Space Digest Sun, 25 Jul 93 Volume 16 : Issue 918 Today's Topics: SPACE TRIVIA LIST - 24th July 1993 [Part 1] Welcome to the Space Digest!! Please send your messages to "space@isu.isunet.edu", and (un)subscription requests of the form "Subscribe Space " to one of these addresses: listserv@uga (BITNET), rice::boyle (SPAN/NSInet), utadnx::utspan::rice::boyle (THENET), or space-REQUEST@isu.isunet.edu (Internet). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1993 19:50:47 GMT From: Luke Plaizier Subject: SPACE TRIVIA LIST - 24th July 1993 [Part 1] Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle,sci.astro,rec.radio.amateur.space PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR TRIVIA TO THIS LIST! ANY ITEM AT LEAST REMOTELY RELATED TO SPACE IN ANY WAY IS APPROPRIATE FOR THIS LIST! Well bugger it, I'm combining the update in with the trivia list so I only have to post one file. We've got a couple of those Kettering Trivia items, so this week we're posting to radio.amateur.space group as well. Just this once though, unless we can get some more amateur radio trivia... We've rattled the English magazine Space Flight News and come up with quite a few new items. The number we have produced, and collected from submissions since the last post, have just about doubled the size of the list. I'm not sure if we can keep this pace up, but it would be nice if we could. Our local NSS chapter is going on a Trivia collection crusade, so if there is any one else who makes a submission from an NSS chapter, please let us know because we'd like to know what chapter you are from. Greetings to those who have submitted, and also Ray Dodds. You won't believe the size of this one Ray! ***************************************************************************** Changes to July 24th Posting: Trivia: 1a, 20a, 36a, 36b, 37a, 41, 43a, 53..114 Rumors: 5 Speculation/Questions: 5..10 ***************************************************************************** ################################# # # # SPACE TRIVIA LIST # # # ################################# Masterminded by:- THE NEWCASTLE SPACE FRONTIER SOCIETY Temporarily Moderated by:- Luke Plaizier PLEASE DIRECT YOUR SUBMISSIONS TO:- EMAIL: lukpla@scorch.apana.org.au snail mail: Luke Plaizier c/o Newcastle Space Frontier Society PO Box 1150 Newcastle NSW Australia 2300 Direct Voice: International - 61-49-54-7454 Inside Australia - 049-54-7454 Answering Machine - 61-49-63-5037 ***************************************************************************** This is the list of Trivia information recorded in just over 25 years of human activity in space. In no way is this an official list of events nor is it guaranteed that all information included in this file is accurate or true. This file has come about due to the happy donations of time and information of people on the internet located at various sites world wide, and represents a collection of information that many of them have either found interesting themselves, or would otherwise believe that other people might find interesting. The MOST important thing about this is that we'd like it to be built by the input of many people, so if you can PLEASE DONATE SOME TRIVIA AND WE WILL ENDEAVOUR TO ENSURE THAT IT IS INCLUDED IN THIS FILE. Submission details are included in the trailer to this list. ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** * * * SPACE TRIVIA - Interesting Trivia Information on Manned and Unmanned* * Spaceflight from anywhere around the Globe. * * * ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** (1) Even though Yuri Gagarin, on the first manned spaceflight, ejected from his Vostok capsule just before landing, the official Soviet report said otherwise for fear that the rest of the world might not recognise the mission as a complete success. (1a) The Federation Aeronautic International, the governing body for aerospace records has rules specificially stating that the pilot must be in control of the craft from take-off to landing. Vostok cosmonauts ejecting clearly violated the rule so it was hidden. See my book "Almanac of Soviet Manned Space Flight" for details. Available from Zenith Books 800-826-6600. [From dennisn@ecs.comm.mot.com] (2) Radio frequencies in interstellar space between 1420 and 1720 MHz are known as 'the water hole', as it is thought that alien civilisations might converge and commune in radio frequencies in this band of 300MHz. (1420 = Emission line of neutral Hydrogen, 1720=same for Hydroxyl and together these two make water.) [BIS, SPACEFLIGHT, Vol. 35, No. 4] (3) In one day, SETI searchers at Puerto Rico and California, using the new Targeted Search's Multi Channel Spectral Analyzer, sifted through more information than had been collected on all previous SETI efforts combined. [BIS, SPACEFLIGHT, Vol. 35, No. 4] (4) Silicon Engine's new Targeted Search's Multi Channel Spectrum Analyzer, developed for a 10 year NASA-funded SETI, is capable if listening in on some 15million frequency channels, some with a bandwidth of as little as 1Hz. [BIS, SPACEFLIGHT, Vol. 35, No. 4] (5) The engines of the escape tower on the Apollo moon missions (on top of the mighty Saturn V) were more powerful than the entire Redstone launcher that put the first American into sub-orbital space. [Paul.Keinanen@Telebox.tele.fi, steven@spri.levels.unisa.edu.au] (5a) The Apollo LES (Launch Escape System) thrust was 654 kN, while the Mercury-Redstone thrust was 347 kN. The Apollo CM mass was about 5800 kg and the LES mass was 4000 kg or about 10000 kg combined. The accelleration would be about 65 m/s/s or about 6.5 G. As the maximum accelleration during ascent for Apollo-Saturn V