Author Topic: Christer Fuglesangs newsletter.... (Read 24970 times)

jacqmans · « **on:** 08/15/2006 05:16 pm »

http://www.snsb.se/fuglesangnybrev_48.shtml

(Translation below)

Hi all friends

Houston, 10 august 2006

The wheel on good here now! If only one couple weekly ( the 27/8) so expect Atlanta launch with drawn STS-115/ISS-12A – if ventilate am admitting. Wes in STS-116 complement had now a packed house up that make with simulation and second preparations Häromveckan was I t.ex. four days in rymdpromenadsdräkten, EMU (Extravehicular Mobilize Unit). Twice in pool and twice for a drill in an vakuumkammare. Drill in vacuity sheep husband mere coincidence that make a conclude tread, so it was exciting. I have indeed done similar drill one couple gangway in Russia with their rymdpromenadsdräkt Orlan ( eagle, on Russian). But it was first gangway with NASAs: EMU- garb, moreover is that all with mine egen rymddräkt d.v.s. the self really ska out and walk in.

The is, as self enough clerical error several gangway formerly, circumstantial that prepare rymdpromenaderna and ” clothe” rymddräkten. The here exercises görs therefore wonder two days. The first day am going wes through all item with preparations of rymddräkten: stock water, stock oxygen, adjust radiokommunikation, test rymddräktens all functions entrance self enters suit Welfare in in suit höjs burden so that the am becoming equivalent rigid as when wes is out rymdstationen; one övertryck on approx. 0.3 atm. Sedan test self if self come about ate all button and rats as regulate rymddräktens function. Reglagen find nots on they suit wes applies in pool and a bit is right troublesome that come ate. Formerly that husband nots always am seeing direct each they is, devoid husband must uses mirror as wes bear about handlederna ( of steel – nots glass!). Self detection also that self had badly that focus on displayen, as in large looking am sitting soon wonder nose. Synfelet remedy per a petty fresnellins – as am acting as one magnifier solid the is a plastskiva – on inside of hjälmglaset. The is somewhat ordinarily, then many of ourselves is in 40-50-årsåldern and ögats egen lens nots is so anpassningsbar inferior.

Second day is the superb day. Then am jumping wes over many of preparations and self dressing me suit. Sedan initiates a four hour ”förandning” (eng.: prebreath) then self breathe clean oxygen inuti suit, solid still wide normal pressure. Förandningen görs for that suffer suffocate from body so that the nots am becoming any incident of tryckfallssjuka (dykarsjuka). Behind syrgasandningen fence door to chamber and self able herself nurse very of evacuation of chamber airs with kontrollpaneler as appears as they do on rymdstationen. Rymddräkten manipulate also parallel with that air release out, all behind painstaking checklistor. Terms as I was in vacuity each under one hour, but the is conclude manner that poll feel on how a EMU really uphill themselves in sits ” adjust element how it sounds good, am smelling and feel. A bit possible fault was training also. Husband bear really with themselves one few book with checklistor on left arm there they most conceivable defects find with and the am standing whatever should make Solid so long husband had radiokontakt so find the always people as able mention the also.

Almost all wes do wonder ours flygning had with rymdstationen that make: wes aviator there, doll with ISS, am building forth on the and fills the with nya cases and eventually avdockar wes and aviator about station and shoot the But we have also another load with ourselves. The is a attitude as call STP-H2 and as bear three small experiment from American defense. Attitude am sitting on perron ICC ( integration Cargo Carrier) farthest abaft in rymdfärjans cargo hold. They three experiment is small satellites as wes discharges iväg after that that wes left rymdstationen. They am heating SPIRIT (Atmospheric Neutral Denial Experiment), MEPSI (MicroElectromechanical Picosat Inspector) and RAFT (RAdar Fence Transpose) and everybody a consist really of two am partaking as yet send iväg at the same time. Others ivägskickandet maintenance inifrån at a number knapptryckningar, after that that wes navigated rymdfärjan to right position and done the clear for photographers and videotagning. A halvtimmes job pers experiment is shell on tidsschemat. Self is huvudansvarig for this and had wherein on one couple appointments on last there usage had discussed The first exercises was guiding that arbetsrutinerna do not be especially good but now ska wes enhance them.

SPIRIT is the main experimentsatelliten and the give a lift from among something like that resembles a cannon The consist two chunks halv- metre superb sphere. On ours flygning carried out only any test of utskjutningsanordningen, the right experiment will implement on a later flygning. SPIRIT ska gauge density and composition of the lilla tubs atmosphere as residue among 100 and 400 km altitude These data will uses for that better kunna calculate various detached banor about earth.

