Release No: 84-30 Nasa to C

Home , James van Hoften, MUSE (spacecraft), Terry Hart

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202-453-8400 '

For Release: Charles Redmond Headquarters, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE (Phone: 202/453-1755) Mary Beth Murrill Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. (Phone: 818f/354-5011)

RELEASE NO: 84-30

NASA TO COOPERATE IN COMET SIGHTING REHEARSAL

Amateur and professional astronomers around the world will participate in a comet-sighting program March 25-31 to rehearse for the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1986.

The observation coordination practice will involve the Comet Crommelin, which orbits the sun every 27 years. It is being organized by the International Halley Watch, based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and the University of Erlangen, Federal Republic of West Germany.

The IHW will coordinate amateur and professional astrono- mer's observations of Comet Halley and compile data collected during its appearance. The results, together with data gathered by spacecraft, will provide a comprehensive body of information about comets, including insights into the nature of the raw material from which the solar system was formed.

The upcoming trial run will test the IHW's observation and reporting procedures according to Stephen J. Edberg, the group's coordinator for amateur observations.

Astronomers who wish to participate in the observation of Comet Crommelin or Comet Halley can obtain a copy of the "The International Halley Watch Amateur Observers' Manual for Scientific Studies," and return the Observer Index form at the front of the manual. The two-volume document may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Dept. 33, Washington, D.C. 20402; 202/783-3238.

February 28, 1984

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Part I (stock number 033--000-00888-1, $4.50) describes methods of comet observation. Part II (stock 00889-9, number 033-000- $4.50) includes a daily ephemeris, star the comet's path charts showing over a six-month period, and lists of standard and calibration stars. All observations IHW on duplicates must be reported to the of report forms found in the manual.

- end - National Aeronautics and Space Administration WasNngton, D.C. 20546 AC 202.453.8400 p I6

For Release: William O'Donnell Headquarters, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE (Phone: 202/453-1179)

RELEASE NO: 84-31

NASA SETS UP SPACE STATION DEVELOPMENT TEAMS

NASA has established seven inter-center teams to conduct advanced development activities for high potential technologies to be used in Space Station design and development.

The assignments are intended to identify emerging technologies for advanced development for Space Station design and to establish test beds into which prototype technology hardware could be integrated, tested, demonstrated and evaluated.

Three of the inter-center teams will be led by the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., and three by the Johnson Space Center, Houston. Lead center for the seventh team will be assigned later.

The center assignments are:

Attitude Control and Stabilization System -- Marshall is lead center of a team also including NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., and Johnson, with Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., participating in a supporting role.

Data Management System -- Johnson is lead center in a team also consisting of the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. and Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Support will be provided by Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif.; National Space Technology Laboratories, Bay St. Louis, Miss.; JPL and Langley.

Auxiliary Propulsion System -- Marshall is lead center in a team including Lewis Research Center, Cleveland; Marshall, JPL and Johnson.

Environmental Control and Life Support System -- Johnson is lead center in a team that includes Ames.

February 29, 1984

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Space Operations Mechanisms -- Marshall is lead center in a team that includes JPL, Johnson, Lewis and Marshall, with Langley in a supporting role.

Thermal Management System -- Johnson is lead center in a team including Goddard, Johnson, Lewis and Marshall.

Electric Power System -- Inter-center team is Johnson, Lewis and Marshall, with JPL in a supporting role as appropriate. Lead center will be designated later.

- end -

(Index: 46)

, .- H -- 7A2.; NS Neo National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202-453-8400

For Release: Ken Atchison Headquarters, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE (Phone: 202/453-2759)

RELEASE NO: 84-32

NASA SELECTS LOCKHEED-GEORGIA FOR PROPFAN CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS

NASA has selected Lockheed-Georgia Div. of Lockheed Corp. in Marietta, Ga. for negotiations expected to lead to the award of a contract for the design, fabrication and ground test of a propfan propulsion system. It includes an option for flight test of the system mounted on the wing of a modified Gulfstream II testbed airplane.

Lockheed-Georgia's estimated value of the basic contract is approximately $31 million, with the flight test option estimated at $15 million.

Under the Propfan Test Assessment (PTA) contract, Lockheed- Georgia will verify the blade structural integrity and determine the acoustic characteristics of a large-scale (9-foot diameter) advanced propeller (propfan) being designed and fabricated by the Hamilton-Standard Div. of United Technologies Corp., Windsor Locks, Conn., under a separate NASA contract.

The propfan structural integrity and acoustic characteristics are the two major technical concerns. Neither issue can be adequately evaluated in the small scale model tests that have laid the technical foundation for this effort.

The propfan project will be managed by NASA's Lewis Research Center in Cleveland. It is part of the NASA Advanced Turboprop Program, which addresses the critical technologies involved in applying fuel-efficient turboprop propulsion to aircraft operating in the Mach 0.65 to 0.85 range, typical of today's commercial jet transports.

The propfan to be evaluated will have eight highly swept thin blades integrated with a contoured spinner. This design is intended to minimize both compressibility losses and noise during high-speed subsonic cruise aircraft propulsion applications, such as for commercial airliners.

March 5, 1984

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The advantage of this advanced propeller is that it will use 15 to 25 percent less fuel than a turbofan powerplant with the same level of engine technology.

The PTA contract under negotiation will provide the turbo shaft drive system and nacelle installation for the government- furnished propfan as well as an airplane wing and fuselage section for use in the ground test phase.

The nacelle to house the drive system will be a new design suitable for a wing-mount installation on the Gulfstream II airplane to be used in the flight test option. The turboshaft engine and gearbox selected to drive the propfan will be a mod- ification of existing hardware and will be manufactured by the Allison Gas Turbines Div. of General Motors, Indianapolis. The complete propfan propulsion system enclosed within a flightworthy nacelle will be evaluated first in a stati- test on an outdoor test stand and later mounted on a semi-span wing in the 40x80-ft. Low-Speed Wind Tunnel at NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif.

Under the flight test option of this contract, the propfan propulsion system will be mounted a the wing of the modified airplane and flown over a range of flight-test conditions up to and beyond the propfan high-speed design point (Mach 0.8/35,000 ft. altitude).

The propfan and the airplane itself will be highly instrumented for the acquisition of propfan stress and near-field acoustic data.

Cabin noise and vibration will also be obtained without fuselage interior-wall treatment in both the ground and flight test activities in order to estimate the type and amount of treatment needed to provide a level of cabin noise equivalent to that of current commercial turbofan-powered aircraft.

In addition to the design, fabrication and test of the large-scale flightworthy propfan propulsion system, this contract will include an extensive subscale model test program in direct support of the large-scale effort. This will include airplane aerodynamic performance, stability and control, and flutter model tests. Various types of fuselage wall acoustic treatment will also be investigated. Flight evaluation of the most promising types of acoustic treatments could occur in a follow-on program to the PTA contract.

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(Index: 1,10) flJAS New National Aeronautics and Space Administration WasNngton, D.C. 20546 AC 202-453-8400

For Release: David Garrett IMMEDIATE Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-8590)

RELEASE NO: 84-33

NASA ADAPTS CUSTOMER SHUTTLE LAUNCH SERVICE POLICY

Customer Shuttle launch service by requests must be accompanied $100,000 earnest money for each payload policy. under a new NASA

Past policy allowed customers to in schedule multiple payloads a series for a single $100,000 payment. manifest This produced a containing many payloads with low and impaired launch probabilities NASA's ability to accommodate customers defined launch requirements. with well

Deposited earnest money will be applied to the progress payment first for each payload or will be retained a Launch Services Agreement by NASA if is not signed for each payload.

- end -

(Index: 37) March 7, 1984 No N

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Wasington, D.C. 20546 AC 202*453-8400

For Release: Debra J. Rahn Headquarters, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE (Phone: 202/453-8455)

RELEASE NO: 84-34

NASA AND ITALIAN SPACE AGENCY SIGN TWO AGREEMENTS

James M. Beggs, NASA Administrator and Professor Ernesto Quagliarello, President of the Italian National Research Council of Italy (CNR), signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) today in Rome. The two separate agreements establish the development of the Tethered Satellite System and the development and launch of the Laser Geodynamics Satellite-2 (Lageos-2).

The Tethered Satellite System (TSS) is a data-gathering satellite that will be carried into orbit by the Space Shuttle and released from the payload bay on a tether. It will provide an important new reusable, multidisciplinary facility for conducting space experiments in earth orbit, and will open the way to several areas of long-term scientific experimentation not otherwise possiible.

The system will consist of a deployer mounted in the payload bay of the Space Shuttle orbiter to deploy and retrieve a tethered satellite (weight approximately 500 kg) upward or downward from the orbiter at distances up to 100 km.

NASA will develop the TSS deployer, perform the system-level engineering and integration and launch TSS on the Shuttle. CNR will develop the two-module (science and service) TSS satellite and provide system-level support to NASA for technical aspects of the satellite.

NASA and CNR will jointly plan and implement the initial tethered satellite mission to verify system engineering and conduct electrodynamic scientific investigations. The initial mission will be flown in late 1987 to verify controlled deployment, operation and retrieval of the tethered satellite, and to investigate interaction of the satellite with space plasma.

March 7, 1984

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Eleven countries, in 20 locations, are conducting laser ranging activities with the passive Laser Geodynamics Satellite-l (Lageos-l) launched by NASA in 1976. The agreement that was signed by NASA and CNR outlines the terms for the development of Lageos-2 which will significantly enhance study and understanding of the solid earth and its dynamic processes.

Lageos-2 will be identical in configuration to Lageos-l and will be placed in an orbit of similar altitude but with a different inclination (51-53 degrees prograde instead of 70 degrees retrograde). Lageos-2 will also be a spherical satellite with a diameter of 60 centimeters and weighing approximately 411 kilograms and will be launched by the Space Shuttle.

Lageos-2 will contribute to the study of plate tectonics and to the study of the accumulation of crustal strain in areas of high seismicity through very accurate measurements of baseline changes resulting from crustal motion. The two satellites, in essentially opposite orbits, will improve the precision of current laser determined baselines by a factor of two and will make possible achievements of a precision of 1 centimeter for baselines of several thousand kilometers.

These improvements will particularly benefit studies of regional crusial deformation associated with the occurrence of earthquakes in the Mediterranean area being undertaken by the United States and a consortium of European countries. Similarly, studies of the San Andreas Fault System will benefit from Lageos- 2 and from the Mediterranean studies.

CNR is responsible for the fabrication of the Lageos-2 satellite, integration of the apogee stage and the Italian Research Interim Stage and delivery to NASA. NASA will provide existing ground support equipment, hardware and software remaining from the Lageos-l mission, technical consultation and launch on the Space Shuttle as a payload of opportunity with a planned launch in 1987.

- end -

(Index: 10, 20) NSNe National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202*453-8400

For Release: James Kukowski IMMED IATE Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-8590)

RELEASE NO: 84-35

ENTERPRISE GOES TO 'ME WCRLD'S FAIR IN UNUSUAL WAY

The Space Shuttle orbiter Enterprise will earn Its "sea legs" during a land, sea and air move from the West Coast to the Louisiana WAorld Exposition in lat'e March and early April. The final leg of the 4,300-kilometer (2,300-mile) trip will be by a barge from Mobile, Ala., to the world's fair site on the New Orleans waterfront.

The 68,000-kilogram (150,000-pound) orbiter test vehicle will be displayed at the fair from May 12 through Nov. 11. The barge trip from Mobile is the only viable method of transporting the JX'-9 size orbiter to the New Orleans waterfront. It is too large to transport by rail or road and particularly through the streets of New Orleans to the fair location.

The unusual constraints of the move allow NASA to test techniques and train personnel on methods for safely handling a Space Shuttle orbiter at sites other than Shuttle launch and landing facilities at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Edwards Air Force Base and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Permanent structures are normally used for mating and demating the orbiter from the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified 747. If an orbiter ever has to land at a contingency landing site, methods of handling and moving perfected and documented on this trip will be invaluable.

The Enterprise, atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, is scheduled to fly from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on March 22 where it will undergo fit-and-function checks for several days. Space Shuttle launches from the Vandenberg site are scheduled to begin in late 1985. March 16, 1984

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On MaTrch 27, the 747/Enterprise is scheduled to fly from Vandenberg AFB to Little Rock Air Force Base, near Jacksonville, Ark., and will be on display for two days.

The 747/Enterprise is then to fly to Mobile on MVarch 29. 'The flight from Little Pock AFB to Mobile, weather permitting, will include a flyover of New Orleans and the fair site; NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility, near New Orleans; and the National Space Technology Laboratories at Bay, St. Louis, Mliss. Next the aircraft will follow the Gulf Coast east to Mobile. The City Commissioners of Mobile have planned an arrival ceremony for the 747/Enterprise at 3:00 p.m. CST, March 29, at Brooklev Field. General public viewing is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Mlarch 31 and April 1.

At Mobile's Brook]ey Field, two large transportable cranes and other special ground support equipment will detach the orbiter from the 747 and position it on a 90-wheel transport trailer. From the airfield the Enterprise will be moved to the nearby Mobile-Brookley Coast Guard Station for loading aboard a large ocean barge for the water leg of the trip.

