November-December 1981:space activities report

FREE-FLYING SPACE PLATFORM

One destination for the Space Shuttle during the mid-to-late< 1980’s may be a free-flying platform permanently stationed in orbit around the Earth.

McDonnell Douglas engineers say that the platform,orbiting at an altitude of about 225 miles (425 km) would combine a solar power system (current studies of power supply indicate 10 to 25 kilowatts will be required) with extensions or arms to which Shuttle-delivered payloads would be attached. The concept would allow a single platform to handle multiple payloads, each using the central power system to conduct independent operations.

Features of the platform are:

• Centralisation of resources, such as electrical power,thermal control, stabilisation and communications,

• continuing availability as a rental facility for long and short-term users,

• a single orbital station where the Shuttle will deliver a number of payloads at once.

Such a concept would allow payloads to remain in orbit for periods longer than the Shuttle flight which delivered them. While in orbit, the payloads could be modified, repaired, replenished by subsequent Shuttle missions, or even returned to Earth periodically. This would allow the Shuttle to handle more payloads than would be possible if each payload had to be serviced separately.

According to McDonnell Douglas Corporation’s Manager for Advanced Space Payloads, Fritz Rane, “the long duration, multi-payload, free-flight platform not only will be beneficial to many payloads, but will also reduce future demands on mission support elements such as data-relay satellites and the heavily scheduled Orbiter. Using permanent platforms in space for experimental or observational payloads could also enhance the Spacelab experiments now planned for the Shuttle cargo bay. Spacelab’s cargo pallets could be removed from the Shuttle and attatched to the platform's arms for longer periods of operation.”

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SPACE TELESCOPE

The Scientific Programme Committee of ESA have decided to select the European Southern Observatory (ESO) as the Institute that will host the European Coordinating Facility (ECF) for the Space Telescope (ST). The ECF will work closely with the United States Space Telescope Science Institute which is being established by NASA and which will be located in the Johns Hopkins Univeristy in Baltimore,Maryland.

The Space Telescope is a 2.4 m optical telescope due for launch by the Shuttle in about 1985. As a free-flying instrument it will be able to probe some six to eight times father than ground-based instruments.

The main task foreseen for the ECF will be to coordinate work throughout Europe on ST data analysis software, to concentrate and distribute information on the ST itself and to make available advanced computer facilities to the European astronomers. The creation of this centre in Europe will play a major role in ensuring that European astronomers will be in the best possible position to obtain the maximum scientific return from the high quality ST data.

A total of about 14 people, half of whom will be ESA staff members, will eventually be active in the European Coordinating Facility which will be open to astronomers from all ESA member states. The Facility will be located in the Headquarters of the European Southern Observatory in Garching bei Munchen, Germany.