was about 4 G, the CM+LES combination could still be separated, even if the Saturn V engines would still be running at full thrust. (5b) The engines on the Launch Escape Tower (LES) of the Saturn V are indeed more powerful than the engines used on the Mercury-Redstone booster. From [1], the LES has a thrust of at least 654 kN (147 klbf) (Another figure of 689 kN (155 klbf) is also mentioned in [1]. The lower figure may be the total downwards thrust since the engines have to point at an angle to avoid burning up the Command Module if used.) The Mercury-Redstone has a thrust of 347 kN (78 klbf) [2]. [1] M. Wilson, "Moon landing," Flight International, pp. 208-221, 6 Feb. 1969. [2] K. Gatland, "The illustrated encyclopedia of space technology," Landsdowne Press, Sydney, 1981. (6) March 19, 1959 "The Dept. of Defense announces that three atomic blasts were detonated in space during 1958 as part of Project Argus using modified X-17 rockets." [-Eugene Emme, ed., _Aeronautics and Astronautics, p. 107.] (7) Hey, I don't know if you'll include this in your list of trivia but it surely is amusing. After each launch countries are required by treaty to announce the launch. There are no requirements about what the contents of the announcement are. Shown below is a Chinese announcement from 1975. It is mostly propaganda. Did you know that launching a satellite refutes Confucius? (Actual transcript has been shortened for space considerations.) ((TEXT) PEKING, DECEMBER 17, 1975 (HSINHUA) -- CHINA SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED ANOTHER MAN-MADE EARTH SATELLITE ON DECEMBER 16, 1975, UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF CHAIRMAN MAO'S REVOLUTIONARY LINE, ON THE BASIS OF THE VICTORY IN THE GREAT PROLETRAIAN CULTURAL REVOLUTION AND THE MOVEMENT TO CRITICIZE LIN PIAO AND CONFUCIUS, AND IN THE EXCELLENT SITUATION CHARACTERIZED BY CONSISTENT NEW VICTORIES IN THE SOCIALIST REVOLUTION AND SOCIALIST CONSTRUCTION. THE SATELLITE IS FUNCTIONING NORMALLY. THE SUCCESSFUL LAUNCHING OF THE SATELLITE IS A NEW ACHIEVEMENT MADE BY THE PEOPLE OF THE WHOLE COUNTRY, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY CENTRAL COMMITTEE HEADED BY THE GREAT LEADER CHAIRMAN MAO, IN TAKING CLASS STRUGGLE AS THE KEY LINK, CONTINUOUSLY CONSOLIDATING AND DEVELOPING THE FRUITS OF THE GREAT PROLETARIAN CULTURAL REVOLUTION, AND FIRMLY CARRYING OUT THE SERIES OF IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS OF CHAIRMAN MAO'S INCLUDING THOSE ON STUDYING THE THEORY AND COMBATING AND PREVENTING REVISIONISM, ON PROMOTING STABILITY AND UNITY AND ON PUSHING THE NATIONAL ECONOMY FORWARD. IT IS A FRESH SUCCESS ACHIEVED BY ADHERING TO THE PRINCIPLE OF INDEPENDENCE AND SELF-RELIANCE, BRINGING INTO FULL PLAY THE INITIATIVE OF BOTH THE CENTRAL AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES, UNIFYING PLANNING, WORKING ENGERGETICALLY IN CLOSE COORDINATION, WAGING A UNITED STRUGGLE AND GRASPING REVOLUTION, PROMOTING PRODUCTION AND OTHER WORK AND PREPAREDNESS AGAINST WAR. THE CENTRAL COMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA, THE STATE COUNCIL AND THE MILITARY COMMISSION OF THE CCP CENTRAL COMMITEE EXTEND WARM CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WORKERS, COMMANDERS AND FIGHTERS OF THE PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY, SCIENTIFIC WORKERS, ENGINEERS AND TECHNICIANS, REVOLUTIONARY CADRES AND MILITIAMEN WHO HAVE BEEN ENGAGED IN THE RESEARCH, MANUFACTURE AND LAUNCHING OF THE SATELLITE AND OTHER PEOPLE CONCERNED. 170110 UTT NY 17/O1224Z (8) Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the first men on the moon, almost crashed onto the lunar surface. The Eagle's descent engine had about 10 seconds of fuel left when they landed. [From yantosca@bu.edu] (8a) "The Eagle had landed on a countdown to abort, primarily because propellants were sloshing away from intakes and meters, giving off readings that the ship had entered the dead-man zone with its tanks running dry." [Submitted by davem@ee.ubc.ca, clarifying that although correct at the time, post-flight analysis uncovered this problem, meaning incorrect readings from the meters. ] (9) The maiden launch of the first Space Shuttle, "Columbia", occurred on April 12, 1981, 20 years to the day of Yuri Gagarin's "Vostok" flight. [From yantosca@bu.edu] (10) In 1963, the Soviet Union tried to launch a rocket (from Baikonur??) but the main engine didn't fire. Several technicians were dispatched to the launch pad to correct the problem, under the command of an engineer/officer whose last name was Nedelin. Somehow, the second stage engine fired, causing a massive explosion while the men were still on the launch pad. It is estimated that more than 100 of the Soviet Union's best rocket engineers and technicians (including Nidelin) perished on that day. Ironically, there was one survivor; he ducked into a fireproof box on the launch pad to smoke a cigarette and was shielded from the blast. The loss of so many engineers and technicians was a serious setback to the Soviet Space program; this may have been one of the reasons why the Soviets did not reach the Moon before NASA did. [ From yantosca@bu.edu, sourced from "AIR & SPACE / Smithsonian"] (10a) The best account to date is in Rabochna Ya Tribuna, Dec. 6, 1990, p.4 "Top Secret: Explosion at Baykonur Cosmodrome: Only after 30 years are we learning the truth about the death of Marshal Nedelin and a large group of rocket speciallists", FBIS-UPS-91-002 from NTIS. The author says numbers are still not known but range from 165 to 200 deaths. Happened Oct. 24 1960, Nedelin was the head of the Strategic Rocket Forces (all ICBM's, launch