Category Praxis Manned Spaceflight Log 1961-2006

Flight Crew

GUTIERREZ, Sidney McNeill, 42, USAF, commander, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-40 (1990)

CHILTON, Kevin Patrick, 39, USAF, pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-49 (1992)

APT, Jerome “Jay”, 44, civilian, mission specialist 1, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-37 (1991); STS-47 (1992)

CLIFFORD, Michael Richard Uram, 41, USAF, mission specialist 2, 2nd mission

Previous mission: STS-53 (1992)

GODWIN, Linda Maxine, 41, civilian, mission specialist 3, payload commander, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-37 (1991)

JONES, Thomas David, 39, civilian, mission specialist 4

Flight Log

In 1991, NASA expanded its many-faceted programme of Earth studies into a global examination of how Earth’s systems (air, water, land and life) interact with each other and affect or influence changes in the global climate. The new programme was designated Mission to Planet Earth and was divided into phases. The initial phase began in 1991, using satellites such as UARS (deployed from STS-48) and dedicated Shuttle missions (such as the ATLAS series) supported by airborne and ground-based studies. Part of this first phase was the Space Radar Laboratory series. Originally a programme of three missions, STS-59 was the first of the eventual two that actually flew.

The primary advantage of radar imaging is the ability to gather data over virtually any region of the Earth regardless of weather conditions. A similar programme was undertaken by the Magellan probe at the shrouded planet Venus. Observational

imaging radar had been carried previously on STS-2 in 1981 (SIR-A) and STS 41-G in 1984 (SIR-B), and it was the latest variety (SIR-C) that was carried aboard STS-59. The system comprised C-Band (6 cm wavelength) and L-band (23 cm wavelength) radars – four in total – with separate horizontally (H) and vertically (V) polarised units for both bands, and steered electronically. In addition, the mission carried X-SAR, a mechanically-pointed single radar unit (X-band, 3 cm wavelength). There was also an experiment that analysed ocean radar data supplied by SIR-C, as well as MAOS, a carbon monoxide monitoring, sensing and Earth photography package that had flown previously on STS-2 and STS 41-G.

The 7 April launch of STS-59 was postponed for a day at the T — 27 hour mark in order to facilitate an inspection of the metal vanes inside the SSME high-pressure oxidiser pre-burner pumps. The 8 April launch was scrubbed due to bad weather, with low clouds and high crosswinds at the SLF and cloud around the launch pad, but Endeavour launched without incident the following day. Once in orbit, the spacecraft was configured for orbital operations and the crew split into their two shifts, with the Red Shift (Gutierrez, Chilton and Godwin) starting their sleep period and the Blue Shift (Apt, Clifford and Jones) commencing the first series of data gathering. They worked from the aft flight deck as the mission carried no Spacelab or SpaceHab module. After some initial set-up problems, the information came streaming in and was stored on VCR data cassettes. There were 180 such cassettes aboard the Shuttle, enough to support the planned 50 hours of data collection while covering an estimated 50 million square km of the Earth.

This was an international mission, with 49 science investigators and over 100 scientists from 13 nations making up the international science team. The mission focused on the “dry season”, with SRL-2 (STS-68) planned to cover the “wet season” later in the year. This allowed the scientists to compare data from the same sites under different global climate conditions. STS-59 obtained over 133 hours of data (32 terabits, or 32 trillion bits). With SIR-C/X-SAR eventually examining approximately 70 million km of the Earth – representing 12 per cent of the Earth’s total surface and 25 per cent of its land masses – there was enough data to fill 20,000 encyclopaedic volumes. The data-gathering operations were the equivalent of 45 TV stations operat­ing at the same time. Even with advances in digital processing, it would still take five months to process a complete set of images and another nine months of detailed processing after that. At the close of the mission the crew had imaged over 400 sites, including 19 primary observation sites (called super-sites) in Brazil, Michigan, North Carolina and Central Europe.

The crew also found time to work on a variety of secondary and mid-deck payloads and to use the SAREX equipment to talk with both the Russian cosmonauts on Mir and with US astronauts Norman Thagard and Bonnie Dunbar, who were training at TsPK in Moscow. STS-59 also carried three GAS candidate experiments, sponsored by researchers in France, Japan and New Mexico. Perhaps most impor­tantly, the mission also carried the Toughened Uni-piece Fibrous Insulation (TUFI), an improved Thermal Protection System (TPS) tile. Scheduled for a six-flight evalu­ation on all four orbiters, if successful, it was hoped that this fibrous insulation would prove more resilient to impacts in specific areas of the orbiter, such as between the engines, near the landing gear doors and around the orbital manoeuvring thrusters. Several of these new tiles were placed on the base heat shield of Endeavour between the three main engines, for evaluation during the flight and primarily during entry. Post-flight examination revealed no damage on the six tiles installed for the test. The tests ultimately proved successful and TUFI was added to the TPS on the Shuttle from 1996.

Two landing opportunities at Kennedy were cancelled on 19 April due to bad weather. A third chance of bringing Endeavour home to the Cape on 20 April was also waived off, in favour of landing at Edwards.

