Author Topic: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues  (Read 85745 times)

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #40 on: 06/03/2012 09:36 pm »

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #41 on: 06/03/2012 09:39 pm »

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #42 on: 06/03/2012 09:41 pm »

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #43 on: 06/03/2012 09:44 pm »
March 4: STS-26 BOOSTER ASSEMBLY BEGINS
Assembly began on one of two redesigned solid rocket boosters today at Kennedy Space Center, officials said. Assembly of both boosters is expected to be completed by the end of April and KSC workers should then be able to roll Discovery out to the launch pad by May 24. KSC spokesperson Lisa Malone said, "Basically we're getting ready to begin stacking booster segments at the end of the month." (Florida Today, March 5, 1988)

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL REPORT
The National Research Council reported today that NASA has many groups assigned to assess the safety of launching Shuttles, but its efforts are fragmented and lack objective measures for evaluating the hazards. Alton D. Slay, chairman of the committee, said, "We find absolutely no show-stoppers." In further remarks Slay said, "Space travel will always entail risks - it cannot be reduced to zero. The key to minimizing those risks is to identify the most likely hazards or failures and to take steps to eliminate them, or control them if they cannot be eliminated." (The New York Times, March 5; 1988)

March 7: DECISION ON NASA ROCKET PLANT IMMINENT
Within three weeks NASA is expected to decide whether to build an automated, government-owned rocket plant worth 3,000 Jobs to Kennedy Space Center or the other sites being considered. NASA's spaceflight chief Admiral Richard Truly said that "locating a facility at Kennedy Space Center is a very serious option." The impact of such a plant on the environment and endangered species in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and the cost of transporting rocket fuel-materials from the West Coast may block KSC from being chosen. Other sites under consideration include the National Space Technologies Lab (Bay St. Louis, MS) and an abandoned nuclear facility at Yellow Creek in northeast Mississippi. (The Orlando Sentinel, March 8, 1988)

March 10: THREE NEW FLIGHT DIRECTORS NAMED
Three new flight directors have been named within the Mission Operations Directorate at the Johnson Space Center. The three, all of whom are former flight operations controllers, are Robert E. Castle, Jr., N. Wayne Hale, Jr., and Robert M. Kelso. Mission Operations Director Eugene F. Kranz also announced that Michele A. Brekke, a flight director since 1985, has accepted a position as a payload integration manager in the National Space Transportation System Integration and Operations Office. (NASA News, JSC, Release 88-007)

STS-26 BOOSTER PARTS INVOLVED IN FATAL TRAIN ACCIDENT
Three booster rocket segments en route from Morton Thiokol in Utah to Kennedy Space Center were aboard a train that collided with a car in Biloxi, MS.; two passengers in the car were killed. Thiokol spokesman Rocky Raab said that the segments were believed to be undamaged but would undergo careful tests at KSC March 11. Commenting on the fatal accident in Biloxi, Rash said, "It's unfortunate. It seems we can't turn around without some news event happening." The train crushed the car carrying Victor Carriere, 67, and his wife, Suzie, 59. Russell Bardos, NASA's Shuttle propulsion director in Washington, said that the accident might increase support for the idea of building a booster plant near Kennedy Space Center's canals or in Mississippi to lessen the risks of transporting the segments on often dangerous and deteriorated rail lines. (The Orlando Sentinel, March 11, 1988)

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #44 on: 06/03/2012 09:47 pm »
March 11: BOOSTER SEGMENTS FOR DISCOVERY ARRIVE SAFELY
Booster segments for August's launch of Discovery arrived at Kennedy Space Center this morning and will undergo a week of thorough testing to assure that no damage was sustained when the train they were on was involved in an accident in Biloxi, MS. Two persons died in their car when it was struck by the train. After the crash, the train's crew gave the segments a "visual inspection" end found no obvious damage. Public information officer Pat Phillips said that the segments had been "fairly veil packaged and protected en route." The segments will be unloaded next week and inspected further, said Phillips; "we can go to x-rays if necessary," she said. (Florida Today, March 12, 1988)

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #45 on: 06/03/2012 09:49 pm »
FIRST LAUNCH OF THE YEAR AT KOUROU SPACE CENTER
Due to technical difficulties with its third stage Europe’s Ariane V21 has experienced a total of three delays since December 1987, but today everything went smoothly – with an on-time launch from the ELA-1 pad at Kourou Space Center in French Guiana at 23:28 GMT (March 11). About twenty minutes later the Ariane 3 launcher successfully released two communications satellites, Spacenet 3R and Telecom 1C, into their geosynchronous transfer orbits.

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #46 on: 06/03/2012 09:51 pm »
EMERGENCY EXIT PRACTICE AT JSC
During a Crew Station Review on March 11 the STS-26 crew donned their new partial-pressure suits and practiced emergency egress and escape methods, using an inflatable slide deployed from the hatch of the orbiter mock-up located inside Johnson Space Center’s Building 9.

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #47 on: 06/03/2012 09:53 pm »

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #48 on: 06/03/2012 09:59 pm »

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #49 on: 06/03/2012 10:01 pm »

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #50 on: 06/03/2012 10:03 pm »

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #51 on: 06/03/2012 10:06 pm »

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #52 on: 06/03/2012 10:08 pm »

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #53 on: 06/03/2012 10:13 pm »

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #54 on: 06/03/2012 10:16 pm »
« Last Edit: 06/03/2012 10:16 pm by Ares67 »

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #55 on: 06/03/2012 10:19 pm »

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #56 on: 06/03/2012 10:21 pm »

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #57 on: 06/03/2012 10:23 pm »
March 17: NASA ANNOUNCES THREE NEW SHUTTLE CREWS
NASA today named crew members for three Shuttle missions scheduled to fly in 1989. This announcement concludes crew selection activities planned prior to the resumption of Shuttle flights in August of this year.

Shuttle mission STS-29, scheduled for launch January 19, 1989, will be commanded by Capt. Michael L. Coats (USN). Pilot for the mission aboard Discovery will be Col. John E. Blaha (USAF). Col. James F. Buchli (USMC), Col. Robert C. Springer (USMC), and James P. Bagian, M.D., have been assigned as mission specialists. The primary mission objective will be to deploy a third Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-D). Based on the current Shuttle flight manifest, STS-29 is scheduled to fly after STS-27 and before STS-28.

A five-member crew has also been named for Shuttle mission STS-30, slated for launch April 27, 1989. Commanding the four-day mission aboard Atlantis will be Capt. David M. Walker (USN). The pilot will be Col. Ronald J. Grabe (USAF). Norman E. Thagard, M.D., Mary L. Cleave, Ph.D., and Maj. Mark C. Lee (USAF), have been named as mission specialists. Their mission objective will be to deploy the planetary probe Magellan. Magellan is scheduled to arrive at Venus in mid-1990, and will map the entire surface of Venus for the first time, using specialized radar instruments.

STS-31 will feature deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope and is targeted for launch June 1, 1989. Col. Loren J. Shriver (USAF) will command the mission. Pilot will be Col. Charles F. Bolden (USMC). Steven A. Hawley, Ph.D., Capt. Bruce McCandless II (USN), From its position in orbit 373 miles above the earth, HST will be used to gather astronomical data with resolution 7 to 10 times greater than that of Earth-bound telescopes.  (NASA News, JSC, Release No. 88-008)

March 21: MARSHALL TPTA-2B JOINT-DESIGN TEST APPPERANTLY WENT WELL
A deliberately damaged solid rocket motor held up to liftoff pressures in a test-firing today at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. "The initial indications are that all went well," said NASA spokesman Ed Medal of the test on a shortened version of the SRB motor, called TPTA-2B. "The proof in the pudding will come when we take apart the motor and inspect it." The test-firing was the fourth in a series of six. (Florida Today, March 22, 1988 – edited)

OASIS PAYLOAD INSTALLED IN DISCOVERY’S PAYLOAD BAY
A new system of instruments, called OASIS, was installed aboard Discovery to measure aerodynamic stresses on the Shuttle during its August flight. The system is designed to collect and record a variety of environmental measurements during various in-flight phases of the Orbiter. The primary device is a large tape recorder being  mounted on the aft port side of the Orbiter. The recorder can be commanded from the ground to store information at a low, medium, or high data rate. It will be used to study the effects of temperature, pressure, vibration, sound, acceleration, stress and strain on the Shuttle. The information is expected to be useful in designing future Space Shuttles. The OASIS system was designed by Lockheed Engineering and Management Services Co. Its 101 sensors and  the tape recorder will be tested during June 15's flight readiness firing of the Shuttle's main engines at LC 39B. After Discovery's mission is over the tapes will be removed for analysis. (NASA/KSC News Release No. 88-15, March 21, 1988, and Florida Today, March 22, 1988)

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #58 on: 06/03/2012 10:24 pm »
March 25: GOVERNOR BOB MARTINEZ CAMPAIGNING FOR SPACEPORT FLORIDA
Florida Governor Bob Martinez came to Launch Complex 26 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to begin his campaign for a "Spaceport Florida" - a state sponsored commercial launch facility. "We are embarking on a mission to build Spaceport Florida, America's first private-sector highway to space. Our goal is to launch one commercial mission each month from Spaceport Florida," he said. "At the current rate of $45 million per launch, this would directly inject $540 million per year into our state's economy." Martinez asserted that facilities at CCAFS and Kennedy Space Center give Florida "several clear advantages" over Hawaii and other states considering developing launch facilities for the emerging commercial space industry. (Florida Today, March 26, 1988)

March 28: STS-26 LAUNCH PREPARATIONS ON TIME
"We're well on our way with the test program," said John Thomas, chief of NASA's booster redesign team. "I don't see anything" in the test results so far that would preclude an August 4 launch of Discovery. Nevertheless, three full-scale booster firings remain to be done. Stacking of the booster segments began at Kennedy Space Center today and that process now includes extra tests and measurements to prevent problems. Thomas said, "We do have a very ambitious processing flow down at the Cape, and we could always stub our toe." (The Orlando Sentinel, March 29, 1988)

Offline Ares67

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Re: RTF 1988 – The Journey Continues
« Reply #59 on: 06/03/2012 10:26 pm »

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