alb@alice.UUCP (12/10/83)
Now that STS-9 has landed, NASA is busy preparing for 1984's launch schedule. The year will feature 10 missions, beginning with STS-10, scheduled to launch on 30 January. It will be the Challenger, and the highlight will be the first test of the jet backpack; an astronaut will fly 300 feet from the shuttle (without a tether line) and then back. This will be in preparation for STS-11, scheduled to launch on 4 April, in which an astronaut will fly out to the Solar Max satellite, connect it to the RMS, and bring it back to the shuttle for repairs. After this flight, the mission frequency will increase to one per month with two in August. Discovery will make its maiden flight in June (Atlantis in 1985). Twelve launches are planned for 1985 with a rate of 24 per year to be attained by 1987.
rjnoe@ihlts.UUCP (Roger Noe) (12/13/83)
I thought STS-10 was cancelled. If you refer to the tenth mission, I think
it's now designated 41B (4=fiscal year 84, 1=KSC launch, B=second launch this
fiscal year), with the just-finished STS-9 effectively being 41A. I might be
really messed up on this, though. It's so hard to keep close track of the
missions, what with all the manifest changes, schedule and crew reassignments,
and redesignation of missions. I do know that Space Technology & Aviation Week
[that's intentional] just ran updates on 41E through 51A, including crew,
payloads, etc. Does anyone have any more up-to-date information with regard
to future shuttle missions? I think most readers of this newsgroup would
really appreciate seeing this kind of stuff posted. Now when is LDEF going
up?
--
Roger Noe UUCP: ihnp4!ihlts!rjnoe
ARPA: ihnp4!ihlts!rjnoe@BERKELEYalb@alice.UUCP (12/14/83)
STS-10 WAS canceled, but there is still a tenth flight. Just because payloads are different and flight times are different doesn't mean we skip a tenth flight. Come on, now. You are right, though, in the new numbering scheme: Two digits and a letter. The first digit is the last digit of the fiscal year, the second represents the launch site (1 for KSC and 2 for VAFB), and the letter is a sequence letter.
rznowski@psuvax.UUCP (12/14/83)
About the astronaut testing the jet pack....
This seems very uncharacteristic of NASA. What happens if the jet pack
stops working when the astronaut is 300 feet from the shuttle and still
drifting?? (I myself would prefer to have a tether attached to me for
safety reasons.) Remember the Spacesuit problems......
Stephen Roznowski
(rznowski@psuvax1)
P.S. I guess it the jet pack fails, the astronaut could always test to
see if Newton's third law really works. (By throwing the jet pack)hoyme@umn-cs.UUCP (Ken Hoyme) (12/22/83)
#R:alice:-237400:umn-cs:3800007:000:737 umn-cs!hoyme Dec 21 17:59:00 1983 Wait a minute...If the jet pack fails we can assume the shuttle could manuever to pick up the stranded astronaut. Think before you write. The jet pack user will have to 'fly' in patterns that could make a tether very ackward. To recover the Solar Max the astronaut will have to first start spinning to match the satillite, attach himself to it and then despin so the manipulator arm can grab it. A tether would not work. Also, a tether might have to be too long since there may be situations where the jet pack will be used to get away from the environment around the orbiter which is filled with contaminents due to the thrusters (and the toilet for that matter). Ken Hoyme Honeywell Systems and Research Center Minneapolis,MN