Author Topic: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company  (Read 69977 times)

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #100 on: 01/03/2012 07:31 pm »
PAO: Television shot now coming from the one-g trainer showing the student experimenter Dan Poskevich of Tennessee Technological Institute with a mock-up of his control set of bees in the one-g trainer. We should be getting live television starting momentarily through Hawaii station of 3,300 bees aboard Challenger. All of these bees would have to be friendly crammed into 729 cubic inches of space.

Crippen: Let us know when you get good TV and we will start in on the Pinky and Ox bee show.

CapCom (Jerry Ross): Okay.

PAO: This experiment is appropriately sponsored by Honeywell Incorporated in Minneapolis. We will see whether the bees in space are as good at adapting to zero-g as spider Arabella was in learning how to spin webs aboard Skylab.

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #101 on: 01/03/2012 07:35 pm »
van Hoften: … experiment. It’s a little enclosure module here with 3,300 Italian honeybees in it. It was launched when the bees were approximately twelve days old. They stuck all 3,300 of these bees in here.  (…) The bees, when they first launched, looked like they were in great shape and most of them were down in this area. They slowly moved their way up into the area where the food was and they have really been going to town. Right now the have got a great big old honeycomb, that we’ll show you a little closer here in a second. (…) I will get it over to Pinky here and we will try to get some close-ups.

Nelson: Yes, Jerry, we have been watching these bees almost every day. They are really fun to watch. (…) We’d be interested, Jerry, if Mr. Poskevich has got his bees going on the ground there, and if they have built a hive yet.

CapCom: Roger, Pinky, we saw just before you came on live, he was down at the mock-up pulling out his honeycomb and maybe We will get a report for you in a little bit.

(…)

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #102 on: 01/03/2012 07:42 pm »
Nelson: … get a little shake you might be able to see this chain of them in there. It’s like a little ring made out of bees.

CapCom: Don’t drop that thing.   

Nelson: They don’t seem to mind having us around, we can tap on the glass… (…) The ones down in here, this is where they put their casualties. It looks like there is only… it looks like there is about twenty of them that have died. Some of them end up trying to learn how to fly. They end up with their heads stuck on the top of it and they flap their wings trying to get out, and they don’t go anywhere. But they actually do, some of them are flying.

(…)

PAO: This is Mission Control Houston. That completes the onboard portion of the television. Dan Poskevich again shown in the one-g trainer with his control set of bees. He reports that his bees have not built a honeycomb yet that he could see. The bees are heavily clustered and his colony has no casualties yet. The bees have individuals that are designated as undertakers that remove the corpses of dead bees as they live out their short life. He was unable to monitor the air to ground of what the crew comments were on his experiment, but he likely will pick up on that from a later playback.

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #103 on: 01/03/2012 07:45 pm »

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #104 on: 01/03/2012 08:05 pm »
April 10, 1984 - "Okay, we’ve got it..."


Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #105 on: 01/03/2012 08:09 pm »

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #106 on: 01/03/2012 08:26 pm »

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #107 on: 01/03/2012 08:28 pm »

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #108 on: 01/03/2012 08:32 pm »
CapCom: Challenger, Houston, a minute and a half until LOS TDRS. Solar Max is starting to see a little bit of plume impingement.

Crippen: Roger, we got it in the cargo bay pretty much now, Jerry, and it looks stable now.

CapCom: Roger, copy that, we know we are in good hands…  and use nice soft gloves.

Crippen: We will do our best.

PAO: The remote arm is now in motion. This is Mission Control Houston. Loss of signal at the tracking satellite. (…) …so hopefully at Yarragadee in six minutes we should have confirmation of whether the first grapple was indeed successful. Meanwhile, in the RCS propellant aboard Challenger, there is plenty of propellant available for the so-called low Z mode of attitude control. (…) Hopefully at Yarragadee we should at least have voice confirmation, if no data, of successful grapple. That is four minutes from now and at day three, 23 hours, 55 minutes, this is Mission Control Houston.

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #109 on: 01/03/2012 08:42 pm »
CapCom: Challenger, Houston, standing by through Yarragadee.

Crippen: Okay, we’ve got it… and we are in the process of putting it in the FSS.

CapCom: Outstanding!

(…)

PAO: Considerable clapping and cheers here in Mission Control Center when the word came down that Solar Max had been successfully grappled. Now, the crew proceeding with the berthing of the satellite on the holding fixture in the aft payload bay.

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #110 on: 01/03/2012 08:44 pm »

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #111 on: 01/03/2012 08:46 pm »

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #112 on: 01/03/2012 08:49 pm »

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #113 on: 01/03/2012 08:52 pm »

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #114 on: 01/03/2012 08:59 pm »

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #115 on: 01/03/2012 09:02 pm »

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #116 on: 01/03/2012 09:07 pm »
CapCom: Challenger, the President of the United States.

Reagan: Hello, Bob.

Crippen: Good morning, Mr. President. Thank you very much for speaking with us.

Reagan: Well, these calls between the two of us are becoming a habit. I promise you, though, I won’t  reverse the charges. Over.

Crippen: Well, I don’t  think I could afford them, Mr. President.

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #117 on: 01/03/2012 09:11 pm »
Reagan: Well, once again, I’m calling to congratulate you and the rest of the crew aboard Challenger there, on an historic mission. The retrieval of the Solar Max satellite this morning was just great. And you and the crew demonstrated once again just how versatile the Space Shuttle is and what we can accomplish by having a team in space and on the ground. I know you will agree that those folks at Goddard Space Flight Center did a fantastic job maneuvering the satellite for you. And, Terry, I guess you made one long reach for man this morning when you snapped that satellite with the  50-foot robot arm. George and Jim, you’ve done fine work as well. The pictures sent back of you working in space are spectacular. They are also a little scary for those of us that are sitting comfortably anchored to the Earth. But, Bob, I understand that satellite you have onboard would cost us about 200 million dollars to build at today’s prices. So, if you can’t fix it up there, would you mind bringing it back? Over.

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #118 on: 01/03/2012 09:15 pm »
Crippen: Well, we’re going to do our best to repair it tomorrow, Sir. And, if for some reason that is unsuccessful, which we don’t think it will be, we will be able to return it. We certainly concur with all of your remarks. The Challenger and its sister ships are magnificent flying machines and I think that they can make a significant road into space in regard to repair and servicing of satellites. And we believe this is the initial step. I would also like to concur with your remarks regarding the people up at Goddard who managed to put the satellite back into configuration that we could retrieve it after the little problem we ran into the other day. Those people and the people at Houston, and everybody who worked on it, truly made this recovery possible. It is a team effort all the way. It so happens we get to do the fun part.

Reagan: Well, let me tell you. You are all a team that has made America very proud of what you’re doing up there and what the future holds for all of us with regard to this opening up of that great frontier of space. And, seriously, I just want to gain say how proud we all are of all of you and congratulations to you all. Have a save mission, a safe trip home, and God bless all of you. I’ll sign out now and let you get on…

Crippen: Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Reagan: … on with your chores.

Crippen: Thank you, Sir.

Reagan: Bless you. Thank you.

CapCom Challenger, Houston. We are done with the TV views inside. INCO is looking at the cameras outside for a while longer. We have got a little over six minutes to LOS TDRS.

Crippen: Okay, Jerry, thank you very much.

Offline Ares67

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13494
  • Oliver
  • Remscheid, Germany
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 28
Re: Challenger STS 41-C / Ace Satellite Repair Company
« Reply #119 on: 01/03/2012 09:28 pm »
April 11, 1984 - First satellite repair in space

(Excerpt from the 41-C flight plan describing the EVA tasks)

Nelson and van Hoften will position themselves to begin replacement of the faulty control system module. To keep from floating away, van Hoften will secure his feet on a platform called a Manipulator Foot Restraint (MFR) attached to the end of the orbiter's mechanical arm. Nelson will be secured below on a Portable Foot Restraint (PFR).

Using a device known as the Module Service Tool (MST), van Hoften will unscrew two retention bolts, remove the module, and replace it with a spare module, which will have been fastened to the lower portion
of the Flight Support System. Replacing the module is expected to take 45 minutes.

Then, the more difficult task of replacing the Main Electronics Box (MEB) on the Polarimeter/Polarimeter will begin. It is more difficult because the spacesuit gloves are bulky, and the exchange requires working
with scissors and small screws.

During the EVA, van Hoften will pull back some thermal protection and install a hinge so that panel on the MEB can be opened like a door. He is expected to remove all but four of the six screws which hold the panel closed, using an electric screwdriver. Van Hoften will unfold and tape back the protective thermal blanket, remove the remaining screws on the panel and secure it open with a special bracket. Van Hoften must now unscrew 22 screws, each with a head no bigger than one-eighth of an inch while wearing gloves that one might compare with boxing gloves. The screws hold 11 electrical connectors. Van Hoften will then have to cut some additional wiring before he can remove the electronics box.

The electronics box is removed and stowed in the FSS locker. A replacement unit will be moved into position, at which time Nelson and van Hoften will exchange roles. Nelson will remate the MEB's 11 electrical connectors with clips, eliminating the need to reinstall the previously removed screws. He then will remove the panel support bracket, close the panel door, secure the six panel screws, and reinstall the thermal protection.

Tags:
 

Advertisement NovaTech
Advertisement Northrop Grumman
Advertisement
Advertisement Margaritaville Beach Resort South Padre Island
Advertisement Brady Kenniston
Advertisement NextSpaceflight
Advertisement Nathan Barker Photography
0