RAFT and MEPSI is two couple of what they am naming pico- satellites (ska welfare seem still under micro and nano!).Varje pico- satellite is approximate kubformad with a sidlängd of 10-12 cm and balances 2-3 kg. They am sitting on each its page of ” cannon”. Object with MEPSI is that demonstrate how a tiny satellite should kunna inspect a grand satellite The one of MEPSI- am partaking had small, small rocket as drove of xenongas and goal is that watch how the able spring about its ” associate”. Both am partaking had six camera everybody pictures send down to earth Ours flygning am becoming the second MEPSI- test with a rymdfärja; the first happening with STS-113 year 2002. RAFT, eventually, is one studentexperiment from US Naval Academy. Aim is that test borders for rymdradarövervakningen, d.v.s. how small detached able husband detect.

Salutation,

Christer

chksix · « **Reply #1 on:** 08/15/2006 05:55 pm »

Thanks for that. I didn't know he has a newsletter! The translation is a bit dodgy to say the least

If I get the time I'll try to translate it "manually".

jacqmans · « **Reply #2 on:** 08/15/2006 05:57 pm »

He has that for more than 2 years now, but as you say the translation is not so good but I think people can understand it...(at least I hope)

chksix · « **Reply #3 on:** 08/15/2006 07:09 pm »

Translation by me. Please excuse my lacking grammar

Hello friends!
Things are moving here! Atlantis is expected to launch in just 2 weeks on the mission STS-115/ISS-12A - if weather permits. We on the STS-116 crew are busy with simulations and other preparations. The other week for example I spent 4 days in the EMU. Two times in the pool and two times for a practice run in the vacuum chamber. Vacuum practice is only done once so it was exciting. I've done similar training in Russia and their Orlan (Eagle) EMU. But it was the first in the NASA suit and the actual suit that I will use on orbit.

It is, as I've probably written before, awkward to prepare for spacewalks and "suit up". This exercise is therefore done during 2 days. First day we review all the steps for preparing the suit: filling water, oxygen, radio setup and testing all functions before I enter the EMU. When I'm inside it the pressure is augmented to make it match the stiffness of it outside the spacestation; overpressure of about 0.3 athmospheres. Then I check if I can reach all knobs and levers that regulate the suit. Those controls are not present on the EMU's we use in the pool and some are quite difficult to reach. Not only are they hidden from view, you have to use the mirrors we wear around our wrists. (steel - not glass). I noticed I couldn't focus on the display, which is basically directly under my nose. My vision was augmented through a small fresnel lens - that works like a magnifying glass although it's a plastic disk - on the inside of the helmet glass. It's relatively usual as many of us are in our 40's to 50's and the eye isn't as flexible anymore.

Second day is the big day. Then we skip a lot of the preps and I get into the suit. After that we start the 4 hour prebreath when I breath pure oxygen in the suit while under normal pressure. Prebreath is done to prevent the bends by removing nitrogen from the body. After the prebreath the door to the chamber is closed and I can do most of the evacuation of the chamber myself through controls that are similar to those on the station. The EMU is also monitored while the air is pumped out, all by detalied checklists. I spent less than one hour under vacuum but it was the only way to get to feel how the EMU behaves in it's element: sounds, smells and feels. Some possible faults were practiced too. You are actually carrying a small notebook with checklists on your left arm where almost all possible errors are listed with instructions on how to fix them. But as long as there is radio contact people are there to tell you.

Almost everything we do on the flight has something to do with the station: we fly there, dock to the ISS, build additional structures and replenish it. Finally we undock and fly around the station and photograph it. But we carry other payloads too. It's the STP-H2 which carries 3 small experiments for the USDoD. It is mounted to the ICC at the rear of the cargo bay. The experiments are three small satellites we launch after undocking from the ISS. They are named ANDE, MEPSI and RAFT, each is actually two parts that are sent off simultaneously. The launch is controlled from the flightdeck by a series of button presses when we have maneuvred the shuttle to the right position and all is ready for photo and video documentation. Half an hour is scheduled for this. I am responsible for this so I've been to a couple of meetings recently where we discussed operation of the system. First training showed that the routines weren't optimal but we are going to make them better now.

ANDE is the biggest experimental satellite and is ejected by a sort of cannon. It consists of two half meter sized spheres. On our flight we will just test the launch system, the real experiment will be done on a later flight. ANDE will measure the density and composition of the thin athmosphere that remains between 100 to 400 km altitude. These data will be used to improve trajectory calculations for object on orbit.

