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From: [e-mail] (Jon Leech)
Newsgroups: sci.space.tech,sci.space.science,sci.answers,news.answers
Subject: Space FAQ 07/13 - Mission Schedules
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Date: 17 Sep 1996 15:52:33 -0400
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Archive-name: space/schedule
Last-modified: $Date: 96/09/17 15:40:34 $

    Compilation copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by Jonathan P. Leech. This
    document may be redistributed in its complete and unmodified form. Other
    use requires written permission of the author.

SPACE SHUTTLE ANSWERS, LAUNCH SCHEDULES, TV COVERAGE

    SHUTTLE LAUNCHINGS AND LANDINGS; SCHEDULES AND HOW TO SEE THEM

    Steven S. Pietrobon ([e-mail]) posts a compressed
    version of the Space Shuttle launch manifest to sci.space.shuttle. This
    includes dates, times, payloads, and information on how to see launches
    and landings. These files are in

        ftp://audrey.levels.unisa.edu.au/space/shuttle.man
        ftp://audrey.levels.unisa.edu.au/space/shuttle.txt

    For the most up to date information on upcoming missions, call toll-free
    (800)-KSC-INFO (800-572-4636) or (407) 867-INFO (867-4636) at Kennedy
    Space Center.

    Official NASA shuttle status reports are posted to sci.space.news
    frequently.


    WHY DOES THE SHUTTLE ROLL JUST AFTER LIFTOFF?

    The following answer and translation are provided by Ken Jenks
    ([e-mail]).

    The "Ascent Guidance and Flight Control Training Manual," ASC G&C 2102,
    says:

    "During the vertical rise phase, the launch pad attitude is
    commanded until an I-loaded V(rel) sufficient to assure launch tower
    clearance is achieved. Then, the tilt maneuver (roll program)
    orients the vehicle to a heads down attitude required to generate a
    negative q-alpha, which in turn alleviates structural loading. Other
    advantages with this attitude are performance gain, decreased abort
    maneuver complexity, improved S-band look angles, and crew view of
    the horizon. The tilt maneuver is also required to start gaining
    downrange velocity to achieve the main engine cutoff (MECO) target
    in second stage."

    This really is a good answer, but it's couched in NASA jargon. I'll try
    to interpret.

    1)    We wait until the Shuttle clears the tower before rolling.

    2)    Then, we roll the Shuttle around so that the angle of attack
    between the wind caused by passage through the atmosphere (the
    "relative wind") and the chord of the wings (the imaginary line
    between the leading edge and the trailing edge) is a slightly
    negative angle ("a negative q-alpha").    This causes a little bit of
    "downward" force (toward the belly of the Orbiter, or the +Z
    direction) and this force "alleviates structural loading."
    We have to be careful about those wings -- they're about the
    most "delicate" part of the vehicle.

    3)    The new attitude (after the roll) also allows us to carry more
    mass to orbit, or to achieve a higher orbit with the same mass, or
    to change the orbit to a higher or lower inclination than would be
    the case if we didn't roll ("performance gain").

    4)    The new attitude allows the crew to fly a less complicated
    flight path if they had to execute one of the more dangerous abort
    maneuvers, the Return To Launch Site ("decreased abort maneuver
    complexity").

    5)    The new attitude improves the ability for ground-based radio
    antennae to have a good line-of-sight signal with the S-band radio
    antennae on the Orbiter ("improved S-band look angles").

    6)    The new attitude allows the crew to see the horizon, which is a
    helpful (but not mandatory) part of piloting any flying machine.

    7)    The new attitude orients the Shuttle so that the body is
    more nearly parallel with the ground, and the nose to the east
    (usually).  This allows the thrust from the engines to add velocity
    in the correct direction to eventually achieve orbit.  Remember:
    velocity is a vector quantity made of both speed and direction.
    The Shuttle has to have a large horizontal component to its
    velocity and a very small vertical component to attain orbit.

    This all begs the question, "Why isn't the launch pad oriented to give
    this nice attitude to begin with?  Why does the Shuttle need to roll to
    achieve that attitude?"  The answer is that the pads were leftovers
    from the Apollo days.  The Shuttle straddles two flame trenches -- one
    for the Solid Rocket Motor exhaust, one for the Space Shuttle Main
    Engine exhaust.  (You can see the effects of this on any daytime
    launch.  The SRM exhaust is dirty gray garbage, and the SSME exhaust is
    fluffy white steam.  Watch for the difference between the "top"
    [Orbiter side] and the "bottom" [External Tank side] of the stack.) The
    access tower and other support and service structure are all oriented
    basically the same way they were for the Saturn V's.  (A side note: the
    Saturn V's also had a roll program.  Don't ask me why -- I'm a Shuttle
    guy.)

    I checked with a buddy in Ascent Dynamics.    He added that the "roll
    maneuver" is really a maneuver in all three axes: roll, pitch and yaw.
    The roll component of that maneuver is performed for the reasons
    stated.  The pitch component controls loading on the wings by keeping
    the angle of attack (q-alpha) within a tight tolerance.  The yaw
    component is used to determine the orbital inclination.  The total
    maneuver is really expressed as a "quaternion," a grad-level-math
    concept for combining all three rotation matrices in one four-element
    array.


    HOW TO RECEIVE THE NASA TV CHANNEL, NASA SELECT

    NASA SELECT is broadcast by satellite. If you have access to a satellite
    dish, you can find SELECT on SpaceNet 2, Transponder 5, C-Band, 69
    degrees West Longitude. SELECT has been moved from Satcom F2R to a
    satellite even further to the east, and is apparently even more
    difficult to receive in California and points west. During events of
    special interest (e.g. shuttle missions), SELECT is sometimes broadcast
    on a second satellite for these viewers.

    If you can't get a satellite feed, some cable operators carry SELECT.
    It's worth asking if yours doesn't.

    The SELECT schedule is found in the NASA Headline News which is
    frequently posted to sci.space.news. Generally it carries press
    conferences, briefings by NASA officials, and live coverage of shuttle
    missions and planetary encounters. SELECT has recently begun carrying
    much more secondary material (associated with SPACELINK) when missions
    are not being covered.


    AMATEUR RADIO FREQUENCIES FOR SHUTTLE MISSIONS

    The following are believed to rebroadcast space shuttle mission audio:

    W6FXN  - Los Angeles
    K6MF   - Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California
    WA3NAN - Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Maryland.
    W5RRR  - Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston, Texas
    W6VIO  - Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California.
    W1AW Voice Bulletins

    Station    VHF       10m       15m       20m      40m     80m
    ------     ------  ------  ------  ------  -----    -----
    W6FXN     145.46
    K6MF     145.585             7.165    3.840
    WA3NAN     147.45  28.650  21.395  14.295  7.185    3.860
    W5RRR     146.64  28.400  21.350  14.280  7.227    3.850
    W6VIO     224.04         21.340  14.270
    W6VIO     224.04         21.280  14.282  7.165    3.840
    W1AW         28.590  21.390  14.290  7.290    3.990

    W5RRR transmits mission audio on 146.64, a special event station on the
    other frequencies supplying Keplerian Elements and mission information.

    W1AW also transmits on 147.555, 18.160. No mission audio but they
    transmit voice bulletins at 0245 and 0545 UTC.

    Frequencies in the 10-20m bands require USB and frequencies in the 40
    and 80m bands LSB. Use FM for the VHF frequencies.

    [This item was most recently updated courtesy of Gary Morris
    ([e-mail], KK6YB, N5QWC)]


    SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER FUEL COMPOSITION

    Reference: "Shuttle Flight Operations Manual" Volume 8B - Solid Rocket
    Booster Systems, NASA Document JSC-12770

    Propellant Composition (percent)

    Ammonium perchlorate (oxidizer)            69.6
    Aluminum                        16
    Iron Oxide (burn rate catalyst)            0.4
    Polybutadiene-acrilic acid-acrylonitrile (a rubber) 12.04
    Epoxy curing agent                    1.96

    End reference

    Comment: The aluminum, rubber, and epoxy all burn with the oxidizer.

NEXT: FAQ #8/13 - Historical planetary probes