Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/pc/text/spacedig/v16_1/v16no133.txt

Internet Message Format | 1993-07-13 | 41KB

Date: Mon,  8 Feb 93 07:28:54
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V16 #133
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Mon,  8 Feb 93       Volume 16 : Issue 133

Today's Topics:
                          ASGSB information
                               Griping
     Honorary Names (was: Today in 1986-Remember the Challenger)
       In Memorium, RAH (was:needed: a real live space helmet)
                             Polar Orbit
                Solar sail (was: ** BUSSARD RAMJET **)
                           Solar wind nits
             Space Station Freedom Media Handbook - 12/18
             Space Station Freedom Media Handbook - 13/18
                    Using off-the-shelf-components

    Welcome to the Space Digest!!  Please send your messages to
    "[e-mail]", and (un)subscription requests of the form
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    (THENET), or [e-mail] (Internet).
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 4 Feb 93 13:29 PST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: ASGSB information

American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology

The American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology
(ASGSB) was founded in 1984 and is the largest organization
of space life science researchers in the world.  The ASGSB is
a young and rapidly growing organization which fosters
research, education, training, and development in
gravitational and space biology.

Society members are drawn from university, government, and
industry and represent many backgrounds ranging from research
scientists, students, and payload engineers to astronauts,
aerospace researchers, and NASA program managers.  The
Society holds annual meetings and through its publications
and workshops promotes the application of gravitational and
space biology research for solving both terrestrial and space
biological problems.

The ASGSB offers a widely-respected forum for the exchange of
scholarly and applied biological gravitational research data.
More specifically, from the Constitution of the Society, the
purposes of the ASGSB are:

1. To promote research, education, training, and development
in the areas of gravitational and space biology and to apply
the knowledge gained to a better understanding of gravity and
other space environmental factors on the flora and fauna of
the Earth.

2. To disseminate information on gravitational and space
biology research and application of this research to the
solution of terrestrial and space biological problems.

3. To provide a forum for communication among professionals
in government, business, academia, and other segments of
society involved in gravitational and space biological
research and application.

4. To promote the study of concepts and the implementation of
programs that can achieve these ends and further the
advancement and welfare of humankind.


ANNUAL MEETING

The 1993 Annual Meeting of the ASGSB will be held 21-24
October at the Hyatt Regency, Crystal City, Virginia.  The
1994 Annual meeting will be held in October 1994 in San
Francisco, California.

Topics at ASGSB meetings include: plant and animal
gravisensing, biophysics of cellular responses to
microgravity, musculoskeletal physiology, and long duration
human spaceflight.  Also presented are: current Space Shuttle
mission results, payload hardware design, and updates on
Space Station Freedom.  Sessions dedicated to student
presentations are also a regular feature.  For further
information on membership and/or annual meetings, write the address (or email)
below.

MEMBERSHIP:

To apply, please send the following information to:

        ASGSB
        P.O. Box 12247
        Rosslyn, VA 22219

or email to:

        [e-mail]

who will forward to the ASGSB office.


====================================================
        Name:
        Position/affiliation:
        Address:
        Telephone:
        Fax:
        Email:
        Type of membership:
                [ ] Individual,
                [ ] Corporate, or
                [ ] Student
=====================================================

Criteria for individual members:
* Experience and/or education related to ASGSB interests;
* Doctoral degree;
* Masters degree with 2 years of work experience; or
* Bachelors degree with 4 years of work experience

Criteria for student membership:
* Enrollment in a curriculum relevant to the ASGSB's
objectives.

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

Date: Thu, 04 Feb 93 17:21:27 EST
From: Tom <[e-mail]>
Subject: Griping

Hey folks.  I have a small gripe regarding long posts;  I know I'm
just as guilty as anyone of making long posts, when opinion or new
information is running high, and that's good for free information
echange, IMHO.

But can we at least try to limit the super-long attributions?  Maybe just
a line or two, or a synopsis, would be adequate to get the idea of the
thread...just a little reminder.

