September-October 1982:space activities report

SPACELAB FOLLOW-ON

The European Space Agency’s Spacelab Development Pro¬gramme is gradually drawing towards its conclusion: the flight
unit, in its first configuration, was delivered to NASA at the
end of 1981, and the second configuration was due to be
delivered this summer. Integration work is proceeding accord¬
ing to plan for a launch in September 1983.

ESA’s activities in this field will not, however, end with the
Spacelab 1 mission. It is about to embark on a new related
programme: Spacelab Follow-on. On 15 April, the contributions of ESA Member States participating in this new programme reached 80.8 per cent of the financial envelope of
155.9 million Accounting Units (mid-1980 prices), thus enabling work to start immediately.

There are three elements to this new programme, the most
important of which is the development of a European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA) to be launched and retrieved by the
Space Shuttle. This programme element also includes the
development of a core payload for the first mission, mainly
oriented towards Microgravity research with particular emphasis on Material and Life Sciences, as well as the first flight,
scheduled for early 1987.

EURECA is a re-usable payload carrier designed to suit
European user requirements. With a payload mass of up to
1500 kg, it can stay for six months or more in orbit and will
provide essential services for its payload, including high electrical power and heat rejection capability. A basic performance
characteristic is its low gravity disturbance level which is an
essential feature for Microgravity research. After deployment
into space by the Shuttle, an on-board propulsion unit will
propel the carrier into a higher orbit where the drag on its
large solar arrays will be low. There the payload will be
switched on and operated by remote control. Although the
experiments will be highly automated, they will nevertheless
be monitored from the ground. At the end of its mission,
EURECA will return to low orbit where it will be recovered
by the Shuttle Orbiter and brought back to Earth together
with its payload equipment and processed material samples,
for refurbishment for its next mission.
EURECA can thus be described as a re-usable ‘free flyer’
which will enable longer duration missions to be carried out
in an economic way.

The two other elements of the Spacelab Follow-on Programme include improvements to be made to Spacelab itself
and preparatory studies for future space platform elements.

X-RAY OBSERVATORY MIRRORS

Twin $1 million contracts have been awarded to two optical
companies to build precision mirrors representative of those
to be flown on NASA’s Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility
(AXAF), an orbiting X-ray observatory proposed for launch
later in the decade.

The double contract award, announced on 6 April, assigns
responsibility for parallel but independent work toward the
building of these test mirrors (not intended to be flown in
space) to the ltek and Perkin-Elmer corporations. Each of the
contracts is two years in duration.

At the end of the contract period, the two companies will
be expected to present their individual approaches to the
grinding and polishing of the actual mirror which will be built
for the observatory in the late 1980’s.

The test mirrors will be smaller than the mirror to be flown
in space. According to Carroll Dailey, the study manager of
the Marshall Space Flight Center’s AXAF activity, "The
purpose of the test mirrors is to allow NASA to evaluate the
ability of these contractors to achieve the level of performance
we desire. We’re seeking a greater precision than previously
achieved in X-ray optical systems.”

Proposed for launch in 1989 or 1990, the observatory would
be technologically superior to any X-ray facility previously
sent into space. Weighing 11 ons and measuring 14 by 43
feet, it would be carried by the Space Shuttle and placed in an
orbit 300 miles above the Earth for operation over a lifetime
of about 15 years. The observatory is expected to view X-ray
sources toward the very edge of the observable Universe.

NASA STS CHANGES

NASA’s Offices of Space Transportation Systems and Space
Transportation Operations were merged on 15 May. Maj. Gen.
James A. Abrahamson (USAF) heads the new Office of Space
Transportation Systems. The combined office was responsible
for the fourth and final development flight of the Space Shuttle
and for the operational flights, as well as further Shuttle
procurement and expendable launch vehicles.

Dr. Stanley I. Weiss, who had headed the Space Transportation Operations became-NASA's Chief Engineer, succeeding
Dr. Walter C. Williams, who plans to retire later this year.
Because of the importance of this function and the preparation
for the STS-4 launch, this change required a short period of
transition.

The Chief Engineer’s office took on added responsibilities
for institutional safety and for reliability and quality assurance.
Williams, who had been Chief Engineer since 1976, continues
to consult on Shuttle systems engineering and safety.

Gerald D. Griffin, previously Deputy Director of the Kennedy Space Center and the Dryden Flight Research Center,
returned to NASA. Initially, he is working with Abrahamson
on Shuttle operational planning. Later this year it is planned
that he will move to Houston as Director of the Johnson Space
Center. He will succeed Dr. Christopher C. Kraft, Director
since 1972, who has announced his plan to leave NASA following the fifth Space Shuttle flight.

In announcing the organisational and personnel changes,
NASA Administrator Beggs said, “As we approach the end of
the Shuttle developmental flights and the beginning of the
initial operations, we want to prepare the organisation for
operations. During this same time, planned retirements give
us the opportunity to name several new key managers for the
period ahead. These changes will give us an efficient organisation with strong leadership for the future.”

EUROPEAN SENSING SATELLITE

The European Space Agency is about to embark on a major
new programme: the first ESA Remote Sensing Satellite Programme, known as ERS 1.
On 15 May 1982, contributions from participating states
reached the level of the financial envelope laid down for
starting the system definition phase (Phase B) of the ERS 1
programme. The final decision to proceed with phase C/D
(hardware development) will be taken at the end of 1983.

The main objective of the ERS 1 programme is to give
Europe the ability to take part in both the management of the
Earth’s resources and the monitoring of its environment. ERS 1
aims, in particular, at establishing, developing and exploiting
the coastal, ocean and ice applications of remote sensing data.
The satellite’s nominal payload consists of:

1. Active microwave instrumentation (AMI) combining the
functions of a synthetic aperture radar (SAR), a wave
scatterometer and a wind scatterometer, with the aim of
measuring wind fields and the wave image spectrum, and
of taking all-weather images of coastal zones, open oceans,
ice areas and over land;

2. Radar altimeter (RA) with the aim of measuring significant wave-height and providing measurements over ice
and of major ocean currents;

3. Laser retroflectors for accurate tracking from the ground;

4. The Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR), an
additional package, to be provided and funded by the UK
and resulting from an announcement of opportunity to
the scientific community. This is a 3-channel infrared
radiometer for accurate sea-surface temperature
measurements.

The above payload will be carried on a platform based on
another model of the Multi-mission Platform developed in the
framework of the French SPOT programme.

ERS 1 will permit worldwide coverage. Direct transmission
to ground stations will be provided and onboard recorders will
give access to data from any part of the world, except for the
SAR, for which, due to the high bit-rate, only real-time trans¬
mission is possible. The ground segment will be dimensioned
in such a way that certain ERS 1 data will be processed and
delivered in near real-time (3 to 6 hours) to users interested in
monitoring rapidly-changing dynamic phenomena.

Apart from the scientific results expected from the mission,
which will be of great interest to researchers in physical oceanography, glaciology and climatology, ERS 1 will provide information that will help to develop commercial applications of immediate practical use. Better short and medium-term
weather and ocean condition forecasts can be expected; these
are of particular importance not only for shipping but also for
4he planning and operations of off-shore industrial complexes,
such as oil rigs. More accurate sea-surface temperature measurements will be made which will help with the location of
fish species living in the vicinity of the sea surface (e.g. tuna)
thus improving the management of fish resources. The monitoring of sea-ice and icebergs will also contribute to increasing
the safety of shipping and off-shore oil activities in far northern areas.

Launch into a Sun-synchronous circular orbit at an altitude
around 700 km by an Ariane 2 or 3 is planned at the end of 1987. Its lifetime is expected to be 3 years. ERS 1 is considered to be both an experimental and a pre-operational system,
preparing the way for a fully operational multi-satellite system
in the 1990s.

INDIAN LAUNCHER

The extensive Indian space programme has so far relied on
small, expendable national launchers or buying space on other
nations’ rockets for satellites requiring more exotic orbits. For
example, Insat 1 was launched by the US into geostationary
orbit to provide communications and meteorological services.
By the mid-1980’s, however, India hopes to have a booster
capable of reaching these more difficult orbits. The Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is planned to take 1 tonne
payloads into 1,000 km Sun-synchronous polar orbits using two
liquid propellant engines which will be returned to Earth for
re-launch. A larger vehicle for placing 3 tonnes in geostationary
orbit is expected for the next decade.

———-

THE ASTRONAUTS OF STS-4

Thomas Kenneth Mattingly II

Ken Mattingly was born in Chicago, Illinois on 17 March
1936. He was selected as a NASA Group 5 astronaut in April
1966 and was thus available for the later Apollo lunar flights.
He became the astronaut representative for the development
of the Apollo spacesuit and backpack for EVA operations, and
served on the support crews for Apollos 8 and 11.