crews, etc..). More than one person survived, the rumor of the one survivor is that it was Cheif Designer S Korolev, but this is unlikely. But it was not his rocket design and he should have had no reason to be there. The cause is speculated to be the failure of circuit isolation during electrical testing actually sent the signal for the 2nd stage of the SS-7 to fire after repairs were made. The reference above has a good account of the fire by a man who was blown 30 meters by the blast and survived. Flim of the fire is available. *NOTE: We'd like to thank the poster of this submission for his quick response for our request for more information. (11) This is actually several combined into one, as they are from the same source. They are fact, but the exact source is unknown at the moment. Could the owner please step forward? (a) 2 SSME's could generate as much power as that used by a NIMITZ class aircraft carrier. (b) The Fuel and hydrogen pumps of 3 SSME's combined could generate as much power as that used by the battleship IOWA plus 12 ETHAN class submarines. (c) One SSME has enough thrust for 2.5 Boeing 747's. (d) The combustion in 3 SSME's combined, to make one shuttle flight system, releases more energy than the combined nuclear power plants of 9 non-US countries. (but which ones?) (e) The turbo-pumps on the SSME rotate at 37,000 rpm. Formula One engines can rotate at up to 15,000 rpm. A standard 1990's vintage motor vehicle is very lucky to rev to 10,000rpm. (12) The LOX turbopumps on the F-1 engines of the Saturn V booster delivered 24,811 gallons of LOX per minute. They could have filled a swimming pool 25 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 6 feet deep in about 27 seconds. (In metric, the pumping rate is about 94,000 liters per minute, and the example swimming pool is 7 meters long, 3 meters wide, and 2 meters deep. The 27 seconds stays the same.) [ Source: "Apollo: The Race To The Moon", Charles Murray and Catherine Bly Cox, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1989, ISBN 0-671-61101-1, submitted by gbt@zia.cray.com ] (13) (This one is specific to 1993) Although june 21, the summer solstace in the Northern hemisphere is the longest period of daylight, July 1 was the longest day of the year worldwide! That is because at Z 00.00 (midnight world standard time) a leap second was added making July 1 24h00m01s long.....the longest day of the year! [ jbear@telerama.pgh.pa.us ] (14) Astronaut charm school included teaching the boys what socks to wear with which pants and shoes. [mark.blevis@qmail.dgrc.doc.ca] (15) After the first spacewalk, the Voshkod capsule carrying Alexei Leonov and Pavel Belyayev went off course and came down in the middle of a forest in Siberia. The two cosmonauts spent the night waiting for rescue in the snow, huddled around a fire in their spacesuits, listening nervously to wolves howling in the woods around them. [Reference: Several sources, notable James Oberg's `Red Star in Orbit' From alien@acheron.amigans.gen.nz] (16) "A typical Perseid meteoroid that produces a visible meteor of magnitude 2.5 has a mass of around *2.5 milligrams* and a velocity of order *60 kilometres per second*. Such a meteoroid would inflict severe damage - a crater of 5 cm diameter has been estimated - if it struck an artificial satellite." [RANDALLJC@UK.AC.PORTSMOUTH.CSOVAX] (17) The Apollo 13 moon mission was launched precisely on schedule, 13:13 Houston time, April 11, 1970. On April 13th, en-route to the moon, an oxygen tank in the service module exploded. The crew got home safely thanks to the consumables and propulsion of the LM, and the ingenuity of ground controllers in improvising LM lifeboat procedures. The S-IVB stage which boosted the mission into translunar trajectory was delivered to Kennedy Space Center on June 13, 1969--Friday. [Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, NASA SP-350, Chapter 13; Stages to Saturn, NASA SP-4206. From kelvin@autodesk.com] (18) For a Motor Vehicle Engine to have the same power-to-weight ratio as one Space Shuttle Main Engine, then it would only have to be the size of your clenched fist. [SHUTTLE, Nigel MacKnight.] (19) The Liquid Hydrogen Turbo-Pumps on a Space Shuttle Main Engine weigh as much as a standard V8 Motor Vehicle engine, but output some 310 times the power. [SHUTTEL, Nigel MacKnight.] (20) The Apollo 12 moon mission in 1969, following closely on the heels of the Apollo 11 mission, was struck by a bolt of lightning just after it left the launch pad. [SHUTTLE, Nigel MacKnight.] (20a) Atlas-Centaur AC-67, launched on March 26, 1987, was hit by lightning and started to deviate from it's planned course some 49-seconds after lift-off. Range Safety officials destroyed the vehicle. [Space Flight News, May 1987] {If anyone has record of any-other lightning strike, then let us know because it belongs here!