Milestones

169th manned space flight

92nd US manned space flight

62nd Shuttle mission

6th flight of OV-105

1st flight of SRL payload configuration

1st flight of TUFI – improved thermal protection tile samples

Flight Crew

KORZUN, Valery Grigoryevich, 46, Russian Air Force, commander KALERI, Alexandr Yuriyevich, 40, civilian, flight engineer, 2nd mission Previous mission: Soyuz TM14 (1992)

ANDRE-DESHAYS, Claudie, 39, civilian, cosmonaut researcher

Flight Log

The original crew for this mission were supposed to have been Expedition 22 crew members Gennady Manakov (commander) and Pavel Vinogradov (flight engineer), along with French cosmonaut Claudie Andre-Deshays. However, just one week before launch, Manakov failed a regular medical check and the back-up crew of Korzun and Kaleri took the place of the Russian prime crew. Since she was not part of the main crew, Andre-Deshays was able to remain on the mission. The change did not have much effect on Shannon Lucid, who was nearing the end of her stay on Mir, but the next US resident astronaut, John Blaha, had not trained with either Korzun or Kaleri. This would prove a challenging hurdle for the American to overcome after he replaced Lucid on Mir in September.

The French Cassiopee programme included cardiovascular and neurosensory investigations. There was also a technology experiment that recorded vibrations aboard the station while there were more than the normal resident crew aboard, as well as a materials-processing experiment. After two weeks aboard Mir, Andre – Deshays returned with the EO-21 crew, leaving Lucid to complete her residency with the new cosmonauts prior to the arrival of Blaha on STS-79. Andre-Deshays com­mented that two weeks was nowhere near sufficient time to adjust to life on Mir and to complete all her experiment programme, but with two more French long-duration visits already booked, this was not expected to be a problem for future French cosmonauts.

On 7 September, Lucid surpassed Kondakova’s record for the longest female space flight. Ten days later, with her return Shuttle flight already in space, she surpassed Reiter’s 179-day record for a visiting cosmonaut. When Blaha took over, he continued the programme of experiments started by Lucid, but also brought some new ones. During his stay on Mir, it appeared he was enjoying his residency, and it was only after he came home that he revealed it had been a difficult mission. He was replaced on Mir in January 1997 by Jerry Linenger, who would remain with the EO-22 crew for a month before the next resident crew took over.

The EO-22 cosmonauts completed two EVAs during their stay on Mir; the first on 2 December lasted 5 hours 58 minutes, and the second, a week later, lasted 6 hours 38 minutes. Their work outside included the completion of MCSA cable installation. They also relocated the Rapana girder to the top of the new Stombus girder on the underside of Kvant and on their second EVA, they had to reinstall antennae they had dislodged during their first excursion. Back inside the station, in addition to the regular maintenance and housekeeping chores, the cosmonauts continued the research programme and assisted their various visitors with their research objectives.

One of the more challenging events at the end of their residency was the fire on 24 February 1997, which was the result of a split chemical burner in the Vika unit in Kvant 1. The use of “candles” to supplement the oxygen output of the Elektron regeneration system was typical when more than three cosmonauts were aboard Mir. But this time, the unit had split and released oxygen into the electronics, causing a jet of flame to shoot across the area. For an hour or so, the crew (by this point including Linenger) wore oxygen masks until the station’s filtration system finally began dissipating the thick black smoke. The crew reported some eye irritation, but no lingering damage was found from smoke inhalation, although filtration masks were still worn for a few days afterwards as a precaution. The faulty canister was stored in the Soyuz TM24 Descent Module for return to Earth and post-flight examination. Both EO-22 cosmonauts made the return journey with German cosmonaut Ewald.

Milestones

191st manned space flight

83rd Russian manned space flight

76th manned Soyuz mission

23rd manned Soyuz TM mission

29th Russian and 63rd flight with EVA operations

4th French long-duration mission (16 days)

Flight Crew

READDY, William Francis, 44, civilian, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-42 (1992); STS-51 (1993)

WILCUTT, Terrence Wade, 46, USMC, pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-68 (1994)

APT, Jerome “Jay”, 47, civilian, mission specialist 1, 4th mission Previous missions: STS-37 (1991); STS-47 (1992); STS-59 (1994)

AKERS, Thomas Dale, 45, USAF, mission specialist 2, 4th mission Previous missions: STS-41 (1990); STS-49 (1992); STS-61 (1993)

WALZ, Carl Erwin, 41, USAF, mission specialist 3, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-51 (1993); STS-65 (1994)

NASA-3 Mir crew member up only:

BLAHA, John Elmer, 54, USAF, mission specialist 4, EO-22 cosmonaut researcher, NASA board engineer 3, 5th mission

Previous missions: STS-29 (1989); STS-33 (1989); STS-43 (1991); STS-58 (1993) NASA-2 Mir crew member down only:

LUCID, Shannon Wells, 53, civilian PhD, mission specialist 4, EO-21 cosmonaut researcher, NASA board engineer 2, 5th mission Previous missions: STS 51-G (1985); STS-34 (1989); STS-43 (1991); STS-58 (1993)

Flight Log

During her six-month stay on Mir, Shannon Lucid had conducted research in advanced technology, Earth sciences, fundamental biology, human life sciences,

microgravity research and space sciences. She also won admiration for keeping cheerful despite delays in getting her home, firstly for the technical problems with the SRBs, and then for weather problems with two hurricanes. She kept track of the time on Mir by wearing pink socks each Sunday, and relieved any boredom by reading several books. Her daughter had given her one novel, but she had not included the sequel, which was a little frustrating to the orbiting astronaut.

