Digital Commons Network^™

Spacelab- The First Mission & Beyond, Edward James, John Garnett

Space Congress® Proceedings

The recent successful flight of Spacelab 1 while being the culmination of over 10 years of international cooperation is seen as just the start of a new era in manned scientific operations in orbit. This paper highlights the objectives and results of that first mission, as well as describing the international Spacelab program, its concept, and its history. Then looking to the future, the plans for utilizing Spacelab, its versatility and potential to the science community and its continuing evolution are discussed. Plans for substantially improving the cost effectiveness of Spacelab are examined including the use of dedicated discipline laboratories …

Satellite Communications Network Control In The Presence Of Electronic Countermeasures, Marc Spellman

Space Congress® Proceedings

Satellite communications networks have supplanted other over-the-horizon communications systems because of their high capacity and high reliability. A key characteristic of satellite communications systems is that all communication links within a network share a common transponder and thus have the potential for deleterious interactions. This in turn gives rise to the need for a network control function that can establish and ensure appropriate transmission characteristics for each terminal with the goal of maximizing the communications capacity available to all network members.

Because of the potential for electronic countermeasures in military satellite communications systems, an antijam mode of operations, which by …

Tracking Accelerating Spacecraft Signals With The Wide Dynamic Demodulator., Frank R. Leslie

Space Congress® Proceedings

The Wide Dynamics Demodulator (WDD) provides the capability to demodulate digital data received from an accelerating spacecraft, even during the high Doppler rates caused by booster engine firing.

The WDD is constructed around an internal microprocessor that receives highlevel commands from the external system computer, interprets them to select the optimum tuning, filtering, and operating modes, and reports status back to the external computer. The WDD will acquire a 35 MHz input signal with up to j^4200 Hz offset from the estimated frequency, and the frequency may be changing by as much as +8.2 Hz per second and at a …

Rescue In Space - Tdrs Flight 1, Emery I. Reeves

Space Congress® Proceedings

On 4 April 1983, the shuttle or biter Challenger released the Flight 1 spacecraft of trie Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System ITDRSS) and Its Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster In low altitude orbit. Altho perogee burn of the IDS was accomplished without incident, approximately threequarters of the way through the orbital injection burn, the IDS lost control. At the completion of the IUS burn, the spacecraft- IUS stack was tumbling violently in an anomalous eliptic orbit. During the succeeding hours spacecraft separation was accomplished and the spacecraft was stabilized and placed under positive attitude control. After assuring spacecraft safety …

Deltas Legacies In Launch Cost Reduction, Phillip W. Payne

Space Congress® Proceedings

Delta launches nave had a high success ratio. One factor has oeen successful field processing. Review of hard experience and study of critical costs, produced a test philosophy which led to development of improved methods and equipment. This test philosophy saw several virtues in the minimization of human access to flight hardware, both in and out of test.

Planning and precision were the adopted characteristics of "people performance." Automation and mechanization of test exercises and of data-taking were implemented by launch site concepting, designing, and fabricating special test equipments. These are illustrated and discussed.

The success of these methods and …

Shuttle Operations Era Planning For Flight Operations, John D. Holt, David A. Beckman

Space Congress® Proceedings

The Space Transportation System (STS) provides routine access to space for a wide range of customers in which cargos vary from single payloads on dedicated flights to multiple payloads that share Shuttle resources. This paper describes the flight operations planning process from payload introduction through flight assignment to execution of the payload objectives and the changes that have been introduced to improve that process. Particular attention is given to the factors that influence the amount of preflight preparation necessary to satisfy customer requirements. The partnership between the STS operations team and the customer is described in terms of their functions …

Advanced Space Transportation System Ground Operations Study, Clement D. Diloreto

Space Congress® Proceedings

This paper presents partial results of a ground operations study for a series of Shuttle Derived Vehicles (SDV's). The paper covers hardware and operational impacts for Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) resulting from processing any one of three different SDV configurations while maintaining Space Transportation System (STS) operations.

The SDV configurations were assembled from Shuttle-type hardware (e.g., Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB's), External Tanks (ET's), Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME's) and Orbiter subsystems). One configuration incorporates a side mounted payload carrier/ propulsion module similar to the Orbiter on STS. A second configuration incorporates an inline payload …

Airline Enhancement For Shuttle Ground Turnaround, T. S. Cronier, Robert F. Tilney

Space Congress® Proceedings

Technical progress in the evolution of a transportation system, is marked by various stages. Namely, concept, design and development, test and verification, and operations. The airline industry has been successfully transitionirg high technology equipment through these phase? both safely and economically. The technique? which they employ are being effectively applied to the Space Shuttle Program, as it enters the operational era.

Payload On-Orbit'refueling Using The Sts, Donald A. Molgaare

Space Congress® Proceedings

The feasibility of performing an on-orbit refueling (OOR) operation to extend the orbital lifetime of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO) was investigated by TRW, the GRO mission contractor. This study shows that an OOR capability could be integrated into the GRO operational design early in the Phase D development with only minor cost impact and no schedule impact. In this approach, the GRO OOR design would be developed to achieve operational compatibility with the JSC/STS-developed Orbital Refueling System.