The barge will be towed from Mobile through Mississippi Sound, then south through rhandeleur Sound. The barge will enter the Mississippi River near Venice, La., and proceed upriver to New Orleans. The barge trip is expected to take three days. The Enterprise is scheduled to arrive at the Louisiana WA'orld Exposition site on the New Orleans waterfront the afternoon of April 5. The transporter trailer will be off-loaded and towed to a location in front of the U.S. Pavilion. There cranes and ground support equipment will remove the Enterprise from the transporter and place the 37-meter (122-foot) -long vehicle on its display location.

The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft has transported orbiter vehicles since 1977 when Enterprise was first used for unpowered atmospheric test flights. Shuttle orbiters Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger and Discovery have all been ferried from the West Coast to the Kennedy Space Center by the modified 747.

In 1983 the Enterprise was flown to Europe where it was displayed at the Paris Air Show and in other major European cities.

At the conclusion of the Louisiana World Exposition the Pnterprise will be ferried back to Vandenberg AFB where it will be used for additional fit-and-function checks at the West Coast Shuttle launch facility.

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March 21 Complete mating of Enterprise to 747 March 22 Depart Edwards, arrive Vandenberg AFB Ground Support Equipment leaves for Mobile, Ala. Conduct fit-and-function tests. March 27 Depart Vandenberg AFB, ralif., arrive Little Rock AFB, Ark. On display at Little Rock March 29 Depart Little Rock AFB for Mobile, Ala. Arrive Mobile's Brookley Field (3:00 p.m.) March 30 Equipment testing and demate rehearsal March 31 Demate Enterprise from 747 and load onto transporter trailer. General public viewing. April 1 General public viewing April 2 Ground transport to U.S. Coast Guard Station, Mobile, and loading on barge April 3, 4 Enroute to New Orleans by barge

April 5 Enterprise arrives at New Orleans (1:00 p.m.) April 6 Unloading operations at fair site April 7 Locate Enterprise at permanent viewing site

* Dates and times subject to change

-end-

(Index: 37)

- i - r...~.¾.*..,SF.,,za.A. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202.453-8400 p>

For Release: William O'Donnell Headquarters, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE (Phone: 202/453-1179)

RELEASE NO: 84-36

TWO SPACE STATION STUDY CONTRACTS AWARDED

NASA has selected McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co., Huntington Beach, Calif., and TRW, Inc., Space and Technology Group, Redondo Beach, Calif., for negotiations that will lead to two parallel Space Station study contracts.

These contracts will be for the development of functional, performance and technology requirements; the definition of system architecture for the Space Station Data System; and the relationship of that system to the overall NASA end-to-end flight and ground information system.

Each contract will be for a firm fixed-price of approximately $2 million covering a performance period of approximately 27 months beginning in March.

NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, will negotiate and administer the TRW contract and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., will negotiate and administer the McDonnell Douglas contract.

The studies will define the role of the Space Station Data System and its relationships and interfaces to the Space Station Information System elements. The relationship of the Space Station Information System and the overall NASA end-to-end data system will be analyzed.

The studies also will define the data system to determine the environment in which both user and facility subsystems interface and operate. They will address all avionics and other elec- trically automated Space Station functions; develop a clear understanding of system functional, operational and interface requirements; identify major cost items to enable effective management decisions and development control; and define a program plan.

March 16, 1984

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Four other companies submitted proposals for the studies. They are: Boeing Aerospace Co., Seattle; General Electric Co., Philadelphia; Lockheed Missiles and Space Co., Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif.; and Rockwell International Corp., Downey, Calif.

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(Index: 46) nASA wvvv National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202*453-8400 P84'- /Jc2S'

David Garrett For Release: Headquarters, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE (Phone: 202/453-8590)

Debra Rahn Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-8455)

RELEASE NO: 84-37

CANADIAN PAYLOAD SPECIALISTS NAMED

The Canadian crew member and back-up crew October member for an 1984 Space Shuttle mission have been announced Canadian by Minister of State for Science and Technology Economic and for and Regional Development, Donald J. Johnson.

Commander Marc Garneau, Canadian Department Defense, of National Ottawa, has been named the flight crew member. back-up is His Dr. Robert Thirsk of Montreal. Garneau and were chosen Thirsk from the six-member Canadian space team selected December 1983. in

The Payload Specialists will undergo approximately months four training at NASA facilities prior to mission. the 51-A Shuttle

For further information on the Canadian Payload Specialists, contact: Wally Cherwinski or Estelle Dorais, National Research Council, Ottawa, 613/993-3041.

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(Index: 37) At | NASA A National Aeronautics and Soace Administration

4- Space Shuttle ivMission 41-C

.N,

to Prepss Kit March 1984

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: ( RELEASE NO: 84-38 March 1984

CONTACTS

Jim Kukowski/David Garrett Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-8590)

Dick Young Kennedy Space Center, Fla. (Phone: 305/867-2468)

Terry White Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas (Phone: 713/483-5111)

Bob Ruh! Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. (Phone: 205/453-0034)

Ralph B. Jackson Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, Calif. (Phone: 805/258-8381)

Jim Elliott Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (Phone: 301/344-6256

Maurice H. Parker Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. (Phone: 804/865-2934)

- = - - r-1-'-, March 1984 RELEASE NO: 84-38

CONTENTS

11...... GENERAL RELEASE 6 41-C PRESS BRIEFING SCHEDULE ......

GENERAL INFORMATION ...... 8 SHUTTLE MISSION 41-C -- QUICK LOOK FACTS ...... 9 SUMMARY OF MAJOR ACTIVITIES ...... 10 CONFIGURATION ...... 12 41-C FLIGHT SEQUENCE OF EVENTS...... 14 LONG DURATION EXPOSURE FACILITY ...... 19 MANNE2D MANEUVERING UNIT ...... 22 SOLAR MAXIMUM REPAIR MISSION...... *...... 28 EVA TIMELINF ...... (POCC)...... 32 SMM PAYLOAD OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTER 34 SHUTTLE STUDENT INVOLVEMENT PROGRAM...... *...... 35 IMAX...... 35 CINEMA 360 ...... 36 MISSION 41-C FLIGHT CREW DATA......

(PRECEDING PAGE BLANK NOT FILMED N/VSNews National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202.453-8400

For Release: RELEASE NO: 84-38 IMMEDIATE

SOLAR MAX REPAIR, LDEF DEPLOYMENT HIGHLIGHT SHUTTLE FLIGHT

On mission 41-C in April, the eleventh flight of the Space Shuttle, Challenger's five man crew will attempt the first on- orbit repair of a crippled spacecraft that was launched more than four years ago. Launch of the mission is currently set for April 6 at 8:59 a.m. EST with the landing on April 12 at 8:10 a.m. EST. Both launch and landing will be at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Making its fifth trip into space, Challenger will be launched into its highest orbit yet so it can rendezvous with a wobbling solar flare-studying satellite called Solar Maximum Mission. The Manned Maneuvering Unit, the gas-powered jetpacks that were test flown for the first time on the last Shuttle flight in February, will be used to fly out to the slowly spinning satellite, dock with it, and stop its motion.

The Solar Maximum Satellite will be hauled into the cargo bay by the robot arm. Challenger then will serve as an orbiting service station for astronauts to repair the satellite's fine- pointing system and a couple of instruments during two six-hour space walks. Solar Max will be placed back in orbit to continue its study of the violent nature of the sun's solar activity and its effects on our own planet.

Astronaut Robert Crippen, as commander of the 41-C mission, will make his third trip into space aboard the Shuttle. Other members of the crew, pilot Dick Scobee and mission specialists George Nelson, Terry Hart and James van Hoften, will all be making their first space flight.

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Another goal on this mission is the deployment of a large experiment carrier named the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). Specially suited for carrying dozens of diverse, passive experiments, the large cylindrical payload will be left in space for nearly a year. A subsequent Shuttle flight will bring the reusable structure back to earth.

A repeat passenger on flight 41-C is the Cinema 360 camera, making the second of three scheduled flights. Mounted in the cargo bay, the 35mm movie camera will record the historic rescue mission through the eye of a " fisheye" lens.

Challenger will carry a second film camera in the cabin, provided by the IMAX Corporation, which will record the drama on 70mm film, designed for projection on very large screens.

A Shuttle Student Involvement Project Experiment, developed by a 19-year-old student, will study the honeycomb structure built by bees in zero gravity.

Challenger's liftoff from Complex 39's Pad A will be the i first to employ a "direct insertion" ascent technique that will put the spaceraft into an elliptical orbit with a high point of about 287 miles and an inclination to the equator of 28.5 degrees. Only one burn of the vehicle's powerful orbital maneuvering system engines will be required to place it in the proper orbit.

The 50-foot long Remote Manipulator System will be used to release the Long Duration Exposure Facility into orbit on the second day of the flight, approximately 27 hours after liftoff. With no propulsion systems onboard, the 9 meter (30 foot) long, 42 m (14 ft.) diameter payload will drift 548 kilometers (296 miles) above the globe for the next 10 and 1/2 months.

Experiments carried aboard the reusable facility are organized into four major groups: material structures, power and propulsion, electronics and optics, and science. Many of the experiments are basically simple, and some will be completely passive in orbit.

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The 57 separate experiments involve more than 200 investigators from the United States and eight other countries and were furnished by government laboratories, private companies and universities. Results of the experiments' long-term exposure to the harsh space environment will be analyzed after the facility is brought back down to earth by the Shuttle, and the experiments have been returned to the investigators.

Solar Maximum Mission, the first satellite designed speci- fically to study solar flares, was launched by NASA on Feb. 14, 1980. It was the first satellite built with the Multimission Modular Spacecraft body, designed for retrieval by the Shuttle for servicing and/or repair.

After eight months of successful operation, part of the attitude control system failed. Ground controllers put the satellite in a slow spin to keep it in a stable sun-pointed orbit. But this rendered four of its onboard scientific instruments useless because they require very precise pointing to collect usable data. Failure of the attitude control system was followed by problems with three scientific instruments.

Challenger will intercept Solar Max on the third day of the flight, about 48 hours into the mission. At that point, Chal- lenger will be about 16.6 km (9 mi) from the wobbling satellite.

Challenger will move toward the satellite until the orbiter is about 61 m (200 ft) away. Astronaut Nelson will snap himself into one of the Manned Maneuvering Units. A special fixture will be connected to the front of Nelson's maneuvering backpack that will allow him to dock to the slowly rotating satellite.

Nelson will then fly out to the crippled satellite and dock with it. The backpack's attitude control system will fire to stop the motion of the Solar Max. Challenger will then move close enough for the robot arm to reach out and grab the satellite and pull it into the cargo bay.

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The Flight Support System (FSS) will keep the 2,270 kilogram (5,000 pound) satellite firmly planted in the cargo bay while Nelson and van Hoften start the repairs.

If the satellite cannot be repaired, the FSS provides the structural retention that will allow Challenger to return Solar Max to earth.

Astronaut van Hoften will use the remote manipulator arm like a space-age cherry picker to replace the attitude control module with the spare plug-in unit.

Next, van Hoften will install a baffle on the X-ray poly- chromator experiment's vent port to redirect propane gas away from the other sensitive instruments on the satellite.

The first EVA will conclude with preparations to remove the main electronics box.

Nelson and van Hoften will return to the cargo bay on day five to complete the repair of the Solar Maximum satellite during I another six-hour space walk.

Solar Max will be released back into space by the robot arm on day six of the flight. Challenger will stay nearby for the next eight hours while the Solar Max is put through a final series of tests.

Documenting the drama of the Solar Max rescue mission will be two special camera systems. One of the cameras, provided by Cinema 360, Inc. was flown on the last Shuttle flight. Footage taken on three flights by the modified 35mm camera, fitted with an ultra wide-angle lens, will be assembled into a half-hour documentary called "The Space Shuttle: An American Adventure." The 360-degree film system is designed for projection onto the domes of specially equipped planetariums.

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A second camera, furnished by IMAX Systems Corporation, is part of another unique motion picture projection system. The IMAX camera will catch the rescue mission on a 70mm film frame that is 10 times the size of a standard 35mm frame and three times the size of a conventional 70mm frame.

This will be the first of three Shuttle flights that will carry IMAX cameras.

Besides the five-man astronaut crew, Challenger will have 3,300 other living passengers onboard. A Shuttle Student In- volvement Project being carried out on this mission will study the honeycomb structures built by bees in zero-gravity compared to structures built by bees on earth. The experiment is the proposal of Dan Poskevich, a student at Tennessee Technological Institute in Cooksville, Tenn. All 3,300 bees will be housed in a specially designed bee-box which will be mounted in the Chal- lenger's middeck. Honeywell Inc., Minneapolis, is sponsoring the experiment.

Challenger's return home will begin approximately 142 hours after it began. An approximate 2 and 1/2 minute long burst from its orbital maneuvering engines during its 91st revolution around the earth will start the descent process. In a repeat performance of the Shuttle's historic first landing in February at the same site from which it was launched, Challenger is scheduled to return to Kennedy Space Center. Landing is scheduled for orbit 92 and the prime runway will be the north-to-south runway, No. 15. Touchdown is scheduled for 143 hours and 11 minutes mission elapsed time.

(END OF GENERAL RELEASE; BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOLLOWS.)