The original 31 July launch of STS-79 was delayed when the two SRBs were swapped as the adhesives used on them were the same as that on STS-78, where a hot – gas path into the J-joints on the motor field joints was discovered. The SRB set intended for STS-80, which used the older type of adhesive, was fitted to STS-79 while Atlantis was back in the VAB due to the weather threat from Hurricane Bertha. The new launch, set for 12 September, was further delayed to 16 September when Atlantis was rolled back to the VAB a second time due to the threat of Hurricane

Fran. The third launch attempt occurred on time, and though APU 2 powered down prematurely 13 minutes into the flight, mission management deemed it safe to continue with a nominal full-term mission.

The docking of STS-79 with Mir occurred on FD 3 (18 September) and a few hours after opening the hatches, Lucid and Blaha exchanged places, with Blaha becoming a member of the Mir resident crew (EO-22) and Lucid replacing him as MS4 on the Shuttle crew. During the five days of joint operations, over 1,600 kg of supplies were transferred to the space station, including food, water and three new experiments. About 900 kg of material was transferred back to the Shuttle, including experiment samples and unwanted equipment.

The crew also operated three experiments that remained in the Shuttle during their stay at Mir. One was an extreme translation furnace that allowed space-based processing up to 1,600°C. The second was a commercial protein crystal growth experiment, and the third was the Mechanics of Granular Materials experiment designed to study the behaviour of cohesionless granular material, which was par­ticularly applicable to understanding how the surface of the Earth responds during earthquakes and landslides. The vernier jets of Atlantis were used near the end of the mission to lower the Shuttle’s orbit slightly. This was another test of operations planned for the upcoming Hubble service mission planned for 1997, in which the jets could refine and raise the orbit of the telescope while it was still in the payload bay.

When Lucid was approached by the team assigned to carry her off the Shuttle after her six-month mission, she dismissed them, determining to walk of the vehicle herself. This she managed to do, walking (with some assistance) to the Crew Transfer Vehicle.

Milestones

192nd manned space flight

109th US manned space flight

79th Shuttle mission

17th flight of Atlantis

4th Shuttle-Mir docking

6th SpaceHab mission (1st double module)

1st US resident crew exchange

New female world space flight endurance record (Lucid) 1st double rollback to VAB

Flight Crew

COCKRELL, Kenneth Dale, 46, civilian, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-56 (1993); STS-69 (1995)

ROMINGER, Kent Vernon, 40, USN, pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-73 (1995)

JERNIGAN, Tamara Elizabeth, 37, civilian, mission specialist 1, 4th mission Previous missions: STS-40 (1991); STS-52 (1992); STS-67 (1995)

JONES, Thomas David, 41, civilian, mission specialist 2, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-59 (1994); STS-68 (1994)

MUSGRAVE, Story Franklin, 61, civilian, mission specialist 3, 6th mission Previous missions: STS-6 (1983); STS 51-F (1985); STS-33 (1989); STS-44 (1991); STS-61 (1993)

Flight Log

The original launch date for this mission of 31 October was slipped to 8 November due both to the removal of its SRBs to the STS-79 mission, and as a precaution due to concerns over Hurricane Fran. Engineers wanted more time to analyse the booster nozzles from STS-79 and with a 13 November Atlas launch planned, STS-80 was rescheduled for 15 November. Although the Atlas launch was scrubbed, STS-80 actually slipped further, to 19 November, in order to clear the bad weather that was predicted to lie around the Cape for several days. A three-minute delay to the launch was caused by concerns over hydrogen conditions in the aft engine compart­ment and when the SRBs were examined post-retrieval, they indicated some erosion – although far less than on STS-79.

The mission was a successful demonstration of the deployment and retrieval of two separate free-flying research spacecraft. The ORFEUS-SPAS II was deployed on FD 1 and became a two-week independent mission before retrieval on FD 15. The mission of the satellite was devoted to astronomical observations at very short

MS Tom Jones uses the controls at the aft flight deck of Columbia to conduct tests with the captured WSF, seen though the window on the end of the RMS at frame centre wavelengths, using three primary scientific instruments and a secondary payload. The primary instruments were the ORFEUS 2.4 m focal length telescope, the Far UV spectrograph and the Extreme UV Spectrograph. The secondary payload was the Interstellar Medium Absorption Profile Spectrograph. The objective was to investi­gate the nature of hot stellar atmospheres and the cooling mechanisms of white dwarf stars, to determine the nature of accretion disks around collapsed stars, to investigate supernova remnants and interstellar media, and to examine potential star-forming regions. During the two-week mission, no significant problems were reported and all mission goals were achieved. Some 422 observations of about 150 astronomical objects were conducted, including the Moon, nearby stars, distant stars in the Milky Way, stars in other galaxies, active galaxies and quasar 3C273. With more sensitive instruments giving better quality data, almost twice as much information and data was obtained than on the first ORFEUS flight.

On FD 4 the WSF-3 was deployed. This time it was highly successful and achieved the maximum seven growths of thin film semi-conductor material, with the satellite performing almost flawlessly. It was retrieved during FD 7 for return to Earth. As with most Shuttle missions, the flight also carried a range of mid-deck and payload bay experiments that formed part of the secondary payloads and objectives.

