Dec 23 1977
From The Space Library
MSFC reported that its homemade Shuttle orbiter [see Nov. 23] had made its practice run through the center and had played stand-in during practice hoists into the 430ft (131m) test stand where the Enterprise would be mated to the other Shuttle components for the first time. Werner H. Rubel, supervisor in MSFC's product planning branch, said the idea and design for the stand-in orbiter had originated in his group, where Jerry B. Bennich and John L. Ransburgh had done the engineering work; the mockup and prototype assembly branch had performed final assembly. (MSFC Release 77-232)
MSFC announced successful completion of the first loading test of the Space Shuttle external tank to ensure that the test article, test facility, and hardware could handle the super cooled propellants (liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen) to be used by the Shuttle main engine. (MSFC Release 77-234)
KSC reported successful conclusion of the first open-sea tests on Shuttle retrieval equipment staged Dec. 5-16 from Port Everglades, in strong winds and seas from 3 to 6ft that had hampered operations both wks. Test manager Bob Everette said the huge waves created conditions vital to the test although "it was hard even to stand up on the boat" and the aft section of the 158-ft offshore-support vessel was often under a ft of water.
The first group of tests simulated parachute recovery; retrieval of the 6 main parachutes and 2 drogues would use 2 support vessels, each responsible for recovering 3 main chutes and a drogue. The second series of tests was to verify performance of the nozzle plug in open waters. The plug was designed to "swim out" from the ship to a booster casing floating vertically, dive to the bottom of the casing, secure itself to the aft portion and pump out the water. The booster, rotating to a horizontal position, would be ready for tow to the Spaceport for refurbishing. The tests were also to confirm the deck layout of the support vessels and how they kept position while the plug was docking with the booster. Everette said retrieval gear would be modified according to the test results.
More ocean tests would follow about Imo before the first launch of the Shuttle, pre-mission exercises to train personnel who would work on the recovery. Everette praised the teamwork of the support agencies taking part in the test: staff from KSC and MSFC; Tracor Marine, operator of the support vessel; Everglades Towing Co.; the Naval Ocean Systems Center; U.S. Booster, Inc.; Battelle Memorial Institute; Pioneer Parachute Co.; the U.S. Navy supervisor of salvage; and Martin Marietta. (Spaceport News, Dec 23/77, 4)
In its year-end issue, the Lewis News described the relationship between U.S. Army and NASA activities at the center. Civilian employees of the Army Propulsion Laboratory had been working among LeRC employees since 1970, as 1 of 3 Army air-mobility research and technology labs working jointly with NASA centers: Ames Research Center housed the aeromechanics laboratory and the research and technology lab headquarters, and LaRC included the Army's structures laboratory. The only AMRT lab complex not on a NASA installation was the applied technology lab at Ft. Eustis, Va.
LeRC and the Army pursued R&D activities under a unique agreement, with the Army providing funds for programs of mutual interest and adding about 40 persons (mostly engineers, scientists, and technicians) to the LeRC staff, all of them supervised by Lewis personnel. Army interests included the joint aeronautical research group, working on compressors, turbines, bearings, seals, and gears, with special attention to Army needs in small-engine technology; the technical support group of scientists and skilled technicians, set up to help with the inhouse workload created by Army activities at the center; and a small staff of engineers called the Army aeronautical research group, using LeRC facilities to pursue investigations of interest to the Army specifically. An instance was the engine test cell in Bldg. 14 recently activated and primarily operated by the Army, with help from LeRC experts and resources, said Propulsion Laboratory director John Acurio.
Aiding Acurio in lab operations and efforts to improve aircraft propulsion were Curtis L. Walker, chief of the Army aeronautical research group, and administrative officer Gus Gold. (Lewis News, Dec 23/77, 4)
JPL reported that Dr. M. Kudret Selcuk of its energy-conversion systems section had developed a fixed solar collector using a vee-trough concentrator and vacuum-tube receivers to produce temperatures above 350°F for generating steam or organic vapor, or electricity to drive turbines. The system, on which NASA had obtained a patent, had proved "far superior to flat-plate systems," Dr. Selcuk said.
