Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!ames!trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee From: yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle Subject: STS-35 Press Kit [Part 1 of 3] (Forwarded) Message-ID: <1990Nov30.074622.29823@news.arc.nasa.gov> Date: 30 Nov 90 07:46:22 GMT Sender: usenet@news.arc.nasa.gov (USENET Administration) Reply-To: yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA Lines: 697 NASA REVISED SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION STS-35 PRESS KIT DECEMBER 1990 PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACTS Mark Hess/Ed Campion Office of Space Flight NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-8536) Paula Cleggett-Haleim/Michael Braukus Office of Space Science and Applications NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-1548) Terri Sindelar Educational Affairs NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (Phone: 202/453-8400) Nancy Lovato Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, Calif. (Phone: 805/258-3448) Randee Exler Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (Phone: 301/286-7277) James Hartsfield Johnson Space Center, Houston (Phone: 713/483-5111) Lisa Malone/Pat Phillips Kennedy Space Center, Fla. (Phone: 407/867-2468) Jean Drummond Clough Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. (Phone: 804/864-6122) David Drachlis/Jerry Berg Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. (Phone: 205/544-0034) CONTENTS GENERAL RELEASE 1 SUMMARY OF MAJOR ACTIVITIES 2 STS-35 CARGO CONFIGURATION 3 STS-35 QUICK LOOK FACTS 4 GENERAL INFORMATION 5 TRAJECTORY SEQUENCE OF EVENTS 6 SPACE SHUTTLE ABORT MODES 6 PAYLOAD AND VEHICLE WEIGHTS 7 STS-35 PRELAUNCH PROCESSING 7 ASTRO-1 MISSION 8 ASTRO-1 OBSERVATORY 12 Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope 12 Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment 15 Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope 17 BROAD BAND X-RAY TELESCOPE 19 ASTRO CARRIER SYSTEMS 22 ASTRO OPERATIONS 25 ASTRO GROUND CONTROL 27 ASTRO-1 HISTORY 29 SHUTTLE AMATEUR RADIO EXPERIMENT (SAREX) 30 STS-35 COLUMBIA SAREX FREQUENCIES 32 "SPACE CLASSROOM, ASSIGNMENT: THE STARS" 32 ORBITER EXPERIMENTS PROGRAM 33 STS-35 CREW BIOGRAPHIES 36 STS-35 MISSION MANAGEMENT 38 UPCOMING SPACE SHUTTLE FLIGHTS 40 PREVIOUS SPACE SHUTTLE FLIGHTS 41 GENERAL RELEASE RELEASE: 90-63 COLUMBIA TO FLY ASTRONOMY MISSION Highlighting mission STS-35, the 38th flight of the Space Shuttle and 10th mission of orbiter Columbia, will be around-the-clock observations by the seven-member crew using the ultraviolet astronomy observatory (Astro) and the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT). Both instruments are located in Columbia's payload bay and will be operated during 12-hour shifts by the crew. Above Earth's atmospheric interference, Astro-1 will observe and measure ultraviolet radiation from celestial objects. Astro-1 is the first in a series of missions that will make precise measurements of objects such as planets, stars and galaxies in relatively small fields of view. Liftoff of the 10th flight of Columbia is scheduled for the week of Dec. 2, 1990 from launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Columbia will be placed into a 218 statute (190 nautical) mile circular orbit, inclined 28.5 degrees to the equator. Nominal mission duration is expected to be 9 days 21 hours 57 minutes. Landing will take place at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Astro-1 uses a Spacelab pallet system with an instrument pointing system and a cruciform structure for bearing the three ultraviolet instruments mounted in parallel configuration. The three instruments are the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT), the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) and the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT). The star tracker, which supports the instrument pointing system, also is mounted on the cruciform. HUT will study faint astronomical objects such as quasars, active galactic nuclei and supernova remnants in the little-explored ultraviolet range below 1200 Angstroms. It consists of a mirror that focuses on an aperture of a prime focus spectrograph. Observations of the outer planets of the solar system will be made to investigate aurorae and gain insight into the interaction of each planet's magnetosphere with the solar wind. WUPPE will measure the polarization of ultraviolet light from celestial objects such as hot stars, galactic nuclei and quasars. It uses two-mirror telescope optics in conjunction with a spectropolarimeter. This instrument will measure the polarization by splitting a beam of light into two mutually-perpendicular planes of polarization, passing the beams through a spectrometer and focusing the beams on two separate array detectors. UIT consists of a telescope and two image intensifiers with 70 mm film transports (1000 frames each). It will acquire images of faint objects in broad ultraviolet bands in the wavelength range of 1200 to 3200 Angstroms. This experiment also will investigate the present stellar content and history of star formation in galaxies, the nature of spiral structure and non-thermal sources