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41-C BRIEFING SCHEDULE

TIME BRIEFING ORIG T-1 Day

8:30 a.m. EST Mission Summary KSC

9:15 a.m. EST Solar Max Repair KSC

10:15 a.m. EST LDEF KSC

11:00 a.m. EST IMAX KSC

11:30 a.m. EST Student Experiment KSC

1:30 p.m. EST Prelaunch Press Conference KSC

T-Day

10:00 a.m. EST Post Launch Press Conference KSC (approximately) (local only)

Launch Through End-of-Mission

Times announced Flight Director Change of Shift JSC on NASA select Briefings

T+5 Days

9:53 a.m. EST Inflight Press Conference JSC (approximately)

Landing Day

9:15 a.m. EST Post Landing Press Conference KSC (approximately)

Landing + 1 Day

11:00 a.m. EST Orbiter Status KSC

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GENERAL INFORMATION

NASA Select Television Transmission

The schedule for television transmissions from the Challen- ger for the change of shift briefings from the Johnson Space Cen- ter, Houston, will be available during the mission at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla.; Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.; Johnson Space Center and NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. The television schedule will be updated on a daily basis to reflect any changes dictated by mission operations.

Status Reports

Status reports on countdown progress, mission progress, on- orbit activities and landing preparations will be produced by the appropriate NASA news center (Kennedy for launch and landing; Johnson for mission and postlanding).

Briefings

Flight control personnel will be on eight-hour shifts. Change-of-shift briefings by the MOCR Flight Director will occur at approximately eight-hour intervals, if required.

Miscellaneous

Information about pre-launch countdown activities, tracking and data information, Huntsville operations and other activities related to the mission will be made available to the media at news centers in seperate publications.

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SHUTTLE MISSION 41-C -- QUICK LOOK FACTS Crew: Robert L. Crippen, Commander Francis R. Scobee, Pilot Terry J. Hart, Mission Specialist 1 James D. van Hoften, Mission Specialist 2 George D. Nelson, Mission Specialist 3 Orbiter: Challenger (OV-099) Launch site: Pad 39A Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Launch date/time: April 6, 1984; 8:59 a.m. EST* Orbital inclination: 28.5 degrees

Altitude: 250 nautical miles Mission duration: 6 flight days/143 hours, 12 minutes 91 full orbits; land on 92nd Landing date/time: April 12, 1984, 8:10 a.m. EST* 5 days, 23 hours, 12 minutes MET Primary landing site: Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Payloads: Long Duration Exposure Facility - Fixed Service Structure (for Solar Max Repair) Radiation Monitoring Equipment Student Experiment - Comparison of Honeycomb Structures IMAX (cabin camera) Cinema 360 (payload bay camera) Mission First repair of a satellite in orbit firsts: First direct insertion ascent First flight of the Long Duration Exposure Facility Highlichts: Solar Maximum Repair Mission Long Duration Exposure Facility deployment

Principal The primary objective of flight 41-C is to retrieve, Mission repair and restore to operation the Solar Maximum Mission Activity: satellite, launched Feb. 14, 1980. Two spacewalks are required -- the first is to retrieve the satellite and begin repair operations; a second is required, after one day's rest, to replace the Main Electronics Box. The Long Duration Exposure Facility, a free-flying satellite, provides accommodations for experiments requiring long term exposure to the space environment. The LDEF will be carried to orbit, deployed and retrieved on a later flight and the experiments returned to the investigators for data analysis. *Subject to change; mission elapsed times are approximate.

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SUMMARY OF MAJOR ACTIVITIES

Flight Day 1 Fixed Service Structure checkout and positioning Cinema 360 camera (payload bay)

Flight Day 2 Long Duration Exposure Facility deployment IMAX camera (cabin) Cinema 360 camera (payload bay)

Flight Day 3 Solar Maximum Mission repair activities: Rendezvous with Solar Max spacecraft Spacewalk to stabilize the satellite Grapple and berth operations Position Solar Max on Fixed Service Structure for repairs IMAX camera (cabin) Cinema 360 camera (payload bay)

Flight Day 4 Student Experiment: Honeycomb Structures IMAX camera (cabin)

Flight Day 5 Second extravehicular activity Solar Maximum Mission repair activities: Spacewalk to changeout Main Electronic Box Grapple and unberth Solar Max satellite IMAX camera (cabin) Cinema 360 camera (payload bay)

Flight Day 6 Solar Maximum Mission satellite deployment Radiation Monitor activities IMAX camera (cabin) Cinema 360 camera (payload bay)

Flight Day 7 Landing

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CONFIGURATION

Challenger nas the 15.2 m (50 ft.) Canadian-built tor arm which will manipula- be used for Long Duration Exposure Facility deployment, Solar Max capture, Deployment. repair activities and Solar Max Also in the payload bay is the Flight tem, a special cradle Support Sys- for the Solar Max satellite. It used to stabilize will be the satellite during repair work and used for rigid stowage in the may be lite payload bay in the event the satel- is returned to earth. Two manned Maneuvering the Units are in payload bay, as is the Cinema-360 camera. The student experiment is carried in the forward The middeck. IMAX camera is located in the crew cabin orbit is achieved. and unstowed after

Major component weights are: LDEF-1, Flight Support 9,670 kg (21,322 lb.); System for Solar Max Mission, 4,043 Manned Maneuvering Unit/Flight kg (8,915 lb.); Support System, 527 kg (1,152 lb.); Cinema-360, 273 kg (602 lb.); IMAX, 102 kg (226 lb.); and the student experiment, 23 kg (50 lb.). SSIP

Liftoff weight of Challenger at SRB (254,258 lb.). ignition is 115,330 kg

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LOEF-1 DEPLOY S* ET./REPAIR PFALMS *

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41-C FLIGHT SEQUENCE OF EVENTS *

MET V HP/HA Event hr:min:sec fps n. mi.

Launch 00:00:00

MECO 00:08:12 30/285

ET SEP 00:08:30 4.0 30/285

RCS burn for MPS dump 00:10:12 3.0 30/286

OMS-2 00:43:53 Burn duration 00:01:22 160.5 120/286

NC-1 (OMS-3) 05:20:06 Burn duration 00:00:05 10.0 123/286

NPC 09:21:56 0.0 123/286

HA (RCS) 24:32:18 Burn duration 00:00:04 1.1 123/285

NSR (OMS-4) 25:18:23 Burn duration 00:02:15 269.2 280/285

LDEF deploy 27:47:12

Sep burn from LDEF (RCS) 28:14:12 Burn duration 00:00:01 .3 280/285

NC-2 (OMS-5) 31:15:56 Burn duration 00:00:04 8.6 275/283

NC-3 (RCS) 43:55:34 Burn duration 00:00:09 3.1 274/283

NH (OMS-6) 44:43:04 Burn duration 00:00:10 19.3 270/276

NC-4 (OMS-7) 45:30:28 Burn duration 00:00:05 10.7 267/273

MC (RCS) 46:08:28 Burn duration 00:00:04 1.2 268/273

*All times subject to change

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MET V HP/HA Event hr:min:sec fps n. mi.

305 m (1,000 ft.) from SMM on +V-bar 47:22:00

91 m (300 ft.) from SMM on +V-bar 48:00:00

EVA-1 begins 48:20:00 SMM berth 49:12:00

EVA-1 ends 54:20:00

Reboost 1 69:30:00 0.0 268/273 Reboost 2 70:15:00 0.0 268/273

EVA-2 begins 71:30:00

EVA-2 ends 77:30:00 qMM deploy 94:13:00

SEP (RCS) 94:28:00 burn duration 00:00:02 0.5 268/274

Deorbit for KSC-15 19:59:05 Burn duration 00:03:28 43.0

Entry interface 120:37:07

Landing KSC-15 121:07:07 EDW-22 120:58:08

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LONG-DURATION EXPOSURE FACILITY (LDEF)

Background NASA's Long-Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) is a large structure that will put 57 scientific, applications and technology experiments into earth orbit for a period of almost one year. The LDEF experiments range in research interest from materials to medicine to astrophysics. All of them require freeflying exposure in space, but no extensive electrical power, data handling or attitude control systems. Many of the experiments are relatively simple and some will be completely passive while in orbit. The results of their exposure in space will be analyzed in post-fight laboratory investigations after LDEF is returned to earth.

Deployment

LDEF will be deployed into a circular orbit on the second day of the 41-C mission, beginning at about one day, 15 minutes mission elapsed time, when the orbiter's Remote Manipulator Sys- tems (RMS) is activated by mission specialist Terry Hart. The RMS end effector will engage a grapple fixture on the LDEF structure to activate an experiment-initiation system (EIS), which will turn on those experiments that require power. The RMS will. then move to a second LDEF grapple fixture to begin the deployment. Five support trunnion latches that hold LDEF in the payload bay will be released and the RMS will begin to maneuver the structure out of the bay and into position for deployment. At this time, the orbiter will be traveling almost on its back, in relation to earth, with the tail section down and forward and the forward end up and aft. LDEF will be placed in a gravity-gradient stabilized attitude, inclined approximately 28.5 degrees to earth, and at an altitude of 250 nautical miles (288 statute miles). Once LDEF is positioned, the orbiter will stabilize itself and the payload before LDEF is released. After deployment is completed, the orbiter will fire small thrusters to separate itself from LDEF at a speed of half a foot per second. The orbiter will then track LDEF for about an hour. While in orbit, one end of LDEF will point toward earth and the other end will point toward space. One side of the structure's circumference will point in the direction of orbit; the opposite side will be the trailing edge.

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k LDEF orbital vector data will be provided to NASA by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Intensive C- band radar tracking will begin 72 hours before the launch of Shuttle mission 51-D (scheduled to retrieve LDEF in February 1985) to provide the accurate data required for orbiter and LDEF rendezvous.

Like the Shuttle, the LDEF structure is reusable. Repeat missions are being planned, each containing a different comple- ment of experiments. LDEF missions could be flown as often as every 18 months, and a structure could be kept in orbit for years, with some experiments being changed during periodic visits by a Shuttle orbiter.

Structure

LDEF is a 12-sided, open-grid structure made of aluminum rings and longerons (fore-and-aft framing members). The structure is 9.14 m (30 ft.) long, 4.27 m (14 ft.) in diameter and weighs 3,360 kg (8,000 J.b.).

LDEF's center ring frame and end frames are of welded and bolted construction. The longerons are bolted to both frames, and intercostals (crosspieces between longerons) are bolted to the longerons to form intermediate rings. The main load of LDEF is transmitted to the orbiter through two side support trunnions on the center ring.

LDEF holds 86 experiment trays, 72 around the circumference, six on the earth-pointing end and eight on the space-pointing end. A typical tray measures 127 x 86.4 cm (50 x 34 in.) and is available in one of three depths: 7.6, 15.2 and 30.5 cm (3, 6 and 12 in.). The trays are made of aluminum and can hold experiments that weigh from 81.6 to 90.7 kg (180 to 200 lbs;). Some experiments fill more than one tray, some fill only part of a tray. All of the trays and their experiments weigh only 6,078 kg (13,400 lbs.). Total weight of the structure, trays and experiments is 9,707 kg (21,400 lbs.).

LDEF has no central power system. Experiments that require power or data recording systems had to provide their own, although NASA developed a standard Experiment Power and Data System (EPDS) that was made available to investigators. An EPDS can accommodate analog and digital data with a tape recorder that has a 10-million- bit storage capacity and is powered by lithium-sulfur dioxide batteries. The experiment initiation system, triggered by the orbiter RMS, is the only electrical connection between LDEF and the active experiments.

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An Experiment Exposure Control Canister (EECC) for those was developed experiments that require protection from contamrination during launch and reentry. The EECC is a be opened sealable drawer that can and closed at set times. An electrical signal a canister and a will open programmable timer will trigger its closing with a self-contained operating system. Each of a canister fills one-third 15.2 cm (6-in.)-deep tray and can handle an experiment weighing up to 10 kg (22 lb.).

The LDEF structure, unmanned and passively stabilized, offers a vibration-free, low-acceleration exposure in the space environment for relatively simple experiments. passivity, Because of its LDEF also will have very low contamination levels surrounding it in free flight. Experiments

The LDEF experiments are divided into four groups: materials and structures, power and propulsion, electronics science and and optics. The 57 experiments on the first LDEF mission involve 194 principal investigators, who represent 16 U.S. universities, 13 private companies, eight eight Department NASA centers, of Defense laboratories, and 34 similar research organizations in Canada, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Switzerland United Kingdom. and the

The interstellar gas, micrometeoroid and cosmic ments are ray experi- examples of scientific investigations that may better provide understanding of the origin and evolution of the solar system and earth. the universe, The crystal growth experiment is an example of an applied scientific investigation. Superior crystals information may provide valuable about their unique properties and possible applications in new devices. Studies conducted in the environment of space may also lead to the discovery of new crystals on earth. ways to manufacture The LDEF technology experiments are the beginnings of broad NASA research programs to test in space new technologies required for future space missions. These experiments earth, cannot be done on and could not be done in space without the LDEF. The technology Shuttle and experiments are expected to provide three specific kinds of information: flight data that can reduce the risk of using a new technology in space; evidence nologies that new tech- may be used sooner than has been predicted; and new data on technology that can only be Developed in space. One LDEF experiment, called the Space-Exposed Experiment Developed for Students (SEEDS), is million designed to involve several students in a national project to generate interest science and related studies. in

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Students from elementary through university levels are being invited to participate in post-flight investigations that will use several million plant seeds that are exposed to the space environment in the seeds in space experiment. Student groups will be provided with kits that contain packages of exposed and control seeds. The students will conduct classroom experiments, including design, data gathering, sample comparison and final reporting of results. The low cost of an LDEF experiment--ranging from less than $10,000 to about $400,000--encourages high-risk/high-return and makes experiments particularly attractive to students and research groups with no experience in space experimentation. In- vestigators can take advantage of NASA and private industry expertise to develop relatively inexpensive investigations. The LDEF structure was designed and built at the Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. Experiment trays were provided to investigators, who built their own experiments, installed them in trays and tested them. To help reduce costs, each investigator established the amount of reliability, quality control and testing required to insure proper operation of his experiment. After the experiments were completed, they were shipped to Kennedy Space Center for integration on LDEF. NASA is responsible for physical and engineering integration of the experiments with the structure, including various thermal, structural and safety analyses.

