khayo@sonia.math.ucla.edu (Eric Behr) (05/04/88)
[These are un-edited versions]
Current NASA News Releases
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NOTE TO EDITORS: U.S./USSR SCIENCE GROUP MEETING PRESS BRIEFING
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[I'm afraid we missed this one, but I'm including it to make you
aware that it may happen again and because of the SATV info at end]
April 27, 1988
NASA and a Soviet delegation, led by scientists from the
Space Research Institute, Moscow, will hold a press briefing to
discuss the results of the first U.S./USSR Space Astronomy and
Astrophysics and the Solar-Terrestrial Physics Joint Working
Groups (JWG) meetings held in Washington, D.C., April 27 to May
2. The press briefing will be held Monday, May 2, at 3 p.m. EDT
in the NASA 6th-floor auditorium, 400 Maryland Ave., S.W.,
Washington, D.C.
Participants include Samuel Keller, deputy associate
administrator for space science and applications, NASA; Dr.
Charles Pellerin, U.S. co-chairman, and Dr. Rashid Sunyaev, USSR
co-chairman, of the Space Astronomy and Astrophysics JWG; Dr.
Stanley Shawhan, U.S. co-chairman and Dr. Albert Galeev, USSR co-
chairman, of the Solar-Terrestrial Physics JWG.
The briefing will be carried live (monitor only) on NASA
Select television, (Satcom F2R, transponder l3, frequency 3960
MHz, audio 6.8 MHz, 72 degrees west longitude).
QM-6 Status Report
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May 2, 1988
The aft joint of the QM-6 solid rocket motor test article was
disassembled Sunday night by engineers at Morton Thiokol's Wasatch
facility in Utah. Inspection showed the seals to be in good
condition, and that the insulation J-seal had good contact. There
was no indication of soot or blowby at the joint. The inspection
included an in-place examination of the O-rings. Disassembly is
expected tomorrow of the the center field joint, which contained
an intentional flaw in the J-seal insulation, and the
case-to-nozzle joint, which had an intentional blowhole through
the polysulfide adhesive. The QM-6 motor was test fired at Morton
Tiokol April 20.
FINAL REQUIRED NJES TEST CONDUCTED AT MORTON THIOKOL
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May 3, 1988
The fifth and final required short-duration solid rocket motor
Nozzle Joint Environment Simulator (NJES) test was conducted today
at Morton Thiokol's Space Operations facility in Utah.
According to Royce Mitchell, SRM project manager at the Marshall
Space Flight Center, "The initial data looks good and all
indications are we had a successful test." Mitchell added that a
complete assessment of the test will take several days.
The overall objective of the test is to evaluate the performance
of the redesigned motor case-to-nozzle joint with verified defects
through the bonded insulation and wiper and primary o-rings. It
will allow engineers to evaluate the fail-safe performance of the
secondary o-ring, radial bolt seals and vent plug seal.
EMERGENCY EGRESS SIMULATIONS PLANNED AT KSC
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May 3, 1988
Two separate emergency simulations, involving a Space
Shuttle launch and a landing, are planned at Kennedy Space Center
this week. Members of the astronaut corps, rescue teams and
launch team will participate.
These tests have several objectives. They will familiarize
astronauts, and members of the launch team, fire/rescue team, ice
team, and the close-out crew with evacuation routes, emergency
equipment and procedures. These tests also will provide
necessary certification for employees who would be involved in an
emergency situation.
Another reason for conducting the emergency exercises is to
validate two important support areas: recent upgrades to the
launch pad's emergency escape system (see fact sheet); and new
procedures developed as a result of a similar test conducted in
November 1986.
Modes of emergency rescue at the launch pad vary depending
on the degree of injury and who is involved.
EMERGENCY EGRESS LAUNCH SIMULATION (MAY 4)
On May 3, participants will receive a briefing of the next
day's activities and will have a "walk down" of the launch pad
and bunker area to become familiar with exercise events. They
also will conduct a "hands on" fit and functional check of the
emergency egress equipment.
Seven astronauts will participate in the simulation. For
the purposes of the exercise, Frank Culbertson is the commander,
Ken Cameron is the pilot, and the five mission specialists are
Kathy Thornton, Carl Meade, David Low, Pierre Thuot and Jay
Apt. This is the same crew, with the exception of Ken Cameron,
that participated in the November 1986 exercises.
