May 9 1985
From The Space Library
The Coca-Cola Co. had developed the first container capable of dispensing carbonated beverages in weightlessness, and NASA officials said Coca-Cola could be aboard Space Shuttle flights as early as July, the Washington Post reported. Coca-Cola President Donald Keough said that including carbonated soft drinks on a Space Shuttle flight reflected NASA's interest in providing home-like comforts for the astronauts.
Because liquids did not pour in weightlessness, astronauts had to sip drinks from straws inserted into plastic containers that collapsed as they were emptied. However, gas in carbonated drinks expanded in weightlessness and low atmospheric pressure and therefore could escape from plastic containers.
A company spokesman said Coca-Cola had solved the problem with a steel supercan equipped with a drinking spout, a screw to adjust beverage flow, and a safety lock to prevent leaks. (W Post, May 9/85, A8)
Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC) prime contractor for Space Shuttle solid-fuel rocket booster motors, Morton Thiokol's Wasatch Division, successfully static fired today a new lightweight version of that motor at its facility in northern Utah, the Marshall Star reported.
The firing was the second and final test of the development version of that motor, which contained major sections made from graphite epoxy materials manufactured by Thiokol's subcontractor, Hercules, Inc. Thiokol would perform a final qualification static test of the flight version of the new filament-wound motor in September.
NASA had scheduled the first use of the filament-wound motor segments for early 1986 during the first Space Shuttle launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
Lawrence Mulloy, manager of MSFC's solid-fuel rocket booster project, said each of the filament-wound boosters would weigh about 28,000 lb. less than the current steel boosters, making possible an increase in Space Shuttle payload carrying capacity of about 4,600 lbs. (Marshall Star, May 15/85, 2)
NASA announced that NASA Administrator James Beggs and Japanese Minister of State for Science and Technology, Reiichi Takeuchi, signed that day in Tokyo a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the conduct of a cooperative program concerning detailed definition and preliminary design (Phase B) of a permanently manned Space Station.
Under the MOU, the U.S. and Japan would conduct and coordinate over the next two years parallel Phase B studies and exchange information. Japan would study an experimental module that had pressurized workspace and an exposed work deck. Cooperation during the space station's development, operations, and use phases would require separate agreements.
In a speech that day to the Federation of Japanese Economic Organizations, Beggs outlined initial uses of the space station and reported on specific projects undertaken by other countries participating in space station development. He then noted, ". . . in negotiating with our potential partners, NASA has emphasized that we view the space station as a potential long-term international partnership-one that should last for decades. Any nation that joins with us in such a full partnership must be prepared to make significant investments in the station, and also be prepared to help operate and use it.
"We expect our partners to continue to shoulder responsibility for owning and maintaining their portions of the facility, while continuing to enjoy the overall benefits our joint efforts will make possible. And we expect their contributions to remain a permanent part of the station's infrastructure." Beggs then added, "To cement our long-term relationships, the United States will provide partners with assurance on equitable access to all of the space station's facilities. We also will protect their technology and intellectual property and ensure them suitable roles in the station's management and operation." (NASA Release 85-71, NASA Note To Editors, May 8/85)
NASA announced that astronauts Paul Weitz, Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, and Dale Gardner would support NASA activities at the 36th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget from May 31 through June 9 [see Space Station Program, Mar. 22].
Weitz, then chief of astronaut appearances at Johnson Space Center, was a member of the first Skylab crew in 1973 and later commanded the first flight of the Space Shuttle orbiter Challenger in April 1983. He had logged 793 hours in space.
Sullivan, an astronaut since 1978 with 197.5 hours in space, served as a mission specialist on the October 1984 Space Shuttle mission 41-G and was the first American woman to perform an extravehicular activity or space walk, during which she and astronaut David Leestma conducted a 2.5-hour demonstration of the potential of refueling satellites in space.
Gardner, an astronaut since 1978 with 337 hours in space, had flown on the August 1983 Space Shuttle mission STS-8, the first night launch and landing using the orbiter Challenger, and in November 1984 on the [[STS51-A|51-A]] mission, during which the crew retrieved two communications satellites that had failed to achieve proper orbits after launch from an earlier Space Shuttle flight. NASA refurbished the satellites for reflight.
During the Air Show, the astronauts would make numerous public appearances, participate in media interviews, and assist NASA's marketing efforts at its exhibit in the U.S. pavilion. (NASA Release 85-72)
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