Oct 22 1976
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (1MB PDF)
A recently completed manipulator-development facility at Johnson Space Center's Bldg. 9a laboratory would assist NASA engineers and technicians in studying Shuttle payload deployment, and retrieval in space, JSC announced. The manipulating system, with a reach of 15.2 meters, was the largest known remotely controlled manipulator system. Sizes of payloads to be carried in the Space Shuttle would range from very small to a maximum length of 18.2 m and diameter of 4.5 m; objective of the facility would be to improve techniques of moving bulky payloads in and out of the orbiter's bay in a weightless environment. The manipulator arm would be operated from inside the orbiter cabin by an astronaut using a pair of hand controllers and viewing the process through a window, aided by a closed-circuit TV system. The laboratory building also housed working models of orbiter components including a full-scale forward cabin section with cargo bay, manipulator station, and a large air-bearing table approximately 25 by 30m on which simulated payloads could be steered on a cushion of air by the remote arm. The air-bearing table would also test the ability of astronauts to move over the smooth interior of the orbiter, using suction-cup shoes instead of cleats locking into grids. An engineer wearing suction-cup shoes and strapped into a cage-like apparatus on the air-bearing table could be familiarized with "walking like a fly" in the day-to-day work environment of the Shuttle. (JSC Release 76-66)
A new research aircraft combining the precision hover and low downwash of a helicopter with the long range and high speed of a fixed-wing aircraft made its debut at rollout ceremonies in Arlington, Tex., marking "a major milestone in the joint NASA-Army tilt rotor program," according to a NASA announcement. The Bell Helicopter Textron's XV-15 would undergo a 2-yr flight-testing program scheduled by Ames Research Center and the Army's Air Mobility Research and Development Laboratory. The XV-15 was a 12.8-m-long 9.7-m wing-span aircraft with wingtip-mounted engines, transmissions, and 7.6-m propeller rotors that could tilt from the helicopter position for vertical takeoffs and landings and for hovering, to a horizontal position for forward flight at speeds up to more than 482 kph. The tilt rotor would operate with less noise than conventional helicopters or turboprop aircraft of comparable size. The first XV-15 would undergo ground and hover tests, then go to ARC for testing in that center's wind tunnel; the second XV-15 would undergo initial envelope-expansion flight tests at Bell's Arlington, Tex., facility beginning late in 1977. (NASA Release 76-169; W Star, 24 Oct 76, A-2)
MSFC announced completion of a huge self-propelled vehicle called the Straddle Carrier Transporter, fabricated by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co. at St. Louis, Mo., and shipped to MSFC for assembly, to be used in moving sections of the Space Shuttle external tank at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Assembled, the external tank would measure 47.2 m in length and 8.5 m in dia.; empty, it would weigh 33 300 kg, and would carry about 708 440 kg of propellants for launch. The transporter, completely self-supporting, would use electricity from a propane-powered generator for its hydraulic propulsion system, steering, lights, and hoists; it would lift, stabilize, and carry major external tank assemblies over concrete floors and improved roadways. Its five cable hoists included two 10-ton units on a monorail on the aft frame; two 5-ton units on a monorail on the forward frame; and a 2-ton hoist on a centerline rail. The 5- and 10-ton hoists in combination would handle the liquid-hydrogen tank with a volume of 1573 cu m; the smaller hoists would handle the liquid-oxygen tank, with a volume of 552 cu m. (MSFC Release 76-193)
Dr. Christopher C. Kraft, Jr., director of Johnson Space Center, had received the' highest honor given by the government of France to a citizen of another country: the insignia of the Knight of the Legion of Honor, the JSC Roundup reported. The award was given for Kraft's "tireless efforts toward better understanding and cooperation between the people of the United States and France." He had also received the Natl. Civil Service League's career-service award for 1976, as one of ten chosen for "excellence in the public service." Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, former director of JSC, was one of 35 space pioneers inducted into the Space Hall of Fame 5 Oct. during the dedication of the new facility at Alamogordo, N.M.
At a JSC ceremony 18 Oct., astronaut Donald K. Slayton received the American Heart Assn.'s 1976 Heart of the Year award for inspiring millions of Americans by "overcoming a heart problem that had grounded him for 10 years, enabling him to resume his distinguished participation in America's space program." (JSC Roundup, 22 Oct 76, 1)
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