markf@usiiden.UUCP (10/07/85)
Testimony of Charles A. Barth Prof., Dept. of Astrophysical, Planetary and Atmospheric Sciences -> Space Science and the Space Station. * The U. of Co. has played a pioneering role in the development of space science and technology during the past thirty five years. In the early 1950's when rockets first became available or space science experiments, the U.of Co. developed instrumentation to measure the ultraviolet radiation emanating from the sun. With the first successful flight over the New Mexico desert in 1952, the scientific field of high resolution solar spectroscopy was born. In the years following, ultraviolet spectroscopy has become one of the major scientific tools of space exploration. Ultraviolet spectrometers are used to study the sun, the earth, the other planets, and the stars. The pioneering rocket experiments of the U. of Co. scientists and engineers in the 1950's led to the creation of a major aerospace company, the Ball Aerospace Division. These examples show how ideas that originate in universities can lead to significant development in the National Space Program. In the past, we have had fruitful collaboration between the university, the aerospace industry, and the NASA. As we move into the Space Station era, it is important to maintain the active participation of the university as NASA takes on projects that are becoming larger and larger. For the universities to participate in the space program, there must be university size projects for them to participate in. * I would like to give an example of a university size space experiment that is ideally suited for the coming space station era. Comet Halley is on its way into the inner solar system. In January and February of 1986, it will pass within the orbit of the earth and make its closest approach to the sun. As it approaches the sun, the ices on the surface of the comet nucleus will heat up and evaporate into space. A huge coma will form made up of the atoms and molecules of the icy nucleus and the dust that is trapped beneath the ices. Comet Halley returns to the inner solar system every seventy six years. The last time that it passed near the sun was 1910 when it was widely visible in the night sky and was extensively photographed using telescopes from ground based observatories. The 1986 passage of Comet Halley is its first visit to the inner solar system since the beginning of the space age. The powerful techniques of space exploration and ultraviolet spectroscopy are now available to measure the composition of Comet Halley. * The origin of comets is a fundamental scientific question. Are comets samples of the original material that formed the solar system four and a half billion years ago? Or are comets samples of interstellar space that are entering the solar system at the present time? * To meet the challenge of exploring Comet Halley from space, the European Space Agency has launched a spacecraft called Giotto to fly close to Comet Halley in March 1986 and take t.v. pictures of the dust in the coma. The Soviet Union has two spacecraft on their way to Comet Halley. These are the giant Venera interplanetary spacecraft that earlier this year dropped scientific instruments into the atmosphere of Venus. The Japanese are sending a spacecraft to measure the huge hydrogen coma that will form around Comet Halley. * The U. of Co. in collaboration with the Goddard Space Flight Center is preparing an experiment to measure the composition of Comet Halley during the last week in January 1986 when the comet is nearing its closest approach to the sun. This experiment is being conducted as part of a NASA program called SPARTAN. The Spartan experiment will be carried into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle. It is currently scheduled for launch on January 22, 1986 on STS 51-L. On the third day of the flight, the astronaut crew will place the Spartan experiment overboard using the remote manipulator arm. The Spartan experiment including the instruments, batteries, and tape recorder is about the size of a table. After being released from the shuttle, the ultraviolet spectrometers on the Spartan will be pointed at Comet Halley and will measure the composition of the coma at the time when the comet is making its closest approach to the sun. After two days, the space shuttle will return the Spartan and pick up the experiment with the remote manipulator arm and bring the instruments and the data back to earth. In the days following the landing, we plan to quickly develop the pictures and analyze the scientific data. * I believe the Spartan program is an excellent example of how universities can participate in space experiments during the era of the space station. The ideas for the scientific experiment would be conceived by the university scientists. The instruments for the experiments would be built and calibrated in the university laboratories. The experiment package would be carried into orbit by the space shuttle and placed on board the space station. On the space station, the performance of the instruments would be checked and then the experiment package would be placed overboard to co-orbit with the space station. Depending on the experiment, the instruments may be pointed at the earth to study land processes or at the upper atmosphere to study variations in ozone. Or the instruments may be pointed away from the earth to study the sun, the planets or the stars. These co-orbiting experiments would be controlled from the space station. Imagine the excitement when the time arrives for university faculty and students to travel to the space station to operate their own experiments. I believe that there is a place for university size experiments during the era of the space station. I suggest that the Spartan experiments of today may serve as an example of how to plan those experiments. * The job of the universities is to educate students and to create knowledge. We at the universities recognize that the youth of today are enthusiastic about the exploration of space. We believe that NASA should continue to encourage university participation in the space program. To do this, it is the small budget items in NASA's budget that need to be increased. The Research and Analysis budgets of all the scientific disciplines need augmentation to maintain vigor in the university research groups. Small projects such as the Spartan program need augmentation so that a larger numbe of universities may participate in this program. The Data Analysis programs need augmentation as we continue to convert the data gathered in space into knowledge. I recommend that NASA continue to have university research groups play a vital role in space exploration. ** ** I was recently envited to the House hearing on the proposed space station. This is the first of several transcripts which I will try to send out to the net.... markf