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Aviation History
1996
1996 - 1599.PDF
SPACEFLIGHT Inertial-platform failure is identified in Ariane 5 loss TIM FURNISS/LONDON TNSPECTION of a segment of J- the vehicle-equipment bay recovered from the debris of the Ariane 5 booster lost on 4 June has revealed a malfunction in the iner- tial platforms, the European Space Agency (ESA) says. ESA and French space agenq* CNES had earlier reported that the most likely cause of the sudden atti tude change had been an electrical or software malfunction wrongly informing a flight computer (sepa rate to the inertial-reference sys tem) that die vehicle's attitude was incorrect. This occurred 2 9.5s after lift-off. The vehicle began to break up 2 s later. The ring-laser-gyro inertial-ref erence system on the Ariane 5 is supplied by Sextant Avionique. The report of the official accident inves tigation will be issued on IS July. The second ESA-funded devel opment flight of die Ariane 5 could take place later this year, allowing Arianespace to fly an operational, commercial Ariane 5 mission in about April 1997. The company has enough Ariane 4 vehicles on order to meet its manifest requirements until 1999, if there are serious delays to the Ariane 5 programme. Arianespace restored European pride with the flawless launch from Kourou on 15 June of an Ariane 44P booster, carrying the Intelsat 709 communications satellite into geostationary-transfer orbit. • TRW completes dual-mode rocket-engine testing TRW HAS COMPLETED 90,000s qualification testing of the first dual-mode rocket engine devel oped for spacecraft. The Secondary Combuster Augmented Thruster (SCAT), which has a thrust range of 2.2kg (Sib) to 6.8kg, can be operated in either hydrazine-monopropellant or hydrazine/- nitrogen-tetroxide-bipropellant mode, performing limited stationkeeping and attitude control, or orbit insertion and major in-orbit manoeuvres in the two modes, respectively. The SCAT's fuel efficiency could increase a satellite's operational life from seven to ten years, according to the US industrial con glomerate. More than 700 tests of the SCAT ranged from Is to 6,000s in duration, reaching a maximum thrust of 5.4kg. Rockwell pushes X-33 technology for Shuttle GUY NORRIS/PALMDALE ROCKWELL IS OFFERING to upgrade Space Shutdes widi technology developed for the X-33 re-useable launch vehicle. Rockwell is competing for the X-33 contract against teams led by Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas (MDC), and expects a NASA decision as early as 25 June. Thermal-protection system ele ments, including tiles which could be include'd in the upgrade, have been flight tested on Shuttle mis sions and a NASA MDC F-15. The tiles are lighter and offer improved durability in bad weather. An electro-mechanical actuator system would allow the Shuttle "...to get away from hydraulics", says Bob Minor, Rockwell Space Systems president. Weight-saving composites and aluminium-lithi um could also be used. Rockwell is completing modifi cation and upgrade work on the Space Shuttle Discovery, which has gained an increase in payload of almost 770kg. The airlockhas been extended into the payload bay, to enable it to dock with the Alpha International Space Station. The Discovery's first Station payload will be launched in November 1998. More cyrogenic and hydrogen tanks have been added, to boost endurance for 17-day missions. The Discovery s next mission will be the STS82 in 1997, to service the Hubble Space Telescope. In Au gust, die Shutde Endeavouris due in Palmdale for the same upgrade, to be followed in 1997 by the Atlantis. This will include replacement of cathode-ray-tube displays with Honeywell flat-panel liquid-crystal displays. The Columbia will be retained in its current configura tion for non-Space Station mis sions. Upgrade is due in 1999. • China to resume satellite launches CHINA GREAT WALL In dustry (CGWIC) is to resume satellite launches with Asia Pacific Satellite's Hughes-built ApStar 1A aboard a Long March 3 (LM3) booster from Xichang, in July. This follows a hiatus in launches after the loss of die first Long March 3B booster on 15 February, along widi its Intelsat 708 satellite payload. The booster has had five success es and two partial failures since its first flight in 1984 and the LM3A has been successful twice. Adomes- tic-communications satellite will fly on the LM3A after October. China has lost four launch con tracts, including two for Intelsat, since die LM3 B lost control imme diately after lift-off, and its only odier firm contract is for the launch —byanLM3B—oftheApStar2B, a replacement for a satellite lost in an LM2E failure in 1995. This is scheduled for December. Beijing has been criticised for the LM3B failure in a report by an In telsat executive who was at Xichang for the launch attempt. Xichang "...falls pathetically short" of stan dards expected in die West, says die leaked memo. Chinese controllers are accused of allowing die LM3B to continue flying for 20s before blowing it up, to ensure that the launch pad was not destroyed. Six people were killed in die crash, according to offi cial reports. • NEWS IN BRIEF • SES SELECTS PROTON Societe Europeenne des Sat ellite (SES) of Luxembourg has selected a Russian Proton booster to launch its Hughes- built Astra 1G communica tions satellite in 1997. It will he the second launch of an Astra by the booster, which is marketed by ILS Inter national Launch Services. The Hughes HS-601 Astra IF was lofted into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 8 April on the first Russian commercial geostationary- orbiting flight. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 26 June - 2 July 1996
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