NASA Daily News Summary For Release: Nov. 9, 1999 Media Advisory m99-233 SUMMARY: No News Releases Today Video File for Nov. 9, 1999 ITEM 1 - STS-103 - THIRD HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SERVICING MISSION ITEM 2 - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IMAGE OF THE TRIFID NEBULA ITEM 3 - AIRBORNE INFORMATION FOR LATERAL SPACING (replay) ITEM 4 - NASA TESTS CONCEPT FOR A ULTRA LONG DURATION BALLOON (replay) ITEM 5 - MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES OF SOLAR ECLIPSE ON MARS (replay) NOTE: Today's The STS-103 Mission Overview Briefing will rerun throughout the day, beginning at 1:00 pm. LIVE TELEVISION EVENTS THIS WEEK: NOVEMBER 9, TUESDAY STS-103 Mission Briefing 9:00 am - 11:00 am - Mission Overview and EVA Briefing - JSC 11:00 am - noon - STS-103 Hubble Space Telescope Payload Briefing - HQ 2:00 - 3:00 pm - STS-103 Crew News Conference - JSC NOVEMBER 10, WEDNESDAY 6:00 - 10:00 am - Precision Farming Live News Interviews - MSFC 2:00 - 3:00 pm - Mars Climate Orbiter Failure Investigation Board Briefing - HQ ***************************** If NASA issues any news releases later today, we will e- mail summaries and Internet URLs to this list. Index of 1999 NASA News Releases: http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1999/index.html ***************************** Video File for Nov. 9, 1999 ITEM 1 - STS-103 - THIRD HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SERVICING MISSION NASA officials decided to move up part of the servicing mission that had been scheduled for June 2000 after three of the telescope's six gyroscopes failed. Having fewer than three working gyroscopes would preclude science observations, although the telescope would remain safely in orbit until a servicing crew arrived. In addition to replacing all six gyroscopes on the November flight, the crew will replace a guidance sensor and the spacecraft's computer. The new computer will reduce the burden of flight software maintenance and significantly lower costs. A voltage/temperature kit will be installed to protect spacecraft batteries from overcharging and overheating when the spacecraft goes into safe mode. A new transmitter will replace a failed spare currently aboard the spacecraft, and a spare missions will replace telescope insulation that has degraded. The insulation is necessary to control the internal temperature on spacecraft. Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD: Nancy Neal (Phone 301/286-0039). Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Donald Savage (Phone 202/358-1547). ITEM 1a - HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FIRST TWO HUBBLE SPACE--------TRT 2:07 TELESCOPE SERVICING MISSIONS, STS-61 AND STS-82 HST First Servicing Mission Highlights - In June, 1990 scientists and engineers discovered that the HST's primary mirror was flawed. Images of starlight were spread out in a fuzzy halo rather than being focused into a sharp point. This defect was caused by a manufacturing error in the polishing of the primary mirror which rendered it too flat. The HST was designed to allow new instruments to be easily installed as old ones become obsolete. This was demonstrated during the first servicing mission in December 1993, when, during an 11-day mission that included a record five EVAs, astronauts successfully installed a new camera called the Wide Field/Planetary Camera II (WF/PC-II) which had its corrective optics built right in, and a special instrument, called the COSTAR (Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement) that would properly refocus light from the flawed main mirror to the other instruments. HST Second Servicing Mission Highlights - Every few years, the telescope is visited by a Space Shuttle to allow astronauts to switch old instruments for new. During HST's second servicing mission, in February 1997, the seven-member crew conducted spacewalks to remove two older instruments and install two new astronomy instruments, as well as other servicing tasks. The two older instruments that were replaced were the Goddard High Resolution Spectrometer and the Faint Object Spectrograph. Replacing these instruments were the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). ITEM 1b - ANIMATION OF STS-103, THIRD HST SERVICING-------TRT 8:48 MISISON Sequences show how description of spacecraft components, arrival and departure of Space Shuttle, and how astronauts will accomplish servicing work during several EVAs (extravehicular activity). ITEM 1c - GYROSCOPE ANIMATION-----------------------------TRT 1:01 Astronauts will replace all six of the Telescope's gyroscopes during STS-103. Currently three of Hubble's six gyros are not working, leaving only the minimum number needed to continue its mission. The gyroscopes are needed for pointing the telescope. The pointing system is comprised of reaction wheels that actually move the telescope, gyros that report its position, star trackers that provide reference points, and the onboard computer that controls the pointing process. Based on nearly one and a half years of intensive chemical, mechanical and electrical investigations, the HST team believes that the thin wires are being corroded by the fluid in which they are immersed and ultimately this corrosion causes them to break. ITEM 1d - THERMAL BLANKET LAYER ANIMATION------------------TRT :33 During the mission astronauts will cover Hubble's electronic bay doors with seven permanent coated-stainless steel foil sheets called the New Outer Blanket Layer (NOBL). The crew will also carry seven rolls of special fabric, called the Shell/Shield Replacement Fabric (SSRF) which will be installed on Hubble's forward shell and light shield if time is available. The NOBL covers and SSRF pieces are designed to protect Hubble's external blankets and prevent its insulation from further degradation. Animation shows how these "thermal blankets" are replaced. Blankets are attached with "bottle-stopper" fasteners and then are unrolled like "wallpaper". This multi-layer insulation protects the Telescope from the severe and rapid temperature changes as it moves through its 90-minute orbit from very hot sun to very cold night. ITEM 1e - TECHNICIANS "QUILT" SSRF B-ROLL------------------TRT :56 B-roll of technicians at the Goddard Space Flight Center "quilting" the Shell/Shield Replacement Fabric (SSRF). The fabric pieces are stored in rolls for their trip to orbit. The fabric is composed of flexible, aluminized Teflon with rip-stop material bonded to the back side. Seven pieces up to 22 feet (7 meters) long will cover 80 percent of the sun-side light shield and forward shell. This special fabric was designed and tested to ensure that it can withstand exposure to charged particles, X- rays, ultraviolet radiation, and thermal cycling for at least ten years. ITEM 1f - STS-103 CLEANROOM B-ROLL------------------------TRT 2:12 Astronauts training for the Hubble Space Telescope Third Servicing Mission in the cleanroom at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Footage includes astronauts working with gyroscopes and applying thermal blankets to a full-sized mock-up of the Hubble Space Telescope. The seven-member crew will rendezvous with the Telescope, capture it with the Space Shuttle Discovery's robotic arm and dock it in the Shuttle bay. Working in teams of two, four astronauts will outfit the Hubble with new equipment, including six gyroscopes, a Fine Guidance Sensor, Solid State Recorder, new Main Computer, New Outer Blanket Layers (NOBL), and a transmitter. The astronauts will take more than 150 crew aids and tools on this service call. ITEM 1g - ACTIVITY IN STOCC---------------------------------TRT:26 Activity in Space Telescope Operations Control Center (STOCC) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, during the mission. Working 24 hours a day, ground controllers command and control the Hubble Space Telescope. Commands are sent to the Telescope to direct the observation of astronomical targets all across the sky. Hubble operators monitor the Telescope's health and safety while they control flight operations and science activities. ITEM 1h - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE ANIMATION------------------TRT:22 (5 glamour shot sequences) ITEM 1i - THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM (animation)----------TRT:15 Animations of the electromagnetic spectrum, the communication path, and the Hubble Telescope. ITEM 1j - HUBBLE TRACKING/SATELLITE RELAY ANIMATIONS Cut 1: Animation of HST Communication----------------------TRT 17 Communications through the Tracking & Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), White Sands, NM, and DOMSAT, to the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Cut 2: TDRSS Animation-------------------------------------TRT:22 Animation of the Tracking & Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) Communications Satellite depicting the data flow from TDRSS to Earth, equivalent to a set of encyclopedias every second. ITEM 1k - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS------------------------------TRT 2:02 Dr. David Leckrone, Sr. Project Sicentst Hubble Space Telescope ITEM 1l - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS------------------------------TRT 3:38 Dr. John Campbell, Associate Director, Hubble Space Telescope ITEM 2 - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IMAGE----------------------TRT :23 OF STAR FORMATION IN THE TRIFID NEBULA This NASA Hubble Telescope image of the Trifid Nebula reveals a stellar nursery being torn apart by radiation from a nearby, massive star. It also provides a peek at embryonic stars forming within an ill-fated cloud of dust and gas. Sequence opens on ground-based image of the Trifid Nebula and then zooms in to the remarkable images captured by Hubble.. Images and other information available at http://hubble.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Credits: NASA and Jeff Hester (Arizona State University), Paul Scowen (Arizona State University), Karl Stapelfeldt (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), John Krist (STScI) and the HST WFPC2 Investigation Definition Team Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Donald Savage (Phone 202/358-1547). Contact at Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD: Ray Villard (Phone 410/338-4707). ITEM 3 - AIRBORNE INFORMATION FOR LATERAL SPACING (replay)-TRT :55 NASA is developing a technology that would decrease air traffic delays by enabling airports with closely spaced parallel runways to keep both runways open in bad weather. Animation shows a normal runway approach in good visibility and how an Airborne Information for Lateral Spacing alert would warn of an incorrect approach. Contact at NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA: Judi Tull (Phone 757/864-3189). Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Michael Braukus (Phone 202/358-1979). Item 3a - PILOT TESTING AILS IN SIMULATOR-----------------TRT 3:48 Pilots tested the AILS system in a NASA simulator. AILS would give pilots a cockpit display to detect, warn, and avoid possible encroaching traffic. They confirmed those results on board NASA 757 and a Honeywell Gulfstream. Video Courtesy Discovery Channel Item 3b - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS-------------------------------TRT :57 Brad Perry, AILS Project Manger, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA Item 3c - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS-------------------------------TRT :19 Bob Puley, 757 Pilot, Northwest Airlines Item 3d - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS-------------------------------TRT :35 Bill Cowin, Senior Research Program Manager, Honeywell, Inc. ITEM 4 - NASA TESTS CONCEPT FOR A ULTRA LONG DURATION BALLOON (replay) A test flight was successfully conducted recently from Ft. Sumner, NM, of a pumpkin-shaped balloon half the size of a football field and approximately one-tenth the volume of NASA's Ultra Long Duration Balloon (ULDB). The ULDB will stay aloft at altitudes of up to 115,000 feet (35 kilometers) for as long as 100 days with more than a ton of scientific instruments. Scientists are excited about the new balloons because they can carry huge payloads to the very edges of the Earth's atmosphere at a fraction of the cost of launching them on rockets. Contact at NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA: Betty Flowers (Phone 757/824-1584). Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Donald Savage (Phone 202/358-1547). More ULDB program information can be found at: http://www.wff.nasa.gov/~uldb/index.html Item 4a - NASA'S ULTRA LONG DURATION BALLOON--------------TRT 5:07 A test flight was successfully conducted recently from Ft. Sumner, N.M. of a pumpkin-shaped balloon half the size of a football field and approximately one-tenth the volume of what NASA calls its Ultra Long Duration Balloon (ULDB). The ULDB will stay aloft at altitudes of up to 115,000 feet (35 kilometers) for as long as 100 days with more than a ton of scientific instruments. FILE FOOTAGE:---------------------------------------------TRT 8:12 Item 4b - LAUNCH ANIMATION SEQUENCE Ultra Long Duration Balloons (ULDB) are being designed to stay afloat for several months with over a ton of astronomy or remote sensing equipment. This new balloon technology will enable a science payload to stay aloft for up to 100 days, at a constant altitude of approximately 120,000 feet. That is about 15 miles higher than typical passenger planes fly and above 99.9 percent of the Earth's atmosphere. This represents an enormous advance over current long-duration balloons that stay aloft for about 10 days and cannot maintain a constant altitude. A ULDB platform can be used to perform many types of research effectively, inexpensively and the payload can be recovered for reuse. Item 4c - ALTITUDE COMPARISON ANIMATION Day and night temperature differences, along with barometric pressure differences affect the altitude of current long duration balloons because they are open systems. The Ultra Long Duration Balloon is a closed system enabling it to maintain a more constant altitude. Item 4d - SIZE COMPARISON Height comparison of ULDB at launch and at altitude with the Washington Monument. The ULDB balloon consists of 20 acres of a special polyethylene composite material (.08 mil thick) and 20 miles of seams. Item 4e - ANIMATION OF POTENTIAL ULDB SCIENCE PAYLOADS Scientists will be able to command the instrument and receive science data on a home computer via the Internet. Cut 1: Atmospheric payloads such as cosmic ray detection, and anti-matter detectors. Cut 2: Earth Observation payloads Item 4f - ULDB MATERIAL TESTING B-ROLL New composite materials were developed to accomplish ULDB's mission. This new material must withstand the environmental stresses the balloon will encounter at 120,000 feet for 100 days. These stresses include temperature variations, pressure, and ultraviolet radiation. Item 4g - MANUFACTURING METHODS TESTING B-ROLL Inflating a 30 foot diameter ULDB "model" to its bursting point gives engineers insight into the durability and strength of balloon manufacturing methods. Item 4h - SOUNDBITE Steve Raque, Aerospace Engineer, NASA Balloon Program Office ITEM 5 - MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES OF SOLAR ECLIPSE------TRT :42 ON MARS (replay) The shadow of the martian moon, Phobos, has been captured in many recent wide angle camera views of the red planet obtained by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC). Designed to monitor changes in weather and surface conditions, the wide angle cameras are also proving to be a good way to spot the frequent solar eclipses caused by the passage of Phobos between Mars and the Sun. Image shows Phobos, the inner and larger of the two moons of Mars. Imaged on Aug. 19, 1998, by the Mars global Surveyor/Mars Orbiter Camera. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Doug Isbell (Phone 202/358-1753). Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA: Mary Hardin (Phone 818/354-5011). ---------- Unless otherwise noted, ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN. ANY CHANGES TO THE LINE-UP WILL APPEAR ON THE NASA VIDEO FILE ADVISORY ON THE WEB AT ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/tv-advisory/nasa-tv.txt WE UPDATE THE ADVISORY THROUGHOUT THE DAY. The NASA Video File normally airs at noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m. and midnight Eastern Time. NASA Television is available on GE-2, transponder 9C at 85 degrees West longitude, with vertical polarization. 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