Mattingly was assigned as Command Module Pilot of the
third manned lunar mission, Apollo 13, but had to step down
from the crew (John Swigert took his place) just three days,
before launch because of his exposure to German measles. He
flew as CMP on John Young’s Apollo 16 crew in April 1972
and became the second man to conduct an EVA in deep space.

From January 1973, Mattingly was assigned to Shuttle duties:
Chief of Shuttle support, Astronaut Office; Technical Assistant
to Manager of Orbital Flight Test Programmes (March 1978-December 1979); Head of Astronaut Office ascent/entry group
(December 1979-April 1981). Between April and November
1981 he served as backup Commander for STS-2, and then
held the same position for STS-3. He was named as Commander
of the fourth Shuttle orbital mission last December.

Henry Warren Hartsfield, Jr.

Henry “Hank" Hartsfield was born on 21 November 1933
in Birmingham, Alabama. He served as an instructor at the
USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California before being selected as a Group 2 USAF Manned
Orbiting Laboratory astronaut in June 1966.

After the cancellation of MOL in June 1969, Hartsfield
became a NASA Group 7 astronaut the following August. He
was a support crew member for Apollo 16 and all of the Skylab
flights. He was then assigned to Shuttle duties, working on
simulations and flight controls systems hardware. By April
1979 he was assigned to Shuttle entry flight control systems
and associated interfaces.

Hartsfield served as backup Pilot for STS-2 and 3 (with
Mattingly as his commander) and was named as STS-4 pilot
last December. He was the fourth Group 7 astronaut to fly,
and the 48th American.

THE ASTRONAUTS OF STS-5

Vance DeVoe Brand

Commander for the first operational mission of the Shuttle
will be civilian astronaut Vance Brand. Born in Longmont, Colorado on 9 May 1931, he flew as a fighter pilot with the Navy
before working with the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation
between 1960 and 1966. He graduated from the USN Test
Pilot School in 1963 and worked on the F-104 “Starfighter”
development programme.

Brand was selected as one of the 19 Group 5 astronauts in
April 1966 and concentrated on the Apollo Command Module.
He was the backup CM Pilot for Apollo 15 and should have
flown the (cancelled) Apollo 18 lunar mission. He served as
backup commander for Skylabs 3 and 4, as well as on the
stand-by rescue crew. In January 1973 he was named as CMP
for the Apollo-Soyuz mission flown in July 1975. He then
moved on to Shuttle development work and was originally
announced as Commander of STS-4 with Fullerton as his pilot

Robert Franklin Overmyer

Overmyer was born on 14 July 1936 at Lorain,Ohio. He
joined the US Marine Corps on active duty in 1958 and in
August 1965 he entered the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot
School at Edwards Air Force Base. Upon graduation, he joined
the second group of Manned Orbiting Laboratory astronauts
and transferred to NASA in August 1969 as part of the Group
7 ex-MOL men.

Overmyer was part of the support crews for Apollo 17 and
Apollo-Soyuz and in 1976 he moved on to the Shuttle programme. He flew as the prime T-38 chase pilot for the Enterprise drop tests of 12 August and 23 September 1977. He
replaced Fullerton for the STS-4 mission when Haise left
NASA in June 1979; the two-man crew later moving to STS-5.

William Benjamin Lenoir

In conjunction with Joe Allen, Lenoir will be the first of the
NASA Group 6 astronauts, selected in mid-1967, to fly a space
mission. He was born in Miami on 14 March 1939. Lenoir
served as backup science pilot on Skylabs 3 and 4; in 1974 he
was assigned to Shuttle development work, concentrating on
payload support crew stations and displays for the physical
sciences. In 1979 he was assigned to support development of
Shuttle payload deployment and retrieval.

Joseph Percival Allen IV

Allen was born on 27 June 1937 at Crawfordsville in
Indianna. He acted as a support crew member and mission
scientist for Apollo 15; in 1973 he was granted a leave of
absence and served on the President’s Council on International
Economic Policy. He began Shuttle work in 1975 with special
reference to Spacelab and payload support crew stations, con¬
trols and displays for the physical sciences. He acted as an
STS-1 support crew member and Capcom.