RAFT and MEPSI are two pairs of so called pico-satellites (supposed to indicate smaller than micro and nano!). Each pico sat is an 10-12 cm cube and weighs 2-3 kg. They are mounted on opposite sides of the cannon. The purpose of MEPSI is to demonstrate how a very small satellite could inspect a larger one. One part of MEPSI has tiny xenon thrusters and the goal is to see how it will fly around it's partner. Both parts have 6 cameras each and will transmit pictures to earth. Our flight is the second MEPSI flight, the first one was on STS-113 in 2002. RAFT finally is a student programme for the US Naval Academy. The goal is to test the limits of the radars, ie how small targets that can be detected.

Regards

Christer

jacqmans · « **Reply #4 on:** 09/11/2006 04:25 pm »

new newsletters:

http://www.snsb.se/fuglesangnybrev_49.shtml

and

http://www.snsb.se/fuglesangnybrev_50.shtml

I hope chksix will translate them to English :-)

chksix · « **Reply #5 on:** 09/11/2006 04:29 pm »

My english is far from perfect so I apologise again

chksix · « **Reply #6 on:** 09/11/2006 09:38 pm »

I edited my post above. Just posting this bump to make it visible.

jacqmans · « **Reply #7 on:** 09/22/2006 12:58 pm »

http://www.snsb.se/fuglesangnybrev_51.shtml

new news letter, hoping for a translation :-)

rfoshaug · « **Reply #8 on:** 09/25/2006 09:20 am »

My Swedish is not perfect as I am Norwegian, but I'll give it a try anyway.

Hello!

A couple of hours ago Atlantis landed after another very successful mission. They got to stay up an extra day due to the weather conditions at the Cape not being so good, plus that Mission Control wanted to check what kind of UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) that followed the mission in Earth orbit. Presumably it was a plastic gap filler that was shaken loose when the commander and pilot tested the flight control system the day before and it is not judged as any risk at all.

The three spacewalks went very well even though two bolts came loose and floated away. In this case it was just an irritating mistake and not a problem. The bolts are supposed to stay in the outer part when they are unscrewed, but two of the several hundred bolts they worked with came loose in some way. When Beamer and I install P5 we have a couple of similar bolts each - to elecricly "ground" P5 to P4 - so we'll have to think about being careful with these.

It's been almost traffic congestion at ISS this week! Atlantis undocked Sunday and only hours later a Soyuz started from Kazakstan, with a new long duration crew for ISS and the first female space tourist. Then a Progress undocked from ISS with loads of trash (the Swedish word "sopor"?) - it slowed down in its orbit so that it fell into the atmosphere and burned up. Two days after liftoff the Soyuz docked with ISS, so now it's a full house there again. This means that one day there were twelve people in three different spacecraft in space at the same time!

Now focus is being directed more and more at us, STS-116/ISS-12A.1. Everything is flowing very well, so well that program management is checking if we can't start a week earlier, on 7 December! Mostly so that we can finish the flight well before Christmas, when most people want to have holiday. In our crew we are less happy, as our training schedule is already booked full, which I mentioned in my last letter. If this happens it's probably going to be rehearsals on a few holidays even. Besides, a few relatives and friends have already started making their travel plans to Florida and I hope they haven't made too final plans at least. We'll see. In a week (28 September) there will be a high level meeting and that should give us some answer.

The last weeks have been hectic with lots to do. Among other things this impacts the gym, where I've only been once per week. Although since I was twice in the pool last week, this can be counted as exercising too. Later today I'm flying to the Cape again - the third time in four weeks.

Regards,

Christer

rfoshaug · « **Reply #9 on:** 09/25/2006 02:19 pm »

By the way, did you know that Fuglesang means "Bird's song"? So here's to the beautiful song that Disovery will make on its way to orbit.

chksix · « **Reply #10 on:** 09/28/2006 02:51 pm »

I can't wait to hear that bird sing!

Nice translation btw. I just got home from work and had almost no access to the net.

nethegauner · « **Reply #11 on:** 10/02/2006 01:29 pm »

Quote

rfoshaug - 25/9/2006 4:02 PM

By the way, did you know that Fuglesang means "Bird's song"? So here's to the beautiful song that Disovery will make on its way to orbit.

In German that's Vogelgesang...!

Sounds more like Fuglesang than bird's song, does it not...?

jacqmans · « **Reply #12 on:** 10/04/2006 09:04 pm »

New newsletter:

http://www.snsb.se/fuglesangnybrev_52.shtml

(again hoping for a translation

)

HKS · « **Reply #13 on:** 10/04/2006 10:09 pm »

Hang on... Translating now!

