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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 1753.PDF
SPACEFLIGHT COLUMBIA TIM FURNISS / LONDON & GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC NASA targets Shuttle in-orbit fixes Agency hopes development of inspection and repair methods will pave way for spacecraft to return to flight NASA engineers will report this month on potential methods of on- orbit inspection and repair of the Space Shuttle orbiter thermal-pro tection system (TPS). The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) has recommended that a capability to inspect and make emergency repairs to thermal-protection tiles and reinforced carbon-carbon pan els be developed before the Shuttle returns to flight, possibly in April next year. The board has recommended developing a practical means of inspecting and repairing an orbiter while it is docked at the Inter national Space Station (ISS), as well as a comprehensive autonomous capability to repair the widest practi cable range of damage on non- Station missions, such as flights ser vicing the Hubble space telescope. The CAIB wants on-orbit TPS inspections to be performed early in all Shuttle missions. NASA says inspection methods under study include crew space- walks using small manned manoeu vring units, and use of the remote manipulator system robotic arm fit ted with cameras. Issues such as the shape of the damage and the ability of materials to adhere in orbit com plicate on-orbit repair, says NASA. "There is no definitive solution, or leading candidate." Past efforts to develop repair schemes did not succeed, but the CAIB says advances in imaging and inspection capability, materials technology and the presence of the ISS "have greatly improved the prospects for deploying the capabil ity". NASA has already accepted the CAIB's recommendation that Shuttles be routinely imaged in orbit by US reconnaissance satellites to check for damage. The board believes the lack of on- orbit repair capability may have influenced NASA's decision not to request imaging of Columbia in orbit to check for damage after foam insulation shed by the external tank was observed hitting the orbiter soon after lift-off. The foam strike is believed to have damaged the wing leading-edge TPS, resulting in a ther mal breach during re-entry that led to Columbia breaking up. The CAIB's fourth and latest interim recommendation is to improve imaging of the Shuttle launch and ascent. The board wants NASA to upgrade the imaging sys tem to provide a minimum of three useful views of the Shuttle from lift off to at least solid rocket booster separation, along any expected ascent azimuth. Only two ground- based, long-range camera sites pro vided usable images of the Columbia launch, and were "inadequate" to provide engineering data needed to assess debris impacts on the orbiter. LAUNCH Pegasus carries Orbimage 3 Orbital Sciences air-launched a Pegasus XL booster from its Lockheed L-1011 Tristar carrier air craft over the Pacific Ocean on 26 June, carrying Orbital Imaging's Orbimage 3 high-resolution com- •_•. mercial remote-sensing satellite. .-• The mission was the 26th launch, % and 22nd successful flight, of the \ uprated Pegasus XL. EXPLORATION Japan to join forces with ESA for Bepi Columbo mission to Mercury Japan is to invest $114 million in co-operating with the European Space Agency to develop and launch the Bepi Columbo mission to Mercury, which will include an orbiter and separate lander. The craft are scheduled to be launched on two Starsem Soyuz FG boosters in 2010 and 2011, reaching Mer cury in 2014. The only spacecraft to have explored the innermost planet was NASA's Mariner 10, which made three flybys in 1973-4. Japan's space activities commis sion, meanwhile, has recom mended that management of the Kibo experiment module for the International Space Station be out sourced to cut costs. The Kibo, to be completed in 2006, will cost ¥60 billion ($500 million) a year to operate and the commission esti mates the government could save ¥20 billion a year by partially trans ferring management to the private sector - including pharmaceutical and electronics companies - two to three years after the module begins operations. • Russia is ready to start work on a new habitation module for the ISS to house six crew, and to support it with two docked Soyuz TMA ferry craft and further Progress resupply tankers - but the USA will have to pay. "NASA has committed to pro vide for the accommodation of extra crew members," says Russian space agency director Yuri Koptev. "Russia can do this and now it is up the Americans to decide." N BRIEF MOON MISSION India's proposed Rp3.5 billion ($75.5 million) mission to the moon involves putting a space craft into lunar orbit to enable high-resolution remote sensing of the moon in visible, X-ray and low-energy gamma-ray regions of the spectrum. The probe would be launched by India's four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle to prepare a three- dimensional atlas of the moon's elemental abundance. Prof George Joseph, chairman of the national task force that has pre pared a feasibility report on the proposed Indian lunar mission, says research efforts are con centrating on mining helium on the moon and bringing it back to Earth for use in nuclear reactors. CZECH LAUNCH A sixth Czech satellite, Mimosa, was orbited on 30 June by a Rokot booster from Plesetsk, Russia. The launch cost €750,000 ($857,000), most of which will be deducted from Russia's debt to the Czech Republic. Mimosa will measure the forces that affect the trajec tory of objects in space, to predict the exact location of satellites. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 8-14 JULY 2003 27
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