} (21) The VAB, where Space Shuttle components are assembled today, and Saturn V components were assembled in the 60's and 70's, occupies a ground area of 8 acres and boasts an internal volume of 3,624,000 cubic metres (129,428,000 cubic feet!) The structure was designed to withstand winds of 200km/h (125 mph) and has a foundation that rests on more than 4200 steel pilings 40 cm (16 in) in diameter that each go to a depth of 49 metres (160 ft) through bedrock. The building has it's own internal weather! [SHUTTLE, Nigel MacKnight.] (22) There was an aluminium shed near launch pad 39A. It was roughly 50 yards away from the perimeter. It was a prefab building and it wasn't determined whether it would stand up to the first launch of the shuttle or not. After the first launch of Columbia, the shed was reduced to a few pieces of debris scattered across the ground. [SHUTTLE, Nigel MacKnight.] (23) Noticeboard of Safety requirements inside the VAB:- REMOVE PERSONAL ITEMS FROM THE UPPER POCKETS. WEAR BADGES INSIDE SHIRT OR CARRY IN PANTS POCKET. REMOVE WATCHES AND RINGS OR TAPE SAME. EYEGLASSES MUST BE TETHERED. ACCESS RESTRICTED WITHIN THREE FEET OF VEHICLE-CONTACT ACCESS CONTROL MONITOR. FOOD AND BEVERAGES PROHIBITED. FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS MUST BE APPROVED. NO HARD HATS ALLOWED. [SHUTTLE, Nigel MacKnight.] (24) I worked at the Johnson Space Center, and during a material testing procedure on Space Suit Assemblies I got to play with a heat-soaked shuttle tile cube. It was a one-inch cube, and it was soaking in an oven at about 1400F. We took it out of the oven with tongs and then you could hold it by the edges, preferably the corners. You did not want to touch the face of it - by minimizing the surface that you were in contact with you could minimize the heat transfer. It glows (visibly) just a little, but it sure shows up on infrared Kokak slide film :-) [From jgladu@bcm.tmc.edu] (25) The Software programmes controlling the Shuttle's on-board computers are the most sophisticated programmes ever developed for a spacecraft, and contain over 500,000 IBM-written instructions. This is twenty five times more than the programmes developed for the Saturn launch vehicle which guided Apollo astronauts from launch, through orbital insertion and into lunar trajectory. [SHUTTLE, Nigel MacKnight.] (26) John F. Kennedy Space Centre, or KSC as it is more usually referred to, is situated on Cape Canaveral. The operational areas are located adjacent to Mosquito Lagoon. Visitor's soon find out that the lagoon did not receive it's name frivolously, and that a reliable brand of mosquito repellant can be worth it's weight in gold! [SHUTTLE, Nigel MacKnight.] (27) And then there are the Alligators at KSC. Many of the 'gators have become quite tame, and some have developed the habit of clambering out of the pond in front of KSC's large canteen facility to 'beg' for scraps of food from the office workers who eat their lunch outside on the lawn. [SHUTTLE, Nigel MacKnight.] (27a) This is a big problem at KSC (Not "The Cape" as many call it...) because alligators are REALLY stupid. They can't tell the difference between a sandwich or your hand...In fact to them there IS no difference. We are warned over & over in the "KSC bulletin" not to feed them. Since KSC is a nature preserve, it is illegal to feed the 'gators. If caught, you can be disciplined. When the alligators lose their fear of humans, they are caught and moved to a remote part of the preserve. If they come back the alligators are killed. Period. [From HOLLIS@TITAN.KSC.NASA.GOV] (28) The oxygen tank of the External Tank of the Space Shuttle Transportation System occupies a small section at the front of the tank, whilst the Hydrogen Tank occupies the rest below it. The Hydrogen Tank is 2.5 times larger than the Oxygen tank, but weighs only one-third as much when filled to capacity. This difference comes about because liquid oxygen is some sixteen times more dense than liquid hydrogen. [SHUTTLE, Nigel MacKnight.] (29) The Crawler-Transporter, which carries the Space Shuttle, and previously the Saturn series of launch vehicles from the VAB to one of either launch pads 39A or 39B, is as wide as a 12 lane highway. [SHUTTLE, Nigel MacKnight.] (30) There are eight sets of tracks on each Crawler Transporter - two in each corner - and each set of tracks is comprised of fifty seven segments weighing one-ton apiece. That totals up to over 450 tons in track segments alone! [SHUTTLE, Nigel MacKnight.] (31) The Crawler Transporter isn't exactly good where fuel economy is concerned. Travelling at the rate of a mere 1 mile per hour, it guzzles fuel at the rate of of one gallon every twenty feet! Instead of Miles per Gallon, it is measured in Gallons per Mile! [SHUTTLE, Nigel MacKnight.] (32) On July 20, 1969, Houston Mission Control put through the longest- distance telephone call in history. It connected Richard Nixon to the two astronauts, Armstrong and Aldrin, on the surface of the moon. [The Young Scientists Book of Spaceflight. Rigby Usborne] (33) The Apollo Spacecraft, which carried astronauts to and from the Moon, had nearly two million working parts. A large Motor Vehicle has less than 3,000. [The Young Scientists Book of Spaceflight. Rigby Usborne] (34) Initially scheduled to be called "Constitution", the first Space Shuttle orbiter, OV-101, was renamed "Enterprise" in deference to "Star Trek" television series fans. [Rockwell International Space Shuttle - Dennis R Jenkins] (35) There is another unknown orbiter in the Space Shuttle fleet. Tagged OV-098, the craft itself was named "Pathfinder". It's original role was as a rough dimension-and-weight mock-up for practising de-orbit operations on the run-way, and also to practise lifting and handling the orbiter at various facilities (Shuttle Carrier Mate De-Mate, VAB and OPF). The vehicle was heavily modified to eventually look like the other orbiters for the "Great Space Shuttle Exposition" scheduled for June 1983 to August 1984. The craft was returned to MSFC and is on display today, with Filament wound boosters and the tank used in the main propulsion tests (MPTA-ET) at the Space and Rocket Center near Hunstville. [Rockwell International Space Shuttle - Dennis R Jenkins] (36) The Soviet Voskhod spacecraft, in follow-on to Vostok flights, was essentially just a one-manned Vostok spacecraft. All three cosmonauts launched in the spacecraft were without spacecsuits. Officially