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THE SPACE SHUTTLE Roles, Missions and Accomplishments

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THE SPACE SHUTTLE Roles, Missions and Accomplishments THE SPACE SHUTTLE Roles, Missions and Accomplishments David M. Harland formerly Visiting Professor, University of Strathclyde, UK JOHN WILEY & SONS Chichester • New York • Weinheim • Brisbane • Singapore • Toronto Published in association with PRAXIS PUBLISHING Chichester Table of contents Foreword xiii Author's preface xv Acknowledgements xvii List of illustrations and tables xix PARTI: OPERATIONS 1 Origins 3 Cost-benefit 4 Ways and means 5 The stack 10 Glide trials 14 Launch facilities 18 2 Shuttle operations 21 Test flights 21 Thedreamtime 32 A major malfunction 60 Grounded 72 Return to flight 77 The long hot summer 82 Catch-up 84 Endeavour 89 The big test 95 Visiting rights 99 The milk run 104 3 Communications satellites 111 The Aces 114 Satellites galore 114 viii Table of contents Ever more capacity 119 Tracking and data relay 120 Market factors 124 4 No mission too difficult 131 Anticipation and triumph 133 Two up and two down 145 Hot-wiring a satellite 150 Astonaut hard-hats 154 Try, try and try again 158 Back to basics 164 The task ahead 173 5 The darker side 175 'Pact with the devil' 175 C, An inauspicious start 177 Reconnaisance 178 Communications 181 Early warning 184 Navigation 186 Star Wars 187 Spaceflight engineers 192 Military-Man-In-Space 193 ^ The return of the Titans 195 PART 2: WEIGHTLESSNESS 6 Materials processing 199 Electrophoresis 200 Phase partitioning 203 Protein crystals 204 Generic processors 209 Polymers 211 Fluids, melts and inorganic crystals 213 Combustion 219 Limitations of microgravity 221 7 Facilities for commercial research 223 Spacehab 225 Industrial space facility 228 Wake shield facility 229 All due credit 232 8 Biology 235 Flora 235 Table of contents ix Fauna 237 Human 244 PART 3: EXPLORATION 9 The Hubble Space Telescope • 255 The great observatory 255 Years of frustration 256 Deployment 257 Instruments 258 Aberration 259 Corrective optics 260 Observations 262 Top of the list! 262 In our own backyard 264 Stars, clusters, galaxies and quasars 265 A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away 267 The big issue 268 Operational strategy 270 10 The Gamma Ray Observatory 271 Instruments 272 Spacecraft 274 Results 275 Cosmic rays 275 Supernova remnants 276 Black holes 276 The burster enigma 277 Meanwhile, back home 279 A joy to work with 280 11 Spacelabs and free-flyers 281 Instruments 281 Missions 282 Varied programme 284 Clearing up an outstanding mystery 286 Free-flyers 288 Spartan 288 Orfeus 289 12 Forthcoming attractions 291 Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) 291 Space InfraRed Telescope Facility (SIRTF) 292 VLA-plus 295 Whither the shuttle 295 x Table of contents 13 Galileo's ordeal 297 Which way 299 The long haul 301 The big day 308 Mission of exploration 309 Lost opportunities 309 14 Dante's Inferno 311 Ulysses 312 Slingshot 313 Primary mission 316 Meanwhile 317 Mission accomplished 319 15 Magellan's triumph 321 Project definition 321 Away at last 323 Mapping mission 325 Gravity survey 326 Last act 326 16 Home planet 329 The atmosphere 329 Radiation budget 332 Upper atmosphere research satellite 335 Atmospheric laboratory for applications and science 339 Spaceborne lidar 343 Terra firma 343 Mapping from orbit 346 Shuttle radar laboratory 347 Earth observing system 351 An integrated platform 353 PART 4: OUTPOST 17 Unexpected opportunity 357 Cooperation 357 Close approach 358 First tour 360 Atlantis... now arriving! 363 Space truck 369 Comings and goings :.. 371 Good times and bad 374 The calm after the storm 380 Table of contents xi 18 An island in the sky 381 Freedom 381 Alpha 382 Two in one 383 The International Space Station 386 Assembly 388 Preparations 394 Operations 396 Round the clock 396 AH year round 397 What goes up must come down 398 The end of the beginning 399 PART 5: CONCLUSIONS 19 The evolving role 405 The missed opportunity 405 Natural selection 406 The heavy-lifter 408 A matter of cost 409 Risky business 410 A mixed fleet 411 The Challenger's legacy 412 Shuttle mission log 415 Glossary 441 Bibliography .'.' 503 Index 509.
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