henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (11/21/90)
NASA study underway on possible countermeasures for the fluid loss that affects all astronauts in early exposure to free fall. Most astronauts lose 3kg or so of water in the first few days, and get it all back within a similar time after return to Earth. It is not clear whether this is a normal and healthy response to free fall, or cause for concern. Agenzia Spaciale Italiana contracts with General Dynamics for the launch of the Italy/Netherlands X-ray astronomy satellite, project currently underway. Astro mission goes on hold once again due to hydrogen leaks. Morale is hurting at KSC. The problem is definitely not considered a matter of aging of equipment; the most likely cause is an elaborate inspection done early this year after traces of corundum/calcite abrasive were found in Columbia's filters after the LDEF retrieval mission. The abrasive was almost certainly left from cleaning and polishing operations done as part of the reactivation of Mobile Launch Platform 3, first used for the LDEF mission. A lot of Columbia's plumbing was opened up to inspect for abrasive contamination and clean suspect areas, and 50-100 connections in the hydrogen system in particular had to be opened and then reclosed. One botched one has already been found. There is some feeling among the contractors that NASA is being far too conservative about hydrogen levels: the old limit was 300ppm, Crippen raised it to 1000ppm, and the Sept 17 launch scrubbed at 4000ppm... but 10,000ppm is considered safe and hydrogen is not flammable until about 40,000ppm. NASA studies, in a small way, the idea of building a small winged spacecraft as a crew ferry and lifeboat for the space station. It generally resembles the small Soviet spaceplane flown in four unmanned tests in the 1980s, which in turn resembles earlier NASA experimental lifting-body designs. The new design is called the HL-20; a university-built mockup was unveiled. It would weigh about 24klbs and its wings could fold to fit in the shuttle payload bay. It could also go up on an expendable, although it is not clear whether a new one would have to be developed: only Titan IV is big enough, and NASA is now unenthusiastic about manned launches using solid boosters. The HL-20 is primarily a crew carrier, although it could carry perhaps 500kg of urgent cargo if it flew with a crew of two. Design mission length is three days or less. Total spending on the concept so far has been $3M over 6-7 years. Magellan starts radar mapping after recovery from its troubles. Intospace (a German private venture) launches another materials experiment on a Soviet Resurs-F spacecraft; the Casimir payload is looking at growth of zeolite crystals in microgravity. Intospace also thinks it now knows what went wrong with its Cosima protein-crystal experiment last May: some changes were made to the experiment after two earlier flights, and revised seals leaked before or during launch. Intospace plans to re-fly Cosima next year. [Note the message here: if you fly on Soviet spacecraft, you can get several debugging flights done before your US counterparts can fly their experiments even once.] Aerospatiale-led consortium wins the contract for Turkey's Turksat project. Picture of Ulysses being installed in Discovery. [Actually, if I'm not mistaken, the picture shows part of the IUS, with Ulysses not visible.] -- "I don't *want* to be normal!" | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology "Not to worry." | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry