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Mission update Vol. 35, No. 5 March 15, 1996 Spaceport News America's gateway to the universe. Leading the world in preparing and launching missions to planet Earth and beyond. John F. Kennedy Space Center

Mission: STS-75 on Columbia. KSC to be recognized as Quality award finalist Landing date, time: March 9, 8:58 a.m. at Kennedy Space Although Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. Center was not selected as a winner of the 1996 Presidential Mission synopsis: Columbia landed on orbit 252 after traveling Award for Quality, the center 6.5 million miles in orbit on mission will be recognized at the 9th STS-75. This was the 29th KSC annual Office of Personnel Man- landing in the history of the Shuttle agement (OPM) national confer- program. The mission, at 15 days, ence on federal quality in Wash- 17 hours and 40 minutes, was the ington, D.C. on June 5th. As third longest in the Shuttle members of the “Winners program. Circle,” ten finalists, including Ken Szalai, director of the Dryden KSC, will be recognized by the Flight Research Center and chairman of the panel investigating OPM and will be presented an the loss of the Tethered Satellite, award by Vice President Al said members of that committee Gore. will be meeting at KSC over the The evaluation report pro- next several weeks to study the vided by OPM stated that KSC tether which returned in CREW MEMBERS for STS-76, posing during Terminal Countdown Test Demonstration is strong in all seven categories Columbia's payload bay. (TCDT) activities at Launch Pad 39B, are, from the left, Mission Specialists Linda Godwin considered in the application. and Shannon Lucid, Commander Kevin Chilton, Mission Specialists Michael "Rich" Clifford and Ronald Sega and Pilot Richard Searfoss. The report stated that KSC employees exhibit tremendous pride in their work, that management shows a high concern STS-76 to propel Lucid for employee safety and well being, that KSC is to be con- to long-term stay on Mir gratulated for its ongoing commitment to quality and that further success in the establish- Veteran space traveler Shan- Deshays from ment of a comprehensive qual- non Lucid is about to become a the French ity management system should member of four different flight Space Agency. lead to future gains and further crews in a brief four-and-a-half In August, consideration. Mission: STS-76 on Atlantis. month period. Lucid will The Army Research, Develop- Already assigned as a mis- transfer back to ment and Engineering Center, Launch date, time: March 21, sion specialist on the upcoming Atlantis when 3:35 a.m. from Launch Pad Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, was flight of Atlantis on Mission fellow astro- 39B. nominated for the Presidential STS-76, she will transfer to the LUCID naut John Bla- Award for Quality. The U.S. Russian Mir Space Station dur- Mission synopsis: The third ha arrives to Army C41 Logistics and Readi- ing the nine-day flight and tag docking between the U.S. take her place on Mir. She will ness Center, Fort Monmouth, up with the Mir 21 crew already Space Shuttle Atlantis and the then become a member of the NJ, was selected as a winner of Russian Space Station Mir will on board. STS-79 crew for the trip back the Quality Improvement Pro- be highlighted by several Mir 21 Commander Yuri home. totype award. KSC won that activities: a crew transfer, an Onufrienko and Flight Engineer It’s unlikely that this turn- award in 1995. extravehicular activity (EVA), Yuri Usachev and Lucid will over in crew members or any- logistics operations and A report from site visitors work together aboard the sta- thing else she might encounter scientific research. who helped make the final se- tion until July, when the Mir 22 on Mir will faze Lucid, whom lection stated that KSC contin- crew takes over. Joining Lucid STS-76 Mission Commander ues to be a prototype in the man- at that time will be Mir 22 Com- Kevin Chilton believes was born agement of quality and perfor- Landing date, time: March 30, mander Gennady Manakov, to fly in space. “She’s just a natu- mance improvement. It was sug- 8:05 a.m. at Kennedy Space Flight Engineer Pavel Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. Vinogradov and Claudie Andre- (See STS-76, Page 8) (See QUALITY, Page 7) Page 2 SPACEPORT NEWS March 15, 1996 Hands-on badge checks reduce KSC security risk