this was reported to be because the Soviets were confident with the spacecraft, but a quick calculation reveals that there would not have been enough room for the three men if these spacesuits had been included! [The Soviet Manned Space Programme - Salamander Books] (36a) The real trivia here I believe is the fact Korolevs engineers did not want to make the modification believing it a bad idea, then Korolev offered to fly one of the engineers on the first flight and they accepted the mission, Feoktistov was the lucky engineer. This was really part of Korolevs plans to get speciallists into space to learn and stop all flights from being all military pilots. Journalists were also selected for Voskhod missions. [dennisn@comm.mot.com (Dennis Newkirk)] (36b) This was repeated with Soyuz, stuffing three people without pressure suits into a spacecraft designed for two with suits, resulting in the deaths of the Soyuz-11 crew when the spacecraft vented its atmosphere during reentry. After that all crews have worn pressure suits even when (from Soyuz-12 to T-5) this reduced the crew size from three to two. [Mark Grant ] (37) The Soyuz spacecraft was initially designed by the Soviets for their attempt at getting to the Moon before the Americans. But the orbital Module of the Soyuz spacecraft was missing one vital component - a transfer tunnel in the docking adapter. If it ever became necessary to transfer crew or equipment to a Lunar orbiter or Lander, then cosmonauts would have had to climb into suits and go into the vacuum of space! The docking tunnel was added for later space-station operations. [The Soviet Manned Space Programme - Salamander Books] (37a) The lunar module docking drouge was just a metal honeycomb type crushable receptical for the LOK (lunar Soyuz) probe which just plunged into the material and hung on. It's only used once per mission anyway. [dennisn@comm.mot.com (Dennis Newkirk)] (38) The EDO (Extended Duration Orbiter) toilet is indeed different from a standard shuttle toilet. The standard shuttle toilet has a bowl that is used to contail fecal wastes. The waste material is freeze dried when it enters the bowl. The current toilet is able to support flights of up to 13 to 14 days. Modifications to the toilet are expected to increase this to about 16 days. The EDO toilet (This is the one making all the headlines about cost overruns) has just had the qualification unit complete its second flight. The 23 million dollars only produced a qualification unit. NASA has not purchased any actual flight units yet. The EDO toilet is different in that in place of the bowl there is a canister that is used to collect fecal wastes. Each canister can support 23 to 27 uses depending on what else the crew throws down there. When the canister fills up, it is replaces with a fresh canister. The drawbacks to this toilet are that the canisters require a lot of storage space that is not required by the standard toilet. The standard toilet has been in use since STS-1, while the EDO toilet is undergoing testing on OV-105 only. The standard toilet must be removed from the vehicle after each flight and returned to JSC for cleaning and processing. The EDO toilet can remain in the vehicle and thus saves processing time. [From oliver@vf.jsc.nasa.gov. This item came about in the discussion pertaining to the legitimacy of #5] (39) Some western speculators, back when the Soviets were still in the race to beat the US to the moon, were wondering what the Soviets would use as a lunar lander, as they could not (until recently) find evidence of a separate lunar lander vehicle. They came up with the concept that an enhanced Soyuz, complete with landing legs, would be used to land vertically on the surface of the moon, and even used the re-positioning of the main hatch to verify this! This would mean that a cosmonaut would have had to descend a ladder some 2 stories high to get to the Lunar Surface! [The Soviet Manned Space Programme - Salamander Books] (40) In the early 80's, the soviets were flying small 'cosmos' experimental vehicles which confounded international observers. Cosmos 1374, launched in June of 1982, was recovered in the Indian Ocean. The soviets issued a standard Cosmos-type announcement, failing to include an orbital period, yet stating that the mission was a success. The next similar flight, cosmos 1445, came nine months later. The retrieval of this one, simlarly with 1374, was observed by the Royal Australian Air Force, but in this case photographs were released to the rest of the world, revealing that the soviets had been testing a a small winged orbiter, with demensions of 3.4m length, 1.4m fuselage diameter and a wingspan of 2.6m. There are two more interesting notes. Firstly, Cosmos 1374, unlike 1445, did not have any identifying national markings, indicating that the RAAF was an undexpected visitor to the retrieval area. Secondly, the reovery ship (the Yamal) and apparently many members of the the Soviet recovery team, were the same for both spacecraft retrievals. There is one man with an identical head of Afro-styled hair who appears in both photographic series of the retrieval sequences, despite the two missions happening 285 days apart! [The Soviet Manned Space Programme - Salamander Books. Peter Pesavento, Correspondence to the BIS Spaceflight magazine, Sept 1991.] (41) The soviets had a large Saturn V type booster in development for the soviet manned assault on the Moon. This launcher was designated by many names, namely by G-1 or G-1e in the west in early years, but now as the SL-15 or N-1 booster). By mid 1966, US reconnaissance satellites spotted test facilities under construction at Tyuratam. By 1968 static test models had been built and between March and April a full sized version was moved from it's fabrication area to the launch pad and back. [The Rocket - David Baker - New Cavendish Books.] (42) The attempts to launch the G-1/N-1/SL-15 soviet booster are:- (a) February 21, 1969: The booster exploded 70 seconds after lift-off, when a fire developed in the tail section of the rocket. The booster was labelled 3L, and had an L-1 Zond Spacecraft. (b) July 3, 1969: A liquid oxygen pump failed causing an explosion that wrecked the launch site. Designated 5L, this booster is assumed to have had the same payload and launch aim as the first, namely to enter an orbit to the moon and attempt a lunar flyby. (c) July 21, (Or June 27?) 