-Tommy Mac
------------------------------===========================================
Tom McWilliams; Average dude | The Freedom of our minds is what binds us
[e-mail]       | as a Nation; a People.  But the National
[phone] -or- 336-9591 | government tries to bind us, not free us.
------------------------------===========================================

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

Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1993 15:33:34 GMT
From: jason sattler <[e-mail]>
Subject: Honorary Names (was: Today in 1986-Remember the Challenger)
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (jack hagerty) writes:

> Continuing the divergance from this somber thread, Sunnyvale Air Force
> Station, the "Houston Control" for the military  space program, was renamed
> "Onizuka Air Force Station" after the Challenger. I'm sure there must be
> some schools named after McCallife (sp?) too. Have the other Challeger crew
> members been honored by significant namings?
>
    There is a Christa McAuffle (sp?) school in Germantown, MD and a
Dick Scobee drive in Myrtle Beach, SC.

    In Dayton, Ohio there are Challenger Centers in schools to help
children become interested in the space program by having simulated shuttle
liftoffs/missions/landings at school.


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

Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1993 16:35:23 GMT
From: Henry Spencer <[e-mail]>
Subject: In Memorium, RAH (was:needed: a real live space helmet)
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> ssi![e-mail] ("Louis F. Adornato") writes:
>What I'm wondering about is the possibility of naming some sort of geological
>feature after him.  Something on Venus would be appropriate, as all the other
>features there are named for women...

Not quite, actually; Maxwell Montes is named after James Clerk Maxwell.
However, the current rule is that he is to be the only exception.  Besides,
Venus is a cloud-covered hellhole; better RAH should get something with a
view of open space.
--
"God willing... we shall return."       | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
       -Gene Cernan, the Moon, Dec 1972 |  [e-mail]  utzoo!henry

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

Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1993 16:15:03 GMT
From: fred j mccall 575-3539 <[e-mail]>
Subject: Polar Orbit
Newsgroups: sci.space

In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Dave Jones) writes:

>fred j mccall 575-3539 ([e-mail]) wrote:
>> In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>>
>> >Why does the US launch polar orbit missions from Vandenburg? other than for
>> >military missions? I wonder is they know about Poker Flats here in Alaska
>> >which has many of the same benfits as Vandenburg (open spaces) but nicely is
>> >near the pole.. Actually more like near or at the Arctic Circle..
>>
>> They launch from Vandenburg because the facilities exist, the weather
>> is nice and warm, and they have lots of open water to the south for
>> range safety purposes.  Alaska is a bad choice for regular operations.
>> It's too cold for too big a part of the year.
>>
>Unlike, say, Baikonur - or whatever its real name is now.....

Well, Baikonur is in the middle of what amounts to a desert, I
believe, and the Russians typically were not launching segmented
solids.  They're heavily into liquid-fuel boosters, which aren't as
sensitive to the external temperature.

>Actually Alaska does have heavy polar maritime weather which is a whole
>different kettle of fish from mid-continental weather, even if the
>temperature is similar.

--
"Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to live
 in the real world."   -- Mary Shafer, NASA Ames Dryden
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[e-mail] - I don't speak for others and they don't speak for me.

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

Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1993 16:53:07 GMT
From: Henry Spencer <[e-mail]>
Subject: Solar sail (was: ** BUSSARD RAMJET **)
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jason Cooper) writes:
>Just curious...  Does anybody out there know how much acceleration a
>solar sail could offer, and how big it would have to be in area?

As others have pointed out, it depends on materials.  However, the bottom
line is that sail performance is really pretty pitiful unless you get very
close to the Sun and have a very big sail made out of very light material.
Sail thrust at 1 AU is a few micronewtons per square meter.  As interstellar
propulsion, solar sails are marginal at best.  Any system which is already
using fusion or antimatter won't want to bother with a sail.
--
"God willing... we shall return."       | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
       -Gene Cernan, the Moon, Dec 1972 |  [e-mail]  utzoo!henry

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

Date: Thu, 04 Feb 93 17:28:36 EST
From: Tom <[e-mail]>
Subject: Solar wind nits

Tom said:
>>Further nit:  If light has momentum and protons have a wavelength,
>>how do you classify one as wind and not the other?  They are both
>>"stuff emitted from the sun at supersonic velocities" after all.

