henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (04/09/91)
ESA's MOP-2 metsat launch, on Ariane, has been delayed at least a week. An Ariane third-stage engine misbehaved during ignition on a test stand last week, and Arianespace wants to take a hard look at the test results and re-run flight-readiness checks on the MOP-2 Ariane third stage. [The Ariane third-stage ignition sequence is historically a trouble spot.] Pressure from military services on intelligence bureaucrats has led to routine availability of secret satellite images for pre-attack pilot briefings in the Gulf. NASA prepares to give White House and Congress the latest revised plan for the space station. It will generally be smaller and simpler, will emphasize assembly and testing on the ground, and will have a crew of four when it is permanently manned circa the year 2000. [The pessimist would say this project is showing increasing signs of being doomed, with fully-operational status receding more than one year per year.] The truss is not gone, only half of it. The modules are smaller, so they can go up fully loaded... subject to availability of ASRMs for shuttle launches. The first four flights will carry up the truss, in sections, with solar arrays and radiators pre-attached. The fifth will carry up one of the "nodes" [once just connectors, now mini-modules]. The sixth will carry the US lab module, at which point man-tended operations will start. Later additions will include a habitation module and a lifeboat, at which time permanent manning will be practical. Planning beyond that point is largely shelved, since it would only have to be re-done anyway. Major station contracts will need renegotiation, and an external-payload facilities contract (Goddard and GE AstroSpace) is defunct since those facilities are mostly defunct. The fate of the Reston paper-pushing office is undecided as yet, but the official word is "no major changes right away". Brief article on the Comet project, NASA's effort to put together a recoverable unmanned system for commercial experiments. Space Services Inc (now a division of EER Systems Corp) has the launcher contract, with Space Industries Inc supplying the capsule and operations, and Westinghouse supplying the service module. ESA re-opens debate on its major manned programs, as budget squeezes loom. Germany, in particular, is feeling pressed for cash and wants to see Hermes and Columbus scaled back and postponed. No official decision is likely before a formal ESA meeting in October. Proposals for change include slipping Hermes's first flight 2-3 years, dropping plans to make the Columbus free-flyer capable of docking with Fred (in favor of servicing it entirely with Hermes, which will remain Fred-compatible too), slipping the free-flyer somewhat and concentrating Columbus efforts on the Fred module, and "re-evaluating" Ariane 5's ability to launch the rather- heavier-than-intended Hermes. Germany concedes that most of these changes will increase long-term costs, but badly wants to cut short-term expenses. NASA and Rockwell are staring at door-hinge cracks on Discovery and wondering whether to postpone the SDI shuttle mission [they did]. The cracks are in the hinges of the doors that cover the external-tank connections after ET separation. Smaller cracks have been found in Columbia's hinges, and it's likely that the orbiters have flown with the cracks. The ability to close the doors is crucial, but it is not clear whether the cracks endanger it much. On-pad repairs are being considered, but any repair requiring disassembling the door mechanism requires that it be tested before flight, and that can't be done on the pad at all. Space is also very tight for on-pad repairs. [They decided to go back to the VAB and unstack.] The cracks were found accidentally during installation of insulation blankets on the fuel lines; that part of the orbiter normally is not inspected unless work is done there (although this is now likely to change). -- "The stories one hears about putting up | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology SunOS 4.1.1 are all true." -D. Harrison| henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry