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Aviation History
2000
2000-1 - 1778.PDF
SPACEFLIGHT ISS habitat module will have TV studio US COMPANY Spacehab and Russia's Energia have released details of the proposed Enterprise "multipurpose commercial space station habitat module", which will be attached to the International Space Station (ISS) in March 2003. The 3 m (10ft) diameter, 8m- long module will provide 50m3 (1,800ft3) of pressurised volume, outfitted with laboratory research services, utilities and stowage space. Enterprise will also feature a television and internet studio - die first space-based news and infor mation, advertising and promo tional oudet for a global audience. Enterprise, which will also be able to accommodate exterior, unpressurised payloads, is based on the design of the Progress unmanned tanker craft, and will replace tiie docking and stowage module previously planned as a Russian contribution to die ISS. • NASA has completed an air drop and glide test of an 80% scale prototype of die X-38 Crew Rescue Vehicle (CRV) for the ISS. The prototype was dropped from a Boeing B-52 at 11,000m (36,000ft) and made an unexpected 360° roll for 30s until the 24m parachute was deployed. The craft landed close to NASAs Dryden Flight Research Center, California. Until the CRV is deployed at the ISS, crews will rely on the Russian Soyuz TM manned ferry to evacuate the station in an emergency. J NEWS IN BRIEF • INSAT SHUTDOWN The Indian Space Research Organisation says it will have to shut down the Insat 2B, after the loss of its Earth- orientation system in geo stationary orbit. The failure means that the satellite can no longer point its solar panels to the sun to generate electrical power. The satel lite's telecommunications and very small aperture terminal services will be transferred to other Insat satellites. Insat 2B exceeded its expected life in July. NASA study proves validity of internet-based control NASA HAS demonstrated an internet-based architecture for command and control of space operations. The system would allow a researcher anywhere in the world to operate an experiment aboard a space platform while ensuring the security of the spacecraft and its data. A study conducted for NASA by four spacecraft manufacturers concludes that internet-based con trol of satellites and instruments is "reasonable and achievable", says Phil Paulsen, technology for space internet services project manager at NASAs Glenn Research Center. Industry may be ready to form an international consortium to agree standards for internet-based command and control, he says. For the NASA demonstration, a researcher used the internet to operate a simulated International Space Station (ISS) experiment via a NASATDRS data-relay satellite, while a "hacker" tried to crack the security of the system. Two key elements of the demon stration were the Secure Mission Operations Control Centre (SMOCC) set up by Veridian at NASA's Johnson Spaceflight Center, and the Embedded Web Technology (EWT) software developed by NASA Glenn. Commands sent via the internet are processed by SMOCC, which handles integration issues, sched uling, contention control and secu rity, says Paulsen. Security features include automatic intrusion detec tion and hacker countermeasures. EWT software in the simulated spacecraft allows the experiment to be operated using a generic desktop computer and internet browser. This further enhances security, Paulsen says, because the software needed to operate the experiment does not have to reside in the researcher's computer. Paulsen says NASA is moving towards an an internet-based com mand and control architecture under a 10-year, $3.4 billion con solidated space operations contract which was awarded to Lockheed Martin earlier this year. • Discovery returns to Kennedy after assembly mission success Space Shuttle Discovery was returned to the space centre by Boeing 747 THE SPACE Shuttle orbiter Discovery returned to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida on 3 November, 10 days after completing the STS 92 International Space Station (ISS) assembly mission. The mission ended with a land ing at Edwards AFB, California, on 24 October, marking the first Edwards Shuttle landing since 1996. The planned landing at the KSC had been waived off for two days due to bad weather and tech nical problems. The delay has increased pressure on an already busy NASA to turn around the orbiter for its next mission, STS 102, due to be launched on 15 February. This will bring the pre sent ISS crew home and deliver Expedition Crew 2. The next mission for the Shuttle Endeavour, STS 97, launches to the ISS on 30 November. It will carry the first US-built solar arrays, radi ators and an S-band transponder. STS 100 Atlantis, to be launched on 18 January, will carry the ISS laboratory module, Destiny. J NASA nano-rover axed after cost and weight problems NASA HAS cancelled the development of a $21 million miniature roving vehicle which was to have been part of MUSES-C, a joint US/Japanese mission to explore the asteroid Neried. The spacecraft was sched uled for launch in late 2002. The MUSES C-N nano-rover was shelved because of "rising costs and weight", NASA says. The spacecraft, which weighs about 1 kg (2.21b), was to have been equipped with visible-light and infrared cameras. It was also intended to be used on future planetary explo ration missions. NASA was finding it difficult to meet the size and microminiature technology requirements for the mission within the budget. The decision to cancel the development was a difficult one, says Jay Bergstralh, acting director of solar system exploration. "In the end there was no viable alternative," he says. MUSES-C was set to be the first asteroid sample return mission ever attempted. • 40 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 14 - 20 November 2000
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