>>(Yes, I know the light gives greater momentum, and that the def. of
>>solar wind is "Protons from the sun".  But it is a rather arbitrary
>>def., isn't it?)

Josh replies:
> Contrary to what Vanna White may think...[reference to their difference
> in momentum]...calling the
> two the same is a little like spraying gamma rays around when you want a
> flashlight.  "Hey, it's all light, right?"

I didn't call them the same.  I suggested that the definition of solar
wind is a bit arbitrary, since it's based on proton-ness, rather than
wave-icle-ness.  Does the difference in their momentum make the defintion
any less arbitrary?

Aaaand, since we were talking about solar-sails, which are just ways
of catching momentum, it doesn't matter what you use; unlike flashlights,
which are only really effective when they match the frequency response
of human eyeballs.

On the ohter hand...protons interact with Earth's magnetic field, while
photons do not.  But they do both interact with the Earth...

-Tommy Mac
------------------------------===========================================
Tom McWilliams; Average dude | The Freedom of our minds is what binds us
[e-mail]       | as a Nation; a People.  But the National
[phone] -or- 336-9591 | government tries to bind us, not free us.
------------------------------===========================================

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

Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1993 15:26:22 GMT
From: Bruce Dunn <[e-mail]>
Subject: Space Station Freedom Media Handbook - 12/18
Newsgroups: sci.space

From NASA SPACELINK:

"6_10_2_6_5.TXT" (12575 bytes) was created on 10-06-92

Kennedy Space Center

Traditional Center Roles and Missions

Carved out of virgin savanna and marsh in the early 1960s as the
departure point for Project Apollo's manned explorations of the
moon, the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has primary
responsibility for ground turnaround and support operations,
prelaunch checkout and launch of the Space Shuttle and its payloads,
including those of Space Station Freedom.

This responsibility extends to Space Shuttle operations, including the
construction and maintenance of Shuttle payload and flight element
processing facilities, and the development of ground operations
management, processing schedules and logistics, and their use in
support of Shuttle missions and payloads. The construction of a Space
Station Processing Facility began in April of 1991.

Kennedy Space Center responsibility also extends to the facilities and
ground operations at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California
and designated contingency landing sites.

Shortly after President John F. Kennedy announced bold plans in
1961 to fly American astronauts to the moon and return them safely
by the end of the decade, Congress approved development of a strip
of marsh and sandy scrub 34 miles long and five to ten miles wide
on Florida's east coast, midway between Jacksonville and Miami. The
"space coast" of Florida has long been determined ideal for launches
and landings. The Atlantic Missile Range was built at Cape Canaveral,
adjacent to the northern part of Merritt Island where KSC is now
located. Later the Cape Canaveral peninsula became the Eastern Test
Range where both Mercury and Gemini Spacecraft were launched.
NASA began acquiring land across the Banana River from Cape
Canaveral in 1962. By 1967, Complex 39 was operational, and the
new space center was variously known as Cape Kennedy, Cape
Canaveral, and the Cape.

Complex 39 is strategically located next to a barge site and soon
consisted of a variety of structures including a vehicle assembly
building, processing facilities, press site, crawlerways to Complex 39
launch pads, and the launch control center. The Vehicle Assembly
Building (VAB) is described as the "heart" of Complex 39. This huge
building, covering eight acres and standing 525 feet tall, is used for
assembly, stacking and mating of Space Shuttle elements. The Launch
Control Center (LCC) is described as the "brain" of Complex 39.
Launch, mission support, and loading are controlled here.

Twelve manned and unmanned Saturn V/Apollo missions were
launched from the Cape between 1967 and 1972, and in 1973 the
Skylab space station was placed into high-circular orbit, followed by
three-member crews aboard Saturns later that year to tend the
station. The Saturn/Apollo era ended in 1975 with the launch of a
Saturn IV/Apollo crew on a joint manned mission with the former
Soviet Union. Earlier, in 1972, KSC was selected as the primary
launch and landing site for the Space Shuttle because of its existing
facilities and structures.