The new system had no moving parts, which made it unique. Located on the roof of JPL's Bldg. 248, its torpedo-like glass tubes and piping would remain on a tilted rack, and the sheet-metal troughs in an asymmetrical V shape could be reversed at the spring and autumn equinoxes to take best advantage of the sun's rays. Heat collected could be used directly for shaft power to drive conventional air conditioning systems, for space heating, or for other uses such as supplying process heat. (JPL Universe, Dec 23/77, 2)
JSC reported that NASA administrator Dr. Robert A. Frosch had approved development of a teleoperator retrieval system to be flown no later than Feb. 1980 as a Skylab-revisit mission. JSC would be responsible for integrating the TRS into the Shuttle and for planning and operations. Harold E. Gartrell, assistant manager of the Shuttle payload integration and development office at JSC, would manage JSC activities for the Skylab revisit and would work with the Shuttle program office on integrating that mission with the Shuttle orbital-flight test planners. His office would be responsible for interfaces outside JSC in preparing and conducting the mission. (JSC Roundup, Dec 23/77, 1)
MSFC reported that Corning Glass Works, Canton, N.Y., had begun work on a huge primary mirror blank for NASA's Space Telescope, designed to give astronomers a view to the edge of the universe. Corning would work under a $1.74 million subcontract from Perkin-Elmer Corp., which would be responsible for assembling the optical telescope. Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. would build the spacecraft and support system and integrate the telescope into it.
Scientists expected the space telescope to detect light from objects 14 billion light-years from earth; it might, therefore, be able to provide views of the first galaxies at the time they were formed. The Hale telescope at the Mt. Palomar Observatory in Calif. could penetrate only about 2 billion light-years because of the optical degradation from earth's atmosphere. The space telescope would be carried by the Shuttle to an orbit more than 300mi above earth to avoid that interference.
Corning would deliver the first of two 8ft discs to Perkin-Elmer within a yr and the spare by April 1979, for the process of grinding the blanks to an optical curvature. The blank would be l ft thick with a 2ft-diameter center hole, and would consist of solid inch-thick top and bottom plates separated by a weight-saving structure of open cells loin long and 4in square. It would carry a thin metal film constituting the mirror or reflective surface; glass had long served as best mirror material because its shape would change only slightly with changes in temperature, so that it maintained image quality. More than 40yr ago Corning had made the 200in blank for the Hale telescope out of borosilicate glass, having an expansion of 32.5 on a scale used by physicists; the material it would use for the space telescope blank would have an expansion of zero. Corning had chosen the new material, a titanium silicate called ULE (ultra-low expansion) first formulated in 1967, for ease of handling and ultrasonic testing. (MSFC Release 77-233)
LaRC reported that its plans for a trash-burning steam plant called Project RECOUP [see Oct. 6] had hit a snag when the center opened construction bids Dec. 7. All four bids were higher than expected, the lowest being about $1.4 million more than the government's estimate, which was about $8 million. Funds available to the center for the plant, including contingencies, totaled no more than $8.4 million. Leo Daspit, LaRC project manager, said he would have to meet with his counterparts in the city of Hampton and at Langley AFB to "explore our options." (Langley Researcher, Dec 23/77, 3)
LaRC announced it had selected a firm called Mercury, of Tustin, Calif., to negotiate a 3yr $2.4-million contract for support services to the center's steam and air-compression facilities. The contract, beginning Jan. 1, 1978, would have two lyr unpriced options for extension. (LaRC Release 77-60)
A year-end summary of NASA activities included 16 launch efforts and completion of two series of manned Shuttle orbiter tests. Three of the 16 launches had failed, 2 destroying launcher and spacecraft immediately after liftoff; the third resulted from upper-stage failure and did not put the spacecraft into proper orbit. (NASA Release 77-257; KSC Release 212-77)
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