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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 0742.PDF
NASA requests commercial launches NASA has requested proposals from commercial companies to launch three satellites, Wind, Geotail, and Polar, with options for up to 12 further launches over the next five years. Goddard Space Flight Center's orbital launch systems project office will launch the Wind, Geotail, and Polar satellites in 1992-93 as part of the international solar terres trial physics project. The request for proposals covers five of the 15 possible launches, all into polar orbit. Polar launches are usually made from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Responses are required by May 8, and the single successful contractor would furnish the "launch vehicle, facilities, personnel, and services neces sary to design, produce, test, integrate, and launch the missions into the required orbit", says NASA. Sounding rocket campaign begins NASA is mounting a major sounding rocket research cam paign, involving four launches from Canada's Churchill Research Range on Hudson Bay, to study the upper atmos phere, including the polar ozone problem. The agency will launch two Nike Orion rockets, each carry ing a 200kg cryogenic whole air sampler to a maximum height of 75km. These will investigate sources and losses of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, meth ane, and other trace constitu ents that play a role in the ozone chemistry. Two other launches, of Black Brant X rockets, are to create artificial clouds in the upper atmosphere by releasing colourful barium at altitudes between 770km and 890km, to measure electric fields aligned with the Earth's magnetic field. Atlantis rolls out on March 22 Space Shuttle Atlantis is sched uled for rollout to Pad 39B on March 22, in preparation for its launch on April 28 to deploy the Magellan Venus radar mapping satellite. This follows the successful launch of Discovery on March 13. Discovery was scheduled to touch down at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on March 18, one orbit early, after a flight of almost five days. NASA had earlier considered a landing one day early. Concerns about pressure surges in one of three hydrogen cryogenic tanks in the electrical-generating fuel-cell system of Orbiter Discovery resulted in consid eration of an option to bring the spacecraft home on March 17. The cause of surges or "spikes" in the tank, which caused concern during last year's STS26 mission, was initially unknown. As a precaution, the tank was isolated and the five-man Discovery crew conserved elec tricity by powering-down computers and other items. NASA later said it believed the fault may have been in the indi cator itself, rather than the tank. A possible early return after a four-day mission resulted from the need to preserve a two-day full-power spaceflight contin gency in case bad weather delayed landing, rather than concern about the tank's integrity. NASA said the two other tanks had plenty of juice, and the errant tank was not required. Discovery was launched on its eighth mission, Shuttle's 28th, on March 13, after a delay of 1 hr 50min caused by early morning fog and then a double check of wind speed at high altitude. The mission had originally been scheduled for launch on February 14. The primary objective of the mission was achieved at T+6hr 13min, when the TDRS-D tracking and data relay satellite was deployed from the payload bay. Its IUS upper stage later placed the communications into geosta tionary orbit. With two fully operational TDRS satellites in GEO for the first time, plus an in-orbit spare, NASA has almost constant Shuttle-to-ground communi cations, and can now shut down five ground stations, saving $27 million a year. BAe to study Platform designs by Tim Furniss Following the latest European Space Agency (ESA) Council meeting, British Aerospace is to perform a detailed assess ment of both its and Matra's competing designs for the proposed Polar Platform. While the Council was encouraged to select Matra's design, which would be built under BAe's prime con- tractorship, it was unsatisfied with the individual assess ments of both designs made by the respective companies. BAe will produce a detailed comparison of both designs for further deliberation by the Council. Matra's design is based on the service module of its Spot 4 remote-sensing and Helios military-reconnaissance satellites, while BAe modified its original Platform design to reflect a redefinition—and cost reduction—of the programme. The platform will now cost about $315 million, compared with the originally estimated $500 million. British Aero space expects to become prime contractor as a result of the UK Government's deci sion to invest $250 million in ESA's Columbus programme over the next ten years, with $100 million earmarked for Columbus Polar Platform instrumentation. The Platform, to be launched on Ariane 4 or 5, will not now be servicable in polar orbit and will weigh about 2 tonnes. Soviet space shuttle detailed An inboard profile of the Soviet space shuttle Buran, first published in the Soviet Union, highlights the vehicle's similar layout to that of the US Space Shuttle, with a two-deck pressurised crew compartment and a large unpressurised payload bay under outward-opening doors. Key 1. Forward reaction control system fRCS] 2. Instrument module 3. Auxiliary compartment 4. Cockpit 5. Instrument module 6. Instrument module 7. Flight deck 8. Attitude control command unit 9. Payload bay 10. Auxiliary instrument unil 11. Auxiliary power unit Airbrake ruOder Landing brake parachute ejector 4, Orbital manoeuvring system (OMS) 5, Aft reaction control system 6, Fuel tank OMS/RCS 7, Body flap 8, Lower launch vehicle communications interface 19. Oxidiser tank OMS/RCS 20. Upper launch vehicle communications interface 21. Instrument module 22. Service bay 23. Temperature control unit 12 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 25 March 1989
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