Space Station Active Thermal Control Technical Considerations., Wilbert E. Ellis

Space Congress® Proceedings

A description of recent and planned thermal control technology developments at the Johnson Space Center and the other NASA Centers in support of Space Stations will be presented. The program is centered around satisfying the needs of the users. Preliminary results of proof-of-concept high capacity heat pipes and two-phase devices will be included which indicate that large amounts of enercy (100 kw) can be transported long distances (50m) with very small temperature differences. The presentation will summarize preparations for an "evolutionary test bed" for advanced development of thermal technology which will provide data on components and systems fcr incorporation into …

A Miniaturized Cassegrainian Concentrator Solar Array For High Power Space Applications., Robert E. Patterson, Richard M. Kurland

Space Congress® Proceedings

A miniaturized Cassegrainian concentrator (MCC) solar array system concept is under preliminary development for the space station or for other large spacecraft/space platform mission applications that may require power at the 100 kilowatt level or higher. The concept has many of the physical attributes of planar rigid-panel solar arrays and does not require unusual deployment or thermal management methods or auxiliaries. Furthermore, it promises both lower initial cost and lower life cycle cost than state-of-the-art lightweight planar flexible blanket solar arrays. The paper briefly describes the MCC concept and presents the results of a life cycle cost comparison analysis that …

Integrated Management, Orlan A. Soli

Space Congress® Proceedings

Progressive organizations recognize that it is not the business that competes but rather the managing team. They are aware that most managers fail for administrative, rather than technical incompetency. The good news is that the mastery of management can be learned end this is what this paper addresses. A growing, progressive organization experiences an evolution through several managing phases. The work effort of a manager can be generalized into two categories:

Managing People (obtaining results from employees)

Technical Work (obtaining results from hardware)

The Integration Gap i? defined as the difference between the actual and ideal distribution of the above …

Space Systems Computer Aided Design Technology, L. B. Garrett

Space Congress® Proceedings

Capabilities and advantages of a systemsoriented interactive computer-aided design and analysis system are presented. A single user at an interactive terminal can create, design, analyze, and conduct parametric studies of Earth-orbiting spacecraft such as space station, large antenna and technologically advanced Earth-orbiting spacecraft. The approach is particularly useful in the conceptual design phase where various missions and spacecraft options are to be evaluated in a timely, cost-effective manner.

The Interactive Design and Evaluation of Advanced Spacecraft (IDEAS) system consists of an integrated system of about 40 multidiscipline technical applications programs; efficient executive, data base, and file management software, and extensive …

Nasa Image Processing Technology Applied To Medicine: Ten Unsolved Problems In Medical Imaging, Michael W. Vannier, Ronald G. Evans

Space Congress® Proceedings

The solutions to current diagnostic imaging problems will be found, at least in part, in digital image processing technology developed by NASA. The adaptation of appropriate technology that can be applied clinically to improve the care of patients is a major concern of radiologists.

We have considered ten problems with clinical significance in diagnostic medical imaging, and discuss the impact of NASA image processing technology presently and predict future developments in this area.

The Space Station Data System And The User, Larry H. Kasulka

Space Congress® Proceedings

This paper addresses the Space Station Data System (SSDS), the demand on the data system from the user community, how these demands might be accommodated, and some of the technology issues identified that are applicable to the SSDS to meet these demands.

Meteorological Interactive Data Display System (Mid, John W. Oliver, John E. Erickson

Space Congress® Proceedings

A project has been implemented to fabricate, deliver, and install a Meteorological Interactive Data Display System (MIDDS) at the United States Air Force's (USAF) Cape Canaveral Forecast Facility (CCFF), Cape Canaveral AFS (CCAFS), Florida. The MIDDS system will ingest special mesoscale meteorological data sources; merge them together into a gridded data base composed of satellite, radar, and conventional meteorological observations; integrate the data into forms where they can be displayed alone or in conjunction with correlative data; and then display the required meteorological information quickly and easily for use by the CCFF forecasters. The MIDDS, a joint NASA and AF …

Magnetic Refrigeration: The Promise And The Problems, J. A. Barclay

Space Congress® Proceedings

Magnetic refrigeration uses the temperatureand field-dependence of the entropy of some magnetic materials to accomplish cooling. Because of the intrinsically high efficiency of the magnetization and demagnetization process and because of the potential for excellent heat transfer between solids and fluids, magnetic refrigerators promise to have higher efficiency than existing gascycle refrigerators. Many ground-based and space-based applications could benefit significantly from the cost savings implied by higher efficiency. Other attributes of these devices are high reliability and low volume and mass per unit cooling power. The development of these refrigerators is underway at several places around the world, including the …

Shuttle Derived Space Transportation The Next Step Beyond Sts, J. R. Tewell, Samuel P. Bonson

Space Congress® Proceedings

This paper describes future space transportation launch vehicles presently under study by the NASA and DOD. The program activities of several recent and ongoing contracts have been merged to show insight into the present status and future plans for the United States space transportation system. Major emphasis is placed on a shuttle derived launch vehicle concept. This concept, using fully developed and tested space shuttle system hardware, allows early implementation of a low cost, low risk launch systems.

