Tag Archives: Spacelab

Jun 18 2012

Space Shuttle STS-47 Endeavour Spacelab-J and Ashford School

 

Girls from Ashford School in Kent with their Space Experiment

STS-47 was the 50th Space Shuttle mission of the program, as well as the second mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour. The mission mainly involved conducting experiments in life and material sciences.

Spacelab-J—a joint NASA and National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) mission using a manned Spacelab module—conducted microgravity investigations in materials and life sciences. The international crew, consisting of the first Japanese astronaut to fly aboard the Shuttle, the first African-American woman to fly in space and, contrary to normal NASA policy, the first married couple to fly on the same space mission (Lee and Davis), was divided into red and blue teams for around the clock operations. Spacelab-J included 24 materials science and 20 life sciences experiments, of which 35 were sponsored by NASDA, 7 by NASA and 2 collaborative efforts.

Materials science investigations covered such fields as biotechnology, electronic materials, fluid dynamics and transport phenomena, glasses and ceramics, metals and alloys, and acceleration measurements. Life sciences included experiments on human health, cell separation and biology, developmental biology, animal and human physiology and behavior, space radiation, and biological rhythms. Test subjects included the crew, Japanese koi fish (carp), cultured animal and plant cells, chicken embryos, fruit flies, fungi and plant seeds, and frogs and frog eggs.

Twelve Get Away Special (GAS) canisters (10 with experiments, 2 with ballast) were carried in the payload bay. Middeck experiments were: Israeli Space Agency Investigation About Hornets (ISAIAH), Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX II), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS), and Ultraviolet Plume Imager (UVPI).

Amongst the GAS Cansisters was G-102 Sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America’s Exploring Division in cooperation with the TRW Systems Integration Group, Fairfax, Va. The project was named Project POSTAR which was the first space experiment created entirely by members of the Boy Scouts of America.

Also on board were two experiments prepared by Ashford School in Kent which, at the time, was a girls-only school. The school in the UK who had won a competition run by Independent Television News (ITN). The experiments were contained in G-520. The first one injected a few grams of cobalt nitrate crystals to a sodium silicate to create a chemical garden in weightless condition. The growths, which were photographed 66 times as they developed, spread out in random directions twisting and in some cases forming spiral shapes. A second experiment to investigate how Liesegang rings formed in space failed to operate correctly due to friction in parts of the mechanism. On its return the experiment was exhibited in the London Science Museum..

Watch Space Shuttle STS-47 Endeavour Spacelab-J pt1-2 Post Flight Press 1992 NASA

Watch Space Shuttle STS-47 Endeavour Spacelab-J pt2-2 Post Flight Press 1992 NASA

1985 Video – Ashford School for Girls win ITN Space Experiment Competition
http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//ITN/1985/03/05/AS050385011/

1991 Video – ITN report on the Ashford School for Girls Space Experiment
http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//ITN/1991/11/17/BSP171191013/

1992 Video – ITN report on Ashford School Space Experiment exhibit at London Science Museum
http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//ITN/1992/12/17/BSP171292029/

Jun 16 2012

Spacelab – STS-50 Mission 1992 Video

Richard Richards KB5SIW Receiving SSTV on Space Shuttle STS-50

Richard Richards KB5SIW Receiving SSTV on Space Shuttle mission STS-50

The 1992 space shuttle STS-50 mission was the first time that astronauts received an amateur radio fast-scan television video. It was sent by the ham radio club station W5RRR at the Johnson Space Center (JSC).

Narrated by the Commander and crew, this video contains footage selected by the astronauts, as well as their comments on the mission. Footage includes launch, onboard crew activities, and landing.

The amateur radio aspect of the mission gets a mention at 11:32 into this video.

Watch Space Shuttle STS-50 Columbia Spacelab USML pt1-2 Post Flight Press 1992 NASA

Watch Space Shuttle STS-50 Columbia Spacelab USML pt2-2 Post Flight Press 1992 NASA

Video of Jay Leno – SAREX – Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment 1992 http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=8172

Vintage Spacelab 2 video featuring Amateur Radio http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=7639

Vintage Videos of STS-9 Columbia Mission and Spacelab http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=7265

Shuttle Amateur Radio experiment (SAREX) past missions

Astronaut Radio Hams http://www.w5rrr.org/ astros.html

May 23 2012

Vintage Spacelab 2 video featuring Amateur Radio

W0ORE STS-51-F QSL Card - Image Credit John Magliacane KD2BD

The second ham radio transmissions by an amateur radio operator in space were made by Tony England W0ORE during the Challenger shuttle mission STS 51-F in 1985.

He achieved the first ever two-way Slow Scan TV (SSTV) space contact during the flight when he contacted GB3RS the headquaters station of the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB).

Tony W0ORE was running a Motorola model MX-340 handheld 2-meter transceiver and a Robot Research model 1200C slow-scan television scan converter with an antenna fitted on the inside of one of Challengers windows.