A three-mile Shuttle Landing Facility and an Orbiter Processing
Facility were built, and the Orbital Flight Test Program began at KSC
in 1979. Within three years, KSC launched the Shuttle four times.
The current phase, commencing in 1982, is called the Shuttle
Operational Period for KSC. The European-built Spacelab was flown
within 18 months, plus a variety of observational, scientific and
communications payloads. By 1983, KSC was involved with parallel
processing of three Space Shuttles. Today KSC continues lead
responsibility for Shuttle integration and rollout, cargo processing,
launch pad operations, and Shuttle recovery. With the launch of STS-
26, the Discovery Orbiter, KSC resumed its primary role in preparing
and launching America's Space Shuttles. KSC also continues its role of
launching unmanned rockets as America prepares to enter the space
station era.

Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF)

By September of 1994, Kennedy Space Center plans operational
readiness for an approximately $72 million Space Station Processing
Facility (SSPF). Construction began in 1991.

The SSPF will be a 466,500 square foot building designed especially
for the processing of Space Station Freedom elements. These
payloads will be launched by multiple Space Shuttle missions using
the cargo bay for transportation and staging.

A high bay will support on-line module and element processing and
large attached payload processing operations. An intermediate bay
will provide rack and payload processing areas. Logistics and support
areas will also be provided.

Nineteen laboratories will be provided in an area adjacent to the
intermediate bay. There will be two chemical labs, two dark rooms,
and fifteen labs for general experiments.

Flight elements will arrive at KSC by various means, including a C-
5A, which has been modified by the U.S. Air Force to carry Shuttle
payloads. A mobile transporter will move the hardware to the SSPF
where it will be removed from shipping containers, inspected, and
serviced in preparation for power-up testing, if necessary. Other
elements, such as pressurized modules, will require full functional
testing at the SSPF. Specific processing steps will be selected from
capabilities appropriate for each flight element.

Generally, each flight element will follow a multiphase handling. The
processing will move from post-arrival inspection through various
technical tests and evaluations that cover all phases of electrical,
electronic, and mechanical systems. These checks will constitute a
well-balanced approach to the systematic testing of elements prior to
flight. During the processing flow, the elements will be protected via
fire suppression, climate control, and other ground support elements.
Since Space Station Freedom is an international program in scope,
elements from Canadian, Japanese, and European partners will also
be processed at Kennedy Space Center. Working with KSC engineers
and technicians, representatives from international flight

organizations will ensure that international and American elements
test out together, and that they are compatible in both software and
hardware applications. The processing will also include important
testing between Payloads Operations Control Centers at various sites
in the U.S. and abroad.

Throughout the process, astronauts will participate in key testing
milestones. This will allow them to become familiarized with the
elements they will be transporting to and using on Space Station
Freedom.

Upon return of the Shuttle from orbit, user payloads will be removed
at the SSPF and routed to international, governmental, and private
users. Logistics modules will be refurbished and refilled for the next
flight to the station. Thousands of orbital replacement line items will
be handled at KSC for logistical purposes aboard the space station.
Nonhazardous station elements will be processed at the SSPF. Such
items as fuel and oxidizers will be loaded on modules at the
hazardous processing facility.

Space Station Freedom Unique Activities

Once the space station elements and systems are manufactured and
tested by either the NASA Work Package Centers, their contractors,
or international partners, all roads will lead to the Kennedy Space
Center in Florida. The various shipments will be off-loaded at KSC for
receiving and inspection in the Space Station Processing Facility
(SSPF). There the space station elements, systems and user payloads
to be launched by the Space Shuttle will be inspected and monitored
for damage or leaks. All structural and mechanical parts will be
reviewed for safety, verification, and interface with elements or
systems from other Centers and partners. Both hardware and
software will be verified for post-shipment health, fit, and
functionality. Pressure, temperature, and humidity will be evaluated,
and some assembly may take place there before the payload is
placed into a canister for transport.