Most employees approaching threat, he said. The hands-on a Kennedy Space Center secu- checks currently in effect are rity gate have experienced at primarily an effort to get driv- one time or another that mo- ers to slow down and give the mentary panic that although officers a good look at the access they made it to work, maybe badge. their badge did not. With all the different badges And, to top it off, on that par- that authorize entrance to the ticular day the security officers center, it is important to periodi- inevitably aren’t just looking for cally check and make sure a flash through the windshield proper identification is being — they want to touch the badge used, Burch said. itself. The recent checks have al- Hands-on badge checks have ready uncovered an employee been occurring more frequently who has not had a picture badge in recent weeks and security of- for several weeks as well as SUE BOSCH, an EG&G security officer, conducts a hand-on badge check for an ficials say that once employees employees who were using employee entering Kennedy Space Center. understand the importance of badges for other facilities to gain such close-range checks they are access to KSC. plinary action. and to be prepared to show their generally cooperative in sup- Badges can also be replicated, The need for enhanced secu- badge when they enter the porting them. Burch said. rity at federal facilities was un- gate,” Burch said. Requirements for hands-on Official badges contain a ho- derscored after the Oklahoma If traffic backup at a particu- checks have been in place for logram which cannot be easily City Federal Building bombing lar gate is ever a problem, offic- about a decade, said Cal Burch, reproduced. last year when President ers are authorized to stop the chief of the Protective Services Use of a falsified badge or one Clinton issued an executive or- checks until the logjam is Office. that belongs to another em- der emphasizing the need for cleared, he said. The checks are emphasized at ployee is a violation of federal protective measures. The checks will continue on different times depending on law and KSC security proce- “The bottom line is we would a periodic basis for the indefi- any local or national security dures and could result in disci- ask employees to be cooperative, nite future, he said.

KSC awards contract Employees of the month for lighter insulation

NASA’s Kennedy Space Center awarded a $1.8 million contract to Albany Interna- tional Research Company on Feb. 13 to manufacture lighter insulation materials needed to increase the orbiter’s capability. The contract calls for 6,560 square feet of a thinner Felt Reusable Surface Insula- tion (FRSI). Installing the lighter FRSI will increase the Shuttle’s payload capacity for future space station-related missions. The FRSI is made of a felt material that is coated with a silicon rubber. It protects the orbiter from the extreme temperatures experienced during launch and re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. NASA decided to modify the orbiter’s thermal protection system (TPS) in March 1994 following a thorough study. TPS data gathered from more than 70 Shuttle flights gave strong support to their decision. HONORED IN MARCH are, from the left, Larry Jones, Shuttle Operations Directorate; Michael Cardinale, The Space Shuttle Discovery is currently Biomedical Operations Directorate; Chris Beidel, Administration Office; Margaret Gibb, Payload Operations Directorate; Dennis Peterson, Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate; Linda Ranow, Procurement Office; being modified in Palmdale, CA. The rest Billy Wilson, Installation Operations Directorate; Ralonda Farrant, Engineering Development Directorate; and of the fleet will undergo similar modifica- Steve Huff, Logistics Directorate. Not pictured is Cheryl Ford, Comptroller's Office. tions. March 15, 1996 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 3

Quick repair returns Atlantis to pad

SEATED FROM THE LEFT, KSC Deputy Director Gene Thomas, NASA Associate Deputy Administrator Michael Mott, and Andrew Cummins, vice president of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., of Allentown, PA, approve a one-year cooperative agreement to jointly develop a prototype of a two-phase flow meter. NASA, industry combine to develop innovative KSC-designed flow meter