Two planned six-hour EVAs by Jernigan (EV1) and Jones (EV2), designed to gather further knowledge and experience in preparation for the ISS programme, had to be abandoned when a stuck EVA hatch thwarted attempts to leave the airlock during EVA 1. Despite crew attempts during the mission to discover the cause, it was not until Columbia was back on the ground that engineers discovered that a small screw had become loose in the internal assembly and had lodged in an actuator, the gearbox-type device that operated the linkage to secure the hatch. When a new actuator was installed, the hatch worked perfectly. Though unable to complete the EVAs, the crew did still manage to evaluate a new pistol grip tool – resembling a hand-held drill – in the mid-deck during the mission.

The two-day waive-off for landing due to weather conditions in Florida resulted in this mission becoming the longest in Shuttle history and gave the crew an extra opportunity to look at the view out of the window. For Musgrave, this was particu­larly poignant, as this would be his last flight. He was fully appreciative of the chance to take a leisurely view of the Earth from orbit, knowing he would not be returning for a seventh mission. A condition of his being able to fly this mission was that he would retire from the active flight list when it was over. Musgrave set a record of six space Shuttle flights (equalling John Young’s career space flight record of Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle flights) and became the oldest person in space at the age of 61. He also became the only astronaut to fly on each of the five Shuttles capable of orbital flight, including twice on Challenger.

Milestones

193rd manned space flight

110th US manned space flight

80th Shuttle mission

21st flight of Columbia

New Shuttle mission duration record

3rd flight of Wake Shield Facility

Musgrave becomes the oldest person in space, aged 61

Flight Crew

BROWN Jr., Curtis Lee, 43, USAF, commander, 6th mission

Previous missions: STS-47 (1992); STS-66 (1994); STS-77 (1996); STS-85 (1997);

STS-95 (1998)

KELLY, Scott Joseph, 35, USN, pilot

SMITH, Steven Lee, 40, civilian, mission specialist 1, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-68 (1994); STS-82 (1997)

CLERVOY, Jean-Francois Andre, 41, civilian, ESA mission specialist 2,

3rd mission

Previous missions: STS-66 (1994); STS-84 (1997)

GRUNSFELD, John Mace, 41, civilian, mission specialist 3, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-67 (1995); STS-81 (1997)

FOALE, Colin Michael, 42, civilian, mission specialist 4, 5th mission Previous missions: STS-45 (1992); STS-56 (1993); STS-63 (1995); STS-84/86 (1997)

NICOLLIER, Claude, 55, civilian, ESA mission specialist 5, 4th mission Previous missions: STS-46 (1992); STS-61 (1993); STS-75 (1996)

Flight Log

This mission faced nine scrubs or delays due to mechanical issues or the weather, before finally reaching orbit. The mission had been scheduled for June 2000, but when the third of six gyroscopes on Hubble had failed, the service mission was divided into two separate Shuttle missions and the first was advanced. STS-103 was now due to fly in October 1999 and the second mission would follow in 2001. In mid-August, Shuttle management decided to inspect the wiring of the Shuttle fleet after the incidents during the STS-93 launch in July. As a result, STS-103 had a new launch date of 23 October, but the amount of work required to complete the repairs saw the launch put back further to 19 November. This gave NASA the option of launching either STS-103 or

the Space Radar Topography Mission (STS-99) first. On 13 November, Hubble was placed in safe mode when a fourth gyroscope failed. It was left pointing its arrays constantly at the Sun to generate electrical power, pending the service mission.

During the first weeks of December, seven new launch dates were set before the vehicle finally left the pad. The causes for the delays varied from the discovery of a 1.5-cm-long drill bit lodged in main engine #3 (the engine was replaced on the pad), to additional wiring damage in an umbilical between the Orbiter and ET, to the Thanksgiving holiday. There were also repairs to a dented LH main propulsion line, the inspection and verification of a number of welds in pressure lines, and problems with the weather. With the launch planned for 19 December, mission managers had decided to restrict the mission duration to eight days instead of the planned ten, to ensure that all flight and ground systems were secured for transition to year 2000. Shuttle computers are unable to operate over the change of year, and with the change to year 2000 expected to highlight additional glitches, NASA wanted to ensure it did not have a vehicle flying or linked to active ground systems at this time.

The first few days in the orbiter consisted of adjustments to the orbit and prep­arations for the work ahead. It took 30 orbits to reach the Hubble, which was captured by RMS on 21 December. Three EVAs were completed by the crew. Steve Smith (EV1) and John Grunsfeld (EV2) completed the first and third excursions, while Mike Foale (EV3) and ESA Astronaut Claude Nicollier (EV4) performed the mission’s second EVA. During EVA 1 (22 Dec, 8 hours 16 minutes), the astronauts replaced the three Rate Sensor Units which each contained two of the gyroscopes, and installed six cell-phone-sized Voltage/Temperature Improvement Kits between the telescope’s six ten-year-old batteries and its solar arrays. These would prevent overheating and overcharging of the batteries. EVA 2 (23 Dec, 8 hours 10 minutes) saw the astronauts install a new computer in the telescope which was 20 times faster than its older unit. They also installed a new fine-guidance sensor. The final EVA (24 Dec, 8 hours 8 minutes) included the installation of a transmitter to send scientific information from the telescope to the ground, replacing the one that had failed the year before. This was a delicate operation, as the transmitter was not part of the telescope and was not designed to be replaced by the astronauts. However, using specially designed tools, they achieved the task, demonstrating the value of utilising humans to effect repairs and servicing on units that otherwise could not be replaced or repaired. The final EVA also saw the installation of a solid state digital recorder, to replace one of the older mechanical reel-to-reel recorders.

