From: yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee)
Newsgroups: sci.space.news
Subject: Launch set for Consort 5 microgravity experiments [Release 92-133] (Forwarded)
Date: 17 Aug 92 19:32:02 GMT
Followup-To: sci.space
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Apparently-To: sci-space-news@ames.arc.nasa.gov

Barbara Selby
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                             August 17, 1992
(Phone:  202/358-1983)
 
Rick Mould
University of Alabama at Huntsville, Ala.
(Phone:  205/895-6414)
 
Mike Bryant
EER Systems, Vienna, Va.
(Phone:  703/761-3704)
 
Debbie Bingham
White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
(Phone:  505/678-1134)
 

RELEASE:  92-133
 
LAUNCH SET FOR CONSORT 5 MICROGRAVITY EXPERIMENTS
 

	The launch of Consort 5, a commercial suborbital rocket carrying nine 
microgravity experiments, is set for 10:20 a.m. EDT, Sept. 10, by the 
University of Alabama in Huntsville's Consortium for Materials Development in 
Space (UAH CMDS).

	EER Systems, Va., will launch the Consort payload using its Starfire 
rocket.  The Consort 5 flight will be conducted through the Naval Air Warfare 
Center Weapons Division-White Sands Detachment at at White Sands Missile 
Range (WSMR), N.M.  The two-stage solid fuel Starfire will carry the payload 
to an altitude of 200 miles and provide the experiments with 7 to 8 minutes 
of microgravity exposure or weightlessness.

	The rocket and launch services are funded by a grant from NASA's 
Office of Commercial Programs, Washington, D.C.  The UAH CMDS, which 
manages the Consort rocket program, is one of 17 NASA Centers for the 
Commercial Development of Space (CCDS).

	The Consort 5 experiments will focus on the effects of microgravity on 
various processes, materials and biomedical samples.  Three NASA CCDSs will 
conduct experiments aboard Consort 5 -- the Center for Cell Research (CCR), 
Pennylvania State University; the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and 
Robotics (WCSAR), University of Wisconsin-Madison; and UAH CMDS.

	The Penn State CCR will examine various biological samples using its 
BioModule.  The experiment will study the effects of microgravity on 
mammalian cells, plant tissues, protein crystallization and amphibian tissue.

	 The WCSAR will test a device that offers a promising and unique light 
source for plant growing facilities in space.  The high output, light emitting 
diodes experiment will be used to further develop this technology for a future 
Space Shuttle experiment.

	The UAH CMDS and several industrial partners will conduct seven 
experiments studying effects of the low gravity environment on different 
materials.  The UAH CMDS, with Thiokol Corp., Logan, Utah, will conduct two 
foam experiments.  The foam will be formed into specific shapes to study its 
use as a building material and insulator in space.

	In another experiment, the UAH CMDS and Instrumentation 
Technology Associates, Inc. (ITA), Exton, Pa., will study microgravity's effect 
on different materials and biological samples using ITA's Materials Dispersion 
Apparatus.

	Kennametal, Inc., Greensburg, Pa., and UAH CMDS, will use a high 
temperature furnace in a liquid phase sintering experiment and will capture a 
ceramic mix in a special hydraulic compacting device in a powdered 
materials processing investigation.

	Space Hardware Optimization Technology, Floyd Knobs, Ind., and 
Interfacial Dynamics Corp., Portland, Ore., will team with the UAH CMDS on 
an organic separation experiment that focuses on improving purification 
techniques for biotechnology materials.

	An electro-deposition experiment using nickel and cobalt will be 
conducted by the UAH CMDS and McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co., 
Huntsville.  This research will assist in finding metals and alloys with 
enhanced corrosion resistance, surface hardening and catalytical properties.  

-end-

EDITORS NOTE:  A photo opportunity is planned the day before launch at 
White Sands Missile Range.  Participants will include representatives from 
NASA, UAH CMDS, EER Systems and WSMR.
 
     Requests for accreditation to attend the launch should be submitted 
directly to White Sands Missile Range by Sept. 3 to:
 
     Debbie Bingham, PAO
     Building 122
     White Sands Missile Range
        (Phone:  505/678-1134)

     Radio and television reporters planning live coverage directly from WSMR 
must submit their transmission frequencies to Debbie Bingham by Sept. 3 to 
obtain clearance for their use.