Oct 24 1978
From The Space Library
NASA announced that fabrication and testing of components was continuing at various locations throughout the U.S. in preparation for a scheduled first manned orbital flight of the Space Shuttle September 28, 1979. NASA had accelerated production and installation of thermal protection system (TPS) the for Orbiter 102, had increased staffs at both the Rockwell facility and the Lockheed plant where the tiles were made, and had obtained new tile-inspection equipment.
Testing of the Space Shuttle main engine (SSME) continued at the Natl. Space Technology Laboratories; between Sept. 10 and Oct. 12, two engines had been test-fired for a total of 3794sec. Ten of the tests reached rated power level (RPL), accumulating 3096sec. Engine firings through Oct. 11 totaled 350 for 26 530sec total time, including 8909sec at RPL. NASA had scheduled full-duration testing of the three-engine cluster forming the main propulsion system for early in 1979, when the first manned orbital-flight configuration engines would become available.
The third static-test firing of a solid-fuel rocket booster (SRB) motor occurred Oct. 19 at Thiokol Chemical Corp.'s test site near Brigham City, Utah. Early data indicated the test firing and gimbaling of the motor nozzle were satisfactory.
MSFC had mated all the Space Shuttle elements-two SRBs, an external tank, and an orbiter (101)-for the first time in vertical vibration testing to verify that the structure would perform as predicted during various stages of flight. (NASA Release 78-162)
NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Alan Lovelace announced appointment of John Boyd as deputy director of DFRC effective Jan. 1, 1979. Since 1970 Boyd had served as deputy director of aeronautics and flight systems at ARC, where he had worked since 1947. Author of many technical reports, Boyd had received several honors for his work, including NASA's exceptional service award. (NASA Release 78-163; DFRC Release 20-78)
NASA announced that its Tiros-N third-generation weather satellite launched from WTR Oct. 13 had returned excellent quality data and pictures from a near-perfect circular polar orbit at 870km (543mi) by 860km (537mi) altitude. Its advanced very high-resolution radiometer, the automatic picture transmission system, and the high resolution picture transmission system designed to provide local area coverage to hundreds of weather forecasters around the world were all working. After NASA completed a checkout in 3wk, it would turn over the satellite to NOAA for operation. (NASA Release 78-164)
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