Hubble was released back into orbit on Christmas Day 1999. This was only the third time that an American crew had been in space at Christmas aboard an American spacecraft. The first was the historic Apollo 8 mission around the Moon in 1968 and the second was during the third and final Skylab (SL-4) mission in 1973. In addition, astronauts John Blaha and Dave Wolf had spent Christmas and New Year aboard Mir with Russian colleagues in 1996 and 1997 respectively.

Milestones

214th manned space flight

126th US manned space flight

6th Shuttle mission

27th flight of Discovery

42nd US and 74th flight with EVA operations

3rd HST service mission

1st ESA astronaut to perform EVA from Shuttle (Nicollier)

Flight Crew

ASHBY, Jeffrey Shears, 48, USN, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-93 (1999); STS-100 (2001)

MELROY, Pamela Ann, 41, USAF, pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-92 (2000)

WOLF, David Alan, civilian, mission specialist 1, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-58 (1993); STS-86/89 (1997)

MAGNUS, Sandra Hall, 37, civilian, mission specialist 2 SELLERS, Piers John, 47, civilian, mission specialist 3

YURCHIKIN, Fyodor Nikolayevich, 43, civilian, Russian mission specialist 4

Flight Log

Hurricane Lili, out in the Gulf of Mexico, had threatened mission control at JSC, and as the path of the storm could not be determined until late in its track, the decision was taken to power down the Houston centre. This meant that the original launch date for STS-112 of 2 October had to be rescheduled for 7 October. On launch, a back-up separation pyrotechnic system had to be used to release one of the SRBs from the launch platform when the primary charge failed to sever the hold-down bolts and release ground connections to the ET.

Docking of Atlantis to ISS was achieved on 9 October. The primary objective of this flight was the transfer and installation of the S1 Truss and the Crew Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) cart A. This was the first of two human-powered carts designed to traverse along the MBS rail, providing mobile work platforms for future EVA operations. The relocation of the truss was achieved the day after the docking, with MS Sandra Magnus and ISS SO Peggy Whitson using the Canadarm2 to relocate the truss at the starboard end of the S0 Truss by means of four remotely-controlled bolts.

During the first EVA (10 Oct for 7 hours 1 minute), Wolf (EV1) and Sellers (EV2) connected power, data and fluid lines and released launch bolts that allowed the S1 radiators to be orientated for optimum cooling. They also deployed a new S-band antenna near the end of the S1 Truss to increase voice communications capability with ground controllers. After releasing the launch restraints on the CETA-A, the two astronauts installed S1’s nadir external camera. EVA 2 (12 Oct for 6 hours 4 minutes) featured further work with CETA, the installation of 22 Spool Positioning Devices (SPD) on the ammonia cooling line connections and a second exterior camera, this time on the Destiny lab, and the preparation and checking of equipment to support the attachment of the next truss section. EVA 3 (14 Oct for 6 hours 36 minutes) focused on connecting ammonia lines, removing a structural support clamp and installing SPDs on a pump assembly, as well as removing a bolt that prevented the activation of a cable cutter on the Mobile Transporter.

In between the EVAs, the STS-112 crew worked with the ISS-5 crew to transfer 816 kg of logistics and supplies to the ISS. Approximately the same mass was brought back by the Shuttle at the end of the mission. The crews also repaired the exercise treadmill vibration dampening system in Zvezda, adjusted protective circuits which measured electrical current on the S1 radiator assembly to a greater tolerance for its use in space, and removed and replaced a humidity separator in the Quest airlock which had been leaking. The crews moved new scientific experiments across to the station and relocated completed ones in the mid-deck of Atlantis. Seven water containers and a new protein crystal growth experiment were moved over to ISS, while liver cell samples were stowed carefully in the Shuttle. In addition, 123 kg of gaseous nitrogen was transferred in two batches (7 kg then 116 kg) from Atlantis to the station’s storage tanks.

Milestones

234th manned space flight 141st US manned space flight 111th Shuttle mission 26th flight of Atlantis

55th US and 88th flight with EVA operations 15th Shuttle ISS mission 6th Atlantis ISS mission

The exchange of the 14th resident crew of ISS continues the occupation of the space station. A new crew is schedule to take over in March 2007 and Thomas Reiter, the German astronaut launched on STS-121 will continue to fly on the station with the EO-14 crew until STS-116 arrives with ISS-15 flight engineer Sunita Williams. Several European, Japanese and Canadian astronauts are expected to conduct short – and long-duration visits to the station in the coming years.

The Chinese have announced that their next mission will occur in 2008 and will feature an EVA. Rendezvous and docking, and the creation of a small (Salyut class) space station are their stated goals, along with eventual manned exploration of the Moon.

Several names have been identified as potential candidates for future space flight participants, although recent reports offering tourists the chance to perform a 90- minute EVA from ISS, or possibly fly on circumlunar flights are not likely to come to fruition for some considerable time.

Flight operations to ISS will continues, with roughly two Soyuz flights per year until around 2010 when the Shuttle retires. It is probable that Soyuz flights will continue and may well increase (given adequate funding) until the replacement Clipper spacecraft planned by the Russians is funded and tested. Until then, Soyuz will remain the ISS crew ferry vehicle and emergency crew return vehicle once Shuttle is retired. American participation on ISS is expected to change in 2016 with the completion of their primary research objectives in support of the Vision for Space Exploration plans that were announced in 2004.

Design of the new American Crew Exploration Vehicle is underway and the two launch vehicles – called Aries – have recently been revealed. These will support the manned American return to the Moon, hopefully by 2019 and the 50th anniversary celebrations of Apollo 11. These new landings will include extended surface explora­tion, leading to the creation of a scientific research station on the surface It is hoped that these studies will lead, eventually, to human expeditions to Mars.

The current (October 2006) manifest for flights between 2006 and 2011 can be found in Appendix C.

All of the missions and programmes, if they reach flight status, are for a future edition of this log. With the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s historic first flight into space less than five years away, the missions counting down towards that milestone have already begun. The story continues …

The abandoned Soyuz manned lunar programme would have featured circumlunar missions under the L1 programme on the Proton launch vehicle (later flown unmanned by Zond spacecraft), and manned lunar landing (L3) missions launched on the massive N1. Though the N1 was launched unmanned four times between 1969 and 1972, each failed just seconds into flight, effectively putting the final nail in the coffin of the Soviet manned lunar programme that had been beaten by the success of Apollo.

Chinese orbital launch vehicle

The Long March 2F booster will be the workhorse of the Chinese manned spacecraft programme, carrying further Shenzhou craft into orbit. Unmanned launches com­menced in November 1999, with the first manned flight made in 2003 and the second in 2005.

This vehicle is an adaptation of the Long March 2E, which was upgraded for manned flight. In 2002, it received the official name of Shenjian (Magic Arrow). The height of the vehicle (with shroud and launch tower) is 58.34 m and it features a central core first stage of four YF-20B engines (300-ton thrust) and four strap-on boosters each with the YF-20 engine (300-ton thrust). The second stage features a single YF-22 engine with 93.5-ton thrust.

With the loss of the race to the Moon, the Soviets reported that they had actually never intended to go there anyway. Their plan was to develop a long-duration orbital station. It was years before the truth came out and the details of their abandoned lunar programme became known. However, their statement was partially correct, as a military-based space platform called Almaz had been in development for years, supported by other Soyuz-type military variants. Almaz would not be the first station launched, however. To hasten the launch of the first Soviet space station, elements of Soyuz were added to a civilian variant called DOS and amalgamated into the world’s first space station – Salyut. This was launched two years before the Americans launched Skylab, which was itself fabricated from left over Apollo lunar hardware.

Soyuz

Critical to sustaining long-duration space flight is the supply of sufficient logistics and the rotation of the crews. For this, the Soviets called upon their orbital lunar space­craft Soyuz, adapting it to fly as a space station ferry craft (in manned and unmanned versions) and to serve as a crew rescue craft while docked to the station. The Soyuz vehicle was one of the most successful programmes in space history. Although the first manned mission in 1967 was a failure and resulted in the first casualty of space flight, a series of variants – Soyuz, Soyuz T, TM and TMA – have carried many crews to the Salyut and Mir national space stations and continue to do so to the current Inter­national Space Station. The programme will soon be entering its 40th year. After recovering from the loss of Soyuz 1 and the death of its cosmonaut, the Soviets evolved a series of missions to develop the rendezvous and docking technique they had intended to use on the way to the Moon, now amended for the space station programme. In addition, a short series of solo Soyuz flights flew space station equipment, conducting a series of test and supplementary flights to the often troubled Salyut series of stations.

The “original” Soyuz spacecraft was designed as a Vostok successor in about 1962. It weighed 6,450 kg (14,222 lb) and was 8.85m (29 ft) long from the base of its instrument section to the tip of its docking probe. The 2.3 m (7.5 ft) long, 2.3 m (7.5 ft) diameter instrument section, called the Equipment Module (EM), included a UDMH-nitric oxide prime and back-up propulsion system, for orbital manoeuvres and retro-fire. The prime engine had a burn time of 500 seconds and a thrust of 417 kg (919lb). The instrument section included two 3.6m (12ft) by 1.9m (6ft) solar panels.

The flight and Descent Module (DM) was shaped like an inverted cup and measured 2.2 m (7 ft) long and 2.3 m (7.5 ft) in diameter. It included up to three seats and systems such as hydrogen peroxide ACS thrusters, a beacon, sun and infra-red sensors, and rendezvous radar beacons. It was equipped with one drogue and one main parachute (plus a reserve), which opened at about 8,500m (28,000 ft) altitude, and, beneath a jettisonable heat shield, a soft-landing retro-rocket to reduce speed to 0.3m/sec (1 ft/ sec) at 1 m (3 ft) altitude. Attached to the flight module was an Orbital Module (OM), a spherical capsule containing extra housekeeping and science equipment and which acted as an airlock for EVAs. This was 2.65 m (8.69 ft) long and 2.25m (7.3 ft) in diameter. The OM was discarded after retro-fire. It also included a 1.2 m (4 ft) long docking probe at its tip. The Soyuz 12 spacecraft was basically the same as the earlier Soyuz craft, except the crew wore spacesuits (following the loss of the Soyuz 11 crew who hadn’t). The craft was equipped with only batteries for power, and no solar panels, as it was intended as a space station ferry with only a two-day independent flight capability.