By Joel Wells the space agency and the commercial market. An innovative, KSC-designed “This meter was conceived at flow meter that could improve the space center to provide a production in the cryogenic fu- more accurate means to mea- els, petroleum and food process- sure the flow of two-phase cryo- ing industries will be developed genic fluids as they are loaded for commercial use through the aboard the Space Shuttle before first cooperative venture of its launch,” said KSC lead project kind. engineer Rudy Werlink. NASA and Air Products and “Existing sensors do not have Chemicals, Inc., of Allentown, the rapid response and sensitiv- PA, signed a one-year coopera- ity required to correlate the data THE SPACE Shuttle tive agreement March 7 to of a flowing mixture. The fact Atlantis' trip to jointly develop a prototype of the that this flow meter will have Launch Pad 39B two-phase flow meter. “This new that capability makes this de- Feb. 28 exper- technology will serve as the ba- sign innovative,” Werlink said. ienced an un- expected delay sis for the development of a cryo- The flow meter also provides an when two of the 48 genic flow/quality measuring accurate determination of the crawler transporters device that can be used by many liquid-to-gas ratio or quality of cleats, or "shoes," industries,” said Kristen Riley of the mixture. on the tread split apart during the the KSC Technology Programs Werlink initially conceived early morning roll- and Commercialization Office. the design for the flow/quality out. Repairs were “This is our first cooperative meter in 1993. Bob Younquist completed in about agreement where NASA devel- of I-NET Inc., an engineering six hours, delaying the arrival of the opmental funds are provided to support contractor at KSC, led Shuttle at the pad by a for-profit organization,” Riley the developmental efforts on the that amount of time. said. “Both NASA and Air Prod- electronic control system and ucts will provide funding, man- collaborated on the physical de- power and facilities to develop sign. prototypes of the new technol- “Our initial testing of these ogy.” prototypes has been encourag- The effort is a part of the ing,” Werlink said. “We plan to NASA Dual-Use Program, in provide enhancements to the which space program technology microprocessor and make other is jointly developed with an in- modifications during the next dustry partner for use both by phase of development.” Page 4 SPACEPORT NEWS

ational Engineers' National Engineers' Week re Week activities went students respond in a very The Shuttle Logistics Direc- N on-line this year, positive manner, it gives us a torate followed the Shuttle enabling engineers, teachers morale boost to share our Operations lead and adopted and students to have immediate chosen professions. We can Atlantic Elementary School in access to information on motivate students to often excel February, replicating many of planned activities. During the beyond the family norm that the programs previously imple- month of February, 250 engi- they are accustomed to.” mented at Fairglen. neers and 5,000 Brevard County Lockheed Martin sent six students took part in engineer- engineers to seven different The Safety and Mission ing-related events designed to schools. Assurance Directorate adopted increase awareness and South Lake Elementary School appreciation of the engineering Steve Chance and George and continues to present career profession. ALTHOUGH focused on Brevard County, KSC's input into National Education Week Veaudry of the Payload Opera- presentations to all grade levels. A National Engineers’ Week extended throughout the region. Students tions Directorate led an effort to With 52 engineers talking to a (NEW) home page developed at Mountain Road Elementary School in send 30 engineers to speak to grade level per month, the by the Society of Manufacturing Atlanta created their own mission badges Indialantic Elementary School directorate reaches about 700 Engineers and available on the and sent them to the Public Affairs Office's Education Branch in appreciation for students. That directorate has students during the year. The World Wide Web (http:// materials they used during the week. also developed a home page school's end-of-the-year pro- www.sme.org), provided objec- with a bulleted item on educa- gram May 17 will include a tives of the program to make it way for further automated easier for those who were documentation and record- interested in participating. keeping for all NASA programs. NASA Headquarters went a ll 76 Brevard County step further by developing a schools were con- short event report accessible on A tacted by KSC the Internet to document all organizations and offered career presentations to the schools. speakers. Several other groups Although National Engineers' and private schools also re- Week was officially Feb. 18-24, quested speakers, said Jane KSC has always extended the Hodges, aerospace education objectives of the program specialist and KSC coordinator throughout the year due to so of National Engineers' Week. many interested volunteers and Some examples of experi- requests from the schools. Most ences of KSC employees of the NASA directorates and include: contractors participate in the program along with hundreds of Cindy Mead, Lockheed personnel involved in area Martin Space Operations schools. chemical engineer, stated, “Not The on-line data will pave the only do the teachers and STUDENTS prepare for a model rocket launch during U.S. SPACE CAMP.

