henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (09/05/90)
Successful Ariane V37 launch 24 July, carrying a pair of European comsats. Arianespace expects the hiatus following the Feb failure not to have too much effect on this year's bottom line, if the brisk launch schedule for the rest of the year can be executed; "The most important factor for our yearly results is the number of launches conducted..." Exactly how the fatal piece of cloth got into Ariane V36's water line is still not fully understood. V37's plumbing was inspected using fiber-optic imaging systems to make sure that it was clear. One complication is that half the water line is made by Aerospatiale and half by SEP, with no one company clearly responsible for the whole thing; this will change. ESA is not sure the origin of the cloth will ever be determined, but stresses that preventing a repetition is more important. The possibility of sabotage officially remains open, although Arianespace does not seem to take it very seriously any more. First commercial Atlas launches CRRES July 25. The NASA-DoT battle over whether this commercial launch was somehow exempt from DoT licensing because it carried a government payload is still unresolved; General Dynamics played it safe by applying for, and getting, a license. The space-station EVA numbers are even worse than expected. Not only are the in-service maintenance numbers grossly out of line, but repairs will also be required during assembly, before the station is manned, and the numbers there are just impossible, given the limited visits available. EVA panel loudly urges reinstating the high-pressure spacesuit as part of the program, to eliminate the lengthy prebreathing periods that constitute quite a bit of the time needed. NASA still insists that the problem can be fixed without drastic measures, but others are less sure. Ex-astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who chaired a review panel on failure rates, says that a basic change in design philosophy is required: NASA is treating the station as a 30-year-long mission, to be largely left alone after launch, when in fact it needs to be treated as a facility, with scheduled preventive maintenance and subsystem replacement. The station is also overweight and underpowered, with a strong possibility that the number of shuttle launches needed will have to grow. NASA does note, though, that exceeding weight and power limits is normal for major programs at this stage; getting the Apollo lunar module within its weight targets was a four-year struggle. Atlantis flunks its leak test again and will roll back from pad for repairs. Senate panel proposes that Navy's SEALAR sea-based launch proposal [of which this is the first mention] compete against the USAF's ALS, which looks much more expensive for the same objectives. SEALAR apparently would involve an attempt at using pressure-fed boosters with recoverable first and second stages to greatly reduce manpower needed for launches. The panel also had some harsh words for ALS, claiming that the problems of inflexibility and difficulty meeting operational needs will not be solved without a major departure from current approaches, and saying that the USAF's ALS development plan is "entirely unrealistic". Mir astronauts repair their damaged hatch and retrieve the "ladder" left in place against the docked Soyuz after the earlier repairs. Norman Augustine, current boss of Martin Marietta, chosen to head the NASA management-structure review committee. [This is a cautiously good sign; Augustine has shown signs of having his head screwed on right.] NASA-Ames scientist, Mark Showalter, discovers yet another moon of Saturn, in the course of computerized analysis of Voyager images. It's small, about 20km across, but may be responsible for Encke's Gap, where its orbit lies. Lloyds of London files $6M suit against McDonnell Douglas, alleging negligence and carelessness in the pad accident which damaged Insat D last year (it was repaired, at a cost of perhaps $10M, and launched in June). Article describing the USAF's pair of modified C-5As fitted for carrying full-shuttle-cargo-bay-sized satellites. The major change to the planes is that the aft upper deck, normally a troop-carrying area, has been largely deleted to give more headroom in the cargo compartment. Various modifications to structure and equipment were also required. Final structural analysis has only just been completed, although the aircraft have been in service for some time. More C-5As may be modified to the same standard, as it is considered useful for military payloads like fully-assembled large helicopters. Several pages of coverage titled "New Missions For Light Satellites". NASA is considering flying another Pegsat barium-release mission. Several companies are investigating small Clarke-orbit comsats for a possible market in minor nations. Many groups are interested in using small satellites as short-lead-time testbeds for new technology. The space-science community is increasingly thinking that most of the science that can be done with sounding rockets has been done, which will put more pressure on getting payloads into orbit in a timely way. (It has become very difficult to attract good people to the field, especially as grad students, given the enormous time lags in seeing results from big projects.) The Pegsat example is very encouraging. Its primary mission was reporting the launch environment provided by Pegasus, but Goddard was told they could add some space science if they could do it quickly and cheaply. They added one of the barium- release canisters that had to be dropped from CRRES when it was slimmed down for expendable launch. It took about a dozen people eight months and under $2M; "It really was reminiscent of how it used to be in NASA -- actually getting your hand in the design, rolling up your sleeves and working on hardware, then going off to Canada to get data..." Several peace-oriented groups write to Rep. Aspin, urging cancellation of the new Asat program and reprogramming some of the money into lightsat work: "At a minimum, we would like to see a level of effort increasing American satellite survivability commensurate with the level of effort of decreasing Soviet satellite survivability..." DARPA is no longer pushing lightsats as a concept, since it seems to have sold the idea quite successfully. Its efforts now are going into improved technology for them, such as a scheme to launch inflatable flexible solar arrays that harden and cure in space after deployment. DARPA thinks it is getting both lower costs and more creative engineering by carefully avoiding requiring standard Mil-Spec engineering. -- TCP/IP: handling tomorrow's loads today| Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology OSI: handling yesterday's loads someday| henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry