Author Topic: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity  (Read 74325 times)

Offline Ares67

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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #340 on: 04/17/2017 09:47 pm »

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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #341 on: 04/17/2017 09:49 pm »

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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #342 on: 04/17/2017 09:53 pm »

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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #343 on: 04/17/2017 09:54 pm »
EARTH IS BLUE

Akiyama compared Soyuz TM-11’s ascent to “riding a dump-truck down a rocky road.” The crew carried with them a Japanese mascot: a dainty figurine dressed in a bright kimono. When he was asked at the preflight press conference if he would take a memento with him into space, Akiyama did not disclose the existence of the kimono-garbed figure. It’s notable, however, that Japanese schoolchildren presented Yuri Gagarin with a similar figurine in 1962, while he was on a goodwill tour to celebrate his historic first-ever spaceflight.

Eight minutes, 50 seconds after lift-off at 11:13 a.m. Moscow Time on December 2, 1990, the Soyuz TM-11 spacecraft separated from the Soyuz booster’s final stage and entered orbit. Akiyama’s first words from space were, “Am I on the air?” He continued, “This is Akiyama onboard Soyuz TM. As I imagined, “Earth is blue,’” quoting Gagarin’s famous utterance nearly 30 years earlier.

Annoyingly, certain elements of the press in the West saw fit to pillory Akiyama for this “obvious” observation. Post-mission, one British newspaper managed to divide the total number of words Akiyama spoke by the fee TBS paid for the flight, to arrive at a cost-per-word of 1,800 GBP – a facile basis for appraising an endeavor of this kind in any case. Akiyama’s opening statement had cost TBS’ shareholders 10,800 GBP, the article’s author gloated.

This was only one of many bitter condemnations of Akiyama’s finesse as a journalist leveled by his fellow professionals. In some cases, the attacks were out of all proportion to any legitimate “I could do better” feeling. Bryan Appleyard, writing in the once-reputable Sunday Times, is responsible for penning the following:
 
“Twelve men, more than ever before, are currently orbiting the Earth, and one of them is Toyohiro Akiyama. Now it is very important that we all hate this Akiyama as fervently as possible. Not a chink of human sympathy should illuminate the black night of our loathing for the round-faced beaming jerk whom the Russians have unwisely allowed into their Mir space station.”

“Clutching his cameras and advertising banners in zero-gravity, Akiyama is everything that space was not supposed to be about. The long, noble tradition of Gagarin, Glenn and Armstrong has been bought by the Japanese… as if it were some second-rank Renoir. The rocket itself was, of course, plastered with ads for Japanese nappies. Forget the hard science and gritty heroism. This is marketing. Here, posturing on screen nightly, is The Wrong Stuff.”


Appleyard went on to bemoan what he saw as the descent of astronautical endeavor into a pit of failure and shortsightedness, as if he in his illustrious lifetime had been guilty of neither and could therefore stand in judgment. For Appleyard, one presumes, all spacefarers should forever be out of the Gagarin/Glen mould – end every politician should be a Roosevelt, every actor an Olivier. By those standards, he should be an Arthur Miller – and that he certainly ain’t.

Appleyard’s co-conspirators were no better. A headline in the British newspaper Today – which elsewhere introduced Akiyama as “a chain-smoking, whisky-drinking Japanese executive” – read, “First idiot in space will reap a fortune on Earth.” It stated that Akiyama “was set to make millions” on his return, through personal appearances, book rights and a multiplicity of advertising deals. In fact, Akiyama was to remain an employee of TBS and any funds generated in this way were to accrue to it, not the spacefarer himself.

That Akiyama was echoing Gagarin when he said “Earth is blue,” was probably overlooked by many journalists because they were blissfully ignorant of the original quote. By choosing to make wry reference to Gagarin’s phrase rather than resorting to a banal and over-sentimental utterance of his own, Akiyama was in this writer’s opinion to be congratulated.

Criticism of Akiyama’s opening remark also paid no heed to the overly environmentalist sympathies which underpinned the TBS space project. Prior to the flight, several Japanese publications had asked the rhetorical question, in light of the depletion of the ozone-layer and global warming, “Does Earth really look blue now?”