HKS · « **Reply #14 on:** 10/04/2006 10:37 pm »

All friends: New launch date!
Houston, September 28th, 2006

I’m in the middle of a whole day simulation, but have some minutes now and then to do some e-mails. What did we do five to ten years ago when mail did not exist!?? Just recently, a mail arrived from the flight management that our new “not before” start date had been moved up till the 7th of December. In the last week, we have discussed what this would mean for the different groups and organizations, and we have not seen anything that makes us think that we are not going to make it before the 7/12. So finally we have a new launch date – but now even earlier that before. I had never expected this! While we are talking about dates, I heard that STS-115 had in total 14 different official dates before they finally launched, several were of course in the last weeks when they had weather and technical issues in Florida.

In the crew we are not so happy with the early launch. Now we have to compress ten weeks training into nine. A few training scenarios are also going to be skipped, i.e the spacewalk we did not to in the pool earlier. According to our schedule, our workload increases from 42 hours a week to 46 hours per week, but then I think I have included gym, and office time that always is included. A lot of friends have off course planed the vacation in Florida around the 14th December. I hope you can re-book.

When we have the whole day simulations, we get the space-food in the simulator. This is usually just what they have in stock right now, but today we rookies got surprised when we got our ordered menus, even with the right color-code. That’s how it is to be prime crew. The first I made was “green beans and mushrooms” (This was the first I could get) – Had hot water in the vacuum packed plastic bag, and left if for a few minutes, The food was not very good, but the scrimp cocktail was good though :-)

Our crewmembers have a unique color, and all individual stuff is marked with these colors: cloth, spacesuits, sleeping bags, and even food. My color is orange, which is going to make my friends and the Physics department at Teknis happy when you hear this.

Our official crew-photo is out. We took over twenty pictures and the decision process was long, but eventually we found a photo everyone liked. Hope you also like this.

And finally some space-trivia I saw yesterday. Someone has calculated all manned space launches to this date and have found the total of 995 persons. Not different persons, since several persons have flown two, three and more times. This means that when we start, we have place 996 to 1002, and the natural way to count this is 996 for the commander, 997 for the pilot, 998 for MS1, 999 for MS2 etc till 1005 for MS5. Guess who gets place number 1000! If they have counted correct

Greetings

Christer

chksix · « **Reply #15 on:** 10/05/2006 08:33 am »

"Teknis" is Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan in Stockholm. Just to clarify...

Very good translation again!

jacqmans · « **Reply #16 on:** 10/13/2006 03:19 pm »

new newsletter:

http://www.snsb.se/fuglesangnybrev_53.shtml

jacqmans · « **Reply #17 on:** 10/23/2006 05:59 pm »

New newsletter with cool photo's

http://www.snsb.se/fuglesangnybrev_54.shtml

(hoping for a translation)

HKS · « **Reply #18 on:** 10/23/2006 08:58 pm »

I'm on the translation...

HKS · « **Reply #19 on:** 10/23/2006 09:19 pm »

Now we are starting on more occasions to se the real stuff that are going up into space! Thursday to Saturday last week, we did a so called CEIT (Crew Equipment Interface Test). In these intensive days, went to different places at the Cape, and had a look at SpaceHab, the ICC platform that we are going to have rear in the cargo bay with SMDP-plates, and STP-H2 experiment, P5 and some instruments flying on the boom for used for heat shield inspections, the enormous external tank and the two boosters, that have just been joined together. Finally we saw Discovery her self, both inside, and outside. Here is some pictures from these exiting days in Florida. Unfortunately we were not allowed to bring our own cameras inside Discovery, but we spent the whole last day, Saturday, which was long. We started half-past seven, and finished at four. This was followed by a couple of hours T-38 flight back to Houston.

In Discovery we tried to open and close doors, inspect the windows, and checked out all the cables for connecting the laptop network and TV-cameras. We got lectures in all the filters that need to be cleaned, and how it is done. We tried a couple of repairs, and how to mount the seats before landing, and a lot more.

The weekend was even short, and from Monday to Wednesday it was a Scandinavian press invite to KSC. About twenty reporters from Sweden, Norway and Denmark got to se how we train for spaceflight. On both good and bad ways, we had a lot of training, interviews had to be done in the evening, after work. But summed up all was nice, even though the time pressure. After speaking to the NASA-lady that had the responsibility to keep track of the reporters she said that she would never more agree to take suck a large group, even though everything went fine. She was tired : )

Greetings, Christer

Now I'll translate the image-text to...