Soyuz T – for Transport – was introduced in 1979 and weighed about 6,850 kg (15,104 lb). It was a redesigned Soyuz ferry vehicle, reconfigured to take a crew of three and with two solar panels which allowed independent flight for four rather than two days. Also included were new computers, controls and telemetry systems. The major change to the Soyuz was its fully integrated fuel system, with attitude control thrusters using the same fuel source as the main propulsion unit. The thrust of the main engine was reduced to 315 kg (695 lb) but there were now 26 ACS thrusters aboard. The main reason for this was that some previous docking failures could have been overcome had the cosmonauts been able to transfer fuel from the ACS system to the main spacecraft engine. Soyuz T2 was preceded by three unmanned tests under the Cosmos label (869, 1001 and 1074) and one Soyuz (Tl) in 1979.

Soyuz TM – Transport Modification – was introduced in 1986 and weighed about 7,100 kg (15,653 lb). This was an uprated and heavier Soyuz T spacecraft, incorporat­ing new primary and back-up parachutes, improved power systems and retro-rockets, and the capability to carry 200 kg (441 lb) more payload and return to Earth with 50 kg (110 lb). Soyuz TM was also equipped with a rendezvous and docking system com­patible with the Mir Kurs system. Soyuz TM1 was an unmanned test flight to Mir in 1986.

Soyuz TMA – Transport Modification Anthropometric – was introduced in 2002 and was more of a systems and internal upgrade than a structural one, measuring and weighing about the same as the TM. The requirement for a new version of Soyuz was in part due to larger (American) crew members being assigned to Soyuz missions. New seating support structures and modifications to the descent landing engines meant a slightly greater landing mass was possible, allowing regular three-person crews to be flown. In addition, the controls and displays now featured more computer displays and smaller electronics systems. There were no unmanned TMA precursor flights.

An unmanned variant called Progress was introduced in 1978 and has also been upgraded (Progress M, M1). This has been used to re-supply Soviet space stations with fuel, logistics and orbital re-boost capability and is still an integral element in the ISS programme.

Flight Crew

BORMAN, Frank, 37, USAF, command pilot Gemini 7

LOVELL, James Arthur Jr., 37, USN, pilot Gemini 7

SCHIRRA, Walter Marty Jr., 42, USN, command pilot Gemini 6A, 2nd

mission

Previous mission: Mercury-Atlas 8 (1962)

STAFFORD, Thomas Patten Jr., 35, USAF, pilot Gemini 6A

Flight Log

NASA continued its pre-Apollo rehearsals with plans for Gemini 6 to perform the first docking in space and then for Gemini 7 to keep two men “in the can” for 14 days. The first objective was to be met on 25 October 1965 when an Atlas Agena was to place the Agena second stage (housing a docking port and a rendezvous radar antenna) in orbit as a target for Gemini 6, which would be launched 90 minutes later. With astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford already in Gemini 6 at Pad 19, the Atlas thundered away from Pad 14, but the Agena exploded and the frustrated astronauts were grounded. NASA hatched a plan to overcome the setback. They would launch Gemini 7 first, on Gemini 6’s original Titan, then launch Gemini 6 to rendezvous with Gemini 7. The plan was announced by President Johnson himself, the space supporter who had persuaded President Kennedy to shoot for the Moon.

So first Gemini 7 – with crewmen Frank Borman and James Lovell looking like aliens in their lightweight, 8 kg (18 lb) spacesuits, with strange hoods rather than helmets – took off at 14: 30 hrs on Saturday 4 December, sharing US television screens with a football match. The astronauts entered a 28.9° inclination orbit with a maximum altitude of 327 km (203 miles) and sat it out in the tight confines, waiting

for Gemini 6 to be launched on 12 December. Lovell was allowed to take off his spacesuit, while Borman had to endure the flight with electrodes fixed to his head and suffer the indignity of bursting his urine bag after filling it, rather than before. Contrary to the media coverage, pioneering space flight was an endurance, not a picnic.

The Gemini 6 astronauts had a new experience to endure on 12 December, when at 09:54 hrs local time their Titan II ignited, only to shut down 1.2 seconds later when a dust cap left in a gas generator caused imperfect combustion. This was spotted by the malfunction detection system. Although the spacecraft clock had started, Schirra knew instinctively that he had not lifted off. He elected not to pull the ejection lever, which would have subjected him and Stafford to a 20-G ride, killing the rendezvous mission and probably crippling them. Stafford had been to the launch pad twice and had not lifted off. However, at 08:37 hrs on 15 December, he finally did so, and the space chase was on. Gemini 6 entered an 8.9° orbit which would reach a maximum apogee of 311 km (193 miles).

Seven very carefully planned and controlled manoeuvres brought Gemini 6 to within 15 cm (6 in) of Gemini 7. Officially, the rendezvous had been achieved at 14:33hrs Cape time. It was the greatest feat in manned space flight so far, and the media coverage epitomised the excitement of the 1960s space race. Five hours 18 minutes and a lot of good natured bantering (and a seasonal “Jingle Bells” from Schirra and Stafford) later, Gemini 6 backed away and made a landing at T + 1 day 1 hour 51 minutes 54 seconds, just 11.2km (7 miles) from USS Wasp. Borman and Lovell continued their endurance flight and the operation of 18 science experiments, finally landing 10.4 km (6 miles) from the USS Wasp at T + 13 days 18 hours 35 minutes 1 second. This is the longest US two-crew space flight. They were light-headed and stooping as they walked across the carrier deck, but had proved beyond a doubt that man had a place in space.