tional outreach to enable simulated launch of a model employees to learn about its Shuttle, with students participat- education efforts and inform the ing as the launch team. general public about NASA’s commitment to education. St. Mary’s Catholic School was supported by the Adminis- The Shuttle Operations tration Office. Five employees Directorate adopted Fairglen spoke to 4th-, 5th-, and 6th- Elementary School three years grade students about becoming ago and continued to share their engineers, astronauts and careers during February. The scientists. engineers work with all grade levels throughout the year to Four scientists from the encourage students to excel in Biomedical Operations Office math, science and technology. shared their expertise at In addition, approximately 70 Golfview Elementary School as engineers sponsored Math they judged the school's el- PHIL SWIHART of Rocketdyne demonstrates the propulsion system as related to the Superstars, Lego Logo, Science ementary science fair. Astronauts' Manned Manuevering Unit (MMU) during a presentation at South Lake Club and one-to-one tutoring. Elementary School. SPACEPORT NEWS Page 5 students in person, on-line made for use on Earth, but United States Air Force partici- others are made for space” and pated in the Cocoa Academy for Day" designed to “Can it go through fire?” by “No, Aerospace Technology Student/ encourage it has a computer in it and if it Mentor program. students to enjoy went through fire, the computer reading. would stop working.” He pointed The heightened emphasis out that some robots, however, placed on National Engineers' Lockheed are designed to work in fires. Week and the special events Martin Astronau- surrounding the event reflect a tics Launch Rocketdyne reached 402 renewed drive by NASA and its Operations-Cape students at Ronald McNair contractors to educate the Canaveral Air Magnet, Kennedy Middle and public on careers in engineer- Station arranged for Gen. Forrest McCartney, vice president launch operations; Curt Bigalow, information systems chief; and M.J. Blanchard, special assignments; to speak to the first through sixth graders at Mila Elementary School. Gen. SHARON WHITE and David Banks of the Procurement McCartney re- Office prepare for a presentation at the Caminiti Exceptional ceived the following Center in Tampa. letter from one of the fifth graders: Dear Gen. McCartney: he Equal Opportunity I’m thanking you for coming Office sponsored in and teaching me about: T National Engineers’ Learning, Respect and Health. Day for Andrew Jackson Junior My most favorite speech was High School and Thomas when you were talking about Jefferson Middle School. Among Respect. Because I really think the activities: 100 students you got into our heads about LAUNCH DIRECTOR Jim Harrington and Safety and Quality Assurance Director JoAnn attended a rocket building how to respect others. I espe- Morgan judge artwork submitted by students from Andrew Jackson Middle School and session at SPACE CAMP, an art cially enjoyed it when you told Thomas Jefferson Junior High School. poster contest was judged by us about that when you treat Astronaut High Schools. Pre- ing, Hodges said. She said it is Safety and Mission Assurance others with respect you’ll get sentations included group hoped the ongoing effort will Director JoAnn Morgan and respect back. Another thing I discussions, lectures, NASA make a difference in students' Launch Director Jim Harrington, want to thank you for is telling videos, demonstrations, team futures. and presentations were given by us about is health because last activities and a tour of KSC. engineers Nate Wright and Joan night I started brushing my Higginbotham and KSC Associ- teeth. Because I wasn’t brush- McDonnell Douglas Space ate Director Al Parrish. ing my teeth for awhile. and Defense Systems employees visited students at Pin- Sharon White and David teve Van Meter, a ewood Elementary, Central Banks from the Procurement specialist with the Junior High, Melbourne High Office presented “Exploring S Advanced Systems and Astronaut High Schools. A Space” at the Caminiti Excep- Robotics Lab in the Engineering mini-engineering expo at tional Center in Tampa to 75 Development Directorate, Astronaut High School gave students at all grade levels. accepted Ellenton Schools’ employees a chance to provide invitation to speak in Palmetto. computer demonstrations and NASA alumnus Sam More than l00 children re- career discussions on Feb. 23. Beddingfield spoke on “Space sponded enthusiastically to a The Golfview Science Fair was Basics” at Mims Elementary robot demonstration. Questions also judged by McDonnell School. He shared former from the students, such as “Can Douglas employees. In addition, THIS MISSION PATCH, drawn by a student at Mountain Ridge Elementary in astronaut Sally Ride’s book to it be used in outer space?” McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed Atlanta, features an astronaut exploring kick off the "Love of Reading were answered by, “This one is Martin, Rockwell, Harris and the "The Unlimited" universe. Page 6 SPACEPORT NEWS March 15, 1996

KSC EMPLOYEE Mike Drummond looks over some of his AFTER the carving is complete, Drummond finishes a piece by handiwork. He does not use magnification when he carves. carefully coloring it with an acrylic ceramic paint.

