Jun 19 1985
From The Space Library
NASA announced that it signed today with Instrument Technology Associates (ITA) an agreement for ITA to develop for use on the Space Shuttle flight hardware consisting of a standardized experiment module (ISEM) payload carrier, a turn key module for use by any commercial firm, government agency, research organization, or educational institution wishing to conduct experiments in a microgravity environment. An organization could purchase or lease all or part of the ISEM.
Under the agreement, NASA would provide ITA with two Space Shuttle flights to obtain data and validate the ISEM design. NASA had scheduled for late 1987 the first ISEM test that would carry a payload for the Bioprocessing and Pharmaceutical Center of the Philadelphia University City Science Center.
ITA would design the ISEM to be compatible with the proposed space station with the idea that initial users of the module would progress to larger and more sophisticated payloads to fly in the future aboard the station. (NASA Release 85-94)
NASA announced it assigned Robert Cenker, a senior staff engineer at RCA Astro-Electronics, as a payload specialist on Space Shuttle mission 61-C scheduled for launch on December 20,1985. Cenker would support deployment of the Astro-Electronics-built RCA Satcom Ku-Band-1 communications satellite from orbiter Columbia and perform experiments with an infrared camera developed at RCA's David Sarnoff Research Center and manufactured at Astro-Electronics.
During his 13-year career at RCA, Cenker held a number of engineering positions in the Satcom program that included work on spacecraft design, integration and test scheduling, cost control, and launch site activity planning.
The crew of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission 51-G designated Steven Nagel as the 100th American to reach space, the Washington Times reported. Before that flight, 96 Americans on 48 missions dating back to 1961 had flown in space.
There were five Americans aboard the Space Shuttle, but commander Daniel Brandenstein decided Nagel took the 100th honor because three Americans sat in front of him on Discovery's flight deck. "Shannon Lucid was the first runner-up," Brandenstein said. "She got to space three inches ahead of Steven Nagel." To mark the occasion, which was televised back to earth, Brandenstein presented Nagel with a cake that had "100th" written on it.
"I'm not sure if that's true," Nagel said. "Although I sat three inches behind Shannon, my nose is about three and a half inches longer than hers is." (W Times, June 20/85, 3A)
Responding to a suggestion made by President Reagan at a June 19 press conference that the U.S. expand its sky marshal force for use on international flights, Thomas Pyle, speaking for the International Air Transport Association, said security experts found little merit in the suggestion, the NY Times reported. "We're not happy about anybody having guns up in the air," he said. "There's a distinct danger to passenger's and a bigger danger of damage to the aircraft." Pyle did acknowledge that there might be special occasions, including cases of known threats to particular flights, when marshals would be needed.
Richard Lally, security chief for the association representing U.S. airlines and for the Federal Aviation Administration from 1974 to 1982, agreed with Pyle's assessment. "It is not an answer to the problem and introduces an impression that it is. It provides for a very dangerous situation." The views expressed by Pyle and Lally reflected the consensus of security experts that the best place to head off hijackings was on the ground. (NY Times, June 20/85, A20)
NASA announced that Dr. Joseph Allen, who in November 1982 was a mission specialist on the four-member crew of mission STS-5, the first fully operational flight of the Space Shuttle, would resign July 1, 1986 from NASA to become executive vice president of Space Industries, Inc., a Houston-based firm pursuing commercial ventures in space. Allen also flew on mission 51-A, the second flight of Discovery, during which he participated in the deployment of two communications satellites and, in the first space salvage mission, helped retrieve the Palapa B-2 and Westar VI satellites for return to earth.
In addition to his astronaut work, Allen was a mission scientist for Apollo 15, staff consultant on science and technology to the President's Council on International Economic Policy, and NASA assistant administrator for legislative affairs.
Allen had received NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, Exceptional Service Medal, and Superior Performance Award. (NASA Release 85-91)
Dr. Raymond Colladay, NASA's associate administrator for aeronautics and space technology, said in an interview that NASA was developing a set of "technology roadmaps" that would provide the framework for the government, military, and industry to implement programs that would allow the U.S. to meet the national aeronautics research and development goals proposed in a White House report, "National Aeronautical R&D Goals," Aerospace Daily reported. Dr. Colladay said the report, written by the White House Office of Science and Technology, had charged NASA with developing the quantitative performance levels and technology steps that would be required to achieve three major goals in subsonics, supersonics, and transatmospherics. NASA hoped to have the roadmaps, being developed in cooperation with the Defense Department and industry, completed in July for review at the next planned interagency meeting.
The roadmaps "will represent a national consensus" on what needs to be done to achieve the aeronautics goals outlined in the report, Colladay said, although they would not spell out specific programs or funding levels.
The report had three goals: to advance technology for a new generation of fuel-efficient, affordable U.S. subsonic aircraft; to develop the technology for efficient, long-range supersonic cruise capability for military and civil aircraft; and to develop options in aeronautics and space technology for routine cruising and maneuvering into and out of the atmosphere with takeoff and landing from conventional runways. A fourth major national R&D goal, Colladay noted, was to maintain the basic research and technology that supported those three goals.
Colladay singled out the transatmospheric vehicle and hypersonic speeds as developments that would be "the biggest driver" with the "biggest payoff." Observers had identified hydrogen-fueled scramjets as holding greatest promise in producing substantially improved propulsive efficiency over current rocket technology. Colladay added that both NASA and the Defense Department were "very interested" in the hypersonic area.
Vehicles of that type depended on further technological developments in propulsion, materials, and intelligent integrated flight controls. Colladay pointed out that NASA had made substantial progress in all those areas over the last decade.
When questioned about future funding, Colladay indicated NASA might not face problems such as those created by the Office of Management and Budget when reportedly it had attempted to delete part of the NASA's aeronautics budget. Colladay said, "I think that the content of the program, when we focus on these national goals, will not be subjected to the same policy disagreements that we have had in the past," which centered primarily on the role of NASA in support of "civil aviation oriented research. In the case of supersonic cruise research and transatmospheric vehicles, there is no long term commercial driver . . . that industry would do on their own . . . it's a clear example of where the government needs to take the lead to make it happen, Holladay concluded. (A/D, June 19/85, 1)
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