Jun 12 1981
From The Space Library
NASA signed an agreement with the West German firm Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Glom (MBB) covering the first flight of shuttle-pallet satellite SPAS-01 scheduled for orbit on STS-5, the first operational Shuttle flight, in September 1982. This would be the first payload deployed and retrieved by the Shuttle's Canadian-built remote-manipulator system (RMS).
The 1,814-kilogram (4,000-pound) payload would operate inside the payload bay and would also be a free flyer when deployed, using an on-board stabilization and control system. NASA would use it to test RMS capabilities during the five-day mission, with a 70-mm camera on the payload to record deployment, free flight, retrieval, and reberthing. MBB would conduct materials processing experiments while the payload was in the shuttle bay.
The agreement was signed for NASA by Dr. Stanley I. Weiss, associate administrator for space transportation operations, and for MBB by Dr. Johannes Schubert and Dr. Peter C. Bittner, general manager and commercial director of MBB's space division. The pact would cover KSC and JSC launch services as well as NASA's use of the payload for RMS testing. (NASA Release 81-80)
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