1971: The rocket fell back on the launch pad causing more extensive damage.This launcher, designated 6L, had a mock-up of the lunar module, lunar lander and escape system. (d) November 23, 1972: A fire developed in the engine compartment close to the end of the 1st stage burn and the booster exploded after 107 seconds of flight. Designated 7L, it had a proper lunar orbit module and escape system and a mock-up lunar landing module. It was planned this would be an Apollo 8 style, but unmanned, lunar flyby. [BIS Spaceflight, June 1991 and June 1992] (43) The one remaining G-1/N-1/SL-15 heavy lift booster (the fifth in the series that were built), which did not get a chance to fly due to the cancellation of the program, was partially converted into a bandstand for a town close to the launch site. [BIS Spaceflight, June 1991] (43a) The 8L booster was nearing a 1974 launch date. Another booster was also being readied, parts for more were on hand. All assembly was done at Baykonur. There was growing confidence these boosters would perform better since significant modifications were made from the 4th launch onward. [dennisn@comm.mot.com (Dennis Newkirk)] (44) There were several things to mention about Helens Sharman's flight to the MIR space station on May 18, 1991.:- (a) Great Britain was the 22nd nation to fly a citizen into space (b) Helen Sharman was the joint 248th person in space (c) She was the 15th woman into space (d) For the first time a nation's first space traveller was a woman. (e) She was the first non-soviet, non-amerian woman into space. (f) One record that was just missed: because the American Space Shuttle Columbia was delayed from it's scheduled launch date of May 22, the chance to set a new record or 4 women in space simultaneously was lost. (This was sts-40, which finally took off on June 5th.) [BIS Spaceflight, July 1991] (45) Gagarin's flight began under a cover of secrecy. Nobody except the heads of Korolev's design bureau and the KGB knew of the place of landing. The inhabitants of Saratov could not even have suspected how close they were to the historic landing site. But the secrecy wasn't complete. Skilled workers were required to deal with measuring and other devices to dismantle them. These workers were taken by KGB agents from one of the nearby plants. They were told by the director of the plant that they were close to the landing site of Vostok. One of the workers had a camera and was able to take a clear photograph of Vostok that wasn't released until 1991! [BIS Spaceflight, August 1991. And they show the photo!] (46) The Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, developed to train US astronauts on how to control the Lunar Lander for flights to the moon, was a strange contraption built with a turbofan engine facing down vertically in the centre to provide vertical thrust with a weight distribution and throttle reaction time similar to that of the real Lunar Lander. It was based around the early VTOL 'Flying Bedsteads' developed to study the potential of Vertical Take-Off and Landing for jet aircraft. [Ed Henegveld, BIS Spaceflight, December 1992] (47) Neil Armstrong had a close brush with death in a 'flying bedstead' LLRV on May 6th, 1968, when the craft went out of control and he was forced to eject. He landed by parachute and walked away without injury! [Ed Henegveld, BIS Spaceflight, December 1992] (48) Yuri Gagarin, on the maiden launch of a man into space, landed in a field some 26km south-west of the town of Engels in the Saratov Region. In his orange flight-suit he approached a woman and a little girl with a calf. The cosmonaut was asked if he came from space. And of course he replied "As a matter of fact, I have!" [Neville Kidger - BIS Spaceflight, April 1991] (49) Compared with the desired profile, the edge of the mirror surface of the primary mirror on the Hubble Space Telescope is too low by 0.002mm. This results in an error where the Light from the edges of the mirror come to a focus about 38mm beyond where the innermost rays converge. [BIS Spaceflight, April 1991] (50)The US Army Redstone missile has had a long and ditinguished service record. (a) A modified redstone, redesignated Jupiter C or Juno 1, sent into space the United States first satellite - Explorer 1 - on January 31, 1958. (b) It was used for the first manned American spaceflights of Shepard and Grissom in 1961. (c)It was the first rocket to detonate an atomic weapon (Project Hardtrack in 1958) above the Earth's surface. (d) It was the launcher used in Project SPARTA, a joint US/UK/Australia programme of re-entry research. The last of the 10 Redstones shipped to Australia for the project was used to launch WRESAT, Australia's first satellite. [Keith Scala, Michael Crowe, BIS Spaceflight, August 1991.] (51) The first real watch to be worn in space (Yuri Gagarin had a timepiece which was not a true Chronograph) was