henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (11/16/89)
Wonderworks Inc, a California special-effects company, is building a
full-scale shuttle orbiter mockup, and a separate cabin mockup with
computer-driven displays, for the exhibition/fair market.
Hughes and Martin Marietta agree to terminate a contract calling for
launch of two Hughes comsats on Commercial Titan; Hughes wanted part
of the payload on each of two flights, and MM has decided it wants to
sell only full launches.
Spacehab is sorting out final development financing for its cabin-expansion
modules for the shuttle. About 50% of the $130M is foreign.
NASA throws several hundred bureaucrats at Moon/Mars planning, mostly aimed
at the first-stage lunar outpost.
Truly will shortly receive a list of options for cutbacks in the space
station, much to the displeasure of the international partners, who have
not been consulted. ESA has suggested that one way to cut costs would
be to delay the US laboratory module in favor of early launch of the
European or Japanese lab module. (There is concern that NASA may consider
the resources needed to operate the foreign lab modules expendable when
the squeeze is on.)
NASA is investigating why Columbia's body flap deflected over 30cm just
after launch in August. The mission was unaffected, but there is concern
over possible delays to the December LDEF retrieval mission if the flap
needs substantial work. The flap's deflection was detected by new
high-resolution cameras installed after Challenger, operating in unusually
favorable conditions: a high-inclination launch and very clear weather.
NASA HQ rejects proposal to swap November and December shuttle missions
to retrieve LDEF earlier.
Soviets reactivate Mir, after Viktorenko and Serebrov have to make a
manual docking due to a minor malfunction in their automatic docking
system.
The "Energia group" of Soviet aerospace companies is now offering
launch opportunities for Mir, Buran, Soyuz, and Progress payloads
directly, rather than through Glavcosmos as before.
Senate panel recommends zero FY1990 military funding for NASP, citing
limited military applications and high technological risk. It urges
an international program involving US allies.
Last NASA-run expendable launch imminent (set for Sept 22): an Atlas
Centaur carrying a Navy comsat. This is the launch that was delayed
2+ years due to the pad accident that ruined the original Centaur stage.
Japanese H-1 launcher launches GMS-4 Clarke-orbit weather satellite
successfully Sept 6, after a last-minute pad abort Aug 8.
DARPA contracts with Space Data Corp, a division of Orbital Sciences,
for first launch of a new, small, fast-reaction space launcher: Taurus.
Taurus is essentially an MX first stage plus a wingless variant of
Pegasus. First launch in 1991 from Vandenberg. The DARPA contract
includes options for five more. The primary objective is to demonstrate
the ability to launch small military satellites quickly, to boost
capabilities in a crisis or replace destroyed satellites. (There are
classified projects underway to develop small comsats and tactical
spysats for launch by boosters of this class.) DoD will supply a bare
concrete slab at Vandenberg and Space Data will have five days for setup,
after which they must be ready to launch on three days' notice. The
first payload is 1000lbs into a 400nmi polar orbit; several satellites
are being considered for the slot. Space Data expects to be able to
eventually launch 3000lbs into low orbit, 830lbs into transfer orbit,
2300lbs into polar orbit, or perhaps 900lbs to escape (e.g. to the Moon).
The first launch is costing DARPA $11M, and Space Data will spend
$10M of its own money for development. Taurus will be available
commercially at about $15.5M. Various people are interested, including
the USAF Space Test Program ("a range of missions"), Lincoln Labs (an
experimental Clarke-orbit laser comsat), NASA (small reentry capsules
for, e.g., life sciences), Ball Aerospace (small comsats), and JPL
(small planetary missions).
Ball Aerospace to build the radio-astronomy payload for the Submillimeter
Wave Astronomy Satellite, for launch in 1993. The bird itself will come
from Goddard.
Los Alamos and the USAF will buy a Pegasus launch in 1991 for ALEXIS,
the Array of Low-Energy X-Ray Imaging Sensors satellite, to do a sky
survey in the hard-UV/soft-X-ray boundary region. There is believed
to be a diffuse background glow in that area of the spectrum, perhaps
from star-forming gas clouds, but the area has not been studied much.
NASA's B-52 flies first simulated Pegasus launch (no hardware on board)
Aug 22, finding "a few minor quirks" in procedures and communications.
German-built 1:5.24 scale model of the NASA shuttle orbiter will be
dropped from a high-altitude balloon and recovered by parachute after
flying at speeds up to Mach 1.7. Results will be compared with the
NASA shuttle-flight database to validate the testing technique. Three
flights are planned. If the technique pans out well, OHB System (the
company involved) proposes a 1:2.5 scale model of Hermes to verify
Hermes's reentry aerodynamics.
--
A bit of tolerance is worth a | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
megabyte of flaming. | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu