May 1983:space activities report

BEYOND SPACELAB AND ARIANE

1983 is ESA's "Spacelab year ": Europe's efforts
over the past ten years will come to fruition this autumn
with the first Spacelab mission. As a follow-on, work
has been proceeding over the last two years on possible
ESA activities in the Space Transportation field for the
late 1980's and 1990's. In 1982, the Spacelab
Follow-on Programme, covering the development of a
European retrievable carrier, Eureca, got underway.
1982 also saw the start of Ariane 4 development
designed to meet needs for more powerful launchers
from 1985.

Ariane 4 and Eureca represent the completion of
Europe's Space Transportation Systems Programme as
it was planned ten years ago. The time has now come
to decide on future European needs in this area. A
number of European States have now entrusted the
Agency with a new programme - the Space Transportation Systems Long Term Preparatory Programme
(STS-LTPP) - which covers the study of the different
options beyond Ariane and Eureca in sufficient detail
to enable Europe to lay down a long-term policy and
thus to decide on new Space Transportation programmes before the end of 1985. On 14 January nine
ESA Member States had subscribed to this new programme, providing the required 75 per cent of the total
financial envelope (about $11 million in 1983 terms)
to enable the programme to get underway.

The STS-LTPP deals with three main themes:

Maintaining an independent launch capability to
meet the requirements of European and other users,
competitive with other systems (eg the US Shuttle);

The capability of carrying out orbital operations
developed either independently or in cooperation
with NASA. A combination of an in-orbit system
with an advanced European launcher would enable
Europe to carry out Shuttle-type missions with, for
example, satellite repairs and return to Earth;

Maintaining Europe's access to manned systems,
begun by Spacelab, both by taking part in US space
station activities and by studying the evolution of a
European in-orbit system towards manned capability.

Such studies have already started; towards the end
of 1982 some contracts for preliminary studies on
possible European participation in the US space station programme were awarded. In parallel, other contracts
were placed in industry aimed at defining future European launchers beyond Ariane and systems for in-orbit
services (docking, assembly, satellite repairs, etc.).

NEW ASTRONAUT GROUP?

It appears that NASA might call for applications for
Shuttle astronaut candidates this year, writes Dave
Shayler. The first two Shuttle groups, of Pilots and
Mission Specialists, were selected in 1978 and 1980
and are now seeing flight experience. The new 1983
group would undergo a 12 month training course to
make them eligible for missions beginning in about
1985. By then most of the pre-Shuttle era astronauts
will have retired and the job of flying the reusable
spacecraft will have passed on to the newer groups.

SHUTTLE LAUNCH SCHEDULE

As the rate of Shuttle launches increase, the number
of astronauts and payloads going into space will rise
dramatically. Spaceflight will publish occasional lists of
the missions and their crews, updating them when
necessary. Here is the first:

STS-7

Challenger

23 May/6d

Crippen, CDR, 1

Hauck, PLT

Ride, MS

Fabian, MS

Thagard, MS

Telesat-F

Palapa B-1

SPAS-01

OSTA-2

STS-8

Challenger

10 July/3d

Truly, CDR, 1

Brandenstein, PLT

Bluford, MS

Gardner, D., MS

Thornton, MS

TDRSS-B

Insat 1B

STS-9

Columbia

30 Sep/10d

Young, CDR, 5

Shaw, PLT

Parker, MS

Garriott, MS, 1

Lichtenberg, PS

Merbold, PS (ESA)

Spacelab 1

STS-10

Mattingly, CDR, 2

Challenger

14 Dec/?d

Shriver, PLT

Buchli, MS

Onizuka, MS

? AFSE

(Teal Ruby)

STS-11

Challenger

Jan 1984/7d

Brand, CDR, 2

Gibson, R.L., PLT

McCandless, MS

Stewart, MS

McNair, MS

Palapa

STS-12

Discovery

Mar. 1984/5d

Hartsfield, CDR, 1

Coats, PLT

Resnik, MS

Hawley, MS

Mullane, MS

? PS

TDRSS-C

CDR: Commander; PLT: Pilot; MS: Mission Specialist; PS: Payload
Specialist; AFSB: Air Force Space Engineer. Number after crew
position indicates number of previous missions.

Telesat-F. Palapa and Insat 1B are communications satellites,
SPAS is a German experimental platform. OSTA-2 is a NASA
science payload. Spacelab is the NASA/ESA laboratory, and Teal
Ruby is a US Air Force test payload for tracking aircraft by infrared.
Crippen will be the first man to fly in the Shuttle twice; Sally
Ride will be the first US woman astronaut; Ulf Merbold will be the
first ESA astronaut; and John Young will be the first to make six
space trips.