Demonstrating just how unfair the comments about Akiyama’s suitability for this mission were, the Japanese journalist surprised Soviet medical staff by immediately exhibiting better pulse and breathing-rate stability in orbit than either Afanasyev or Manarov. TsUP’s Dr. Anashukin said, “I am sure that he will be able to complete 100 percent of the program.”

In his first live radio report from space, Akiyama talked about a dream he had on his first night in space. “It was a dream about my mother,” he confided. “She said, ‘You’re living in such a terrible place,’ entering into my apartment at Star City. My mother passed away last year, though.”

Docking with Mir on December 4 was normal, and 90 minutes later Afanasyev, Manarov and Akiyama passed through the airlock into Mir, to be greeted by long-time occupants Gennady Manakov and Gennady Strekalov, who handed the TBS reporter a banner proclaiming “The First Japanese Person in Space.” Since the inscription was worded in Japanese, they can be forgiven for presenting it upside down…

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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #344 on: 04/17/2017 09:55 pm »

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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #345 on: 04/17/2017 09:57 pm »

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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #346 on: 04/17/2017 09:58 pm »

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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #347 on: 04/17/2017 09:59 pm »
MEETING THE STANDARDS

There were many technical challenges to broadcast live from space and bringing footage and equipment back to Earth. The Soviet Union employs the SECAM television standard, whereas Japan uses NTSC; those two systems had to be reconciled. A super-small, thump-sized CCD high-band 8mm fixed video camera and a tiepin-sized microphone was use for coverage from within the Soyuz TM-11 spacecraft during the final countdown, lift-off, ascent, and during the trip to Mir. An identical system was installed aboard the TM-10 spacecraft to assure coverage during the journey back to Earth.

For coverage aboard Mir itself, TBS elected to employ one set of equipment for live broadcasting and another for video recording. For live broadcasts from Mir, two small Sony BVP70P cameras with 8.5 zoom lenses were used. One was fixed to the station’s interior, while the other was hand-held by whichever cosmonaut was assigned the task of shooting at that particular time. These cameras employed a PAL signal, which was transformed to SECAM then relayed to the TsUP flight control center via the Luch satellite system.

Video-recording aboard Mir was assured by a pair of NTSC standard high-band 8mm Sony DXC-325 camera fitted with a variety of lenses, including wide-angle and telephoto types. Several Minolta 8700 cameras were employed for still photography.


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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #348 on: 04/17/2017 10:04 pm »

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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #349 on: 04/17/2017 10:05 pm »
FROGS ARE FROGS, EVERYWHERE

After years of heavy reliance on U.S. expertise and hardware, Japan is now proceeding on development of space technology on an independent basis toward the 21st century. Press information issued in the weeks prior to the TM-11 mission included this remark:

“Relying on the U.S. … we are confronted with limitations in research and development. With the (joint) flight… we might be able to find a new process of technological development. Although our experiments in Mir are rudimentary ones, we hope that they will constitute one step in… space development in Japan.”

The Japanese science program was conducted in close conjunction with the Soviet Union Institute of Biomedical Problems. One of the most intriguing experiments was an ISAS-developed effort entitled “Frogs in Space,” inaugurated on December 5. It was geared to ascertain how frogs, which are as accustomed to one-G as human beings, adapt themselves to weightlessness and how they behave once they have adapted.

The frogs were Japanese Treefrogs, two to three centimeters long. This species has suction-cups on the legs, enabling them to affix themselves to most surfaces. Six frogs were selected from 1,500 “candidates.”

Frogs on Earth display some interesting behavioral facets. They sit, swim, walk and jump, and some key observations have been made about them while they do so; they maintain their orientation and posture by visual reference to the surrounding scene; they jump at anything small which sways, such as a willow leaf, assuming that it is food; and they run away from anything long, assuming it is their natural enemy, the snake. Researchers were eager to learn how the frogs’ behavioral patterns altered under the influence of weightlessness.

