ATTACHMENT SYSTEMS

     In addition to devices permitting Space Station docking by
the Space Shuttle and logistics resupply modules, this includes
systems for attaching experiment packages and other external
hardware to the truss structure.

GUIDANCE, NAVIGATION AND CONTROL SYSTEM (GN&C)

     The guidance, navigation and control system is composed of a
core system and traffic management functions.  The core system
function provides attitude and orbital state maintenance,
supports the pointing of the power system and thermal radiators,
accomplishes periodic reboost maneuvers, and provides Space
Station attitude information to other systems and users.

     The traffic management function provides for controlling all
traffic in the area around the Space Station, including docking
and berthing operations and trajectories determination of
vehicles and objects which may intersect the orbit of the Space
Station.

COMMUNICATIONS AND TRACKING SYSTEM (C&T)

     The communications and tracking system is composed of six
subsystems:  space-to-space communications with crew members
during extravehicular activity, aboard the Space Shuttle, and
with the Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle; space-to-ground
communications through the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
System to ground data networks; internal and external voice
communication through the audio subsystem; internal and external
video requirements through the video subsystem; management of C&T
resources and data distribution through the control and monitor
subsystem; and navigation data through the tracking subsystem.

DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (DMS)

     The data management system provides the hardware and
software resources that interconnect onboard systems, payloads,
and operations to perform data and information management.
Functional services provided by DMS include data processing, data
acquistion and distribution, data storage, and the user interface
to permit control and monitoring of systems and experiments.

     Crew safety is an essential consideration in the development
of the Space Station.  A major system failure aboard the Space
Station, injuries or illness may require the return of crew
members to Earth during a period when the Space Shuttle is
unavailable.  NASA's Johnson Space Center has responsibility for
conducting definition-phase studies of a Crew Emergency Return
Vehicle which could be used to supplement the Shuttle in such
circumstances.


WORK PACKAGE 3


     NASA'S Goddard Space Flight Center is responsible for
development of several of the Station's elements including the
free-flying platforms and attached payload accommodations, and
for planning NASA's role in satellite servicing.  Goddard also
has responsibility for developing the Flight Telerobotic Servicer
which is being procured through a separate competition.

FREE-FLYING PLATFORMS

     Goddard will manage the detailed design, development, test
and evaluation of the automated free-flying polar platform.  This
unmanned platform will feature modular construction to permit on-
orbit ease of serviceability and flexibility for accommodating a
variety of scientific observations.

ATTACHED PAYLOAD ACCOMMODATIONS

     The Space Station attached payloads are the instruments and
experiments designed to gather scientific data while attached
directly to the truss framework of the Space Station.  Goddard is
responsible for providing utilities such as power, thermal
control, data handling, pointing stability and other equipment
needed to operate the payloads and for insuring that the
instruments are pointed at the intended targets.  Two attachment
points are provided, one of the attach points is fixed and the
other has an articulated pointing system.

FLIGHT TELEROBOTIC SERVICER

     Goddard is responsible for building the Flight Telerobotic
Servicer.  This system will be capable of in-space assembly of
Station elements and payload servicing.

     As the system is evolved, it will perform telerobotic
servicing and repair of spacecraft visiting the Space Station.
In the future, a telerobotic servicer-equipped Orbital
Maneuvering Vehicle could retrieve, as well as service,
spacecraft beyond the Space Station's orbit.


WORK PACKAGE 4


     Lewis Research Center is responsible for the end-to-end
electric power system architecture for the Space Station and for
providing the solar arrays, batteries, and common power
distribution components to the platforms.

     The power system includes power generation and storage, and
the management and distribution of power to the final user
interface.  The electric power system is required to have the
capability to deliver 75 kW of electric power with a growth
potential to 300 kW.

POWER GENERATION

     Initially, Space Station power will be provided by eight
flexible, deployable solar array wings.  This configuration
minimizes the complexity of the assembly process by taking
advantage of the technology demonstrated on Space Shuttle
flights.  Each 32- by 96-foot wing consists of two blanket
assemblies covered with solar cells.  These are stowed in blanket
boxes which are attached to a deployment canister.  Each pair of
blankets is to be deployed and supported on a coilable,
continuous longeron mast.  A tension mechanism will supply
tension to the blanket as it reaches complete extension.  The
entire wing will be tied structurally to the transverse boom by
means of the beta gimbal assembly.

     To provide the power needed during the period of Space
Station assembly, two solar wings and other elements of the power
system are scheduled to be carried up on each of the first two
Space Station assembly flights.  These four wings will provide
37.5 kw of power.  The remaining four panels will be delivered on
orbit after the permanently-manned configuration is reached.

     Lewis also is responsible for developing and testing proof
of concept hardware for the solar dynamic power module to prepare
for the growth phase of the Station.  In addition, sufficient
preliminary design efforts will be performed to insure that the
Space Station can accommodate the solar dynamic modules.

POWER STORAGE

     Ni-H2 batteries will store the energy produced by the solar
arrays.  A battery pack is made up of 23 Ni-H2 cells, wiring
harness and mechanical/thermal support components.  On
discharge, this operates near 28 v which allows the flexibility
to connect several packs in series to obtain a high voltage
system for the Space Station and platforms or use of single
packs as a candidate for other low voltage applications.  Ni-H2
batteries offer minimum weight and high reliability with minimum
redundancy required for the polar platform.  During the eclipse
periods, power is supplied by the energy storage systems.

POWER MANAGEMENT AND DISTRIBUTION (PMAD)

     The 20 kHz PMAD system is designed specifically to meet
aerospace requirements.  It is based upon rapid semiconductor
switching, low stored reactive energy, and cycle-by-cycle control
of energy flow, allowing tailoring of voltage levels.  It is user
friendly and can easily accommodate all types of user loads.

     The PMAD system will deliver controlled power to many
scattered loads.  The high frequency ac power system was selected
to provide higher efficiency, lower cost and improved safety.

=====================================================================
                                                       Eric

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

End of SPACE Digest V8 #252
*******************