“My story on Space Shuttle Program”

Srini Srinivas Associate Fellow, AIAA [email protected]

As the Space Shuttle flights come to an end, I look back and feel proud to have been associated with such a tremendous program. It has been an astonishing journey that has permanently etched the testimony to the human space flight achievements.

“My story on Space Shuttle Program” began in late 1974 when I started working on the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) program as a System Engineer at SPAR Aerospace in Toronto, Canada. SPAR was the prime contractor for the SRMS Design, Development, Test, and Evaluation. I was with the program from the time system requirements were developed right through to actual flight verification. As a principal system engineer I was involved in multiple aspects of the design and development, encompassing control system design, control algorithms development, math modeling and simulation, control and operation of the Simulation Facility (SIMFAC). SIMFAC was used to provide training to the astronauts and develop operating procedures. Training the astronauts at SIMFAC in Toronto and at Houston using the Manipulator Development Facility was the most exciting work ever. During those long hours spent on the simulator not only were training objectives achieved but I also had a lot of fun working with the astronauts. While on the simulator I remember the songs that were sung and the jokes that were exchanged over the intercom. I can never forget those golden moments. The highlight of my working on NASA programs was the SRMS training of the first group of astronauts - Sally Ride, the first women astronaut, veterans of multiple shuttle flights Hank Hartsfield and Rick Hauck, memorable Judy Resnik, and Ron McNair, first medical doctor astronaut Norm Thagard and others. What a great opportunity that it was for me! The picture below shows the memento I received from the astronauts when I left Houston.

Soon after the Shuttle stated to fly came the most memorable moments - first when Sally Ride flew on STS-7, second when the SRMS (Canadarm) deployed the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) from the cargo bay and third when the Solar Max satellite was captured on the fly (track and capture task) and stowed inside the cargo bay. Most space enthusiasts would have seen the glorious videos on these missions.

In 1980 I moved to Marshal Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama where I worked on multiple Spacelab missions developing payloads and training astronauts. The most significant payload was the Crystal Growth Furnace (CGF), which was developed by Teledyne Brown Engineering (TBE), for conducting research on the growth of semiconductor crystals in microgravity. I was the chief engineer on the CGF project at TBE. CGF flew flawless missions on USML-1 and USML-2 Spacelab missions.

My career of over three decades working on Space Shuttle Program ended with planning and defining Materials Science Research Facility payloads for the Space Station.

I feel sad that the Space Shuttle is retiring and I hope and believe that its replacement program will also be exciting. Three cheers for the Space Shuttle Program!!