in July 1962, when Scott Carpenter flew the Aurora 7 Mercury capsule. [Alan A Nelson - BIS Spaceflight, April 1992] (52) The Omega Speedmaster Professional, later to become standard issue to all Gemini, Apollo and Skylab Astronauts, was first flown by Wally Schirra aboard Sigma 7 in October 1962. This watch was later known as the "Moon Watch" as it was the first watch worn on the Moon. [Alan A Nelson - BIS Spaceflight, April 1992] (53) The television series 'The Six Million Dollar Man' showed a terrible aircraft accident at the beginning of each episode, supposedly indicating how 'Steve Austin' was injured. The actual sequence was of a real accident on May 10, 1967, when NASA test pilot Bruce Peterson was fortunate to escape with his life in an experimental aircraft known as the M2-F2 lifting body. This small craft was part of a development to test the aerodynamics of small wingless craft that could generate aerodynamic lift through the simple shape of it's body. They came thundering down at incredible speeds, and attribute much of the information that is required today for the onc-attempt-only langings made by the Space Shuttle. [Space Flight News, May 1986. (No longer Published.)] (54) The Apollo 10 crew of Tom Stafford, John Young and Gene Cernan put themselves in the record books by achieving the highest speed ever attained by man - 24,790mph. [Space Flight News, July 1986. (No longer Published.)] (55) The Lunar Rover, as used on Apollo missions 15, 16 and 17, had a lifetime of 78 hours, and could cover up to 92kms. It could carry up to 400kg (Earth weight) - more than TWICE its own weight. (An average family car can usually only carry half it's own weight). Fully loaded it could climb a 25 degree slope, and on the flat it could reach a top speed of 16km/hr. It would be an almost precise 1/6th slow-motion replay of a car going 86km/h on Earth! [Space Travellers Handbook, Michael Freeman, Sovereign Books.] (56) A 'logical lock' was in use on the Vostok spacecraft to lock out any actions that Yuri Gagarin might make in a panic. At that time, nobody knew how a human would react to space, so the logical lock idea was created. Yuri Gagarin had a small envelope in which the logical lock code was written, and in order to use the controls he would have to prove that he was capable of doing the simple task of reading the combination and punching 3 of nine buttons. [Space Flight News, November 1986. (No longer Published.)] (57) There is a slide wire 'flying fox' type system at both launch pads 39a and 39b that the astronauts can use in the event of en emergency at the launch pad. [Space Flight News, February 1987] (58) At the base of the slide wire system used for emergency astronaut escapes at pads 39a and 39b, is a modified military M113 tank used to evacuate the atronauts and support personnel from the vicinty of the launch pad in a protective environment. In actual fact there are 3 tanks. One near the base of the slide wire, one at the blast demarkation line some 4,485ft from the launch pad, and another three miles away in the hands another fire/rescure team. [Space Flight News, February 1987] (59) The military has a long history of starting and then dropping astronaut and other manned programs - such as the Manned Orbiting Laboratory, the Dyna-Soar, etc. The latest one was the Manned Spaceflight Engineer program - and it did succeed in getting two Air Force payload specialists onto the Space Shuttle. Gary Payton (STS-51C) and Bill Pailes (STS-51J) flew before the Challenger accident. After Challenger the whole program was reconsidered and the military decided to concentrate on unmanned launch vehicles. The MSE program was disbanded and the people reassigned. The person who had probably the best chance of flying next was Kathy Roberts - but the Air Force dropped the program before she flew. [from CHARLES D. PHILLIPS] (60) The Johnson Space Center in Houston has two control rooms where technicians can monitor the Shuttle's onboard systems. The original control and display consoles in these rooms (dating back to the mid 1960's and the Gemini program) are still in use today. In the near future these consoles will be replaced with modern computer workstations. [ Tour Guide, Johnson Space Center, Houston TX from yantosca@bu-ast.bu.edu (Robert Yantosca)] (61) Both of the control rooms at JSC have a viewing gallery behind a wall of one-way glass. These viewing galleries are open to the public on days when the Space Shuttle is NOT in orbit (for security reasons). In fact, the galleries are closed to the public 24 hrs before launch time. However, VIP's (the President, Senators, Congressmen, and visiting dignitaries) occasionally are present to watch the progress of a Shuttle mission from these galleries. [Tour Guide, JSC from yantosca@bu-ast.bu.edu (Robert Yantosca)] (62) The first time four spacecraft had ever been docked together cae on 22nd April, 1987, when the Russians had together Soyuz-TM2, Mir, Kvant and Progress 29. (I have the suspicion that this may have been surpassed by now with the addition of other Mir modules. Could anyone provide details on this?) [Space Flight News - May 1987] (63) On the first four flights of Columbia, there were only two crew members, the Commander and the Pilot. Each was launched seated in a modified version of the rocket ejection seat installed in the SR-71 'Blackbird'. This seat could safely eject them away from the Orbiter in case the control system should malfunction and send it out of control. [Bob Overmyer, Space Flight News, May 1987] (64) Originally it was thought that the shuttle ejector system could be used to eject from the launch configuration