Nov 27 1985
From The Space Library
Astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission 61-B today launched satellites for Mexico and Australia, the Washington Post reported.
The crew launched Mexico's Morelos B in the morning, just hours after liftoff. Morelos B was a Hughes 376 satellite, a standard design used by many foreign national and private companies, Kennedy Space Center's Spaceport News said. It would provide telephone, TV, and wire services to Mexico through a total of 22 transponders. A PAM-D payload assist module then boosted the satellite to geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above earth. The satellite would drift, unused, until it reached it final stationary position in 1989. Mexican officials chose to store Morelos B in orbit because launch cost for the satellite could increase to four times the amount that Mexico paid to NASA for today's deployment. Payload specialist Rudolfo Neri Vela, the first Mexican astronaut, was onboard to observe satellite deployment. In June 1985 crew in the orbiter Discovery deployed the first Morelos satellite.
At 8:20 p.m. the Australian satellite AUSSAT 2 spun out of the Atlantis's cargo bay. "We got a good deploy," said mission specialist Sherwood Spring, who supervised the satellite's spring ejection. "It looked like it might have gone a second early," he added. AUSSAT 2, also a Hughes 376 satellite, was the second of three operations satellites for the government-owned Australian National Satellite System. It had eleven 12-watt transponders and four 30-watt transponders to provide domestic communications to Australia's 15-million population. Australia would also use the satellite to improve maritime and air traffic control communications, relay digital data for business purposes, provide standard telephone communications, and direct satellite to home TV broadcasts. A PAM-D would also boost the satellite to geosynchronous orbit. In August 1985 the Discovery crew deployed the first AUSSAT.
Mission commander Brewster Shaw had tested all systems aboard Atlantis and reported that one of four videotape recorders was not working. Mission control gave him permission to take apart an electronic cabinet to look for a wiring flaw, but Shaw said he could not see anything that was obviously wrong. Later, following directions from the ground, Shaw cycled a circuit breaker and reported, "Bingo. That seems to get power to VTR1." (W Post, Nov 28/85, A28; Spaceport News, Nov 22/85, 4)
NASA announced selection of 64 research proposals from high-technology small business firms for negotiation of Phase II contracts in its Small Business Innovation Research program established under Public Law 97-219. The contract awards would total approximately $30 million. NASA selected the Phase II programs, follow-ons to previous Phase I contracts, from 113 proposals submitted by Phase I contractors in the 1984 program. Phase I included 127 awards selected from 919 proposals.
Objectives of the Small Business Innovation Research program were to stimulate technological innovation, strengthen the role of small business in meeting federal agencies' research and development needs, and foster increased private sector commercialization of innovations from federal research and development. The program also encouraged minority and disadvantaged business participation.
In Phase I, NASA awarded six-month fixed-price contracts to explore the feasibility of the proposed innovation and the value of conducting further research and development. Continuation of the activity into Phase II, which could extend up to two years, depended on the merit of the work and agency program plans and needs. Selection might also depend on availability of funds from the private sector and/or government for development or commercialization beyond the scope of the Small Business Innovation Research program. (NASA Release 85-157)
NASA announced that 1986 would be its most productive year ever in space science activities, including a variety of "space firsts" and several major scientific studies that would be started or continued. To increase the public's knowledge and understanding of NASA's scientific programs, NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications and the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum would work together in a yearlong program entitled "1986-A Year for Space Science." The two organizations planned exhibits, audio-visual presentations, publications, and a lecture series at the Air and Space Museum and several other locations throughout the U.S. In addition, the National Air and Space Museum would carry NASA mission events on TV at designated locations in the museum.
Major space science activities in 1986 would include the Voyager 2 encounter in January with Uranus; the culmination of several scientific investigations of Comet Halley; launch in May from the Space Shuttle of Galileo toward Jupiter; and also in May launch from the Space Shuttle Challenger of the European Space Agency's Ulysses spacecraft to conduct comparative studies of the sun and its heliosphere. In addition, NASA scheduled for launch in late summer the Hubble Space Telescope, the largest telescope to be placed in earth orbit. (NASA Release 85-159)
NASA announced that it had agreed with the U.S. Air Force to delay the first Space Shuttle launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base until mid-July 1986. NASA originally scheduled this mission, STS 62-A, for no earlier than March 20, 1986.
Under Secretary of the Air Force Edward "Pete" Aldridge, Jr. said, "There are no major problems at the Vandenberg site. We have repeatedly stated that safety and quality would not be sacrificed for schedule. Our decision reflects our continued commitment to this philosophy." Aldridge added that, "We have had to make some facility modifications because of what we learned from routine Air Force/NASA operational readiness inspections. We have also added time to the schedule to allow for better preparation and evaluation of the operational systems tests and we have extended the training period for the launch crew of this historic, first West Coast shuttle mission.
"This revised schedule will permit us to complete ongoing modifications, inspections, rework and operational testing with higher confidence than could be permitted with the March 20 schedule," he added. "It also minimizes the potential for conflict with the NASA Ulysses and Galileo planetary missions scheduled in May." NASA Office of Space Flight associate administrator Jesse Moore concurred, adding, "NASA agrees completely with the Air Force regarding Vandenberg. Our first commitment is to the safety of the crew and the reliability of the vehicle and launch systems. The development of the Vandenberg site is proceeding very smoothly. This readjustment gives us all more time to carry out our commitment to safety and reliability." The decision to delay meant NASA would deliver the orbiter Discovery to Vandenberg around March 1, 1986, and NASA and Air Force officials would continue to evaluate the STS 62-A schedule in order to establish after January 1 a firm launch date. (NASA Release 85-158)
The U.S. Senate awarded Martin Marietta Corp. the United States Senate Productivity Award for the state of Louisiana for manufacturing improvements and costs savings in production of the Space Shuttle's external tank, Defense Daily reported. The Senate cited the company for its innovative across-the-board productivity program that included plant modernization, installation of automated production processes, and development of an employee participation program that led to a number of improvements in the manufacturing process. "Estimates are that this increased productivity will save NASA and ultimately the American taxpayer more than a billion dollars over the long run," said Louisiana Senators J. Bennett Johnston (D) and Russell Long (D) in a joint statement. The two also cited the "flawless performance" of the tanks in Space Shuttle missions to date. (D/D, Nov 27/85, 142)
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