KSC high crew rigger's hobby really sticks out

By Barb Compton Drummond’s fascination with toothpicks by jokingly commenting that he would probably ike Drummond has the kind of be capable of carving on one. job that can reduce an avid His tools are basic — toothpicks (prefer- space junkie to wide-eyed M ably of the Birch variety from California) and amazement — he helps construct the a No. 11 Exacto knife. rigging that allows workers access to the Once he completes the carving, he Space Shuttle while it is being processed at finishes the sculpture with an acrylic ce- Kennedy Space Center. ramic coating from bottles marked with the Because the Lockheed-Martin space color names. Operations Company employee routinely The names are a necessity because works face to face with the world’s most Drummond is color blind, a fact that doesn’t reliable space plane, a marvel of technologi- deter him from brightly topping off his cal achievement, it is perhaps a little more finished product. understandable that he often seems bewil- he artwork is then inserted into the dered by the attention his hobby evokes. SOME of Drummond's favorites include, from the left, cork stopper of an inverted test Drummond carves toothpicks. More football player Joe Montana, dancer Fred Astaire, boxer tube which serves as a display specifically, using an Exacto knife, he turns George Foreman, Bugs Bunny, a camera on a tripod, T case. the tops of toothpicks into works of art. the Space Shuttle lifting off and dropping its solid rocket boosters, and a surfer girl. Drummond’s sales have come largely The soft-spoken artist has created through word of mouth. hundreds of sculptures, from sports figures Drummond has developed carpal tunnel A fellow KSC employee put him in touch to nature scenes to Space Shuttles — syndrome in his hands. He says the tension with a manager of Ripley’s Believe it or Not complete with solid rocket booster separa- develops to a point where he fears he could Museum. Drummond sent a sample of tion, all on a surface area approximately an do permanent damage. toothpicks which he believes were displayed eighth of an inch wide by an inch long. “If you let your guard down and your there but he has never been to see them. While the hobby takes him away from concentration goes you could slip and cut He says most of his free time is spent on work-related pressures, it doesn’t eliminate your finger off,” he said. the actual carving rather than the promotion stress from his life. In some ways, it adds to rummond has had a penchant for of his work. it. creating miniature art as long as He charges $75 for a custom carving but “It wears you out,” Drummond said. “It’s D he can remember. he is reluctant to give an estimate of how real tedious — it puts wear and tear on your When he was a boy he created a small long a single piece will take him. body.” elephant out of a piece of bread rolled up For such a small item, the time invested Since creating his first miniature sculp- into a dough ball. “is usually too long,” he said with a grin. ture, a basketball player, in 1983, His father-in-law unwittingly started March 15, 1996 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 7