Ground processing of logistics elements will be critical to Space
Station Freedom operations. Three types of logistics carriers will be
designed for the station, supplied and resupplied by the ground crew
at KSC. A pressurized logistics module will carry hardware and
consumables in a benign temporary storage facility, accessible in
orbit without EVA equipment. A fluids pallet will handle the
resupply of consumables for the on-orbit Environmental Control and
Life Support System, laboratories and satellite servicing. An
unpressurized cargo pallet will carry tools, equipment, and supplies.
Each of these will be loaded into the payload canisters for
transportation and installation in the Shuttle cargo bay at KSC and
off-loaded after return for refurbishing and resupply in the Space
Station Processing Facility. Payload canisters are environmentally
controlled. Supporting subsystems, such as instrumentation,
monitoring devices, fluids, gases and electrical power are used as
needed. Users will be expected to provide payload-peculiar Ground
Support Equipment (GSE) and technical data documentation. All
international and domestic users must ensure interface compatibility
of their equipment. Interface and verification of payload-to-station
and station-to-Shuttle will be required before canisters leave the
Space Station Processing Facility.

Various types of payload processing facilities will be used to support
SSPF work, depending upon the mission-unique requirements.
Meanwhile, the orbiter will be prepared for flight, and mated with
the solid rocket boosters and external tank in the Vehicle Assembly
building (VAB) in Complex 39. The VAB covers eight full acres and
stands 525 feet high, one of the largest buildings in the world.
The orbiter and its stack will be moved to the launch pad in a
vertical position. They will be carried by a crawler with four double-
track drives, each 10 feet high and 41 feet long. They will travel
along a roadway as broad as an eight-lane turnpike at about two
miles per hour. Environmentally controlled canisters transport
payloads to the Space Shuttle for installation into the payload bay.
Most Space Station Freedom elements will be installed vertically at
the launch pad after the orbiter is rolled out to the launch pad.
Payloads loaded horizontally are installed in the Orbiter Processing
Facility prior to VAB operations.

Nominal post-landing processing follows roughly the same procedure
in reverse. The returned payload from Space Station Freedom will be
transported to the Space Station Processing Facility after the Orbiter
has been returned and the flight systems hardware removed. At the
SSPF, Kennedy Space Center workers will examine the payload and
return the experiments or products to the users. The reusable flight
systems hardware will be refurbished and tested for the next flight
to Space Station Freedom.

Currently, Shuttle flights to the station are scheduled over a period of
four years, with elements being flown in a "phased construction"
approach to space station assembly. Payload processing can begin
from one year to six months before flight. At any one time, payloads
for several flights can be processed.

Space Station Freedom Project Office

The KSC Space Station Project Office plans for and oversees systems
engineering and integration, ground support equipment
management, operations and customer support, project control, and
logistics systems.

Because NASA has overall responsibility for the integration of both
international and U.S. elements and systems with the National Space
Transportation System, Kennedy will be the focal point for prelaunch
and launch activities. Technicians from Japan, Canada, and ESA will
provide technical and hands-on support for the integration of
international elements at the KSC.

The KSC Space Station Freedom test teams will provide launch site
final acceptance testing and certification of facilities at science and
technology centers, if requested. Launch site testing is designed to
verify major interfaces, provide confidence tests of critical systems,
and verify end-to-end operations between the flight elements and
ground control centers.

The KSC processing team is also responsible for the resupply of the
fluids, supplies, and hardware that require early access to the Orbiter
cargo bay upon return. Less critical items, such as experiment racks
and specimens are off-loaded at the SSPF and routed to users.


The material above is one of many files from SPACELINK
A Space-Related Informational Database
Provided by the NASA Educational Affairs Division
Operated by the Marshall Space Flight Center
On a Data General ECLIPSE MV7800 Minicomputer

SPACELINK may be contacted in three ways:

1) Using a modem, by phone at 205-895-0028

2) Using Telnet, at spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov

3) Using FTP capability. Username is anonymous and Password is guest.
Address is 192.149.89.61.


