mike@ames.UUCP (07/12/88)
In article <1219@thumper.bellcore.com> karn@thumper.bellcore.com (Phil R. Karn) writes: >Remember how George ("Pinky") Nelson grabbed one of the solar >arrays in an attempt to stop the satellite from spinning? A interesting further note on this event. I know a woman at Lockheed who was the chief Rockwell saftey officer on this mission. She produced the procedures for the crew, and set at a console during the EVA. One of the rules in BIG BLACK LETTERS was "DON'T GRAB THE ^&&%$& SOLAR PANELS WITH YOUR HANDS!!!". The arrays had sharp edges on them and could have easily sliced open a glove. So she passed on the the CapCom, "Don't let him touch the panels!!". The Crippen comes on the air i think saying "Pinky, why don't you grab the panels". Needless to say whe was weirded out by the whole thing. Oh, by the way. The solar max mission was a demonstration flight among other things. If we didn't have a real satillite to repair, surely a dummy would have been flown to practice with. And wrt Phil's comment about the mission costing more than a replacment satillite. I believe that the SMM cost around $150 million. A replacement would likely cost more due to inflation and take years to get on line, not to mention a dedicated shuttle mission just to launch it. So with the experience gained, the time saved, I think it was worth it. (not to mention the neato TV that was returned). -- *** mike (starship janitor) smithwick *** "Due to the Writer's Guild of Amierica strike, this signature is temporarily cancelled". [disclaimer : nope, I don't work for NASA, I take full blame for my ideas]
mdbomber@portia.Stanford.EDU (Matt Bartley) (12/05/89)
Have they waited too long to retrieve Solar Max? I've heard stuff about it hitting the atmosphere, but nothing complete or reliable. I did get the impression it fried. Guess we gota get those secret military missions before we save decaying satellites... -- Internet: mdbomber@portia.stanford.edu Matt Bartley Bitnet: mdbomber%portia@stanford.bitnet Riker: "You enjoyed that." -"Ensigns of Command" Picard: "You're DAMNED right!" Star Trek: TNG