[sci.space] Payload Status for 11/08/90

yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (11/09/90)

    Daily Status/KSC Payload Management and Operations 11-08-90
    
    
    - STS-35 ASTRO-1/BBXRT (at Pad-B)
    
    Engineering evaluation of the AST experiment which was
    contacted by a finger platform yesterday continues.  BBXRT
    liquid argon servicing will be performed today.  Experiment
    monitoring continues.
    
    
    - STS-39 AFP-675/IBSS/STP-01 (at CCAFS)
    
    CITE preps continue at the VPF along with ground software
    development.
    
    
    - STS-40 SLS-1 (at O&C)
    
    The flight crew equipment interface test will begin today.
    
    
    - STS-37 GRO (at PHSF)
    
    Software validation continues.
    
    
    - STS-42 IML-1 (at O&C)
    
    Module and experiment staging continue.
    
    
    - STS-45 Atlas-1 (at O&C)
    
    Experiment and pallet staging continue.
    
    
    - STS-46 TSS-1 (at O&C)
    
    Power on systems testing continue.
    
    
    - STS-47 Spacelab-J (at O&C)
    
    Rack staging continues.
    
    
    - STS-67 LITE-1 (at O&C)
    
    No work is scheduled for today.
    
    
    - HST M&R (at O&C)

    PR troubleshooting continues.

akerman@qucis.queensu.CA (Richard Akerman) (11/09/90)

In article <1990Nov8.222606.3750@news.arc.nasa.gov> yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) writes:
>
>    Daily Status/KSC Payload Management and Operations 11-08-90
>
>    - STS-35 ASTRO-1/BBXRT (at Pad-B)
>
>    Engineering evaluation of the AST experiment which was
>    contacted by a finger platform yesterday continues.  BBXRT
>    liquid argon servicing will be performed today. 
     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I find many of the acronyms in the Payload Status report indecipherable but
this in particular has been puzzling me.  I see frequent mentions of "argon
servicing for the Astro-1".  What exactly is the purpose of this servicing?
Does the payload need some sort of inert environment?

Richard Akerman
Incompetent Physics Grad. Student
Astronomy/Astrophysics Group

henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (11/13/90)

In article <998@qusuna.queensu.CA> akerman@qucis.queensu.CA (Richard Akerman) writes:
>... I see frequent mentions of "argon
>servicing for the Astro-1".  What exactly is the purpose of this servicing?
>Does the payload need some sort of inert environment?

Not quite:  some of the sensors need to be kept cold, seriously cold, and
this is done with liquid or solid argon (depending on details of planned
procedures).
-- 
"I don't *want* to be normal!"         | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
"Not to worry."                        |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu   utzoo!henry