--
Bruce Dunn    Vancouver, Canada   [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1993 16:43:26 GMT
From: Bruce Dunn <[e-mail]>
Subject: Space Station Freedom Media Handbook - 13/18
Newsgroups: sci.space

From NASA SPACELINK:

"6_10_2_6_6.TXT" (12462 bytes) was created on 10-07-92

Langley Research Center

Traditional Center Roles and Responsibilities

The Langley Research Center (LaRC) is in Hampton, Virginia, on the
tidewater peninsula within the mouth of Chesapeake Bay (Hampton
Roads). Langley's history is a history of NASA itself, having officially
been established by the National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics (NACA), NASA's predecessor, in 1917. Popularly known
as "Langley Field," the Center was dedicated as the Langley Memorial
Aeronautical Laboratory on June 11, 1920, to honor Samuel Pierpont
Langley--a contemporary of the Wright brothers who very nearly
was successful in his own quest to achieve the first engine-powered,
piloted flight. The laboratory was NACA's first research center--and
remained its only such facility until 1939. Langley's first wind tunnel
began operation in 1921, and the Center has since garnered five
Collier Trophies.

Langley has grown to cover more than 800 acres. The Center now
manages nearly 2,000 contracts and a work force of approximately
5,500 civil service or contract personnel, and is one of the world's
premier aerospace research operations. More than 50 major research
and simulation facilities are utilized for work in aeronautics or space
technology, supporting research and development in the fields of
aerodynamics, advanced materials and structures, flight systems,
information systems, acoustics, aeroelasticity, and atmospheric
science. Approximately 26 major wind tunnels are now being used to
explore the entire flight range at a variety of scales.

Aeronautical research accounts for 60 percent of Langley's work. Its
programs reflect studies over the entire range of aeronautical design,
from general aviation and transport aircraft through hypersonic
vehicles. Researchers are working on basic technologies to improve
aircraft through the development of advanced avionics and new
composite fabrication materials, the investigation of vortex flow and
laminar flow, and research to find ways to cope with dangerous
weather conditions such as wind shear, heavy rain, and lightning. In
addition, extensive work was performed in helping NASA develop
the Space Shuttle, and the Center is now applying its expertise to the
design of the proposed National Aerospace Plane.

Langley became part of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration when NASA was formed in 1958. The historic
Mercury program was managed at the Center by its pioneering Space
Task Group. However, important unmanned space programs have
also been managed at Langley. Langley's Lunar Orbiter Program
successfully photographed candidate landing sites on the moon as a
precursor to the Apollo program, and the Center also managed the
Viking Project which, in 1976, placed two unmanned spacecraft into
orbit about Mars and two unprecedented robotic landers on the
surface of the Red Planet. Viking Lander 1, the first spacecraft to
land successfully on Mars, continued to take pictures and monitor
Martian weather at its landing site until November of 1982.
Important NASA Space Shuttle payloads have been developed at
Langley, including the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) and
ACCESS (Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space
Structures). ACCESS, an experiment designed to demonstrate that
large structures can be assembled, tested, repaired and manipulated
in Earth orbit, was flown on STS Mission 61-B in 1985; its experience
will be applied to the development of improved structural assembly
technologies that will one day be utilized in the space station.
LDEF contained 57 experiments contributed by the United States and
eight other countries. It was brought back to Earth during the STS-32
mission in January 1990, after spending nearly six years in space.
LDEF data derived from the effects--on various materials--of long
term exposure to space environments, as well as data on the
manmade and natural debris environment in low Earth orbit, will be
extremely beneficial to the design of the space station.


Space Station Freedom Unique Activities

Space Station Evolution
Langley is responsible for the definition of space station evolution to
meet future needs, such as: increased research and development
activities, support of a return to the moon and support of a manned
expedition to Mars. This responsibility includes conducting missions,
systems and operations analyses; systems level planning of options
and/or configurations; coordinating and integrating study results by
others (including international partners and U.S. industry); chairing
the evolution working group; and supporting advanced development
program planning.

Systems Engineering and Analysis
Langley's Space Station Freedom Office is responsible for providing
Level I engineering support for various systems engineering and
analysis activities. This responsibility includes carrying out
continuing planned studies to provide accurate and current
requirements, as well as engineering analyses for upcoming program
milestones. The engineering analyses involve systems requirements
analysis and definition and systems engineering studies of space
station systems, interfaces and performance. Support is also provided
for the technical assessment of Level I changes and the independent
assessment of flight and ground systems.

Utilization Representation
Langley is responsible for representing the research and engineering
community interested in using the space station for in-space
technology development experimentation. This responsibility
includes conducting user accommodation analyses; representing
NASA's Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST) on
various space station users panels and working groups; participating
in OAST's In-Space Technology Experiments Program; identification
and analysis of the evolutionary space station's technology needs for
OAST; and managing the space station modal identification
experiment.

Langley is also responsible for providing system engineering and
utilization support to the Microgravity Science and Application
Division in the Office of Space Science and Applications.

Space Station Evolution
Space Station Freedom is designed to evolve as a highly flexible and
expandable research platform which will accommodate future
software and hardware growth elements. Langley Advanced
Programs Office (APO) is responsible for studying its evolution in the
context of future needs. This goal reflects research being focused on
systems growth beyond that reflected in the initial completed
configuration, including the study of systems needed to support
initiatives to return to the moon and undertake the human
exploration of Mars.

This responsibility includes conducting evolution studies for Level I,
advanced program definition, change request evaluation for impacts
to evolution capabilities and evolution technology analyses for OAST.
The goals of this work are to define evolution configurations that are
consistent with both user requirements and program constraints, and
the baseline accommodations necessary to satisfy evolution
requirements. A systems analysis capability and an operations
simulation capability to study the operational feasibility of growth
configurations have been or are being developed for this effort.

Systems Engineering & Analysis
Langley's space station office provides Level I engineering support
for various systems engineering and analysis activities. The Center's
previous SE&I involvement in the Space Station Freedom Program
included key studies associated with configuration definition and
launch vehicle utilization, including single/dual keel microgravity
assessment, critical evaluation task force, rephased program options,
the Administrator's mixed fleet study/report, the ASRM enhanced
assembly sequence and Shuttle-C utilization options. A number of
special studies were also performed for agency management,
including the joint LaRC/GSFC stationkeeping platform, SSF assembly
alternatives, and the commercially developed space facility (CDSF)
definition. Langley also participated in the 90-day study of the
Human Exploration Initiative (HEI) now called Space Exploration
Initiative (SEI).

Langley has developed an extensive multidisciplinary systems
engineering analysis capability supported by advanced CAD/CAE
analytical tools. The Level I engineering support role will utilize this
capability to conduct various user studies of SSF systems, interfaces
and performance. These studies are expected to include such issues
as: EVA utilization, space suit development, and assembly stage
systems performance issues associated with in-flight assembly and
buildup alternatives; assembly and logistics relating to the use of a
mixed launch vehicle fleet; power and thermal systems capacity;
phase-up ACRV accommodation/interface assessments; information
management and software system architecture performance
assessment.

Utilization Representation

To ensure that the space station will accommodate a variety of user
activities, Langley is responsible for representing the research and
engineering community (industry, universities and government)
interested in in-space technology development experimentation. This
experimentation includes: basic or applied research to improve
understanding of phenomena and buildup of engineering databases;
technology development involving test and evaluation of prototype
components and subsystems; and demonstrations involving proof of
maturity and performance verification in integrated system context.
Langley is also responsible for conducting various use
accommodation analyses such as determining support equipment
outfitting needs, assessing the station's ability to accommodate all
known technology disciplines, and developing and maintaining a
technology experiment database of all planned technology
experiments. Langley represents OAST on various space station user
panels and working groups, including the user integration panel; user
design accommodation working group; design reference mission
working group; ground operations panel; multilateral payload
integration emulation study; small and rapid response steering
committee; and the support equipment development steering
committee which defines and develops industry, academic and NASA
in-space experiments.

