wd9get@pur-ee.UUCP (Keith E Brandt) (12/25/85)
Here's the NASA press release for the STS-61C mission. This article still refers to the December 18th launch date, thought the launch is currently scheduled for January 4. COLUMBIA TO MAKE 24TH STS FLIGHT ON DEC. 18 The Space Shuttle Columbia will make its first space flight in 2 years on mission 61-C, the 24th flight of America's Space Transportation System. Liftoff is scheduled for Dec. 18 at 7 a.m. EST. The launch window extends for 49 minutes that day. Robert L. "Hoot" Gibson will command this last Shuttle mission for 1985, his second trip into space. Charles F. Bolden, making his first space trip, is the 61-C pilot. Three mission specialists will be flying aboard Columbia: Franklin R. Chang- Diaz, Steven A. Hawley and George D. "Pinky" Nelson. Chang-Diaz will be the first Hispanic American to journey into space. Hawley and Nelson will be making their second space flights. The two payload specialists are Robert J. Cenker of RCA and Florida U.S. Rep. Bill Nelson. Columbia will be launched into a 201-mile, circular orbit inclined 28.5 degrees to the equator, for its 5-day mission. During the mission, the crew will deploy RCA's Satcom K-1 communications satellite, the second in a series of three, with its PAM D-2 upper stage. Satcom K-2 was deployed on flight 61-B in November 1985. Also aboard Columbia in the payload bay are the Materials Science Laboratory-2 (MSL-2); the first Hitchhiker payload; the RCA Infrared Imaging Experiment (IR-IE); and 13 Getaway Special Experiments in a specialized canisters, 12 of which are mounted on a GAS bridge which is attached to the payload bay. MSL-2, sponsered by the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., is controlled by onboard computers and contains three materials processing experiments to be operated by Chang-Diaz. Samples of a variety of materials will be carefully observed while they are melted and solidified in zero gravity. Those materials will be compared with their ground controls. The Hitchhiker (HG-1), sponsered by Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., is mounted to the side of the payload bay and supports three experiments. One of the experiments is the Particle Analysis Cameras for the Shuttle (PACS) experiment to provide film images of any particle contamination around the Shuttle in support of future Department of Defense infrared telescope operations. Another experiment is the Capillary Pump Loop to provide a zero-gravity test of a new two-phase heat transport system. The third experiment used coated mirrors to test the effects of the Shuttle's environment. The IR-IE infrared camera was developed by RCA and will be under the supervision of Cenker during the mission. Its purpose is to acquire radiometric information that appears within the field of view of the self-contained optical system. RCA hopes to have an opportunity to photograph storms, volcanic activity or other natural occurences during the mission as well as mapping the orbiter's payload bay to determine its thermal characteristics at various times on orbit. Middeck payloads include the Comet Halley Active Monitoring Program (CHAMP), Initial Blood Storage Experiment (IBSE) and three student experiments. IBSE, funded by Johnson Space Center, with the Center for Blood Research, Boston, acting as the lead institution, will study blood storage and sedimentation characteristics in microgravity. This is one of several Shuttle flights on which the CHAMP experiment will be flown to obtain photographs and spectra of Halley's Comet as well as its dynamic and structural behavior and its chemical structure. During the mission, Chang-Diaz will produce a videotape in Spanish for live distribution to audiences in the United States and Latin America via the NASA Select television circuit. Payload specialist Bill Nelson will participate in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center experiment. The object of the experiment is to try to grow crystal proteins in space for cancer research. Columbia's last flight was STS-9, launched Nov. 28, 1983. After that flight, hundreds of modifications were made to Columbia during its 18-month visit at the Rockwell International Shuttle manufacturing plant, Palmdale, Calif. One modification includes the installation of a cylindrical housing atop the vertical stabilizer which contains the Shuttle Infrared Leeside Temperature Sensing (SILTS) experiment. SILTS will obtain high-resolution, infrared images of the upper (lee- side) surfaces of Columbia's port wing and fuselage as the orbiter reenters Earth's atmosphere. The infrared images will provide detailed temperature maps that will indicate the amount of aero- dynamic heating of those surfaces in flight. Another less obvious change to Columbia is a new nose cap to house the Shuttle Entry Air Data System (SEADS) experiment. A number of pressure sensors inside the nose cap will provide aero- dynamic flight characteristics during reentry. Another modification was made to accommodate the Shuttle Upper Atmosphere Mass Spectrometer (SUMS) experiment. Inside the nosewheel well, SUMS will sample air at Columbia's surface through a small hole to measure the number of molecules of various gas species. This data, combined with vehicle motion information, will allow determination of orbiter aerodynamic characteristics at altitudes where the atmosphere is extremely thin. On ascent, the wing pressure distribution will be measured for the first time with transducers located on the top and bottom sides of the wings. The actual load on th wings will be accurately calculated to determine if more performance can be gained from the orbiter. Another orbiter experiment is the Forward Reaction Control System (FRCS) test which involves firing the forward thrusters on the nose of the orbiter. Five tests will be conducted at various Mach speeds. One jet from the left and right FRCS will be fired for 1 second and 7 seconds later, two jets from both the left and right FRCS will be fired for 1 second. This test is a simulation for future missions that may require lighter abort-landing weights. In such a case, the FRCS propellant would be dumped before landing. This will be the first KSC landing since mission 51-D on April 19, 1985, when Discovery's right main landing gear tire experienced a blowout. Shuttle managers then decided to introduce modifications permitting nosewheel steering capability on the orbiters. That system was verified with Challenger at the conclusion of mission 61-A at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Landing will come on Flight Day 6 at Kennedy Space Center on orbit 80, Dec. 23 at 7:13 a.m. EST. -- --Keith E. Brandt "Back off man -- I'm a scientist" wd9get@pur-ee