in galaxies. Also in the payload bay is the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope which has two co-aligned imaging telescopes with cryogenically cooled lithium- drifted silicon detectors at each focus. Accurate pointing of the instrument is achieved by a two-axis pointing system (TAPS). BBXRT will study various targets, including active galaxies, clusters of galaxies, supernova remnants and stars. BBXRT will directly measure the amount of energy in electron volts of each X-ray detected. Astro observations will begin about 23 hours after Columbia has completed its maneuvering burn to circularize its orbit at 190 nautical miles. BBXRT will be activated approximately 13 hours after orbital insertion. Astro will be deactivated 12 hours before deorbit and BBXRT deactivation will be 4 hours before the deorbit burn. Columbia's middeck will carry the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) to communicate with amateur radio stations within line-of-sight of the orbiter in voice mode or data mode. This experiment has previously flown on STS-9 and STS-51F. Also on this mission, Columbia will function as the subject for ground sensor operations as part of the Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) calibration test. Commander of the seven-member crew is Vance Brand. Pilot is Guy Gardner. STS-35 is Brand's fourth trip to space. He previously flew on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission in 1975. He also commanded Shuttle missions STS-5 in November 1982 and STS-41B in February 1984. Gardner previously piloted STS-27 in December 1988. Mission Specialists are Mike Lounge, Jeffrey Hoffman and Robert Parker. Lounge previously flew on STS-51I in August 1985 and STS-26 in September 1988. Hoffman flew as a Mission Specialist on STS-51D in April 1985. Parker's previous spaceflight experience was STS-9 in November 1983. Payload Specialists Ronald Parise and Samuel Durrance round out the STS-35 crew. Both are making their first space flights. -end SUMMARY OF MAJOR ACTIVITIES Day One Ascent Post-insertion Unstow Cabin Astro/BBXRT Activation SAREX Setup DSO Day Two Astro/BBXRT Observations SAREX Day Three Astro/BBXRT Observations SAREX Day Four AMOS Astro/BBXRT Observations SAREX Day FIVE AMOS Astro/BBXRT Observations SAREX Space Classroom Day Six Astro/BBXRT Observations SAREX Day Seven Astro/BBXRT Observations RCS Hotfire Day Eight Astro/BBXRT Observations SAREX DTO FCS Checkout Day Nine Astro/BBXRT Observations SAREX SAREX Stow Astro/BBXRT Deactivation Cabin Stow Deorbit Burn Landing at Edwards AFB STS-35 QUICK LOOK Launch Date: December 2, 1990 Launch Window: 1:24 a.m. - 3:54 a.m. EST Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Launch Complex 39-B Orbiter: Columbia (OV-102) Altitude: 218 statute miles (190 nm) Inclination: 28.45 Duration: 9 days, 21 hours, 57 minutes Landing Date/Time: Dec. 11, 1990, 8:21 p.m. PST Primary Landing Site: Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Abort Landing Sites: Return to Launch Site -- Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Trans-Atlantic Abort -- Banjul, The Gambia Abort Once Around -- Edwards AFB, Calif. Crew Vance D. Brand - Commander - Red/Blue Team Guy S. Gardner - Pilot - Red Team Jeffrey A. Hoffman - Mission Specialist 1/EV1 - Blue Team John M. "Mike" Lounge - Mission Specialist 2/EV2 - Blue Team Robert A.R. Parker - Mission Specialist 3 - Red Team Samuel T. Durrance - Payload Specialist 1 - Blue Team Ronald A. Parise - Payload Specialist 2 - Red Team Red Team shift is approximately 10:30 p.m. -- 10:30 a.m. EST Blue Team shift is approximately 10:30 a.m. -- 10:30 p.m. EST Cargo Bay Payloads: Ultraviolet Astronomy Telescope (Astro) Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT) Middeck Payloads: Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) GENERAL INFORMATION NASA Select Television Transmission NASA Select television is available on Satcom F-2R, Transponder 13, C-band located at 72 degrees west longitude, frequency 3960.0 MHz, vertical polarization, audio monaural 6.8 MHz. The schedule for tv transmissions from the orbiter and for the change-of-shift briefings from Johnson Space Center, Houston, will be available during the mission at Kennedy Space Center, Fla.; Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.; Johnson Space Center; Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. and NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. The schedule will be updated daily to reflect changes dictated by mission operations. TV schedules also may be obtained by calling COMSTOR, 713/483- 5817. COMSTOR is a computer data base service requiring the use of a telephone modem. Voice updates of the TV schedule may be obtained by dialing 202/755-1788. This service is updated daily at noon EDT. Status Reports Status reports on countdown and mission progress, on-orbit activities and landing operations will be produced by the appropriate NASA news center. Briefings An STS-35 mission press briefing schedule will be issued prior to launch. During the mission, flight control personnel will be on 8-hour shifts. Change-of-shift briefings by the off-going flight director will occur at approximately 8-hour intervals. TRAJECTORY