[net.columbia] STS 61-C Press Release

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