The LDEF project is managed by the Langley Center for NASA's Office of Aeronautical and Space Technology in Washington, D.C.

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MANNED MANEUVERING UNIT

Resembling its ancestor flown inside the Skylab Orbital Workshop in the early 1970s, the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) is a self-contained backpack with nitrogen gas propulsion that will allow orbiter crews to move outside the payload bay to other parts of the orbiter or to other spacecraft. The MMU latches to the spacesuit (Extravehicular Mobility Unit-EMU) backpack and can be donned and doffed by an astronaut unassisted.

MMU controls follow the layout familiar to spacecraft crews: the left hand controller governs fore-aft, right-left, up-down translations, while the right hand controller handles roll, pitch and yaw motions. The controllers may be used singly or in combination to give a full range of movement within the operating logic of 729 command combinations, including attitude hold. Thrust impulses are from 24 dry nitrogen gas thrusters each with 7.56 newtons thrust. Two 25-by-76 cm (9.8-by-30 in.) Kevlar filament-wrapped aluminum nitrogen tanks each hold 5.9 kg (13 lb.) of nitrogen when fully charged. Two 16.8-volt, 752 watt- hour silver zinc batteries supply MMU electrical power, enough for one six-hour EVA. The nitrogen tanks may be recharged in less than 20 minutes at the payload bay MMU service rack.

The MMU will have a 35 mm still photo camera operated by the astronaut during EVA/MMU operations.

The two MMUs are located in the forward section of the orbiter payload bay.

Built by Martin Marietta, Denver, Colo., the MMU is 1.2 m (49.4 in.) high, 81 cm (32.5 in.) wide, and 1.1 m (44.2 in.) deep with control arms extended. The MMU weighs 136 kg (300 lb.) when charged with nitrogen. With a space suited crewman and cornsum- ables added, on-orbit mass is about 335 kg (740 lb.).

HELMET CAMERA

Each space suit will carry a small color TV camera attached to the EMU helmet. The hand-sized camera is solid state and housed above the helmet visor. It was developed for NASA by Fairchild Weston Systems Inc., of Syosset, N.Y.

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MANNED MANEUVERING UNIT

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Donning configuration

Egress/ingress

MANNED MANEUVERING UNIT/VLIGHT SUPPORT STATION INTERFACE

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SOLAR MAXIMUM REPAIR MISSION

Background The Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) observatory was launched on a Delta launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral on Feb. 14, 1980. During its tenth month of operation and following extensive collection of data on solar flares and other solar activity, the spacecraft "blew" three hermetically sealed fuses in its attitude control system, forcing engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., to develop a new attitude program. Using torquer bars on board and taking advantage of the earth's magnetic influence, they established the spacecraft in a sun-pointing mode that still permitted three of the seven instruments on board to collect data. Those three instruments are the Gamma Ray Spectrometer, the Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer and the Active Cavity Radiometer/Polarimeter.

The other four instruments are the Coronograph/Polarimeter, which the astronauts hope to repair on Mission 41-C; the Ultra- violet Spectrometer and Polarimeter; the X-Ray Polychrometer; and the Hard X-Ray Spectrometer. All four of those instruments require pointing accuracy from the spacecraft and could not function effectively with the spacecraft spinning through space with its longitudinal axis pointed toward the sun, as it has since the attitude control system failure. Repairs to be made during the mission include replacing the attitude control system module, replacing the main electronics box on the Coronograph/Polarimeter, and placing a cover over the gas vent of the X-Ray Polychrometer. Scientists are hopeful all seven instruments will regain their capability to collect data. However, because of electronics problems that had developed in the Hard X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer before the loss of the fuses, scientists feel they have only a 20 percent chance of obtaining 90 percent use of that instrument.

Repairs to the satellite will be conducted on flight days three and five. On flight day three, mission specialist George Nelson will fly out to the Solar Max satellite and stabilize it. Astronaut Terry Hart in the aft flight deck then can maneuver the orbiter's Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm to grapple the ailing spacecraft and bring it into the Shuttle's payload bay. Nelson will fly out to the SMM using the Martin Marietta Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU). The MMU's is a jet- powered backpack which proved so successful on the previous Shuttle mission (41-B) when operated by Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart.

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( Scenario for Repair To conduct the repair mission, the Shuttle will have made a direct ascent to 260 nautical miles (299 statute miles). Follow- ing the deployment of the L rng-Duration Exposure Facility on flight day two, commander Robert L. Crippen and pilot Dick Scobee will maneuver the Shuttle higher by another 4 to 10 miles, or to the altitude of the SMM, parking approximately 91 m (300 ft.) away from the Solar Max. Before Nelson attempts to capture the spacecraft, engineers in the Payload Operations Control Center (POCC) at Goddard will deactivate the attitude control system on the spacecraft. The spacecraft will continue to spin; however, with the attitude control system deactivated, Nelson will have an easier time stabil- izing the spacecraft.

When Nelson has stopped the spacecraft from spinning, Crippen and Scobee will move the Shuttle close (about 9 m or 30 ft.) to the Solar Max so Hart can reach out with the remote arm, grapple the satellite and maneuver it into the Flight Support System's cradle in the payload bay.

Solar Max is locked onto the cradle remotely by astronaut Hart, who will engage two umbilicals which provide electrical power from the Shuttle to the Solar Max.

In the meantime, Nelson will remove the 153 kg (338 lb.) MMU and join astronaut James van Hoften, who also is conducting an Extravehicular Activity (EVA) and who has remained tethered to the Shuttle during Nelson's excursion out to the Solar Max.

In the cradle, the SMM will be tilted forward 25 degrees so its solar arrays will clear the orbiter tail as it is rotated and will provide better access to the attitude control system module. Nelson and van Hoften then will position themselves to begin replacement of the faulty control system module. To keep from floating away, van Hoften will secure his feet on a platform called a Manipulator Foot Restraint (MFR) attached to the end of the orbiter's mechanical arm. Nelson will be secured below on a Portable Foot Restraint (PFR). Using a device known as the Module 'service Tool (MST), van Hoften will unscrew two retention bolts, remove the module, and replace it with a spare module, which will have been fastened to the lower portion of the Flight Support System. Replacing the module is expected to take 45 minutes. Then, the more difficult task of replacing the Main Elec- tronics Box (MEB) on the Coronograph/Polarimeter will begin. It is more difficult because the spacesuit gloves are bulky, and the exchange requires working with scissors and small screws. During this EVA, van Hoften will pull back some thermal protection and install a hinge so that panel on the MEB can be opened like a door.

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He is expected to remove all but four of the six screws which hold the panel closed, using an electric screwdriver. That activity will conclude the EVA for flight day three.

On flight day four, Challenger will be flown to 285 nautical miles (328 statute miles), an orbital altitude which is expected to give Solar Max two additional years of effective operations. After receiving safety clearance from the Goddard Payload Operations Control Center, Nelson and van Hoften will make another EVA on flight day five. Van Hoften will unfold and tape back the protective thermal blanket, remove the remaining screws on the panel and secure it open with a special bracket. Van Hoften must now unscrew 22 screws, each with a head no bigger than one-eighth of an inch while wearing gloves that one might compare with boxing gloves. The screws hold 11 electrical connectors. Van Hoften will then have to cut some additional wiring before he can remove the electronics box.

The electronics box is removed and stowed in the FSS locker. A replacement unit will be moved into position, at which time Nelson and van Hoften will exchange roles. Nelson will remate the MEB's 11 electrical connectors with clips, eliminating the need to reinstall the previously removed screws. He then will remove the panel support bracket, close the panel door, secure the six panel screws, and reinstall the thermal protection.

Hart then will pick up Solar Max on the remote arm and hold it off to the side of the Shuttle, where engineers at Goddard will deploy the high-gain Tracking and Data Relay Satellite Sys- tem (TDRSS) 1.27 m (50 in.) antenna on Solar Max and conduct some X tebts with the spacecraft's new attitude control system. The onboard computer system will have been reprogrammed completely between EVA's, with Goddard engineers having sent up and checked out 44,000 words of the spacecraft's 48,000-word memory.

The EVA astronauts will be able to witness movements of the spacecraft and of the antenna before they return to the Shuttle airlock.

Re-Deploy

The Solar Max will remain on the arm outside the Shuttle payload bay throughout the night. The next day, Hart will position the spacecraft above the Shuttle, and -- after receiving word from Goddard that the spacecraft is "go" for release -- will gently drop it from the arm's grasp, placing it back in orbit. The Shuttle will station keep about 61 to 91 m (200 to 300 ft.) away for approximately two hours and will remain in relatively close proximity for a total of eight hours before the astronauts have to start preparations for reentry.

The spacecraft will undergo a checkout period of approximately 30 days before becoming operational again.

Cost of the repair mission has been estimated at about $48 million. The cost of a replacement satellite, including launch costs, would have amounted to an estimaed $235 million.

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TPAD ASSEMBLY CREW MEMBER'S VIEW LENGAGEMENT INDICATOR PRIMARY TPAD iSTANDOFF THREAD EXPANDER ROD RELEASE HANDLE \CONTROLRATCHET RODRELEAS H TARGET\TV PLATE JAW ACTUATOR RETURN SPRING PRIMARY FOR SECONDARY TPAD STABILIZERS INTERFACE RELEASE

CONTROLCOTO BOZO \\m rs CONTROL BOX FRAME

MMU ARM

A SECONDARY ( LANYARD GUIDE V ALIGNMENT

SECONDARY TPAD ROTATION LANYARD SECONDARY TPAD CONTINGENCY RELEASE CONDAR S Y MECHANISMM STABILIZERS S C N A YTA

THE TPAD A T- SHAPED ASSEMBLY MEASURING APPROXIMATELY 20 INCHES BY 20 INCHES AT ITS GREATEST HEIGHT AND DEPTH. (-

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SOLAR MAXIMUM MISSION SATELLITE (SMM)

TRUNNION PIN

FIXTURE

THE SM TRUNNION PIN IS LOCATED IN A TRANSITION RING AT THE APPROXIMATE MID- POINT OF THE SATELLITE JUST BELOW THE SOLAR ARRAY PANELS AND gXTEND; APPROXIMATELY 4 ICHES BEYOND THE THERMAL INSULATION COVERING THE SATELLITE.

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EVA-1 TIMELINE (Flight Day 3)

TIME EV-1 (Nelson) EV-2 (van Hoften)

0:00 Airlock Egress (approx. Airlock Egress (approx. MET 002:00:15) MET 002:00:15)

MMU Prep and Checkout TPAD Prep

1:00 Don TPAD e Orbital Translate to SMM and Setup Equipment for ACS Sunrise Dock/Stablize Module Replacement

(RMS Grapple/Berth)

2:00 Doff TPAD, MMU Grapple MFR/Ingress

Assist EV-2 ACS Module Replacement

3:00

4:00 Begin MEB Replacement

Stow Equipment Stow Equipment

5:15 Ingress Ingress

EVA-2 TIMELINE (Flight Day 5)

TIME EV-1 (Nelson) EV-2 (van Hoften)

0:00 Airlock Egress (approx. Airlock Egress (approx. MET 003:22:10) MET 003:22:10)

Set up Tools on MFR Grapple MFR/Ingress

1:00 Assist EV-2 Start MEB Replacement

2:00

Install new MEB Remove old MEB

(RMS Unberth SMM) (RMS Unberth SMM)

4:00 Stow Equipment MMU Test Flight

5:25 Ingress Ingress

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SOLAR MAXIMUM MISSION PAYLOAD OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTER (POCC)

When Shuttle 41-C crewmen repair the malfunctioning Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) satellite, the satellite's ground control center at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., will play a major role in advising the astronauts about their mission.

The Shuttle flight will be the first to link a NASA remote control center to the Shuttle. As such, it becomes a milestone: the first expansion of NASA's satellite control capabilities to include servicing satellites in orbit.

The Solar Maximum Mission Control Room at Goddard has directed the SMM satellite since its launch in February 1980. Following the usual NASA pattern of one satellite-one control room, the facility is the only control room for the satellite and provides its entire ground support. This support ranges from directing its scientific observations to monitoring the health of its onboard systems.

So long as a satellite functions properly in orbit, these ground control capabilities are sufficient to insure years of successful * operation. Ground controllers frequently solve minor systems problems afflicting satellites. However, the SMM has suffered major systems - failures which, until the Shuttle, would have left it permanently crippled.

41-C requires a series of complex commands to the satellite synchronizing its activities with the astronauts' work. Thus, operations throughout the mission will be closely linked between the SMM control room at Goddard and Shuttle mission control at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

To support the Shuttle repair, the SMM control center has expanded from one to five rooms, and multiplied its capabilities accordingly. Together, the five rooms comprise the Solar Maximum Retrieval Mission's Payload Operations Control Center (POCC). The center of POCC activity is the First Mission Operations Room (MOR-A), which is the prime control room for coordinating satellite and crew activities.

