NOTE: The following is from the UPI newswire services.\tMore information
\n can be found in option “T”.<\/p>\n
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) _ A “space Coke can” for carbonated beverages will
\nbe tested during the next space shuttle flight set to start July 12, the space
\nagency announced Thursday.<\/p>\n
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the Coca-Cola Co.
\ndeveloped at its own expense and initiative a way to dispense carbonated drinks
\nin weightlessness.<\/p>\n
Up to now, NASA said it was not possible for astronauts to consume carbonated
\nbeverages in weightlessness “because there was no adequate way to dispense
\ncarbonated beverages.”<\/p>\n
“The new technology will provide an alternative source of liquid consumption
\nfor astronauts,” NASA said.<\/p>\n
The upcoming test is part of an agreement between NASA and Coca-Cola under
\nwhich the company will grant NASA a license to use the space can design for
\nunrestricted use in dispensing beverages in space.<\/p>\n
NASA said other companies are welcome to propose different technology to
\nachieve the same purpose.
\n_________<\/p>\n
44 upi 06-20-85 02:32 ped<\/p>\n
Hangar accident blamed on human error
\nBy WILLIAM HARWOOD
\nUPI Science Writer<\/p>\n
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) _ A hangar accident that damaged the shuttle
\nDiscovery last March was caused in part by disregard of a “Do Not Operate” tag
\non a broken hoist, a NASA report said Thursday.<\/p>\n
Although the Lockheed Space Operations Co. was responsible for operation and
\nmaintenance of the work platform hoist that failed, the investigation board
\nsaid “this company inherited the system and a certain tradition of its misuse
\nby NASA and its predecessor contractors.”<\/p>\n
The accident occurred March 8 when a cable in the hoist for a 2,500-pound
\nmobile service platform broke and dropped the platform on Discovery’s left-side
\npayload bay door, puncturing it in two places and injuring a technician.<\/p>\n
Gary Sutherland suffered a broken leg in the incident and Discovery’s flight
\nwas delayed 18 days, until April 12, so the payload bay door damage could be
\nrepaired at a cost of $200,000.<\/p>\n
“The mishap can be characterized as the logical culmination of a series of
\nevents and conditions which pushed the mechanical components to and beyond
\ntheir limits,” the accident report said.<\/p>\n
The report said factors contributing to the accident included improper
\noperation of the service platform, poor operating instructions, violations of
\nsafety rules and inadequate maintenance.<\/p>\n
A Lockheed techincian reported that a switch failed on the hoist March 4 and
\none of two redundant cable links was severed, the report said.\tThe entire
\nsystem then was flagged with the “Do Not Operate” tag.<\/p>\n
Despite the tag, the hoist was used at least twice between March 4 and March
\n8, causing great strain to the master link in the remaining cable assembly, the
\nreport said.<\/p>\n
When the platform was moved March 8, the jolt was enough to fracture the
\nremaining cable link and the platform fell.<\/p>\n
The report said the Lockheed technicians who admitted using the platform March
\n6 “stated that they saw some tags, believed them to be old tags and proceeded
\nto operate the platform.”<\/p>\n
_________<\/p>\n
The only _ satellite launched)
\nBy WILLIAM HARWOOD
\nUPI Science Writer<\/p>\n
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) _ Discovery’s crew launched a boxy satellite today
\nto look for evidence of a black hole at the core of the Milky Way and ground
\ncrews promised no more foul-ups for a rescheduled “Star Wars” test.<\/p>\n
Astronaut Shannon Lucid, using the shuttle’s 50-foot-long robot arm, released
\nthe 2,190-pound Spartan satellite at 12:02 p.m.<\/p>\n
If all goes well, the automated observatory will be retrieved Saturday after
\nspending 45 hours on its own recording X-rays from the heart of the Milky Way
\nand from a cluster of galaxies in the Perseus constellation.<\/p>\n
Scientists hope to use the data to learn more about the evolution of the
\nuniverse and whether black holes, objects with such intense gravity even light
\ncannot escape, are common in the cosmos.<\/p>\n
Commander Daniel Brandenstein, co-pilot John Creighton and crewmates Shannon
\nLucid, Steven Nagel, John Fabian, Frenchman Patrick Baudry and Saudi Prince
\nSultan Salman Al-Saud have sailed through the first three days of the 18th
\nshuttle mission.<\/p>\n
The only glitch in what is shaping up as the smoothest flight in the shuttle
\nprogram came Wednesday when the first space test of a “Star Wars” missile
\ndefense experiment was bungled.<\/p>\n
Flight director Milt Heflin said Brandenstein was given incorrect information
\nto orient the shuttle to reflect a laser beam fired from Hawaii back to the
\nground station for analysis.<\/p>\n
The test was rescheduled today for Friday and a morning teleprinter message
\nfrom ground controllers promised to “get the altitude right for your next
\nattempt.”<\/p>\n
Otherwise, the flight has proceeded so smoothly mission controllers beamed up
\na recording of “The Sounds of Silence” early today because the crew has had so
\nlittle to say.<\/p>\n
“We were trying to pick a theme song for this flight and we thought that was
\nappropriate,” said Robert Springer in mission control.<\/p>\n
“Yeah, we thought that might be a subtle hint,” Nagel replied.<\/p>\n
Three communications satellites owned by Mexico, the Arab League and American
\nTelephone & Telegraph Co. have been successfully launched since blastoff
\nMonday to earn NASA about $30 million.<\/p>\n
Spartan is a reusable, $3.5 million satellite designed to provide a relatively
\ninexpensive way to conduct useful astronomy from orbit.<\/p>\n
Powerful bursts of X-rays from the core of the Milky Way, shrouded behind
\nthick veils of interstellar dust and debris, seem to indicate the presence of a
\nblack hole possibly 4 million times more massive than the sun.<\/p>\n
By definition, black holes cannot be detected visually. But theory holds that
\nas matter is sucked in it is accelerated and heated, which produces X-rays.