Milestones

18th and 19th manned space flights 10th and 11th US manned space flights 4th and 5th Gemini manned flights 1st space rendezvous 1st flight cancellation (Gemini 6)

1st launch pad abort (Gemini 6A)

1st four-man joint mission

Flight Crew

ARMSTRONG, Neil Alden, 35, civilian, command pilot SCOTT, David Randolph, 34, USAF, pilot

Flight Log

The first space docking was on the agenda for Gemini 8, and Scott was to make a two-hour spacewalk “around the world” at the end of a 28 m (92 ft) tether and attached to a 42 kg (93 lb) Extravehicular Support Package. The crew had been inside Gemini 8 for 14 minutes when the Agena target thundered away from Pad 14. Their own launch came at 10: 41 hrs local time, although the Titan II seemed a bit sluggish to start with. Perfect orbit was achieved, with a 28.9° inclination and an apogee-perigee of 292-160 km (181-99 miles). The Agena was 1,963 km (1,220 miles) away and the space chase began. It ended with a “real smoothie” of a docking, as Armstrong described it, at T + 6 hours 32 minutes and at a speed of about 8 cm (3 in) per second.

The matter-of-fact docking complete, the first US space emergency then began in a rather insidious manner. First, the two spacecraft rolled 30° out of position and the crew thought that the Agena, which was causing some concern on the ground anyway, was at fault. They disengaged its control system and brought the two craft under control using Gemini’s thrusters. Suddenly, a faster roll developed and the crew decided to separate from the Agena barely 27 minutes after docking, backing away as they did with a short burst of the thrusters. Then things got pretty violent. Gemini went into a 70 rpm roll and yaw combined, and the crew came close to their physio­logical limits. Thruster 8 had short-circuited and was firing intermittently, the crew discovered later. There was only one thing to do, which was to cut off the OAMS thrusters and fire the re-entry control system.

Mission rules dictated an emergency return to Earth and Gemini 8 splashed down about 800 km (497 miles) east of Okinawa at T + 10 hours 41 minutes 26 seconds, glad to have made water and not a remote jungle. After an uncomfortable three-hour wait, the crew was met by the USS Leonard F. Mason and they climbed aboard from the

rolling sea up a Jacob’s ladder. Both astronauts would have another ladder later in their careers, this time to step down, as Gemini 8 was the only flight whose crew members both subsequently walked on the Moon.

Milestones

20th manned space flight 12th US manned space flight 6th Gemini manned flight 1st space docking 1st emergency return to Earth

Flight Crew

BRAND, Vance DeVoe, 51, civilian, commander, 2nd mission Previous mission: Apollo 18 ASTP (1975)

OVERMYER, Robert Franklyn, 46, USMC, pilot ALLEN, Joseph Percival, 45, civilian, mission specialist 1 LENOIR, William Benjamin, 43, civilian, mission specialist 2

Flight Log

The news of the death of Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev, events in Poland, and a British spy scandal served to overshadow this unique space flight, which began at 07: 19hrs local time at the Kennedy Space Center. Commander Vance Brand, pilot Bob Overmyer and mission specialist Bill Lenoir (evaluating the MS2/Flight Engineer role for ascent), were seated in the flight deck, while the other mission specialist, Joe Allen, was seated below in the mid-deck, which also served as the kitchen and toilet. Columbia was still fitted with ejection seats for the commander and pilot but they were not armed. The crew was the first from America not to have any means of escape in the event of a launch accident and were also the first to fly in flight overalls, and oxygen – fed helmets, in case of cabin depressurisation.

After MECO and two OMS burns, Columbia was in its 256 km (159 miles) maximum altitude 28.4° inclination orbit. At T + 7 hours 58 minutes 35 seconds into the mission, the crew dispatched the communications satellite SBS from its spin table in the payload bay, on the first commercial manned trucking mission, earning for NASA a cool $12 million. The satellite’s own Pam D upper stage fired later, to place it into a geostationary transfer orbit where it would normally have been placed by a conventional expendable launch vehicle. Another satellite, Canada’s Anik 3, was launched later and the crew proudly displayed an “Ace Trucking Company – We Deliver’’ sign to TV cameras.

There were disappointments, however. First Overmyer was space sick, vomiting at T + 6 hours and continuing to feel queasy. Lenoir felt less sick, describing his symptoms as a “wet belch”. The astronauts were prescribed drugs and were also angry that their illness was publicised, possibly to the detriment of their careers. In future, NASA decided, if an astronaut was sick it would remain a confidential matter. The first Shuttle spacewalk by Allen and Lenoir was delayed by a day, and then never took place at all because both astronauts experienced spacesuit problems on the brink of opening the airlock door. Lenoir’s primary oxygen pressure regulator failed and Allen’s fan assembly sounded like a motorboat. Allen, now seated in the flight deck (evaluating the FE role for entry), took pictures during re-entry, which was like being inside a blast furnace, he said.

Columbia was aiming for a lake bed landing at Edwards Air Force Base but was diverted to the concrete runway 22 because the “dry” lake was rather wet. Main gear touchdown came at T + 5 days 2 hours 14 minutes 26 seconds, the longest four-crew space flight.

Milestones

88th manned space flight

36th US manned space flight

5th Shuttle flight

5th flight of Columbia

1st flight with four crew members

1st flight of mission specialists

1st manned space flight to deploy commercial satellites

1st flight with cancelled EVA operations

1st launch and landing by crew member not seated in cockpit

1st US flight with no emergency crew escape

1st US flight by crew without spacesuits

1st US flight to carry engineers