Growth shuttle derived configurations, utilizing a "building block" concept to allow efficient optimization of a broad spectrum of performance capabilities, are also …

Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle (Omv) Missions Applications And Systems Requirements, William G. Huber, David C. Cramblit

Space Congress® Proceedings

The routine delivery of large payloads to low earth orbit has become a reality with the Space Transportation System (STS). However, once earth orbit has been achieved, orbit transfer operations represent an inefficient use of the Space Shuttle. The Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV) will add a new and needed dimension to STS capabilities. Utilized in a reusable manner, the OMV is needed to deliver and retrieve satellites to and from orbital altitudes or inclinations beyond the practical limits of the Space Shuttle and to support basic Space Station activities. The initial OMV must also be designed to permit the addition …

Mars - Pathway To The Stars, Joseph A. Angelo, David Buden

Space Congress® Proceedings

Mars has and will continue to play a key role in our exploration and conquest of the Solar System. Within the context of the creation of humanity's extraterrestrial civilization, the major technical features of the following Mars programs are reviewed: the Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter; the Mars Aeronomy Orbiter; the Mars airplane; the Mars Penetrator Network; Mars surface rovers and mobility systems; human exploration of Mars; and permanent Martian bases and settlements. Mars properly explored and utilized opens the way to the resources of the asteroid belt and the outer planets; supports the creation of smart machines for space exploration and …

Sts41-D Solar Array Flight Experiment, Gary F. Turner

Space Congress® Proceedings

The Solar Array Flight Experiment (SAFE) developed under the direction of the Marshall Space Flight Center, scheduled for t launch on STS 41-D3 will demonstrate a lightweight solar array technology which offers a factor of 3 improvement in weight and a factor of 10 improvement in specific volume over solar array systems currently in use in the space program. The experiment^ which will include multiple deployment and retraction demonstration, verification of electrical and thermal performance* and verification of structural dynamic math models is 15 feet by 105 feet in size and^ if completely covered with solar cells.j would produce approximately …

An Evolutionary Geo Transportation System, Gideon Markus

Space Congress® Proceedings

This paper presents the results of an analysis of alternative transportation scenarios for geosynchronous missions, leading to the Identification and evaluation of an evolutionary geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) transportation system.

The concept 1s evolutionary 1n that 1t can be Initiated from an early capability space station by using expendable transfer stages (e.g., RAM) and grows Into a fully reusable orbit transfer vehicle to accommodate future mission requirements and growing space station capabilities.

The analysis demonstrates several advantages for this concept Including:

1. A transportation cost savings of at least $3.3 billion over a 10-year period.

2. An evolutionary capability that …

Sts Flight Experiments Database, Lott W. Brantley

Space Congress® Proceedings

In response to a request of the Space Station Task Force, a data base has been developed, utilizing experiment definitions from all NASA Centers, with emphasis on candidate STS flight experiments that relate to the development and operation of initial and growth versions of a Space Station. Experiments are also included for Shuttle enhancement, for servicing and operations of advanced vehicles such as OMV and OTV, for generic technology such as large structures, control and pointing, heat rejection, for life sciences and for physical sciences and applications. Criteria for selection activity are defined.

Capture Of Uncontrolled Satellites: A Flight Demonstration, Herbert M. Lenox

Space Congress® Proceedings

NASA is presently exploring concepts , systems, and devices for capturing uncontrolled or non-operational satellites. Understanding of this type capture involves development of requirements and options, analyses of approaches, and extensive ground simulations. The verification of an approach is expected to require flight demonstrations of the concepts and hardware to assure confidence in application. This paper addresses a flight demonstration involving the Shuttle, an Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV) , a capture mechanism, and a target vehicle capable of providing characteristic motion. A mission scenario is projected which demonstrates a capture concept, mission sequencing, capture vehicle potential, and overall capture possibilities …

Lox Expert System, Ethan A. Scarl, Carl I. Delaune

Space Congress® Proceedings

The LOX Expert System is a computer program which uses artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to diagnose instrumentation problems in the shuttle liquid oxygen fueling system. The KNOBS knowledge-based system is being modified for application to this problem. System functionality and fault isolation methods are described.

Eye Directed View, Author Not Available

Space Congress® Proceedings

No other information or file available for this session.

Space Development: The Strategic Implications, James H. Sloan

Space Congress® Proceedings

Space Based Industries will be stimulated by the development of the Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD). The BMD will require a space logistics capability far in excess of what the Space Shuttle can provide. This increased logistics base will aid Space Based Industries to grow by providing low cost work areas, transportation, and raw supplies. In return these industries will develop manufacturing in space. This will lead to using off-earth resources, the moon and the asteroids, and eventually to the building of self-sufficient space settlements. These space settlements will in turn be of significant military importance.

This paper consists of my …