\nSpartan automatically will record the radiation for analysis on the ground.<\/p>\n
The shuttle “Star Wars” test is a significant step in a program that could
\nlead to a weapons system in which ground lasers would bounce blasts of energy
\noff giant orbiting mirrors to destroy enemy missiles in flight.<\/p>\n
Bouncing a low-power laser beam from Hawaii off a mirror mounted in a shuttle
\nwindow Wednesday, scientists had hoped To demonstrate the capability of
\ncorrecting the beam for atmospheric distortion.<\/p>\n
But Brandenstein’s flight plan contained the wrong information for the
\nshuttle’s guidance system to correctly point the shuttle _ and the mirror _ at
\nthe ground station 9,994 feet up Mount Haleakala on the island of Maui, Hawaii.<\/p>\n
Heflin said the flight plan called for the guidance information to be entered
\ninto the shuttle computers in feet when it should have been entered in nautical
\nmiles.<\/p>\n
So instead of aiming the mirror at a target 1,644 nautical miles high, the
\nshuttle aimed at a target 9,994 miles high. The result: the mirror was
\npointed toward deep space instead of Hawaii.<\/p>\n
“It’ll work the next time, assuming the weather is going to be good,” said Air
\nForce Lt. Gen. James Abrahamson, director of President Reagan’s Strategic
\nDefense Initiative _ commonly referred to as “Star Wars.”<\/p>\n
____________<\/p>\n
36 upi 06-20-85 05:21 aed<\/p>\n
Astronaut joins private space firm
\n By BETTY LUMAN<\/p>\n
HOUSTON (UPI) _ Joseph Allen says he never expected to retire as an astronaut
\nat age 65, so he will leave NASA after 18 years to become vice president of a
\nprivate space firm a few days after his 48th birthday.<\/p>\n
Allen, who rescued a 1,265-pound stranded satellite in November by flying over
\nto it with a jet backpack, said Wednesday he is resigning from NASA effective
\nJuly 1.<\/p>\n
The physicist was selected an astronaut-scientist in August 1967. He will
\nbecome executive vice president of Space Industries Inc., a Houston firm
\npursuing ventures in the commerical use of space.<\/p>\n
“My memory is more filled now with wonderful events … than I ever could
\nhave imagined when Alan Shepard called me those 18 years ago,” he said.<\/p>\n
Allen, 48, said he is leaving NASA with “considerable nostalgia and sadness,
\nbut some excitement. I never pictured myself retiring at 65 from the astronaut
\noffice.<\/p>\n
“It’s good news and good news. I found another job and it’s still in the
\nspace business.”<\/p>\n
Allen flew on two space missions _ the first fully operational flight of the
\nshuttle in November 1982 and the spectacular salvage mission of two $35 million
\nsatellites two years later.<\/p>\n
On the 14th shuttle mission, Allen and Dale Gardner took turns on two
\ndifferent days to fly over to the Palapa and Westar satellites, grab them with
\na grappling hook and manhandle them into the shuttle Discovery’s cargo bay with
\nthe help of the robot arm operated by astronaut Anna Fisher.<\/p>\n
It was the first time stranded satellites were plucked from orbit and returned
\nto Earth for repair.<\/p>\n
Space Industries last year signed a memorandum of understanding with NASA to
\ndesign and build the world’s first man-tended space platform. It is
\nnegotiating agreements for launch of the platform in 1989.<\/p>\n
The president of SII is Dr. Maxime Faget, former director of engineering and
\ndevelopment at the Johnson Space Center.<\/p>\n
Doug Lilly, another SII vice president, said plans call for the shuttle to
\ndock with the platform so astronauts can work in a “shirt sleeve environment”
\non various experiments that then can be left alone for 30 to 90 days.<\/p>\n
_________<\/p>\n
By WILLIAM HARWOOD
\nUPI Science Writer<\/p>\n
The rest of the 1985 launch schedule:<\/p>\n
_June 12: Discovery returns to service with a three-satellite payload;
\n _July 15: Challenger is launched on a Spacelab mission;
\n _Aug. 10: Discovery carries three communications satellites into orbit;
\n _Sept.26: The new shuttle Atlantis, the fourth and final shuttle in NASA’s
\n\t fleet, blasts off on a secret military mission;
\n _Oct. 16: The original shuttle Columbia, which has been under going
\n\t modifications, returns to service for a Spacelab mission and its
\n\t first flight since November 1983;
\n _Nov.\t8: Challenger is launched with three satellites;
\n _Dec. 20: Columbia takes off on a satellite-launching mission.
\n ____________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n