Prior to astronaut retrieval of the SMM satellite, the MOR-A will disarm the satellite's pyrotechnics and command s'ut-down of its remaining attitude control system. These steps will make astronaut George Nelson's effort to stabilize the satellite before pick-up by the Shuttle's Remote Manipulator System safer and easier.

Before repairs begin in the Shuttle's cargo bay, ground controllers will shut down electrical power aboard the satellite. Following repair, they will verify the satellite's pointing accuracy.

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( Additionally, through the repair sequence, controllers will monitor the thermal condition of the satellite to insure it remains within tolerable limits. Activities in the MOR-A will be directed by the Solar Maximum Repair Mission Operations Manager, the P0CC director and the POCC controller. Its staff includes three attitude control system engineers and a specialist for the main electronic box of the SMM's Coronograph/Polarimeter instrument; a specialist for the SMM Is High- Gain Antenna, which will be deployed to return future SMM scientific observations through the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS); a communications and data handling engineer; a power system engineer; an onboard computer software engineer; and planning staff. The MOR-A is linked to Johnson through Goddard's NASCOM (NASA Communications Network) utilizing commercial communications satellites. The control room can communicate directly with the SMM satellite both through Goddard's tracking network (including ground stations and the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite) and a Payload Interrogator (similar to a ground station) carried in the Shuttle's cargo bay. The Shuttle POCC Interface (SPIF) via Houston receives such ancillary data from the orbiter as thermal and attitude data, which can be compared with similar values being reported by the SMM ( satellite. This redundancy provides a check, for example, against a misleading report of the satellite's temperature in the cargo bay, which would endanger its systems. The SPIF converts the Shuttle data to computer displays throughout the Payload Operations Control Center for controllers monitoring the mission. A Launch Control Room is responsible for monitoring the performance of the Flight Support System (FSS) in the Shuttle's cargo bay. The FSS will serve as the astronauts' workbase for SMM repairs, providing power and other services to the satellite while it sits passively aboard the Shuttle. Up to 12 people in the Launch Control Room monitor the FSS, ready to do structural analysis and find solutions if the FSS should fail. The final room in the Payload Operations Control Center for the Solar Maximum Retrieval Mission is the Launch Support Room -- a facility for updating continually the mission timetable. The Launch Support Room, staffed by two people, replans the satellite's activity timetable in 12-hour cycles according to mission progress. Following the 41-C mission, the POCC will check out the performance of the repaired SMM satellite for approximately 30 days.

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SHUTTLE STUDENT INVOLVEMENT PROGRAM

A colony of honey bees, about 3,300 in all, will be aboard the orbiter Challenger on flight 41-C. The purpose of the experiment is to compare quantitatively the size, shape, volume and wall structure of the honeycomb structures. The experiment will attempt to determine the characteristics of the hive construction of Apis mellifera honey bees in a zerc-gravity environment. Dan Poskevich, a student at Tennessee Technological Institute, Cooksville, Tenn., devised the experiment. He theorized that by comparing the structures built by a colony of honey bees in zero- gravity and normal gravity environments generalizations may be formed for applications involving other populations of the order hymenoptra, bees, wasps, ants and related forms.

Honey bees have long been lauded for their selection of a six- sided - hexagon - cylinder as the structural unit that composes the honeycomb. Not only does the hexagon shape cell hold more honey than a triangular or square one, but it is also strengthened by its contact with adjacent cells. Two frames will be enclosed in a box measuring 22.84 by 22.84 by 22.84 cm (8.9 by 8.9 by 8.9 in.). Two cameras will be used to photograph each honeycomb frame continuously during construction. The environment will be controlled using timer- controlled lighting and temperature to simulate earth conditions. A food supply will be located outside the hive section to supply water, pollen and nectar.

An earth-bound control hive will be used for comparisons after the return of the zero-g hive from orbit.

Honeywell Inc., Minneapolis, Minn., is sponsoring the project and is providing technical support.

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IMAX

On mission 41-C, one IMAX camera will be carried aboard the Challenger.

The IMAX camera is part of a joint project among NASA, the National Air and Space Museum, IMAX Systems Corp. of Toronto, Canada, and the Lockheed Corp. to produce a color motion picture of Shuttle flight operations from launch to landing. One 70mm motion picture camera will be stowed in the middeck with several lenses, two loaded film magazines, and five rolls of reload film.

CINEMA 360

A Cinema 360 camera will be carried aboard the Challenger to provide motion picture photography for a unique format designed especially for planetarium viewing. The camera will be located in a canister in the payload bay.

An Arriflex 35mm Type 3 motion picture camera with an 8mm/ f2.8 "fisheye" lens will be used. The Cinema 360 camera, including an accessory handle and lens guard/support, weighs approximately 9.5 kg '21 lb.). A system power supply weighs an additional 7.7 kg (17 lb.). The camera canister in the payload bay will provide film on exterior activities including EVA/ MMU operations, LDEF deployment or Remote Manipulator System operations. Lens focus, diaphragm setting and frame speed will be preset, thus requiring no light level readings or exposure calculations by the crew. The camera system will carry a 122-m (400-ft.) film magazine.

Filming done on this flight and 41-B and 41-D missions will be used in the production of a motion picture about the Space Shuttle program.

Cinema 360 is a consortium of four planetariums, located in Tucson, Ariz.; Jackson, Miss.; Reno, Nev.; and Chicago. The Gannett Foundation of Rochester, N.Y., has agreed to assume the costs of the film production.

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MISSION 41-C FLIGHT CREW DATA

Commander: Captain Robert L. Crippen, USN

Crippen was selected as a NASA Astronaut in September 1969. He was the pilot on the first flight of the Space Shuttle (STS-1) on April 12-14, 1981 and commander of the STS-7 flight, Jur.e 18 - 24, 1983. He received his bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas in 1960 and became a Naval Aviator in June 1962.

Pilot: Francis R. "Dick" Scobee

Scobee was selected as a NASA Astronaut in January 1978. He received his bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Arizona in 1965. A U.S. Air Force pilot, he had a combat tour in Vietnam and graduated from the Air Force Test Pilot school in 1972. He has logged more than 5,300 flight hours in 40 types of aircraft.

Missicr Specialist: Dr. George D. Nelson

Nelson was selected as a NASA Astronaut in January 1978. He received his bachelor's degree in physics from Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, Calif., in 1972 and a master's and a doctorate in astronomy from the University of Washington in 1974 and 1978, respectively. Mission Specialist: Terry J. Hart

Hart was selected as a NASA Astronaut in January 1978. He received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa., in 1968, a master's degree in electrical engineering from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J., in 1978. He was an Air Force pilot from 1970 to 1973 and is currently flying with the Texas Air National Guard.

Mission Specialist: Dr. James D. Van Hoften

Van Hoften was selected as a NASA Astronaut in January 1978. He received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkley, in 1966, a master's degree in hydraulic engineering and a doctorate in fluid mechanics from Colorado State University in 1968 and 1971. He became a Naval aviator in 1970 and flew combat missions in Southeast Asia. He is a Naval Reserve pilot with more than 1,800 flight hours. He has published several papers on turbulance, waves and cardio-vascular flows.

-end- (Index: 29, 37)

~~~~~~~~~~~- a. s-,, -.-- ; NASA NotvS National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202-453.8400 Nil- /005e,-

For Release:

James W. McCulla INMEDIATE Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-8398)

RELEASE NO: 84-39

NASA AIMINISTRATOR OUTLINES FI1RE IN SPACE

James M. Beggs, administrator of the National Aeroanutics and Space Administration, outlined a possible scenario for expansion for human life beyond the planet in a talk March 21.

He delivered the third annual Michelson Memorial Lecture at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. The lecture is named for Albert A. Michelson, an Academy graduate who, in 1907, became the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Physics.

"Many of our most innovative thinkers have devoted a good deal of time to imagining what the next 100 years in space might be like," Beggs said. "I think we've come to the point now where their vision might very well become reality." He outlined this possible chronology:

Using the Space Shuttle, and the experience of Spacelab - a scientific laboratory that fits in the Shuttle - the United States would launch a permanently manned Space Station in low earth orbit in the early 1990s.

The Space Shuttle can reach low earth orbit, about 150 to 250 miles above the earth. Thus it can carry the elements of the Space Station to be assembled in space, and later service it. President Reagan has asked Congress to authorize development of the facility.

Later this Space Station would be towed or otherwise moved to geosynchronous orbit, which is about 41,300 kilometers (22,300 miles) above the earth. Most communications and earth resource monitoring satellites and many scientific satellites work at this al ti tude .

March 21, 1984

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Shortly after the turn of the century, a Space Station would be placed in orbit around the moon, setting the stage for establishing a permanent human colony there for scientific obserztion and to exploit the moon's mineral resources. About the year 2010 the colony would be established, begining with a small research station. "Then, with robots, which as you know, we are fast developing on earth, we would establish a productive activity on the moon," Beggs said. By 2010 or 2030 economically productive activities would be well underway on the moon. "By that time we will have thought about the possibility of moving out to Mars to do the same thing," Beggs said. "And by that time, also, robots will enable us to construct a station on Mars." About 2040, the moon colony "would be flourishing." Then about 2060, a colony will have been established on Mars, and will be "healthy and growing." Beggs said that with the mass driver - a proposed machine to launch into space material from bodies in low gravity - "we could be mining large amounts of material, expanding our economic activities in space and bringing the benifits back to earth." "We have the Space Shuttle. And, with Congressional approval, we will have a Space Station in orbit within 10 years," Beggs said. "The technology to carry out the rest of this scenario is in our hands today. We need the will, imagination and vision to use it to reach our goals."

- end -

adz Pa ~- .- w . - =w= National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202.453-8400

For Release: James W. McCulla Headquarters, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE (Phone: 202/453-8398)

RELEASE NO: 84-40

NASA APPOINTS ACTING SPACE FLIGHT CHIEF

Jesse W. Moore has been appointed Acting Associate Adminis- trator for Space Flight for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

He succeeds Lt. Gen. James A. Abrahamson who, on April 15, will become Director of Strategic Defense, a new position in the Department of Defense reporting directly to the Secretary of Defense.

Both appointments were announced Tuesday, March 27.

Moore, who had been Abrahamson's Deputy, came to NASA Head- quarters in 1978 as the Deputy Director of the Solar Terrestrial Division in the Office of Space Science. He was the Director of the Spacelab Flight Division until December 1981, at which time he assumed the position of Director, Earth and Planetary Explor- ation Division in the Office of Space Science and Applications, where he remained until being appointed in February 1983 to the position of Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Flight.

Prior to these assignments, he was employed at the Jet Pro- pulsion Laboratory (JPL) beginning in 1966 where he worked in a variety of areas, including guidance and control, advanced programs and flight projects. His last assignment at JPL was as the Science and Mission Design Manager for Project Galileo.

Moore received a bachelor's degree in engineering in 1961 and a master's degree in engineering in 1964, both from the Uni- versity of South Carolina, Columbia. He joined General Dynamics immediately after graduation and worked in guidance systems development for naval missiles.

March 27, 1984

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Moore is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and is a senior member of the American nautical Society. Astro-

He is married to the former Brenda Kay Polson the parents and they are of two children. Moore and his family reside Vienna., Va. in

-end-

(Index: 26, 27,)

-- - * a , - , , , - - -, , , | .,-., , ,.... - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202-453-8400

For Release: Charles Redmond IMMEDIATE Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-1755)

Mary Beth Murrill Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. (Phone: 818/354-5011

RELEASE NO: 84-41

NASA AWARDS CONTRACTS FOR OCEANOGRAPHIC SATELLITE

Three U.S. aerospace firms have each been awarded eight- month, $1 million contracts to conduct satellite definition studies for TOPEX, an oceanographic satellite mission proposed by NASA.

The three selected are Fairchild Industries, Germantown, Md.; RCA Corp., Princeton, N.J.; and Rockwell International, Downey, Calif. Fairchild's Multimission Modular Spacecraft (MMS), RCA's Advanced Tiros N (ATN) satellite, and Rockwell's Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite are all candidate designs for the TOPEX spacecraft.

TOPEX will provide at least three years of detailed ocean topography information for determining global ocean circulation. The mission is being planned by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., for launch in 1989.

As a cost-saving measure, the TOPEX spacecraft will be based on an existing satellite design, rather than built as a new and unique spacecraft.

Based on common interest in using radar altimetry to study the ocears from space and a long history of mutually beneficial cooperative projects, NASA and the French Space Agency (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) have explored how they might conduct a-joint ocean circulation mission and subsequent science investigations.

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NASA is therefore studying two options for the project: a collaborative U.S./French mission, called TOPEX/Poseidon; and a U.S.-only mission.

Each contractor shall study two satellite configurations for TOPEX, one for each option. The U.S.-only configuration will be designed for launch from NASA's Space Shuttle, while the U.S.- French configuration will be designed for launch from France's Ariane 4 launch vehicle.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is operated by Caltech for NASA.

-end-

(Index: 10)

-- '-.L -- 4 . h. --- - - NAS N ws National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202-45384400

For Release: Ken Atchison IMMEDIATE Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-2759)

Les Reinertson Ames Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, Calif. (Phone: 805/258-8381)

RELEASE NO: 84-42

NASA RSRA TO BEGIN FLIGHT TEST IN NEW CONFIGURATION

Flight testing of a NASA/Army Rotor System Research Aircraft (RSRA) in its fixed-wing configuration is scheduled to start in late March at the Ames Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, Calif.

Purpose of the tests is to demonstrate the fixed-wing capability of this helicopter/airplane hybrid research vehicle and explore its flight envelope and flying qualities in preparation for the NASA/DARPA RSRA/X-Wing Rotor flight test program.

The two NASA/Army RSRA are unique research vehicles, designed to provide a facility for inflight investigation and verification of new helicopter rotor system concepts and supporting technology. The RSRA can be configured to fly as a helicopter, as a compound helicopter (with fixed wings and auxiliary jet engines), or as an airplane. This is the first time the RSRA will have flown in the airplane mode.

The fixed-wing flight evaluation will be conducted in two phases. In the first phase the RSRA will be equipped with its tail rotor, but no main rotor with test speeds limited to under 250 knots, while the planned second phase will be completely rotorless for higher speed flights. Flight testing will be carried out at altitudes up to 3,000 meters (10,000 feet).

Both phases will include taxi tests, investigations of takeoff and landing techniques, acoustics tests, envelope development and determination of control power (the effects control inputs have on aircraft and dynamic stability). Additionally, the first phase will investigate level flight performance with and without the main rotor hub.

- end - -

- . a -e -- - -. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washngton, D.C. 20546 AC 202-453-8400

Fo. Release: Dwayne Brown IMMEDIATE Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-1758)

RELEASE NO: 84-43

COMET KOPFF TO BE TARGET FOR NASA RENDEZVOUS

A NASA scientific advisory group has recommended a relatively bright, active short-period comet named Kopff as the target for a rendezvous by a NASA spacecraft in the first of a series of proposed missions to primitive solar system bodies (comets and asteroids) and the far outer planets. This mission would use a new planetary spacecraft, the Mariner Mark II, successor to the Mariner, Ranger, Viking and Voyager spacecrafts. The selection of the comet Kopff was made at a meeting at the California Institute of Technology of NASA's Comet Rendezvous Science Working Group, a team of 20 U.S. and European scientists, appointed to advise the space agency on planning for such a mission. Current plans call for the NASA spacecraft to rendezvous with the comet Kopff in May 1994, after a July 1990 Space Shuttle launch. A rendezvous mission would differ from a flyby in that the spacecraft would match the comet's orbit around the sun and then stay with the comet for several years. This extended encounter would allow close-up observations under a variety of conditions. Scientists in the comet working group say they are enthu- siastic about NASA's plans for a rendezvous mission as a follow- up to the flybys to be carried out in 1985 by the NASA International Cometary Explorer of the comet Giacobini-Zinner and in 1986 when European, Soviet and Japanese spacecraft encounter Halley's comet.

March 30, 1984

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The scientists chose Kopif from a list of short-period comets. Longer-period comets generally have orbits that are more difficult to match for rendezvous missions.

Comet Kopff, one of the brighter short-period comets, orbits the sun every 6.5 years. It has been observed by ground-based astronmers and by two spacecraft -- the International Ultraviolet Explorer and Infrared Astronomical Satellite -- when it was in the inner solar system during the summer of 1983. The data show that Kopff is somewhat dustier than most short-period comets. The selection of the comet Kopff was based on its relatively active state and because the spacecraft will be able to perform the rendezvous maneuver more than two years before the comet's closest approach to the sun. The spacecraft will orbit Kopff and study it in great detail from ranges of less than 10 kilometers before the comet becomes active as a result of solar heating. After the comet forms its coma and tail, the spacecraft will back off some distance to continue operation in the dusty near-comet enviroment. An additional attraction of the mission to comet Kopff is the opportunity to take close looks at two main belt asteroids named Namaqua and Lucia; flybys of these bodies will take place during the journey out from earth to comet Kopff. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., is conducting systems-development studies for a variety of planetary missions -- the deep-space elements of the Core Program of future projects recommended by NASA's Solar System Exploration Committee. These will be carried out during the next two decades and include missions to Saturn, Titan, Uranus and the main belt asteroids, as well as comet Kopff. The Mariner Mark II comet mission is planned for a fiscal 1987 new start.

The payload for the comet Kopff encounter would include scientific instruments mounted on the spacecraft bus or a scan platform, depending on the pointing requirements. The Mariner Mark II spacecraft will utilize electronics and parts from other spacecraft including the Viking, Voyagers, Galileo and the Venus Radar Mapper in order to minimize development costs.

- end -

(Index: 36) National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202*453-8400 p~, t

For Release: Mary Ann Peto Lewis Research Center, Cleveland IMMEDIATE (Phone: 216/433-4000, ext. 438)

RELEASE NO: 84-44

LEWIS CENTER AWARDS CONTRACT FOR TWO SHUTTLE/CENTAUR VEHICLES

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, has awarded a $161 million contract to General Dynamics Corp., Convair Div., San Diego, Calif., for two Shuttle/Centaur G vehicles for the Department of Defense.

This contract finalizes a previous letter contract award and brings the estimated target value of the total contract to $414 million. The original contract called for design, development, testing and engineering, with developmental costs being shared by NASA and DOD.

The original contract included two NASA-unique Shuttle Centaur G-Prime vehicles for the Galileo (Jupiter) and International Solar/Polar missions, scheduled for launch in 1986.

The finalized total contract is a cost-plus-incentive- fee/award-fee type and will run through December 1986. Most of the work will be performed at the contractor's plant in San Diego, with a smaller portion to be done at the Eastern Test Range, Fla.

Centaur is a high-energy upper stage booster expected to add substantially to the Space Shuttle's ability to deliver heavier payloads from low earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit or interplanetary trajectories.

end -

(Index: 10, 21)

- S - - -- v at~ 4/NASA Newvs National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202-453-8400 P8q?- /Cy06 d2,

Charles Redmond For Release: Headquarters, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE (Phone: 202/453-1754) Terry Eddleman Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville Ala. (Phone: 205/453-0035)

RELEASE NO: 84-45

BOX-CAMERA PRINCIPLE TO DECIPHER SOLAR SECRETS

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., recently finished a conceptual study of an orbiting facility that would examine the sun by using, in part, the principle of an old- fashioned box camera. The Pinhole/Occulter Facility derives its name from its functions. It studies the sun with a plate filled with thousands of microscopic holes -- a method Marshall study manager Joe Dabbs describes as "a high-tech approach to a child's cardboard pinhole camera." The facility uses a mask that obscures, or "occults," the bright disk of the sun so that its fiery corona can be observed closely. "In effect, it creates an artificial solar eclipse," said Dabbs. The Pinhole/Occulter would be an element of the Advanced Solar Observatory, a combination of instruments on an unmanned orbiting platform -- possibly flying in formation with the Space Station -- that would study the full spectral range of electromagnetic radiation from the sun. The Advanced Solar Observatory could fly in the mid-1990s. "But we hope to fly the Pinhole/Occulter itself before that," said Dabbs. "The facility might be part of the advanced observatory, but it still would have an integral identity of its own. If we can make it part of the Spacelab mission series aboard the Space Shuttle, we could have the facility in orbit in the early 1990s. The year 1992 would be especially timely, because that will be the peak of the 11-year solar cycle."

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The facility would consist of a small platform called a "detector plane," containing an array of x-ray dectectors, visible-light and extreme-ultraviolet coronographs and spectro- graphs. Centered on the platform would be a deployable boom, at the end of which would rest the "occulter plane," a flat, rather square device about six feet across, containing two separate grids of tiny openings, a rounded occulting disk at one corner and a straight occulting edge. The grids and occulting edges would be aligned with their detectors below on the detector plane. The boom would extend about 105 feet. The x-ray detectors would study the disk of the sun, while the occulters would be used to study the corona. Like the crude child's box camera, in which a pinhole at the front allows an image to be formed at the rear where film is placed, the Pinhole/Occulter relies upon the same principle -- but with dramatic differences. "In the box camera with a single pinhole," Dabbs said, "the image is very faint because of the small amount of light that passes through the hole to the film. You can't make the hole bigger to get a brighter image, because, the larger the hole, the fuzzier the image. So it's better to use lots of small holes." "The same principle applies with the Pinhole/Oculter. The occulter plane has literally thousands of holes which permit a much brighter image of the sun as x-rays pass through the detectors below. "But there's an important difference in results between a box camera and the Pinhole/Occulter, which has many tiny pinholes for brightness. If you were to punch a considerable number of holes through the front of your box camera, you'd get nothing but a lot of confusing images cast by all those pinholes on the film. The Pinhole/Occulter, however, would have an image proportional counter -- a computer that would know how to decipher all those images into a single bright one." Brightness is required to obtain the full dynamic range of solar intensities. A faint image would only permit the study of relatively bright, active regions and solar flares. Although many studies of the sun have been accomplished over the years, especially during the Skylab missions of the early 1970s, the Pinhole/Occulter would provide a next generation opportunity. "The solar observations made by Skylab were outstanding," said Dabbs, "but technology continues to advance. The difference between the Skylab solar observations and those that would be possible with the Pinhole/Occulter would be about a factor of 10 in sensitivity and spatial resolution. This difference would apply across the board -- x-ray detection and visble-light and ultraviolet coronographs. Skylab effectively was working with one-inch optics, while the Pinhole/Occulter would have 14-inch optics."

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These finer optics would allow a higher time resolution, that is, an ability to record events from moment to moment rather than over long durations. Furthermore, the optics would enable observers to look much more closely at the sun, to see the lower corona and surface of the sun more clearly than is currently possible.

The facility promises to reveal answers to many the mysteries of sun, such as how flares develop; how the corona of the sun is heated to temperatures 20 times hotter than its surface; and exactly where and how the corona is acclerated to form the solar wind, which blows throughout our solar system.

"The complexity of the sun demands a facility like the Pinhole/Occulter to unravel these mysteries," said Dabbs. "But when you realize that the facility has its foundations in a number of simple principles, it raises an interesting question: "Who would have guessed that the principle behind a child's box camera might someday help unlock the secrets of the sun?"

-end

I(3

(Index: 33, 36)

- = ~~, n -A - - - -,,C,. .,- - NAS NewoI National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202-453-8400

Dave Garrett For Release: Headquarters, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE (Phone: 202/453-8590)

RELEASE NO: 84-46

SHUTTLE MISSION 41-D LAUNCH DATE ADJUSTED

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has adjusted the planned June 6, 1984, launch date of the Space Shuttle Mission 41-D to June 19, 1984. This mission will be the inaugural flight of the Shuttle orbiter Discovery.

The date change is due to the planned changeover of the orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods from the orbiter Challenger to orbiter Discovery between flights 41-C (April 6, 1984) and 41-D.

-end -

(Index: 37)

.~ -. ,!,* t- ~ - X~* L ------W-44

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202*453-84oa

Gene Guerny ForRefease: Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-2197) IMMesEDIATE

RELEASE N:D: 84-47

NASA SPACE SHUTrTE WE CARRY `IOMATO SEEDS ON MISSION 41-C

NASA's Project SEEDS will carry 12.5 million tomato seeds Space Shuttle Mission 41-C on scheduled for launch on April 6. The SEEDS (Space Exposed Experiment Developed project is a cooperative for Students) experiment involving the NASA quarters Education Services Head- Branch, the Park Seed Co. of Greenwood, S.C., and NASA's Langley Rbsearch Center Hampton, Va. The 12.5 million tomato seeds were provided by Park and have been placed in five Seed Co. sealed aluminum canisters. Passive detectors have been placed in the canisters to record the highest temperature experienced in flight accumulated and to measure space radiation throughout the exposure period.

NASA's primary objectives in the SEEDS involve a experiment are: to large number of students in a national ating interest project gener- in science and related disciplines; students from upper to offer elementary through university levels opportunity for an a first hand experience with materials space; to flown in emphasize an interdisciplinary approach and to provide to the project; opportunity for sharing results.

The SEEDS project has the potential approximately to involve directly 4 million students in research 250,000 classrooms in a effort. NASA envisions this the program going far beyond technical aspects of planting seeds on their growth and making observations and development. Benefitting from instructors' guidance their and expertise, students can apply skills learned in the academic classroom to a real research problem. The NASA vehicle for these pioneer Long space experiments is the Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). unmanned This is a large, facility which inexpensively accommodates science and applications technology, experiments requiring a exposure in space. freeflying After approximately 12 months exposure space environment the LEEF to the will be retrieved bv another Shuttle flight and returned to earth.

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The flight seeds will be returned to the Park Seed Co. where an equal number of control seeds fran the same lot will be main- tained in a ground-based facility for the duration of the 41-C mission.

Fbllowing appropriate analysis, Park Seed staffers will package both flight seeds and control seeds with instructional materials, developed by the NASA Education Services Branch, containing information on at least one NASA-prescribed experiment.

The kits will be distributed by NASA Headquarters to classrooms nationwide fram grade 5 through the university levels at the begining of the 1985 fall semester.

This project presents a variety of experiment Possibilities for four educational levels. Upper elementary and secondary levels 7 to 9 can canpare germination rates and times, seed embryos, phototropic responses and fruit products. Students can also consider the impact of changes in environmental factors. In addition to these experiments, upper secondary and university students could perform chromosome and population genetics studies.

Project SEEDS will allow students to design their own experiments using the seeds and to be involved in decision making and data gathering. This will be the first known opportunity for long-duration exposure of living tissues, so every classroom experiment will be significant.

At the conclusion of their experimentation, students will prepare reports describing results, which will be compiled in a summary report at NASA Headquarters. Each participating classroan will receive a copy of this report, and each participating school will receive a NASA Certificate of Participation.

- end -

(Index: 36, 37, 47)

U -.. r~ :-~w r -v National Aeronautics and Space Administration Wastington, D.C. 20546 AC 202453-8400

For Release:E Mary Fitzpatrick Headquarters, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE (Phone: 202/453-8400)

RELEASE NO: 84-48 TELEPHONE SERVICE TO BE AVAILABLE FOR SHUTTLE MISSION

The "Dial-A-Shuttle" telephone service, sponsored by the National Space Institute, will begin at 6:59 a.m. April 6, two j hours before the Space Shuttle Orbiter Challenger is launched from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The service will end shortly after the post-flight briefing that follows the landing, now scheduled for 8:10 a.m. EST April 12. Callers in the United States can reach the service by dialing 900/410-6272. Callers in overseas locations should dial their international access code, plus 'il"(the country code for the United States), then 900/410-6272. The service is not V available in Canada, Mexico or Puerto Rico. Callers in the United States and the Virgin Islands will be billed 50 cents for the first minute and 35 cents for each additional minute, plus tax. Callers in other countries will be billed at the normal overseas rates in effect at their locations. Callers will hear live space-to-ground communications when- ever the crew is talking with mission control. At other times callers will hear interviews with key mission personnel, press briefings and short commercial announcements. All calls to 900 numbers must be dialed directly. Coin telephone calls, calls from hotels and some business telephone systems, charge-card calls and operator-assisted calls cannot be made to 900 numbers.

- end -

(Index: 37)

- .-. Ad .2.^.. - - - I T " f1 NS News National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202-453-3400 /

For Release: Charles Redmond Headquartecs, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE (Phone: 202/453-1754) James C. Elliott Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (Phone: 301/344-5566)

RELEASE NO: 84-49

NASA COMPLETES CHECKOUT; TURNS LANDSAT-5 OVER TO NOAA

Engineers at NASA'S Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., have completed checkout and activation of the Landsat-5 earth resources satellite and will turn over operational control of the spacecraft to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on April 6.

The 1,950-kilogram (4,300-pound) spacecraft was launched fom the Vandenberg Air Force Base launch complex in California on March 1 and, through orbit-adjust maneuvers, has been placed in a 705-kilometers (438-statute miles) near-polar orbit.

Since then, NASA engineers have checked out all computer, communications, telemetry and other spacecraft systems and declared the spacecraft "go" for operational use. In the 36 days since launch, engineers at Goddard have acquired more than 1,013 images from the Multispectral Scanner instrument on the spacecraft and 646 more scenes from the Thematic Mapper.

Operational control of the spacecraft and of the Multispectral Scanner Ground Processing will be assumed by NOAA in the turnover. However, Goddard experts will continue to manage and operate the Thematic Mapper portion of the ground segment, still in the experimental stage, until January 1985.

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(Index: 12)

* ~ - ,a - -- - - . J. NAS New National Aeronautics and Space Administration WasNngton, D.C. 20546 AC 202-453-8400

For Release. Bill O'Donnell IMMEDIATE Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-1179) Doug Ward Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas (Phone: 713/483-3671)

RELEASE NO: 84-50

SPACE STATION APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED AT JOHNSON CENTER

Neil B. Hutchinson today was named manager of the Station Program Space office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Deputy manager is John W. Aaron. Both appointments are effective immediately, Gerald D. Griffin, Johnson announced today. Director,

NASA Administrator James M. Beggs announced Johnson in February that Space Center would be "lead center" for the Space Station program. agency's

M.utchinson has been serving in a staff assignment Johnson Director to the since his return in January 1984 from a one-year assignment at NASA Headquarters, where Shuttle he was Director, Space Operations Office in the Office of Space Flight. Hutchinson joined NASA in 1962 and worked on the design and development of the Mission Control Center's Complex. Real Time Computer He served as a flight controller on Gemini missions and Apollo before becoming a Flight Director in 1972. He served as Flight Director for the final Apollo landing mission, lunar Apollo 17; for all three manned Skylab missions in 1973-1974; for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Shuttle developmental in 1975; and for and orbital flight tests from 1978 to 1981.

April 9, 1984

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In addition to his flight control and flight director responsibilities, Hutchinson served as head of the Systems Logic and Processing Section, assistant chief of the Apollo Command and Service Module Systems Branch, chief of the Guidai i and Propul- sion Systems Branch and deputy chief of the Flight Tntegration Office at Johnson.

Aaron has been chief of the Spacecraft Software Division at Johnson since 1981. He also served as Avionics Flight Software Project manager for the Shuttle Approach and Landing Test and Orbital Flight Test programs; as technical assistant to the chief, Spacecraft Software Division and as section head for the Electrical Power, Sequential and Instrumentation Systems for the Apollo Command and Service Module.

In addition to his organizational responsibilities, Aaron also served as a flight controller responsible for vehicle systems operation on Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs. Hutchinsorn graduated from Wilamette University, Salem, Ore., in 1961 with a degree in mathematics and physics. He worked at the U. S. Naval Weapons Laboratory in Dahlgren, Va., as a mathematician until joining NASA in 1962. Married to the former Karen L. Zollman of Wichita, Kans., he and his wife make their home in Clear Lake City, Texas, with their two children.

Aaron received his degree in physics from Southwestern State College in Weatherford, Okla., and joined NASA in Houston in 1964. He is married to the former Cheryl Hart of Vinson, Okla., and they reside, with a son, in Houston and have a daughter attending Texas A & M University.

-end-

(Index: 46)

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202.453.8400

Azeezaly S. Jaffer For Release: Headquarters, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE (Phone: 202/453-8371) David W. Thomas Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (Phone: 301/344-8102)

RELEASE NO: 84-51

SPACE AGENCY AIDED INVENTOR OF PROGRAMMABLE MEDICATION SYSTEM

Robert E. Fischell, inventor of a programmable implantable medication system, which was codeveloped and cofunded by NASA, has been named Inventor of the Year for 1983 by the Intellectual Property Owners, Inc. (IPO), a nonprofit trade association of holders of patents, trademarks and copyrights. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and several commercial firms were involved in this new system, which may drastically alter procedures for administering medication. The system may be used to administer insulin to diabetics, provide pain reducing drugs to cancer patients and holds promise for other therapies. The system uses a programmable computer, implanted in the human body, to dispense medications. Its key element is encased in a package about the size of a woman's compact. It contains a reservoir of medication, a tiny pump, a microminiaturized electronic system and a tube leading to the target area of the body. The other major element is the Medication Programming System in the physician's office. Programming is accomplished by wireless telemetry -- a space technology -- in which command signals are sent to the device by a transmitting antenna. PIMS is one of several implantable devices developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and other groups over the past decade. Goddard has provided program management and technical expertise in these projects.

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Fischell, who is with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md., receiveP his award this month at a reception in the Russell Senate Office Uuilding. The award includes a $1000 check and a plaque. Senator Charles McC. Mathias (R-MD), Chairman, Subcommittee on Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks presented the award.

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(I-dex: 7, 41)

-~ - ,., - A n .- - - *2- NASA N&AS National Aeronautics and Space Administration Wanshnton, D.C. 20546 AC 202-453-8400 PS"- /OdG9

For Release: Debra Rahn Headquarters, IMMEDIATE Washington, D.c. (Phone: 453-8455).

RELEASE NO: 84-52

NASA SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH ISRAEL FOR EARTHQUAKE STUDY

The origin of earthquakes in the Mediterranean be the subject region will of a study by NASA and the Israeli Space Agency. Focus of the program will be the very precise' determination of small movements of the earth's crust. Key the crustal to understanding movements lies in the measurement, over a period years, of precise of relative positions of scientific base stations. Israel will join 11 other countries activities conducting laser ranging with NASA in 20 locations. This global significantly network will enhance study and understanding of the solid and its dynamic processes. earth

The Israeli Space Agency will build a ground Israel and station in install laser, optical and electronic equipment .ong-term loan from on NASA. This equipment is used to measure the distance between ground stations and specially satellites. equipped

A short, low-power, laser pulse is beamed to the satellite, which reflects the light back to the station. pulse Travel-time of the is measured to determine the distance to the When two or more satellite. stations track the sane satellite, the distance between the stations can be measured accurately. data By acquiring over a period of time, any change in distance determined, representing can be crustal movement between the stations. The Israeli station will be transmitting as NASA's Laser to such satellites Geodynamics Satellite, LAGEOS, and the French Satellite Starlette. Both are specially equipped corner cube retroreflectors. with optical

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Fixed stations, such as the one in Israel, can also work with mobile laser tracking stations to map regional patterns of crustal deformation and monitor strain accumulation. The Israeli station will be part of a worldwide network including fixed and mobile stations in the Mediterranean area expected to begin measuring crustal movements under this program in 1985. Other countries in Europe and North Africa, including France, the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and italy, will be involved in the cooperative research program.

The crustal dynamics project at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., will manage the United States/Israeli effort. The Israeli Space Agency will be responsible for the operation of the Israeli station.

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(Index: 20)

4 ~ . !6 a n ..- t b~And- .. 54. Ad - ~^--.. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202-453-8400

- . 2 . 2 I For Releasd: James C. Elliott IMMEDIATE Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (Phone: 301/344-5566)

RELEASE NO: 84-53

GODDARD TEAM SAVES THE DAY FOR SOLAR MAX

In a small room on the second floor of Building Goddard 14 at the Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., experts crowded around William N. (Bill) Stewart, operations manager for the repair of the Solar Maximum satellite. Through months of training, these experts had negotiated procedures in one simulated emergency after another. simulated emergency But a is different from a real one. There are no smiles during the real thing. As the SMM repair had been planned, Astronaut George Nelson was to fly out to the satellite, lock onto it as a Trunion with a device known Pin Attachment Device (T-PAD), stop it from and hold it still spinning until the Shuttle's remote manipulator arm could pick it up and lift it into the Challenger's payload bay. For reasons still unknown, the T-PAD was not able to onto Solar Max. lock Attempts to stabilize the spacecraft by holding one of its solar panels were unsuccessful, also. the As a result, satellite, that had been spinning in the roll axis of one at a speed degree per second, was suddenly tumbling in all - - roll, pitch three axes and yaw - - and all of them at rates greater one degree per second. than

All plans were cast aside. Operating procedures been that had Bible just a few minutes earlier suddenly became Solar Max was in useless. deep trouble! As it tumbled, the engineers from Goddard, the OAO Corporation and the McDonnell Corporation Douglas tried desperately to find some means of containment. For the first few minutes, everything' was a mystery. dynamics experts Flight received telemetry indicating that Solar Max was doing one thing, but when they tried to correct happened. it, nothing