The first test is planned for May 4, during which a
simulated Shuttle launch countdown will be in progress.
Simulation events will correspond to events that occur at the T-
minus-2-hour mark in a shuttle countdown. To make the test as
real as possible, none of the team members will know the type of
emergency situation or the exact time it will happen.
Just as in a normal launch countdown, the NASA test
director, the biomedical officer and safety officer will be at
their consoles in the Firing Room. The closeout crew will be in
the White Room at Pad B preparing for the flight crew's arrival
and the fire/rescue personnel will be in position in an armored
personnel carrier about 1 mile from the launch pad.
Members of the flight crew will leave the Operations and
Checkout building in the Astrovan enroute to the pad to begin
simulating entry into the Orbiter's cockpit. A Space Shuttle
orbiter will not be at the pad during this test.
While the flight crew is simulating Orbiter entry, referees
at the launch pad will reveal the nature of the emergency and
hand out cards indicating a particular physical condition that
the participants should feign for the exercise.
Closeout crew and/or flight crew members are potential
"victims" for the simulation exercise. Water from the pad deluge
system will be active as fire/rescue personnel make their way to
the 195-foot level to perform the rescue operation. Victims will
be put in slidewire baskets but the baskets will not be
released. Personnel will get out of the baskets, the baskets
will be released with sandbags, and the participants will regroup
at the slidewire landing area.
The exercise will resume when the participants climb back
into the baskets and rescue forces remove those with simulated
injuries and take them into the nearby underground bunker. As
the exercise unfolds, fire rescue personnel and the crew, some of
whom have simulated injuries, will board the emergency tracked
vehicles and depart for a heliport site. A triage site will be
set up for emergency medical care and stabilization.
Some of the participants will be transported via helicopter
to Jess Parrish Memorial Hospital in Titusville and Florida
Hospital in Orlando. Biomedical personnel will maintain
communications with the helicopters through landing at the
hospital helipad. The exercise will end when the victims are
rolled into the hospital's emergency room.
In the event of adverse weather, or if the helicopters are
needed for real operations, the medevac portion of the exercise
will be conducted as part of the May 6 emergency landing
simulation.
On May 5, an emergency exercise will be simulated for
members of the ice inspection team and closeout crew. This test
will be conducted from 3:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. to simulate a night
rescue at the pad.
Again, a simulated launch countdown will be in progress.
Events will correspond to countdown activities that occur during
the built-in two-hour hold at the T-minus-3-hour mark. Members
of the ice team will be simulate inspection of the external tank
and also look for any debris that could blow around at launch and
hit the shuttle. Also, at this point, members of the closeout
crew will be in the pad's White Room, making preparations for the
flight crew's arrival.
Since this exercise is for training ground crews, there will
be no flight crew participation. The objective is to validate
procedures and give teams experience in handling an emergency at
night. Emergency exercise events will be similar to those
described in the daytime simulation, except that a triage site
will not be established and no use of helicopters is planned.
SIMULATED EMERGENCY LANDING AT A REMOTE SITE ON KSC (MAY 6)
An area close to KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) will
be the stage for this emergency exercise, which will simulate a
situation in which the orbiter has landed on a remote KSC site
and is damaged, and the flight crew needs assistance in leaving
the orbiter.
A shuttle simulator, a shell of the orbiter's forward
structure, will be placed at a predetermined spot near the runway
to simulate a damaged orbiter. Referees will reveal its location
the day of the exercise. Astronauts will not be involved in this
exercise except to observe. Flight crew members will be
simulated by members of KSC's biomedical staff, fire/rescue
members and a member of the Vehicle Integration Test Team.
Manning consoles in the firing room for this exercise will
be the landing recovery director (LRD), biomedical personnel and
safety personnel. Three Department of Defense helicopters
supporting the exercise will be in place on the SLF apron. The
triage site will be set up during the exercise at the Mate/Demate
Device.
The exercise will begin when the LRD confirms there has been
a simulated emergency landing. At that time, helicopters will
deploy rescue crews to the site of the landing. While the crews
are rescuing members of the simulated flight crew, the
helicopters will go back to the SLF to refuel in preparation for
potential medevac to hospitals. (There is no planned medevac for
this exercise unless the medevac is postponed for some reason
during the emergency launch simulation on May 4.) Members of the
simulated flight crew and rescue crew will be transported to the
triage site by helicopters.
Eric