Public Affairs documents available electronically Vertical first The Kennedy Space Center releases and other reports. Public Affairs Office has intro- To subscribe to these status duced several innovations to reports and press releases, send give the media and others im- an e-mail message to mediate access to official infor- [email protected].nasa.gov. mation. In the body of the message Computer users can now call (not the subject line) users must up Spaceport News from the type the words “subscribe KSC home page (http:// shuttle-status”, or “subscribe www.ksc.nasa.gov/ksc.html). ksc-press-release” (do not use The page includes text versions quotation marks). of Spaceport News stories and The system will reply with a captions beginning with the confirmation via e-mail of each Jan. 19, 1996 edition, as well as subscription. pdf files which display entire To remove your name from pages including photographs. the list, send an e-mail message Those with e-mail addresses to [email protected]. In can subscribe to a list server the body of the message (not the that will automatically forward subject line), type (no quotes) to them all KSC Shuttle status “unsubscribe shuttle-status”, or reports, KSC originated press “unsubscribe ksc-press-release.” Hubble shows Pluto surface For the first time sincePluto's early in the next century. Pluto discovery 66 years ago, as- is the only solar system planet tronomers have at last directly not yet visited by a spacecraft. seen details on the surface of "Hubble is providing the first, the solar system's farthest tantalizing glimpse of what Pluto known planet from pictures sent will be like when we get there," back by the European Space said Dr. Alan Stern of South- Agency's Faint Object Camera west Research Institute's aboard NASA's Hubble Space Boulder, CO, research office. Telescope. Stern led the team who used Hubble's snapshots of nearly Hubble to obtain the most the entire surface of Pluto, taken detailed view yet of Pluto. as the planet rotated through a The Pluto imaging team also 6.4-day period, show that Pluto includes Dr. Marc Buie of Lowell THE SPACEHAB module is installed vertically for the first time into the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Atlantis at Launch Pad 39B on Feb. 29. Atlantis was is a complex object, with more Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ, and rolled out to the pad a day previously. Already located in the payload bay was large-scale contrast than any Dr. Laurence Trafton of the the Orbiter Docking System (ODS), to which the SPACEHAB was connected via planet, except Earth. University of Texas, Austin. a tunnel. During the flight of Atlantis on Mission STS-76, the ODS will be docked The images also reveal This team of planetary to the Docking Module located on the Kristall module docking port on the Russian Space Station Mir. The SPACEHAB will be filled with Russian and U.S. logisitics almost a dozen distinctive scientists used the Faint Object equipment for transfer to Mir. Also located in the mini-research laboratory is the albedo features, or provinces, Camera aboard the Hubble to European Space Agency's Biorack, which houses experiments to be conducted none of which have ever been obtain over a dozen high-quality by the U.S. astronauts during the nine-day flight. seen before. visible and ultraviolet images of They include a "ragged" Pluto in mid-1994. northern polar cap bisected by a These images have now Quality. . . dark strip, a bright spot seen been carefully reduced and rotating with the planet, a cluster analyzed. (Continued from Page 1) of dark spots, and a bright linear "These results and the maps metrics, performance targets gested the center concentrate marking that is intriguing the we constructed from them are and the strategic plan. efforts on customer satisfaction scientific team analyzing the much better than I ever hoped The ratings KSC received in- through customer satisfaction images. The images confirm for," said Buie. "It's fantastic." dicate that a well-planned, targets and goals and through the presence of icy-bright polar "Hubble has brought Pluto sound quality management- customer participation in that cap features, which had been from a fuzzy, distant dot of light, based system has been imple- area. Other areas the examin- inferred from indirect evidence to a world which we can begin mented in several areas of the ers suggested focusing on are for surface markings in the to map, and watch for surface organization, the report said. All the methods of responding to 1980s. changes. Hubble's view of the organizations reveigin awards individual employee improve- This historic new look at tiny, distant Pluto is reminiscent should be viewed as winners, it ment ideas and the linkages be- Pluto helps pave the way for a of looking at Mars through a concluded. tween process management proposed Pluto flyby mission small telescope," said Stern. Page 8 SPACEPORT NEWS March 15, 1996 Space Congress to feature race car driver search with the Biorack. STS-76. . . One of the highlights of the (Continued from Page 1) Superstar education for tomorrow. flight should be the extravehicu- NASCAR driver “It’s a galaxy of information,” ral up there,” Chilton observed lar activity (EVA) that Godwin Rusty Wallace said Forrest McCartney, general in a recent interview. “She’s very and Clifford will perform on will headline the chairman of the event. “This comfortable in that environ- flight day six while the Shuttle 33rd Space year’s participants will discover ment.” and Mir are still docked to- Congress when the latest developments about Lucid already has flown on gether. he speaks the dynamic changes facing the the Shuttle four times, accumu- With Sega overseeing the about the key elements of America’s WALLACE lating more than 838 hours in EVA from inside the orbiter, benefits of space program.” space. Godwin and Clifford will place space exploration during the Along with the panel and She began training in Star four experiments on the Dock- event’s annual banquet on April paper presentations, the City, Russia, in February1995, ing Module attached to Mir dur- 23 in Cocoa Beach. congress will feature free public for the trip to Mir. ing STS-74 which was the sec- At the Daytona 500 in Febru- events such as a student Both Lucid and her fellow ond Shuttle-Mir docking flight. ary, Wallace drove home the science fair and the popular STS-76 crew members feel importance of space technology “Meet the Astronauts” night strongly that lessons learned Equipment check when he raced his Ford chaired by Kennedy Space from Norm Thagard’s visit to The experiments are de- Thunderbird, outfitted with scrap Center Director Jay Honeycutt. the station last year will make signed to collect information pieces of Space Shuttle thermal Also open to the public will be her stay more comfortable. about the microgravity environ- protection blankets. The mate- exhibit halls, featuring displays More time is being booked for ment at the altitude and incli- rial helped Wallace keep his from major aerospace compa- communication with family nation at which Mir is located cool in the car where the nies. Activities begin Tuesday, back on Earth, and greater at- — the same as the International temperature normally reaches April 23, with a keynote address tention given to menu selections Space Station. 160 degrees. from Bob Davis, deputy under- from a cultural standpoint. The two spacewalkers also In addition to the banquet, secretary of defense for space. will be checking out common other highlights of the 33rd Events conclude the evening of Veteran crew U.S./Russian spacewalking Space Congress will include five Friday, April 26, with the Like Lucid, the rest of the equipment as well as assessing major panel sessions with Pioneer’s Banquet at Patrick Air STS-76 crew are spaceflight vet- the challenge of maneuvering participation from leading space Force Base Officer’s Club. erans. around two mated spacecraft experts discussing where the Sponsored by the Canaveral Chilton will be embarking on while connected to a 50-foot-long nation’s space program is Council of Technical Societies his third trip into orbit, as are tether. headed. A special presentation (CCTS), Space Congress is Mission Specialists Linda Asked to place in historical by Kent Black, the chief operat- considered the oldest and most Godwin and Michael “Rich” context the significance of the ing officer of United Space respected forum of its kind in Clifford. Pilot Richard Searfoss third Shuttle/Mir docking, the Alliance, will focus on the need the world. Launched in 1964, and Mission Specialist Ronald STS-76 crew likes to compare for change in the space industry. Space Congress is intended to Sega will be flying for the sec- their mission to a building block Technical paper presenta- facilitate the exchange of space ond time. Chilton, Godwin and that will eventually become the tions will center on such topics science and engineering Clifford flew together on STS- International Space Station. as future launch vehicles and information among the govern- 59, and Searfoss and Lucid were When Lucid transfers her be- facilities, space business ment, industry and educational crew mates on STS-58. longings to Mir, she begins an aspects in a commercial market, communities. For more informa- Docking with Mir is slated to extended American role aboard the future of commercial satel- tion, contact Lisa Malone at occur on flight day three. the station. lites, the Mir space station, 867-2468 or Bob Tucker at 799- Lucid is scheduled to trans- Blaha will be followed in or- planetary programs and space 6847. fer to the station soon after the der by astronauts Jerry hatches between the two mated Linenger and Michael Foale, spacecraft are opened. establishing a continuous While this is one of the pri- American presence in space for John F. Kennedy Space Center mary objectives of the third the next two years. Shuttle-Mir docking, other sig- Where it should all lead is nificant tasks also are planned. perfectly clear to at least two of Spaceport News A single SPACEHAB module the crew members. is flying in the aft portion of The Spaceport News is an official publication of the Kennedy Space Atlantis’ cargo bay carrying Looking ahead Center and is published on alternate Fridays by the Public Affairs Office numerous logistical items as “Mars is certainly a goal for in the interest of KSC civil service and contractor employees. well as a European Space exploration that makes a great Contributions are welcome and should be submitted two weeks before publication to the Media Services Branch, PA-MSB. E-mail submis- Agency Biorack research facil- deal of sense to us in the astro- sions can be sent to [email protected] ity. naut office,” Sega has observed. Managing editor...... Lisa Malone Besides transferring equip- Clifford couldn’t agree more. Editor...... Barb Compton ment, experiment samples and “Our final goal is to put your Editorial support provided by Sherikon Space Systems Inc. writers group. personal items to and from Mir, children and my children on a the U.S. astronauts also will be trip to Mars,” he noted in a re- USGPO: 733-096/20017 conducting microgravity recent interview.