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Desperate, they rushed before through one procedure after determining that the spacecraft's another overburdened and were gyros had become giving out erroneous readings. Power experts poured into the with telemetry room from all over the readings in one hand and country the other. With Solar pencilled calculations Max now tumbling out in panels which provide electrical of control, the solar rotating so power to the spacecraft fast that they were providing were the satellite. very little energy to "How long can we last?", Stewart asked, "If we're lucky, six hours," came the response. By now, Stewart's console was three deep. enveloped by people two Through his headset he and Space Center in Houston. was talking with the Johnson chief Constantly, he conferred assistants, Dave Douds with his two read off and Jim Harrison. In telemetry data. The situation between, he'd improving. showed no signs of When they were certain the attitude Stewart ordered a new readings were software program be sent erroneous, spacecraft. Sending up to the 11 banks of data, each ' minutes to transmit, would requiring 10 little take time -- and there time available. But was precious program there was no other choice. had to be fed to the onboard The new could be halted. computers so the tumbling The difficulties began the activated morning of April 8. Stewart the attitude control system, for the planned capture. which had been inactive recognized, By the time the erroneous another hour or so had readings were banks of software passed. And by the time had been reloaded, the 10 the prediction for a total clock read 6 p.m. If only loss of power was correct, one hour to save the spacecraft. Stewart had He decided not to send up the Instead, he and his eleventh bank of data. colleagues set out to right using the magnetic influence the spacecraft the spacecraft in special attitude control against the earth's magnetic bars on control bars could offset field. f the spacecraft the earth's influence, might yet be saved. they felt the The battery power continued panels still to weaken, however. were not getting enough The solar p.m., things seemed sun. For awhile, around to look better. The 9 the rotation rates were tumbling had slowed and still lowering. But the solar not getting enough panels were life-giving sunshine.

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By 11 p.m., Stewart announced solemnly that the spacecraft, now coming out of an eclipse behind the earth, another "might not survive eclipse." He estimates now that they might have been as little as five minutes away from losing Solar Max.

One last ditch maneuver was ordered. The transponder was commanded off through the eclipse to save a few precious power. watts of

As the spacecraft emerged from the eclipse, its solar were pointing panels directly toward the sun. There was power! And the spacecraft was saved.

Everyone in the POCC, throughout NASA and places beyond breathed a sigh of relief. For several more hours, Stewart and his colleagues kept vigil on their patient. Finally, by Monday 3 or 4 morning, and after more than 36 straight hours of duty, they trudged off for a few winks of rest in a nearby bunkroom. In a few hours, however, they were back to look after their spacecraft and to develop new plans for recovering and it. repairing

Two days later, of course, Astronaut Terry Hartl captured Solar Max with the manipulator arm. Astronauts Nelson van and James Hoften replaced the attitude control system module and the main electronics box on the coronagraph/polarimeter. The spacecraft was placed at the end of the arm and checks indicated the repairs had been successful.

On Thursday morning, April 12, the spacecraft was off dropped in orbit. After a lengthier checkout, it will resume its scientific observations of the sun. In many ways, the Solar Max repair mission was unique. It was the first to capture a satellite in space. It to repair was the first a satellite in space. It was the first to place one back in orbit.

The accomplishment of the present might be outweighed, however, by the opportunities of the future. In a way, as Project Manager Frank Cepollina has declared: "This era opens a new in space. The days of the throw-away satellite are over."

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(Index: 18, 21, 37)

-A ___ _ * . C .- /-.

new N

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202-453-8400 pi, 1 0rq

For Release: Charles Redmond Headquarters, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE (Phone: 202/453-1754)

Debra Rahn Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-8455)

Terry Eddleman Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. (Phone: 205/453-0035)

RELEASE NO: 84-54

NASA REQUESTS EXPERIMENTS FOR TETHERED SATELLITE

NASA and its Italiain counterpart, the National Space Plan office of the Italian Naticwal Research Council (PSN/CNR), have asked scientists from around the world to submit their ideas for experiments to be performed on a joint United States/Italian program known as the Tethered Satellite System -- a satellite that later this decade could be reeled into and out of the Space Shuttle's cargo bay on a miles-long tether.

Under the Announcement of Opportunity, scientists have until May 21 to submit a letter of intent to propose an experiment for the system and until July 20 to submit detailed explanations. NASA and PSN/CNR will evaluate the proposals and decide which experiments will be performed on the Tethered Satellite System. The "satellite on a string" will be carried aboard the Shuttle for its first mission by 1987.

NASA will build the deployment system (the tether, reel, control system and related apparatus that will fit into the Shuttle's cargo bay) and Italy will build the satellite itself. NASA will also be responsible for systems integration and mission operations.

April 25, 1984

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The concept of a tethered satellite in space has study since been under the mid-1970s. "Its joint development was proposed to us by the CNR in 1980," said John Sakss of International NASA's Affairs Division in Washington. "We carried out closely coordinated ' feasibility studies from 1981 through 1983 and defined what each side, using its own capabilities would do and funds, in the joint project." A formal Memorandum of Understanding for the joint project was signed 7, 1984, in Rome on March by NASA Administrator, James M. Beggs, and CNR President, Ernesto Quagliariello.

In orbit, the satellite will be suspended either upward downward or from the Shuttle's cargo bay on a tether, a super-strong synthetic cord about a sixteenth of an inch thick and up to 60 miles in length. When deployed upward, as it will maiden be for its mission in 1987, the satellite will study electrodynamic and other scientific phenomena. Deployed downward, for later as it will be missions, the satellite will troll the eaifth's upper atmosphere for magnetospheric, atmospheric and gravitational data. The globe-shaped satellite, approximately one and a half meters (about four and a half feet) in diameter 500 kilograms and approximately (about 1100 pounds) in weight, will have one hemisphere devoted to experiment support such as transmission. power and data The other hemisphere will be allocated to the experiments themselves. In the center of the satellite cold-gas system, will be a with small jets rimming the satellite at the "equatorial plane," the dividing line between spheres. its two hemi The cold-gas system will be used for attitude control of the satellite as it sweeps through the upper downward atmosphere in deployment or, in upward deployment, through the space plasma -- a region of ionized gas particles surrounding earth. the

On its first flight in 1987 the satellite, once is in orbit, the Shuttle will be deployed upward about 40 feet by an extend- able boom. The satellite will be checked out while at the tip of the boom and then released. As it moves upward Shuttle, the away from tne reel will unwind until the satellite is at its proper distance for conducting electrodynamic experiments. As the Shuttle passes through the space plasma, satellite, the with its conducting tether, can become a generator, much as a copper coil moving within a magnet on earth can a flow of electricity. produce By drawing off the energy from the con ducting tether and releasing it into space, scientists able to will be study magnetic lines of flux that surround the earth.

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"In fact, we'll even be able to simulate some electrodynamic conditions of other planets," said Dr. Noble Stone, project scientist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "For instance, one of the moons of Jupiter -- Io -- has volcanic activity that causes an ionosphere much like the earth's to be formed. This makes I6 a conducting body. As Io moves through Jupiter's magnetic field, a current is formed that flows from Io to Jupiter and back. From earth, we have observed bursts of electromagnetic radiation -- radio waves, in other words -- on Jupiter. We believe that these bursts come from this circular current flow between Io and Jupiter. By deploying the tethered satellite upward, we hope to simulate the conditions between these two bodies. The satellite will act as the conducting moon Io; and earth, with magnetic lines through which the tethered satellite passes, as Jupiter. In just this one example, we can learn more about the nature of electrodynamics as it pertains to our sister planets."

Future missions also call for a downward deployment. In | this mode, the tethered satellite fills a need that has long existed in the study of the upper atmosphere. "Currently there are only limited means by which the upper atmosphere, around 60 to 90 miles up, can be studied," said James Sisson, project manager at Marshall. "The upper atmosphere is a fringe area: ] it's too high for airplanes and balloons to reach, but it's low enough that the orbits of low-altitude satellites decay from the aerodynamic drag after only a few hours." A number of instrument-laden rockets have been used with some limited success, but they pass through the upper atmosphere for only a few minutes before falling back to earth. "Besides," says Sisson, "these rockets travel primarily up and down, so they provide only a vertical look at one point in the upper atmosphere. The Tethered Satellite System, however, can be pulled through its extremely low, circular orbit -- prehaps only 80 miles above the earth -- to study the upper atmosphere for days at a time. This will allow scientists to map the global current system known to exist."

The low orbit will allow higher resolution for experiments that map gravity and magnetic fields. The satellite in low orbit can also provide a platform for atmospheric science measurements actually taken "on-site," in the atmosphere itself, rather than by remote instruments.

Other possible applications of the tether system include radiation surveys, radio experiments, ocean topography mapping and sound propagation studies.

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(Index: 36, 37)

- aL . -T--@ ~~->r....rAd National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, D.C. 20546 AC 202-453-8400

For Release: Kenneth Atchison IMMEDIATE Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (shone: 202/453-2759)

Larry King Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif. (Phone: 415/965-5091)

RELEASE NO: 84-56 CRAY-2 TO BE USED IN NASA RESEARCH

NASA announced today the leasing of an advanced super computer, called the Cray-2, from Cray Research, Inc. of Minneapolis, Minn. The Cray-2 will become a major component of the Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation capability, a new national effort for supporting advanced research in aerodynamics, to be located at NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif. Cray Research is developing high speed computing capability using vector and parallel processing techniques in combination with a*very large common memory. The Cray-2 is expected to perform at a sustained rate of 250 million floating point operations per second for optimized programs.

Advances in numerical aerodynamic simulation will provide important savings in development time and in cost for missiles and aircraft, by reducing the time spent on experimental testing methods for new designs. The Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation program is designed to maintain the U.S. lead in aerodynamics, by providing the research community with a level of computational capability not previously possible. Continued updating of equipment and software will maintain this premier capability at the leading edge of computa tional simulation.

NASA-Ames will lease the computer for a three-year period beginning in mid-1985. The agreement provides two additional one-year priced options. The value of the five-year agreement, which includes maintenance and software, is $44.9 million.

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. . * .. Xs ~~~. ,-a.- v -,.> H** National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washngton, D.C. 20546 AC 202.453.8400

For Release: Azeealy S. Jaffer Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-8371) IMMEDIATE Terry Eddleman Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, (Phone: 205/453-0035) Ala.

RELEASE NO: 84-56

DEERE & COMPANY DESIGNING METALLURGICAL TESTS ABOARD SHUTTLE

NASA and Deere & Company of Moline, Ill., memorandum of understanding have signed a to cooperate on the design lurgical tests to be conducted of metal- aboard a future Space Shuttle flight. In 1981, Deere became the first private company Technical Exchange Agreement to sign a the with NASA. That agreement permitted company to perform cast iron solidification board conventional suborbital experiments on NASA aircraft, which simulate microgravity for 30 to 60 seconds. 'he design work on a series of additional tests is already underway metallurgical at Deere, where engineers are data from the low gravity tests using work, conducted earlier. Based on this Deere and NASA engineers have concluded imentation would be productive. that further exper-

The Shuttle tests would permit in Deere to conduct experiments space for longer periods of time This additional than just seconds or minutes. testing in near-zero gravity environment yield new information to aid could It in the search for stronger irons. also could provide new data about molecules, the process for forming iron leading to improved foundry efficiencies. Signing of the memorandum of understanding is an step toward placing the Deere interim tests aboard a Shuttle in orbit. The memorandum is expected to Agreement lead to a Joint Endeavor between Deere and NASA under which would be carried the Shuttle tests out. It is estimated that 'several will be needed t1o design months work the tests before NASA and the are ready to sign the agreement. company

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_.... - - - w - L ~~~I> 4 .>.it National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washngton, D.C. 20546 AC 202.453.8400 /

For Release: Charles Redmond Headquarters, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE (Phone: 202/453-1754) David B. Drachlis Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. (Phone: 205/453-0034)

RELEASE NO: 84-57

EARTH OBSERVATION MISSION PAYLOAD SPECIALISTS NAMED

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has announced the selection of Dr. Michael Lampton of the University of California at Berkeley and Dr. Byron Lichtenberg of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to fly as payload specialists on the first Earth Observation Mission, scheduled for launch aboard the Space Shuttle in 1985.

EOM 1, as the mission is officially designated, is the first in a series of NASA Spacelab missions primarily dedicated to measuring the makeup of the earth's middle and upper atmosphere and variations in the sun's output during an 11-year solar cycle. To accomplish this, several of the instruments originally carried on the Spacelab 1 mission in November 1983 will be reflown. The Earth Observation Mission series is being managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

Lichtenberg, who flew as a payload specialist on the historic first Spacelab mission late last year, and Lampton, who was an alternate payload specialist for that mission, were selected by the group of scientists who will have experiments aboard the Earth Observation Mission. Selection occurred during the first meeting of the Investigator Working Group at the Marshall Center in March. The pilots and mission specialists will be assigned by NASA later.

"The selection of Lichtenberg and Lampton capitalizes on the prior training of each crewmember on each of the investigations and on the proven professional and operational qualifications of both men,; said Mission Manager Gary Wicks of the Marshall Center. "This is important because of the considerable training required in the short time before flight."

- muse - -- -2 -. -2-

The first Earth Observation Mission is currently scheduled to carry nine experiments in three major areas of research -- space plasma physics, astronomy and solar physics, and atmospheric physics and earth observations. NASA is sponsoring the Atmospheric Emission Photometric Imaging, Active Cavity Radio- meter, Imaging Spectrometric Observatory, and Far Ultraviolet Astronomy using the FAUST telescope.

The Belgian space agency is sponsoring the Measurement of the Solar Constant and, together with the French space agency, is sponsoring the Grille Spectrometer. The French space agency is also sponsoring the Solar Spectrum from 170-3200 Nanometers. The Japanese space agency is sponsoring Space Experiments with Part- icle Accelerators (SEPAC). The German space agency is sponsoring the Metric Camera. The European Space Agency is providing support to the European investigations.

This NASA Spacelab mission will use the short version of the laboratory module, in which the scientists will work, and a single pallet, which will hold instruments that need to be exposed directly to the space environment. The crew will live in the Space Shuttle orbiter and travel to and from work in the laboratory module through a Spacelab transfer tunnel.

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(Index: 5, 37)

as ~ . .e~x # ,- ~A.If,~A-Imki=, dt . - = National Aeronautics and Space Administration Wasngton, D.C. 2054S AC 202-453.8400

For Release:

Dwayne Brown IMMEDIATE Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-1758)

RELEASE NO: 84-58

NASA TO TRANSFER OWNERSHIP OF VIKING LANDER 1 TO MUSEUM

NASA will transfer ownership of Viking Lander the 1i which is on planet Mars, to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum at ceremonis on May 18. This is the first time that a museum will have ownership of an object located on planet. another

The transfer, originally requested by the Museum's Director Walter Boyne, also includes loaning the official Viking plaque. Lander This plaque renames the lander the Thomas A. Mutch Memorial Station, in memory of the Viking Lander Leader Imaging Team and NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science who died in a climbing accident in the Himalayas in 1980. The pLaque is scheduled to be placed on the original on Mars lander by American astronauts when they travel to the "red" planet at some indefinite time in the future. NASA retains reclaimant rights of the lander for scientific purposes. The Viking Landers set down on the surface of Mars the first in 1976, American spacecraft to provide close-up views from the surface of another planet.

The landers provided invaluable knowledge of Mars weather through observations and chemical and biological tests'. More than 54,000 photographs were taken by the landers which and orbiters circled overhead. The orbiters also monitored atmospheric water vapor and temperature from the planet. The Viking Mission highlighted the United States Planetary Exploration Program's goals to explore our solar system a better to obtain understanding ot the origin and evolution of life and the physical processes that shape man's terrestrial environment.

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