Narrated by the Commander and crew, these videos contains footage selected by the astronauts, as well as their comments on the mission. Footage includes launch, onboard crew activities, and landing. The Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) is mentioned 11:40 into the video.

Space Shuttle STS-51-F Challenger Spacelab 2 Post Flight Press Conference Film 1985 Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

The ITN TV news report ‘Space Radio Hams’ on the two-way SSTV contact between GB3RS at RSGB HQ and Tony England W0ORE (believed to have been on 145.550 MHz) can be seen at
http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//ITN/1985/08/04/AS040885006/

Videos taken by a local TV station, of a contact between a school in Staten Island, NY and Tony England W0ORE on STS-51F can be seen at http://www.southgatearc.org/news/january2009/historic_shuttle_videos.htm

John Magliacane KD2BD was one of the amateurs who had a contact with Tony England, see his website at http://www.qsl.net/kd2bd/kd2bd.html

STS-51-F (also known as Spacelab 2) was the nineteenth flight of NASA’s Space Shuttle program, and the eighth flight of Space Shuttle Challenger. It launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 29 July 1985, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, just under eight days later on 6 August 1985, at 12:45:26 pm PDT.

Shuttle Mission STS-51-F http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-51-F

Vintage Videos of STS-9 Columbia Mission and Spacelab http://www.uk.amsat.org/7265

May 9 2012

Vintage Videos of STS-9 Columbia Mission and Spacelab

Owen Garriott W5LFL with Motorola two meter FM ham radio on STS-9 Columbia

The first ham radio transmissions by an amateur radio operator in space were made by Owen K. Garriott W5LFL during the STS-9 Columbia mission in 1983. This led to many further space flights incorporating amateur radio as an educational and back-up communications tool.

Watch ARRL – Amateur Radio’s Newest Frontier (STS-9 Columbia) narrated by Roy Neal K6DUE

Narrated by the Commander and crew, the following video contains footage selected by the astronauts, as well as their comments on the mission. Footage includes launch, onboard crew activities, and landing.

Watch Space Shuttle STS-9 Columbia-Spacelab 1 pt1-2 Post Flight Press Conference Film 1983 NASA

Watch Space Shuttle STS-9 Columbia-Spacelab 1 pt2-2 Post Flight Press Conference Film 1983 NASA

STS-9 (also known as STS-41A and Spacelab 1) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission which carried the first Spacelab module into orbit to conduct space-based scientific experiments. It was the sixth mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia, and was Columbia’s last flight until STS-61-C in January 1986. It was also the last time the old STS numbering was used until STS-26 (in the aftermath of the Challenger disaster of STS-51-L). Under the new system, STS-9 would have been designated as STS-41-A.

STS-9 launched successfully from Kennedy Space Center at 11 am EST on 28 November 1983.

The shuttle’s crew was divided into two teams, each working 12-hour shifts for the duration of the mission. Young, Parker and Merbold formed the Red Team, while Shaw, Garriott and Lichtenberg made up the Blue Team. Usually, the commander and the pilot team members were assigned to the flight deck, while the mission and payload specialists worked inside the Spacelab.

Over the course of the mission, seventy-two scientific experiments were carried out, spanning the fields of atmospheric and plasma physics, astronomy, solar physics, material sciences, technology, life sciences and Earth observations. The Spacelab effort went so well that the mission was extended an additional day to 10 days, making it the longest-duration shuttle flight at that time.

The Spacelab 1 mission was highly successful, proving the feasibility of the concept of carrying out complex experiments in space using non-NASA persons trained as payload specialists in collaboration with a POCC. Moreover, the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, now fully operational, was able to relay vasts amounts of data through its ground terminal to the POCC.

During orbiter orientation, four hours before re-entry, one of the flight control computers crashed when the RCS thrusters were fired. A few minutes later, a second crashed in a similar fashion, but was successfully rebooted. Young delayed the landing, letting the orbiter drift. He later testified: “Had we then activated the Backup Flight Software, loss of vehicle and crew would have resulted.” Post-flight analysis revealed the GPCs failed when the RCS thruster motion knocked a piece of solder loose and shorted out the CPU board.

Columbia landed on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base on 8 December 1983, at 3:47 pm PST, having completed 166 orbits and travelled 4.3 million miles (6.9×106 km) over the course of its mission. Right before landing, two of the orbiter’s three auxiliary power units caught fire due to a hydrazine leak, but the orbiter nonetheless landed successfully. Columbia was ferried back to KSC on 15 December. The leak was later discovered after it had burned itself out and caused major damage to the compartment…

Commander: John W. Young
Pilot: Brewster H. Shaw, Jr.
Mission Specialists: Owen K. Garriott, Robert A. R. Parker
Payload Specialists: Byron K. Lichtenberg (MIT), Ulf Merbold (Germany)
Dates: November 28 to December 8, 1983
Vehicle: Columbia OV-102
Payloads: Spacelab-1
Landing site: Runway 17 dry lakebed at Edwards AFB, CASpace Shuttle

History http://scitech.quickfound.net/astro/space_shuttle_news.html