This was the first time that frogs have been flown into orbit, though a previous effort did attempt to hatch frog eggs in space. Carried in a Japanese-developed container, the frogs were given certain stimuli as soon as the cosmonauts reached space. Several days later, the experiment was repeated to compare the results. The same experiment was conducted on a control group of frogs back on Earth, and the results compared. In addition, the frogs taken into space were observed again when they were returned to Earth and readapted themselves to one-G. The frog experiment was recorded on videotape for future analysis.

When one of the creatures hopped out of sight during a live TV broadcast, Akiyama – who by now had a reputation for good-humored reporting from space – simply said, “Well, there you are. Frogs are frogs, everywhere.” All six frogs were returned safely to Earth.


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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #350 on: 04/17/2017 10:07 pm »
DRAWING A SQUARE

Another experiment was part of a Tokyo University-developed study of human breathing patterns in weightlessness prior to full adaptation: How does respiration during sleep in space differ in zero-G in the first 24 hours? Akiyama was the subject of this experiment, which was simply entitled “Sleep.” During sleep and until breakfast on the day after – a total of 30 consecutive hours – he was fitted with electrode to measure his respiration system activity and brain-waves.

A further experiment saw Akiyama drawing a square with both hands with his eyes closed – part of a Yamaguchi University-developed study of the sense of balance, which in weightlessness does not function as it does on Earth, sometimes causing nausea. This “Square Drawing Test” was conducted on the ground during the later stages of training, for about fifteen minutes on five consecutive nights during Akiyama’s stay aboard Mir, then again as soon as possible after Akiyama returned to Earth.

All four Soviet cosmonauts were active in experimental work alongside Akiyama. As usual, their efforts were spread across several disciplines: astrophysical, technological, medical, ecological, oceanographic, biological and biotechnical. They also engaged in photography of the Earth in support of various programs.


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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #351 on: 04/17/2017 10:08 pm »
JAPAN LOOKS SO SMALL

Elements of the popular press made great play of the fact that Akiyama sufferd from space-sickness early in the mission, conveniently ignoring the fact that, for example, in the first 24 missions of NASA’s shuttle program, 67 percent of the 85 astronauts making their first spaceflight reported such symptoms. Akiyama coped well with his temporary affliction: “The Commander told me to stop looking out of the window, and that helped.”

After he had recovered from space-sickness, Akiyama displayed a healthy preoccupation with his food, which included a specially-concocted sushi-flavored paste. “I see some thick cloud which reminds me of Japanese bean-curd,” he confided one day. “I want to eat some now.” Again, sanctimonious individuals in the press criticized Akiyama for “trivializing” the space experience. Yet, was this not part of the idea behind sending an ordinary person into space in the first place – to hear his honest views?

Akiyama’s comments from orbit were on the whole wonderfully human and candid. “I’m gasping for a cigarette,” was one of the more memorable remarks. During one of his daily broadcasts, while peering down at sacred Mount Fuji, Akiyama made an observation about his own country’s place in the geophysical scheme-of-things: “Japan looks so small compared with Africa, North and South America, and the Soviet Union.”


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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #352 on: 04/17/2017 10:09 pm »
FULL OF DESIRES

Manakov and Strekalov, their five-month-plus stay aboard Mir coming to a close, completed handing-over formalities with Afanasyev and Manarov and clambered into the Soyuz TM-10 spacecraft with Japan’s newest hero for the return to Earth. The replacement crew of Afanayev/Manarov is due to spend a total of six months aboard Mir, then hand over to the Soyuz TM-12 crew – which will include the first British spacefarer – in mid-May.

On December 10, after undocking from Mir, the TM-10 spacecraft made two orbits of the Earth, then a motor retrofiring over Africa initiated the descent. Thirty minutes before the estimated touchdown time, the breakup sequence which leaves the manned descent module in independent flight began. Reentry took place without incident, commencing over Western Europe. The parachute deployment sequence took place 15 minutes before touchdown, 41 miles northwest of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan, at 9:08 a.m. Moscow Time.

Almost as soon as the three spacefarers had been helped out of the TM-10 capsule, a TBS reporter thrust a microphone in their faces and a live TV broadcast got underway. Akiyama’s first words on terra firma were, “I’m hungry. I want to eat something delicious, have a beer and a cigarette. I’ve come back to Earth full of desires.” He grinned, “Air tastes good.”

Akiyama talked to his backup, Ryoko Kikuchi, over the link, “I was thinking about coming out of the capsule and standing up by myself holding the Japanese and Russian flags, but I found my legs to weak to do so.” Akiyama was eager to learn from his wife, Kyoko, about their children’s exam results.

Manakov, Strekalov and Akiyama were helicoptered to Baikonur for the usual medical checkups and rehabilitation. Akiyama returned to Tokyo on December 27, 1990, and was made a meiyoshimin – honored citizen – of the city.


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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #353 on: 04/17/2017 10:10 pm »

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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #354 on: 04/17/2017 10:12 pm »

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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #355 on: 04/17/2017 10:12 pm »

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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #356 on: 04/17/2017 10:13 pm »

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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #357 on: 04/17/2017 10:14 pm »
THE TV TRANSMISSIONS

Many supporting TV programs were broadcast in Japan before and after the Soyuz TM-11 mission. Here is a summary of those broadcast during the mission itself:

The TBS Cosmo-Reporter – The Final Announcement

This program was broadcast on December 1, 1990, live from Leninsk, the city which supports Baikonur Cosmodrome. It was announced that Toyohiro Akiyama would accompany Viktor Afanasyev and Musa Manarov aboard Soyuz TM-11.

Nineteen Hours Before The Launch

This program was transmitted within hours of the announcement that Akiyama would represent Japan on the mission. The status of the various participating cosmonauts was outlined, and there were profiles of them. In addition, details of final preparations of the Soyuz booster were given. A huge, 240-inch screen was activated in Studio G at TBS, so that live pictures transmitted direct from the U.S.S.R. could be viewed instantly throughout the mission.

The Launch – Part One

This broadcast was transmitted on launch day – December 2 – from the front of the hotel at Leninsk where the cosmonauts were accommodated pior to their flight. The cosmonauts were shown departing for the Cosmodrome.

The Launch – Part Two

A live broadcast showing the cosmonauts making their way to the launch pad in their spacesuits and clambering aboard the Soyuz capsule. Launch itself was covered by 20 cameras, located on and around the launch pad, in the firing room and at the press site/VIP stand. To provide interesting new angles, cameras had been set up in the launch pad flame trench and on the tower alongside the rocket. As expected, both were destroyed by the blast from the ascending booster, but not before some spectacular views were received.

The TBS contingent at Baikonur numbered 120. Views from the Cosmodrome were sent to Moscow by TBS’ own system via a Soviet comsat, the directed to Japan by means of the Soviet Intersputnik satellite system. There were supporting live broadcasts from various locations within Japan and from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where NASDA’s Mamoru Mohri is training to fly as a Payload Specialist on the joint U.S./Japanese Spacelab-J mission. Mohri conversed with Akiyama briefly while he sat in the Soyuz capsule awaiting lift-off.

During his mission, Akiyama also conversed with submerged scuba-divers in Tokyo Bay and off Barbados. This broadcast was the highpoint of TBS’ coverage, in terms of viewer ratings, the network winning 37 percent of the total Japanese television audience – nearly 40 million viewers.

The Launch – Part Three

Further live coverage, one-and-a-half hours after lift-off, including a transmission from the Soviet mission control center, TsUP, at Kaliningrad near Moscow. Akiyama’s voice was heard from space for the first time. A documentary video focusing on the launch was transmitted, and in the latter half of the program the significance of the TBS space project was conveyed in an item entitled “The Miracle Planet, Earth – Celebration of Life.”

Mir Special #1

Broadcast on December 3 while Soyuz TM-11 was chasing Mir, this program featured a live update on the mission’s status from TsUP. The first of a series of live reports following Mir’s progress from various vantage-points around the world was one of the key elements of this transmission. Titled “Follow the Mir Space Station,” these were broadcast every day from December 3 to 9. TBS reporter Takae Mikumo was on this occasion speaking from Los Angeles, California.

