From: bergman@afnews.pa.af.mil (CMSgt Mike Bergman)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: Army News 11/05/92
Date: 6 Nov 1992 14:49:47 -0600
Organization: Hq Air Force News Agency/SCC
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

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Army poster commemorates Florida relief mission
 
    WASHINGTON (ARNEWS) -- A recent Miami Herald editorial 
commended the humanitarian efforts of the thousands of troops 
who reached out to countless Hurricane Andrew victims. The 
editorial is the basis for a new poster that will soon be 
available Army-wide.
    The editorial said the troops brought order that made the 
difference "between hope and despair, between gritty 
perseverance and abject surrender," and "earned them south 
Florida's everlasting gratitude."
    A reprint of the editorial, along with an artist rendition
of soldiers engaged in the relief mission will comprise the 
poster, which was designed "to commemorate soldiers for their
efforts and remind everyone of our changing role as protectors 
within and of the nation," said Army Chief of Staff 
Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan. 
    Sullivan, who headed the humanitarian coalition, described 
the mission as soldiers "getting their arms around the victims 
of Hurricane Andrew," to help them cope with "a disaster of 
enormous proportions." 
    The poster is expected to be ready for distribution in the 
near future.
 
 
December shuttle mission includes Army experiments
 
    WASHINGTON (ARNEWS) -- The Army will conduct four in-flight 
experiments aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, scheduled to 
launch in early December, according to officials at the U.S. 
Army Space and Strategic Defense Command.
    Also two Army astronauts, Lt. Cols. Michael R. Clifford and 
James S. Voss, will serve as mission specialists aboard the 
Discovery. They are expected to spend seven flight days in 
space, about 200 nautical miles above the Earth.
    The experiments are funded by the Army Space Technology and 
Research Office, an organization that assists Army agencies to 
conduct spaceborne research under the Space Test Program. The 
STP is a DoD activity managed by the Air Force that "gets 
experiments into space that are not authorized to have their 
own means of spaceflight," officials said. The experimental 
data will have both battlefield and peacetime applications in 
medicine and technology.
    One experiment slated for the December mission is the 
Handheld, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, 
User-friendly, Location, Targeting and Environmental System -- 
or HERCULES. HERCULES, a joint Army/Navy/NASA project, is a 
system attached to a modified Nikon electronic camera used to 
record a feature on Earth from space and immediately determine 
its longitude and latitude.
    According to HERCULES program manager Robert Higgins, the 
astronaut gets a bearing on the instrument using two known 
stars, then "shoots" images by pointing the camera toward the 
Earth. The data immediately undergoes computer analysis, 
longitude and latitude is determined, and the information is 
sent back to the camera.
    The astronaut can view the image on the Shuttle and 
downlink it to Earth to provide an Earth observation system for 
military, environmental, oceanographic and meteorological 
applications. Army experimenters will use HERCULES to determine 
"potential benefits of having a pair of human eyes examine the 
terrestrial battlefield from space to support the tactical 
commander," according to STP officials.
    Another test, the Battlefield Laser Acquisition Sensor Test 
-- or BLAST -- will use technology associated with a spaceborne 
laser receiver to detect laser energy emitted from Earth.
    BLAST is sponsored by the Army Space Command and the Army's 
Night Vision Electro-Optics Directorate, and will demonstrate 
the Army's ability to uplink Global Positions System data using 
laser technology. The test will involve the use of three fixed 
optical tracking facilities in Hawaii, Florida and New Mexico, 
plus portable sites at various DoD locations.
    An on-board laser receiver mounted in the Shuttle's flight 
deck overhead window will capture the signal, which will be 
processed and displayed to the flight crew. Data from the BLAST 
will be used to develop DoD sensor technology.
    According to STP officials, the information could be used 
to locate downed pilots, or track vehicles, ships or troop 
movements.
    The Shuttle's middeck will also carry the Space Tissue Loss 
Project, sponsored by the Walter Reed Army Institute of 
Research. It will monitor the activity of living tissue samples 
at the cellular level under the influence of zero gravity.
    According to WRAIR officials, the rapid degradation of 
immune system, muscle and bone tissue in space is much like a 
rapid aging process or what occurs after severe tissue trauma 
or infection. The STL experiment will include the effects of 
different stimulants, hormones and drugs on cells in space.
    For the Army, applications of the experiment include a 
reduced need for physical therapy and more rapid recovery of 
injured personnel. Also, a better understanding of these 
critical biological changes in space will greatly impact the 
future of extended space travel.
    The Microencapsulation in Space experiment is sponsored by 
the U.S. Army Institute of Dental Research, U.S. Army Medical 
Research and Development Command. It is designed to enhance the 
production of encapsulated drugs and vaccine antigens, which 
release the substances into the body at a controlled rate.
    Microcapsules are tiny spheres, typically 50 -100 
micrometers in diameter -- for comparison, a human hair is 
about 100 micrometers thick. The technology was originally used 
to develop products such as carbonless copy paper and 
"scratch-and-sniff" products.
    Though the effects of microgravity on drug encapsulation 
are unknown, experts theorize that the lack of gravity will 
have a positive impact on the physical chemistry of the 
process. The time-release drug delivery technology will be 
applied to military and civilian medicine in the future.
    Army applications of the technology include encapsulation 
of vaccine antigens and drugs to provide single-dose 
multi-antigen vaccines for total immunity, improved prevention 
and treatment of wound infection, and the application of growth 
hormones directly to damaged tissues to enhance healing.


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