as long as the Shuttle system was below 100,000 feet, but it was discovered later that once the solid rocket motors were burning, a crewmember ejecting would decend into the rocket plume. [Bob Overmyer, Space Flight News, May 1987] (65) Crew safety concerns for the shuttle heightened when the results of the ditching tests conducted at the U.S. Navy David Taylor Model Basin become known. At the Taylor test facility, large-scale models of the Orbiter were catapulted over a long water trough. They contacted the water in attitudes and speeds simulating Orbiter ditching conditions. No-one had ever ditched an airplane at the typical landing speeds of the Shuttle and the results were disappointing. When the model contacted the water in the fkat attitude that was achieved with a normal landing speed of 200 knots, it would skip badly and become airborne again. The second or third contact was usually very violent, resulting in forces that woud totally destroy and Orbiter. When the model simulated the slower landing speeds made possible by the delta-wing configuration, the nose-up attitude would cause the body-flap to contact the water first, and the cockpit would pitch down violently, slamming into the water. One interesting test showed that if the orbiter approached with the landing gear down, it would immediately turn into a 'submarine' and dive straight to the bottom! [Bob Overmyer, Space Flight News, May 1987] (66) On STS-5, there were 5 astronauts on board, but the two ejection seats remained in place but were unarmed. It had been originally proposed that the escape sequence would continue as follows:- The astronaut seated in the centre seat on the flight-deck would leave his seat and descend to the mid-deck if an emergency arose. The three in the mid-deck would then don-parachutes, wait for the Commander and Pilot to eject, and then climb through the two holes in the roof. This was rejected quickly, as it was found that the control wires would be severed in the roof after the ejection, and the orbiter would definitely go out of control. Besides this, those that crawled out would be brought around and slammed into the OMS pods on the rear of the orbiter! [Bob Overmyer, Space Flight News, May 1987] (67) Using a small setup of around 25-pounds worth of Radio equipment, a teacher and a group of students at Kettering Grammar School, England, were regularly keeping track of the Soviet 'eight day wonders' - recoverable satellites in the cosmos series. In 1966, differences in some of the orbits led to the discovery of a new Soviet launch site that had previously been a closely guarded secret of the USSR and the Pentagon. This site was christened in the west as 'Plesetsk'. Nearly 20 years passed before the Soviet Union publicly announced the existance of the site, and the Kettering group were proud to hear that they maintained the same name. [Space Flight News, May 1987] (68) The kettering group, a small team of students and their teacher at Kettering Grammar School, England, were keeping track of the Soviet Soyuz-11 manned spaceflight. They received the signals of the depressurization of the Soyuz module, and were keeping track of the cosmonaut's heartbeats up until they lost contact. The capsule would have landed within 30 minutes of this loss of signal, but unfortunately all three cosmonauts were found dead. If they had been wearing their space-suits at the time, they might have survived. [Space Flight News, May 1987] (69) In the weightlessness of space, the antennae of the big Hughes Intelsat 6 spacecraft would be able to unfurl on their own, but during Earthly tests the two larger antennae needed some help to defy gravity. Engineers at Hughes Aircraft Company in El Segundo, California, turned to Helium-filled ballons to perform the task! [Space Flight News, June 1987] (70) The current soviet spacesuit, used on-baord the MIR space station, requires the cosmonaut to swing the back-pak around and step into it from the back! [Space Flight News, July 1987] (71) Belive it or not, the final analysis showed that, although 'Columbia' basically had about 30,000 separate tiles on it's exterior, they installed - in the period from May '79 until it finally flew in April '81 - a grand total of over 90,000 tiles! [Bob Overmyer, Space Flight News, July 1987] (72) On STS-5, even though the commander and pilot ejector seats were disarmed, those two astronauts had to wear the SR-71 harness-type waistcoat in order to remain compatible with the seat! [Bob Overmyer, Space Flight News, July 1987] (73) STS-5 was also the first time astronauts wore the now=familiar pale-blue suits used before the Challenger accident. (This was used in place of the SR-71 type flight-suits used on the first 4 flights.) [Bob Overmyer, Space Flight News, June 1987] (74) The shears used by astronaut Joe Kerwin to sever the strap of debris retaining the jammed solar wing on the Skylab Space station, were of a type more usually employed for snipping barbed wire. Manufactured in Missouri, they were purchased by NASA for the pricely sum of $75! [Space Flight News, August 1987] (75) Whilst the Shuttle was still in development, Fred Haise amd Jack Lousma were scheduled to pilot STS-3 which was to have boosted Skylab back into orbit. Alas, Skylab to down in Western Australia in 1979, 2 years before the 1st flight of Columbia. [Bob Overmyer, Space Flight News, October 1987] (76) The Soviets have a long-standing custom of only calling their people 'Cosmonauts' after they have travelled in space. This conflicts with ------------------------------ End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 918 ------------------------------