The program includes experiments in space structures, space
environmental effects, power systems and thermal management,
fluid management and propulsion systems automation and robotics,
sensor and information systems, in-space systems, and humans-in-
space systems. These experiments will initially utilize the Space
Shuttle or ELVs (expendable launch vehicles) but they will transition
to the space station as it becomes available. One of these
experiments, the Space Station Modal Identification Experiment, is
being managed by Langley. This experiment will instrument the
space station and provide valuable engineering data to validate
computer modeling codes and lay the basis for future large space
systems, including space station evolution.

Space Station Freedom Organization

The Langley Space Station Freedom Office is the focal point for the
Center's involvement in the agency-wide Space Station Freedom
Program and is responsible for the implementation and coordination
of Langley's direct support of the program. This organization
currently includes more than 40 civil servants, and there are an
additional 50 people working in other Langley organizations
supporting research, studies and analysis.

The Langley Space Station Freedom Office is NASA's lead office for
the identification, definition and evaluation of evolutionary space
station capabilities, and for the identification of technology and
advanced development required for long-term evolutionary
development. The office also has a lead role in providing Level I
engineering support for systems engineering and analysis.
Finally, this organization represents the engineering community that
will be involved with the space station as technology users. It
advocates flight experiments for future NASA Space Shuttle flights
that will contribute to space station technology use, as well as those
from technology programs that can contribute to both the initial
space station operational capability and the evolutionary space
station.


The material above is one of many files from SPACELINK
A Space-Related Informational Database
Provided by the NASA Educational Affairs Division
Operated by the Marshall Space Flight Center
On a Data General ECLIPSE MV7800 Minicomputer

SPACELINK may be contacted in three ways:

1) Using a modem, by phone at 205-895-0028

2) Using Telnet, at spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov

3) Using FTP capability. Username is anonymous and Password is guest.
Address is 192.149.89.61.


--
Bruce Dunn    Vancouver, Canada   [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1993 14:25:51 GMT
From: Alan Carter <[e-mail]>
Subject: Using off-the-shelf-components
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Jerry Szopinski Mfg 4-6983) writes:
|> ...
|> Even given reliable, low-cost space transport and space stations with
|> artificial gravity, etc., you're still going to need parts that are going
|> to withstand the rigors of space travel.  Space stations and bases are
|> going to be spread-out pretty far; it wom't be like jumping into your car
|> and running down to the nearest mall...
|>
|> Then there's the fact that some missions/explorations are going to last
|> weeks, months, maybe even years...
|>
|> In the early 1960's the government established a series of Military
|> Standard (MIL-STD) specifications for components that were to go into
|> NASA and military vehicles/equipment.  These specifications require items
|> to be tested above and beyond the normal testing that manufacturers
|> usually do; this is the main reason why NASA/military-qualified parts
|> cost so much.
|>
|>     ...he doesn't want to waste his valuable time troubleshooting/fixing/
|> swapping-out parts.

This cuts both ways. Hasselblad and Rolex haven't done so bad out of the
fact that their off-the-shelf products *are* space qualified. And because
they amortise the development and manufacturing costs of these high quality
products over more than a half dozen astronauts, the cost to the US space
program is no greater than it is to the person who wants a really nice watch.

Ultra-high costs of space qualified components are only unavoidable in an
economy that is oriented towards achieving the lowest possible manufacturing
cost rather than the lowest desirable manufacturing cost of a product, and
them multiplying the margin on that low price by achieving multiple sales
through built in redundancy.

I will need a watch every day until my "mission" to be rich enough to throw
it away is completed. Are the astronaut and I really so different in our
desires (qualitatively at least)?

Spin-off is a somewhat discredited concept today, but might there be some
milage in taking a whole section of an economy into very high quality
manufacturing, with the space program as sink rather than source?

   Alan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Maidenhead itself is too snobby to be pleasant. It is the haunt of the
   river swell and his overdressed female companion. It is the town of showy
   hotels, patronized chiefly by dudes and ballet girls.

   Three Men In A Boat, Jerome K. Jerome, 1889
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 133
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