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Aviation History
1990
1990 - 0015.PDF
OPERATIONS: SPACEFLIGHT Shuttle mission is delayed NASA has delayed the Space Shuttle STS 32 mission from 21 December to 8 January, "at the earliest". ColumbiaJSTS 32 is scheduled to deploy a US Navy Syncom IV satellite into orbit and to retrieve the five-year-old Long-Duration Exposure Facil ity, which is expected to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere in February. The delay means that NASA will be attempting to make ten Shuttle flights in 1990, a flight rate not matched before, and one more than that achieved in 1985. A short delay to the launch had been anticipated because Columbia is using Launch Pad 39A, which has been refur- Mir flight might be extended The flight of Soyuz TM8 cosmonauts Alexander Viktorenko and Alexander Serebrov aboard the Mir space station is likely to be extended as a result of the delay in the launching and docking with Mir of the Kvant 2 module. The crew was due to be re placed by the Soyuz TM9 cosmo nauts, to be launched on 19 February but as the first of five planned spacewalks by Serebrov and Viktorenko from the new Kvant 2 3m-wide airlock is not scheduled until 1 February, to be followed by a second spacewalk on 6 February, the Soviets may decide to extend the mission. Serebrov is also scheduled to conduct extensive tests of the Soviet manned manoeuvring unit, Icarus, during the latter spacewalks. The crew has also been trained to operate the tech nology module, presumably to be called Kvant 3, the launch of which has also been delayed. The Soviet space programme is coming under intense financial scrutiny and it may be decided that it is cheaper to keep the resident crew aboard Mir rather than to launch replacements. Serebrov and Viktorenko had been in space for 104 days on 19 December. • bished, since last being used in January 1986, and a modified mobile launch structure. NASA expected to experience some delays in checking the vehicle out with the new equipment. Before the decision to delay the launch until 8 January it had already been delayed twice, from the original launch date of 18 December. The space agency made its decision to delay the launch to 8 January after considering three factors: the need to complete validation of the Shuttle's fuel- cell cryogenic fluid pad loading system; the need to power-down the Kennedy Space Center's launch processing system, so Arianespace favou The contract to launch two Hughes-built communica tions satellites for Brazil is likely to go to Arianespace early next year. McDonnell Douglas, which is competing with Arianespace for the launch contract, believes that, if Hughes secures the sat ellite contract from the Brazilian Government (expected early next year), it is unlikely that another US company would be awarded a related contract. that scheduled modifications on its cooling system can be per formed; and the need to permit NASA and contractor employees to take time off during the Christmas holidays, thus also saving a considerable amount of overtime pay. A launch on 8 January will take place at 08.00. Columbia is crewed by astronaut chief Daniel Brandenstein, pilot James Wetherbee and mission special ists Marsha Irvins, Bonnie Dun bar and David Low. Brandenstein and Dunbar are Shuttle veterans. Their mission is scheduled to last nine days 21 hours. This will be the second-longest flight in the programme. D Arianespace's chances have been improved by its offer to transfer Viking engine technol ogy to assist Brazil's attempts to develop a small satellite launcher of its own. Hughes, meanwhile, is awaiting confirmation of the satellite contract which has been delayed until after national elec tions. Newly elected Brazilian of ficials are likely to give the Hughes bid a more careful review than did the outgoing govern ment. • Soviets reveal Cosmos 1870 The Soviet Union has released details of the enigmatic Cosmos 1870 satellite that was launched in July 1987 and which ceased operations last August. It has confirmed Western analysts' assumption that it was a Salyut- class, 18.55t vehicle, launched on a Proton. Cosmos 1870 was the first of several planned Almaz ("Di amond") spacecraft and was equipped with a 25m-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR). It carried 4t of scientific equip ment, and its two solar panels provided 2.4kW of power. The spacecraft flew in a 270km X 300km orbit with an inclination of 71.9° and carried port and starboard slotted wave guide SAR antennae measuring 15m X 1.5m. Coverage of the Earth within 78° N and S latitude included areas where aerial photography has not been possible. The images, which were dig itally transmitted to the Earth for use by the Soviet Priroda na tional resources monitoring agency, have been used to study oceanology and geoscience. Future SAR Almaz launches are planned which will include radar imaging of inaccessible re gions where persistent cloud coverage prevents aerial photog raphy; continuous operational coverage of disaster areas; sea- surface pollution monitoring; and sea-ice discrimination and ship navigation in heavy ice con ditions. • Japan buys Mir module The Japanese Horie Group has brought from the Soviet Union the surplus Mir space sta tion core module for $10 million. Company president Yutaka Horie says that he will make the ground-based module available to Japanese industry to help pro mote space research. It is thought that the module will be dismantled and its tech nology adapted for application in Japanese programmes. D ed for Brazilsat FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 3-9 January 1990 13
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