August 2000
The Russian Zvezda module mentioned
last month successfully docked in orbit on the first
attempt, officially forming the International Space Station. Everything
worked properly except for a backup docking target that wasn't needed,
and no leaks or problems were found over the following weeks as the systems
were checked out. Ground controllers did accidentally shut down the thrusters
that stabilize the ISS for 2 1/2 hours, but this was finger trouble and
not a fault on the spacecraft.
This all made the news, but the next Progress automatic supply
mission docked on the 8th August didn't. It worked fine though,
taking up all the supplies that would have made
Zvezda too heavy
to lift. Things like 616 kg of clothes, food, tools, a couple of laptops,
parts for the station's toilet, life support systems and a fair bit of
fuel.
The fuel is transferred automatically, but the crew of Shuttle flight
106 will spend 11 days unpacking the Progress craft like a glorified
suitcase some time after the Shuttle's launch on the 8th September
- if NASA can launch on time. The last shuttle to launch on schedule was
the one that carried John Glenn into orbit. The fuel meanwhile will boost
the ISS up by an extra 60Km or so to an average of 435Km above the Earth.
Some Progress engine firings have happened already, taking the ISS
up 7 kilometers and there appear to be no problems.
When the Shuttle goes up, it'll be the 99th Shuttle flight,
and the first flight of a year which will see an unprecidented 15 shuttle
launches. It is worth bearing in mind that this is the level of activity
that was originally anticipated when the shuttle was designed.
Life
Up Above Down Below
It's life Jim, but not as we Know it. Maybe. Lurking under the icy coating
of Europa's ocean, out in Jupiter's orbit, is what's likely to be the best
place in the solar system to find life - next to Earth, of course. The
probe Gallileo, which brings
us those amazing pictures of Jupiter, has within it a very sensitive cousin
of the compass called a magnetometer. This device has found that Europa
has a faint magnetic field which flips about - indicating that there's
a lot of salty water under Europa's ice. Now we know that life on Earth
does well in oceans, even when it's dark and very, very deep. It is quite
likely that Europa has active underwater volcanos, andat a stretch it is
possible to imagine life evolving there, as it has around volcanic vents
in our own oceans. The tricky thing is: how do we take a look?
Sole Survivor
You might have watched the American "Survivor" series on the TV, where
the sole survivor on a desert island wins US$1 million - good money if
you can get it. Anyway, the next prize on offer is worth US$20m:A trip
to
Mir. Yes, they're offering a trip into space as the final prize
for the next series. Apparently this is going to take place in the Australian
outback, not the Russian training facility as I'd said earlier.
The most important thing about this series, "Destination Mir", is that
it is bringing spaceflight closer to the everyday man and woman in the
street. People are starting to understand that, gosh, you don't have to
be a USAF hotshot to go up there, and that governments do not control who
goes up and who stays down. Could it be that with the rush of Shuttle flights
coming up, mankind is finally going to start entering space for real? Dennis
Tito has started paying his US$20 million fee for his trip to Mir
and has passed his physical.
Russian
Rush
While some pundits are doubting Russian commitment to the ISS (probably
something to do with it being the 25th anniversary fo the first
US/USSR Apollo/Soyuz linkup), the Russians are in fact expanding their
commitment to the station and want to make it even bigger. RSC
Energia - the people who build the Soyuz and Progress
craft, launched Sputnik, and built Mir - have made an agreement
with SPACEHAB (who kindly provided the picture on the left) to produce
the "Enterprise" module. This is not a tribute to the well-known Star Trek
spaceship, but highlights that this is the first completely commercial
module for the ISS. It replaces the proposed Docking and Stowage Module,
and should be launched early in 2003, cock-ups notwithstanding. The pointy
end of the module that you can see in the artist's rendering is another
docking port, so there is either room for further expansion or parking
space for shuttles as required.
Gripping
Stuff
The ISS is going to be getting a hand from the Canadians. Actually, it'll
get an arm first, sometime in April next year, then a base to carry the
arm that slides up and down the station in January 2002, and finally the
hand that fits on the end of the arm will turn up in January 2004.
Together, these bits form the Mobile Servicing System (pictured on
the right, courtesy NASA). It basically saves suiting up an astronaut and
sending them out to do mundane or dangerous jobs. Plus with a reach of
17 metres and the strength to dock a Shuttle, it can obviously be put to
uses that astronauts and cosmonauts cannot.
At the moment, when NASA wants a "Dextrous end effector" (trans: a
hand that works) it sticks an astronaut on the end of the shuttle arm and
waves them at the problem. Although nobody has yet died during a spacewalk,
there is concern that the statistics are against a perfect safety record
during the assembly of the ISS and the arm - even without the hand - will
help twist the odds in the astronaut's favour. A training system is also
being supplied for use on the ground.
This edition is also on the web, just point
your web browser to http://olliver.family.gen.nz. vik@olliver.family.gen.nz.
"The future cannot be predicted, but
futures can be invented."
- Dennis Gabor, 1963
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main page http://olliver.family.gen.nz/launchpad