Docking! – Now into Mir

This program was broadcast on December 4 and featured the rendezvous and docking of Soyuz TM-11 with Mir and the transfer of the crew into the orbital complex. Pictures came from within both Mir and the Soyuz, and from TsUP at Kaliningrad. Takae MIkumo’s “Follow the Mir Space Station” report came from Barcelona, Spain.


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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #358 on: 04/17/2017 10:15 pm »
Another Earth in the Year 2100

Broadcast in the evening on December 4, this was a documentary drama about human mass-migration to Mars.

Mir Special #2

The first of Akiyama’s ten-minute live TV broadcasts from Mir came on December 5. The TBS reporter Takae Mikumo presented “Follow the Mir Space Station” from Geneva, Switzerland.

Mir Special #3

Broadcast on December 6, this was the second live TV report from Akiyama aboard Mir. The program “Follow the Mir Space Station” came from Lima, Peru on this occasion. Akiyama conversed briefly with the Peruvian President.

Mir Special #4

Broadcast on December 7, this was Akiyama’s third live TV report from Mir. “Follow the Mir Space Station” was broadcasted from Berlin, Germany.

Mir Special #5

Shown on December 8, this was Akiyama’s fourth live TV report from Mir. The penultimate “Follow the Mir Space Station” report came from Bangkok, Thailand.

Mir Special #6

Broadcast on December 9, this was Akiyama’s fifth and final live TV report. The final “Follow the Mir Space Station” update was transmitted from Tokyo.

The Return of the Cosmonauts – Part One

This was broadcast on December 10 and focused on the transfer of the cosmonauts from Mir to the TM-10 spacecraft.

The Return of the Cosmonauts – Part Two

Also broadcast on December 10. The unpredictability of the landing site posed problems for the TBS camera crew assigned to cover it. The expected landing site was either Arkalyk or Dhezkazgan in Soviet Central Asia, and the smallest estimated landing zone for a Soyuz TM capsule is a circle with a radius of 50 to 100 kilometers.

Therefore, TBS decided to deploy reporters and camera operators at both sites, equipped with specially-developed transmitters and fully mobile by helicopter – two backup helicopters were also employed – and amphibious vehicles.

Live television coverage of a Soyuz capsule had only been attempted once before, for the joint U.S./Soviet Apollo-Soyuz Test Project ASTP mission in July 1975. The December weather promised to be considerably more challenging, of course, but TBS were bullish about their chances of providing good coverage.

Coverage during this program included the reentry of the Soyuz TM-10 spacecraft into the atmosphere, the parachute descent and landing, and the press conference at Arkalyk airport.

The Return of the Cosmonauts – Part Three

The final broadcast of the mission this was concerned with the state of the three spacefarers on their return to Earth. Akiyama talked about the significance of his flight, and recounted the highpoints from launch to landing.


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Re: Columbia STS-35 – Triumph over Adversity
« Reply #359 on: 04/17/2017 10:16 pm »
POSTLUDE

In the days and weeks that followed the joint mission, there was some controversy about the financial aspects. For example, the Soviet authorities had reportedly been asking for an additional 52,000 GBP for each extra hour of camerawork that Afanasyev and Manarov might do. New bodies would keep appearing on the scene – other Soviet organizations connected with the space program – all of them demanding their cut. In doing so, they further complicated the commercial aspects of the deal.

Executive producer Ichiro Sasaki said that TBS was less bothered about having to pay up the extra money than it was about the unforeseen commercial incompetence. “They must have the most advanced space program, but they’re no good at business,” he told a Novosti reporter. “This was the first attempt by the Soviet space agency to do business with foreigners, and so far they do it Soviet-style.”

These gripes weren’t enough to sour the store of goodwill the two parties had built up. A TBS executive said, “This was a watershed in relations between Japan and the Soviet Union, and we’re proud to have helped bring closer together our two countries.”

Akiyama’s first report from Earth included these words: “From space, the existence and activity of human beings look very small, but the influence of Man is large enough to destroy the Earth environment. Needless to say, the worst thing we do is war.” He went on, “I could see the surface of Earth without border. Now, no boundary exists in Europe. I hope all the boundaries might disappear in the next generations.”

(Spaceflight News #62, February 1991, pp. 28-35 – edited)


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