SEQUENCE OF EVENTS __________________________________________________________________ RELATIVE EVENT MET VELOCITY MACH ALTITUDE (d:h:m:s) (fps) (ft) Launch 00/00:00:00 Begin Roll Maneuver 00/00:00:09 162 .14 613 End Roll Maneuver 00/00:00:16 340 .30 2,505 SSME Throttle Down to 70% 00/00:00:26 608 .54 6,759 Max. Dyn. Pressure (Max Q) 00/00:00:54 1,229 1.17 28,976 SSME Throttle Up to 104% 00/00:01:03 1,473 1.46 39,394 SRB Staging 00/00:02:05 4,203 3.87 150,267 Negative Return 00/00:03:58 6,940 7.58 309,526 Main Engine Cutoff (MECO) 00/00:08:31 24,439 22.99 360,922 Zero Thrust 00/00:08:37 24,556i 22.73 363,937 ET Separation 00/00:08:49 OMS 2 Burn 00/00:40:22 Landing 09/21:57 Apogee, Perigee at MECO: 185 x 33 Apogee, Perigee post-OMS 2: 190 x 190 SPACE SHUTTLE ABORT MODES Space Shuttle launch abort philosophy aims toward safe and intact recovery of the flight crew, orbiter and its payload. Abort modes include: * Abort-To-Orbit (ATO) -- Partial loss of main engine thrust late enough to permit reaching a minimal 105-nautical mile orbit with orbital maneuvering system engines. * Abort-Once-Around (AOA) -- Earlier main engine shutdown with the capability to allow one orbit around before landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.; White Sands Space Harbor (Northrup Strip), N.M.; or the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at Kennedy Space Center, Fla.. * Trans-Atlantic Abort Landing (TAL) -- Loss of two main engines midway through powered flight would force a landing at Banjul, The Gambia; Ben Guerir, Morocco; or Moron, Spain. * Return-To-Launch-Site (RTLS) -- Early shutdown of one or more engines and without enough energy to reach Banjul would result in a pitch around and thrust back toward KSC until within gliding distance of the SLF. STS-35 contingency landing sites are Edwards AFB, White Sands, Kennedy Space Center, Banjul and Ben Guerir, Moron. PAYLOAD AND VEHICLE WEIGHTS Vehicle/Payload Weight (lbs) Orbiter Columbia empty 158,905 Ultraviolet Astronomy Telescope (Astro) 17,276 (IPS, igloo and 2 pallets) Astro Support Equipment 404 (middeck equipment) Broad Band X-Ray Telescope ((BBXRT) 8,650 (including TAPS and support equipment) Detailed Test Objectives (DTO) 274 Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) 61 Total vehicle at SRB ignition 4,523,199 Orbiter and cargo at main engine cutoff 267,513 Orbiter landing weight 225,886 STS-35 PRELAUNCH PROCESSING Columbia's first launch attempt on May 29 was scrubbed because of higher than allowable concentrations of hydrogen near the 17-inch disconnect and in the aft compartment. Since that time, there have been several launch attempts and two tanking tests. After the first tanking test on June 6, officials decided to replace the 17-inch disconnect assemblies on both the orbiter and its external tank. Columbia was rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building June 11, demated from the external tank and transferred to the Orbiter Processing Facility. A new disconnect from the shuttle Endeavour was installed on Columbia and the orbiter and tank were remated. Columbia was rolled out to Pad 39-A on Aug. 9 for launch. The countdown began and launch was postponed on Aug. 30 to allow the replacement of an electronic box for the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope. Launch was scrubbed on Sept. 5 because of higher than allowable concentrations of hydrogen in the aft compartment. Another attempted launch occurred on Sept. 17, but again hydrogen was detected in the aft compartment. A board was appointed to find the cause of the leak. At the board's direction, several main propulsion system seals were replaced, many leak tests using gaseous helium were performed and various joints were retorqued. In addition, the team completed a thorough analysis of data collected from the tanking tests and reviewed all work performed on the orbiter's propulsion system since Columbia's last flight. The STS-35 vehicle was moved from Pad 39-A to 39-B on Oct. 8, following the successful launch of Discovery on Mission STS-41. The next day, Columbia was transferred back to the Vehicle Assembly Building because adverse weather prevented productive work in the aft compartment. On Oct. 14, the vehicle was rolled out to Pad 39-B, and specially outfitted for the successful tank ing test conducted Oct. 30. The successful tanking test paved the way for routine launch preparations leading up to Columbia's planned liftoff. # # # # THE ASTRO-1 MISSION Since the earliest days of astronomy, humankind has used the light from the stars to test their understanding of the universe. Now, an array of telescopes to be flown on the first Spacelab mission since 1985, will extend scientists' vision beyond the visible light to view some of the most energetic events in the universe. Astro-1 is the first Spacelab mission devoted to a single scientific discipline -- astrophysics. The observatory will operate from within the cargo bay of Space Shuttle Columbia on the STS-35 mission. Together, four telescopes will dissect ultraviolet light and X-rays from stars and galaxies, revealing the secrets of processes that emitted the radiation from thousands to even billions of years ago. Wherever it points, Astro promises to reveal an array of information. The Astro-1 Spacelab project is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. Seeing the Universe Astronomy from the ground always has been hampered by the Earth's atmosphere. Even visible light is distorted and blurred by the motion of air masse, and visible light is just a small part of the radiation that virtually all objects in the sky emit. Other forms of radiation -- like cooler, low-energy infrared light and hotter, high-energy ultraviolet light and X-rays -- are largely absorbed by the atmosphere and never reach the ground. Seeing celestial objects in visible light alone is like looking at a painting in only one color. To appreciate fully the meaning of the painting, viewers must see it in all of its colors. The Astro-1 telescopes were constructed to add some of these "colors" to scientists' view of stars and galaxies. The telescopes' perch above the veil of Earth's atmosphere in Columbia's cargo bay will allow scientists to view radiation that is invisible on the ground. Three of Astro-1's telescopes will operate in the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum and one in the X-ray portion. One will take photographs; two will analyze the chemical composition, density and temperature of objects with a spectrograph; and the other will study the relative brightness and polarization (the study of light wavelength orientation) of celestial objects. Some sources will be among the faintest known, as faint as the glow of sunlight reflected back from interplanetary dust. By studying ultraviolet and X-rays, astronomers can see emissions from extremely hot gases, intense magnetic fields and other high-energy phenomena that are much fainter in visible and infrared light or in radio waves -- and which are crucial to a deeper understanding of the universe. Several space telescopes -- notably the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory-3 (Copernicus) launched in 1972, the International Ultraviolet Explorer launched in 1978 and the second High Energy Astronomy Observatory launched in 1979 -- opened the window in these exciting parts of the spectrum. The combined observations by Astro, the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories will provide astronomers with a more comprehensive view of the cosmos than ever before. What Astro-1 Will "See" The universe viewed by Astro will look strikingly different from the familiar night sky. Most stars will fade from view, too cool to emit significant ultraviolet radiation or X-rays. Yet, very young massive stars, very old stars, glowing nebulae, active galaxies and quasars will gleam brightly. Astro will make observations in this solar system. Astro will examine the chemistry of planetary atmospheres and the interactions of their magnetic fields. The Astro observatory will study comets as they interact with light and particles from the sun to produce bright, streaming tails. Stars Astro will peer far beyond this solar system to study many types of stars. The sun is only one of an estimated several hundred billion stars in the galaxy. Stars like the sun are the most common type: fiery spheres of gas, about 1 million times larger in volume than Earth, with nuclear furnaces that reach temperatures of millions of degrees. Today, current evidence indicates that the sun is a stable, middle- aged star, but some 5 billion years hence it will swell and swallow the inner planets including Earth. As a red giant, it may eject a shell of dust and gas, a planetary nebula. As the sun fades, it will collapse to an object no bigger than Earth, a dense, hot ember, a white dwarf. Astronomers predict that most stars may end their lives as white dwarfs, so it is important to study these stellar remains. White dwarfs emit most of their radiation in the ultraviolet, and one of Astro-1's main goals is to locate and examine white dwarfs in detail. Supernova Astro-1 instruments will locate hot, massive stars of all ages so that astronomers can study all phases of stellar evolution. Stars with 10 to 100 times more mass than the sun burn hydrogen rapidly until their cores collapse and they explode as supernovas, among the most powerful events in the universe. These stars are initially are very hot and emit mostly ultraviolet radiation. Astro will view the recent explosion, Supernova 1987A, which spewed stellar debris into space. Supernovas forge new elements, most of which are swept away in expanding shells of gas and debris heated by the shock waves from the blast. Astro-1 will look for supernova remnants which remain visible for thousands of years after a stellar death. Astro-1's ultraviolet and X-ray telescopes will provide information on element abundances, the physical conditions in the expanding gas and the structure of the interstellar medium. Neutron Stars, Pulsars, Black Holes After a supernova explosion, the stellar core sometimes collapses into a neutron star, the densest and tiniest of known stars, with mass comparable to the sun compacted into an area the size of a large city. Matter can become so dense that a sugar cube of neutron star material would weigh 100 million tons. Sometimes neutron stars are pulsars that emit beacons of radiation and appear to blink on and off as many as hundreds of times per second because they spin so rapidly. Scientists have theorized that some stars may collapse so far that they become black holes, objects so dense and gravitationally strong that neither matter nor light escape. Astro will look for the ultraviolet radiation and X-rays thought to be produced when hot, whirling matter is drawn into a black hole. Star Systems Few stars live in isolation; most are found in pairs or groups. Some stellar companions orbit each other and often pass so close that mass is transferred from one star to the other, producing large amounts of ultraviolet and X-ray radiation which Astro-1's four telescopes are designed to study. These binary star systems may consist of various combinations of objects including white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. Star Clusters Stars may congregate in star clusters with anywhere from a few to millions of members. Often, there are so many stars in the core of a cluster, it is impossible to distinguish the visible light from individual stars. Because they shine brightly in the ultraviolet, Astro-1 can isolate the hot stars within clusters. The clusters are excellent laboratories for studying stellar evolution because the stars residing there formed from the same material at nearly the same time. However, within a single cluster, stars of different masses evolve at different rates. Stellar evolution can be studied by looking at clusters of different ages. Each cluster of a given age provides a snapshot of what is happening as a function of stellar mass. By examining young clusters (less than 1 million years old) and comparing them to old clusters (1 billion years old), scientists can piece together what happens over a long time. Interstellar Medium The space between stars is filled with dust and gas, some of which will condense to become future stars and planets. This interstellar medium is composed chiefly of hydrogen with traces of heavier elements and has a typical density of one atom per thimbleful of space. Astro-1 will be able to measure the properties of this material more accurately by studying how it affects the light from distant stars. For the most part, the interstellar medium is relatively cool, but it includes pockets of hot matter as well. Dense clouds of dust that surround stars and scatter and reflect light are called reflection nebulae. These are often illuminated by hot, young stars in stellar nurseries hidden within the clouds. Ultraviolet observations will reveal the features of stars hidden by the dust as well as the size and composition of the dust grains. Other Galaxies Beyond the Milky Way are at least a hundred billion more galaxies, many with hundreds of billions of stars. They contain most of the visible matter in the universe and are often found in clusters of galaxies that have tens to thousands of members. X-ray and ultraviolet emission will allow scientists to study the hottest, most active regions of these galaxies as well as the intergalactic medium, the hot gas between the galaxies in a cluster. Galaxies have a variety of shapes and sizes: gigantic spirals like the Milky Way, egg-shaped elliptical and irregular shapes with no preferred form. Astro will survey the different types of galaxies and study their evolution. The nearby galaxies will appear as they were millions of years ago, and Astro will see the most distant ones as they were billions of years ago. By comparing these galaxies, scientists can trace the history of the universe. Quasars Some galaxies are in the process of violent change. Such active galaxies have central regions (nuclei) that emit huge amounts of energy; their ultraviolet and X-ray emission may help us identify their source of power. Astro-1's ultraviolet and X-ray telescopes will detect quasars, very distant compact objects that radiate more energy than 100 normal galaxies. Quasars may be the nuclei of ancient active galaxies. Strong X-ray and ultraviolet radiation arising in the central cores of these powerful objects may help scientists discover what these objects really are. This overview is the known universe today, but many of these ideas are only predictions based on theory and a few observations. Scientists still lack the definitive observations needed to confirm or refute many of these theories. Scientists do not know the exact size of the universe or its age. Scientists have never definitely seen a black hole, and they continue to question the nature of quasars. To understand these mysteries, scientists need to see the universe in all its splendor. Astro is part of NASA's strategy to study the universe across the electromagnetic spectrum, in all wavelengths. THE ASTRO-1 OBSERVATORY The Astro-1 observatory is a compliment of four telescopes. Though each instrument is uniquely designed to address specific questions in ultraviolet and X-ray astronomy, when used in concert, the capability of each is enhanced. The synergistic use of Astro-1's instruments for joint observations serves to make Astro-1 an exceptionally powerful facility. The Astro-1 observatory has three ultraviolet-sensitive instruments: Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com