henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (01/04/90)
Soviets study launching a probe for a close flyby of the Sun, using an Energia launch to avoid the need for a Jupiter gravity assist. Picture of the first Pegasus captive flight Nov 9. The flight went fairly well, with minor communications problems plus some flaking of thermal-protection paint. Loads were within acceptable levels at all speeds up to Mach 0.84, higher than will be needed for launches. First flight of Japan's H-2 slips from 1992 to 1993 after serious development problems with the LE-7 oxyhydrogen engine. A test-stand fire in September may cause a further slip. Glavcosmos signs first US commercial launch customer. Energetics Satellite Corp. has signed up for up to $54M worth of small secondary payloads on Protons, as a cheap way of launching its small-satellite navsat system. [I don't recognize Energetics, although it might be what used to be known as Starfind.] US government approvals remain a worrisome issue, although Energetics believes it is in a strong position: its satellites are mostly inflatable antenna arrays, "hardly different from an old Echo satellite", so there is minimal new technology. If, as many suspect, the US embargo on use of Soviet launches is really a buy-American policy in disguise, Energetics is prepared to move its manufacturing out of the US. Glavcosmos is talking to Australia and Brazil about building foreign launch sites for its boosters. Payload Systems Inc, which is already flying small payloads on Soviet manned missions, says recent upheavals in the Soviet Union may have eased life in some ways, but they have also introduced uncertainties about future policies and about who is in charge. However, PSI says its existing agreements still look solid, and it is very happy about a clause in the agreements which says that any flight which takes the payload environment outside certain tight limits is free. "This is exactly what we're having trouble doing with NASA." Soviets seek French instruments for their Almaz heavy recon/resources platforms. Cosmos 1870, which ended operations in July, was the first Almaz. Another is scheduled for launch in 1990, and a third in 1993. The third will be officially operational, the other two for development. Almaz is 18.5 tons at launch, with 4 tons of instruments. The basic platform is 7m x 4.15m, with a 100-cubic-meter pressurized payload compartment. Available power is 2.5kW from solar arrays. The Soviets have admitted [as many suspected] that Almaz was developed with an eye on military reconnaissance. France is interested in Almaz, but thinks the 1990 and 1993 ones are too soon for major French participation. NASA is giving its Commercial Development of Space centers more freedom in purchasing hardware and services. The result is that many of the centers are now talking openly about wanting an unmanned free-flying platform operational before the space station, and are voicing serious uncertainty about how suitable the station will be for microgravity work. Galileo makes first course correction, using over 5500 thruster firings spread over three days. (The multiple [!] firings are partly because of concerns about possible thruster overheating, and partly because the thrusters are on the spinning section and have to be fired in bursts anyway.) Galileo is generally in good health. There are performance problems with the gyroscopes, and the scheme for moving the RTG booms to adjust the center of mass has not worked as well as expected, but overall the ground crew is quite happy. Discovery launch slips while NASA assesses electronics problems in the SRBs. An electronics assembly shorted out in a bench test, and when another one from inventory was tested, it failed too... so NASA wants inspections of all units from the same production batch, including the two that are in Discovery's SRBs. There was also some concern about a small hydrazine leak in the right SRB's hydraulic power unit. Hughes Electron Devices confirms that its travelling-wave-tube amplifiers have a design defect affecting long-term reliability, and that this has caused a slip in the launch of Japan's Superbird B. A fix has been devised, although more tests will be needed to confirm that it works. At least one Eutelsat [European] and Anik [Canadian] comsat awaiting launch are also affected. -- 1972: Saturn V #15 flight-ready| Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology 1990: birds nesting in engines | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu