Plenty of Time to Fix Payload Problems, Right? Wrong!

by Lesley Carroll
August 25, 1997

[Learn about how payloads fit into the space program by reading Lesley's field journal about where payloads come from and how they arrive at the Kennedy Space Center.]

The SOHO Mission

Weather can cause many problems with an offload. The SOHO satellite was due to arrive at KSC SLF in an Air France 747 cargo plane about 10 a.m. Because it was an international flight, customs, immigration and agriculture personnel were required to clear the plane, the flight personnel, the garbage, and the cargo before any offloading could begin. Unfortunately for all of us, when the plane was originally scheduled, hurricane Erin was brewing in the Atlantic Ocean, but was due to hit south Florida and bypass us completely. The morning of the arrival, the hurricane shifted its track and headed UP the coast towards us. There we all were, out on the ramp, with the winds beginning to blow harder and rain threatening.

As soon as the officials cleared the plane, our heavy equipment personnel set to offloading the satellite and the associated GSE. The satellite in its canister had to be removed using a crane, but...the lifting bar that needed to be attached to the canister had been loaded on the aircraft behind the canister, which made it very difficult to get to and attach. This took more time than we had originally planned, which, given the fact the hurricane was making tracks for us, was something we were beginning to run short of...anyway, with the winds increasing in speed and intensity, the crew finally attached the bar, and the satellite was removed from the plane, just under the maximum wind speed allowed to use the crane. The equipment crew scrambled to get the remaining payload of the aircraft, while I assisted with decisions and trips to obtain items for the Air France crew. The offload was completed, the airplane departed around 2:30 p.m., and we all beat a hasty retreat to our homes.

The Cassini Mission

This is a very politically active project because of the radioactive fuel that is to be used to propel the satellite to Saturn. This particular payload arrived at three separate times in three separate aircraft. The first part was the PMS module, with the high-gain antenna, and GSE, which arrived in March on a C-17, a U.S. Air Force cargo aircraft. I had been working with the LSSM for six to eight months on this project prior to its arrival, and had made sure the SLF was available. The plane arrived on schedule, the cargo was offloaded and the plane departed. A very smooth operation. We should have known! The second part, which was the overseas segment, caused many problems. A Lufthansa 747, bringing in the Huygens Probe from Europe, was scheduled to arrive at the SLF on launch day. I informed the LSSM of the conflict, and scheduled the aircraft to land at the Skid Strip. Since this was an international flight, arrangements were made for customs, immigration and agriculture agents to support the incoming plane. Okay, so far, but now came a major problem with documentation.

The probe carries a small quantity of pyrotechnics (explosives) which propels the satellite away from the ELV, thus allowing it to use its own motor to place it into orbit. The Germans had received their required document from their government, permitting it to be flown on a commercial aircraft, but no one had contacted the United States Department of Transportation, the government office responsible for providing the document that would allow the aircraft to fly into American airspace. Immediate chaos followed since the plane was scheduled to arrive in less than one week. The carrier had to have this document in order to load the airplane and apply for their departure time slot. We were notified of this oversight on Wednesday, with an absolute resolution day of the following Monday. It took a coordinated effort of multiple offices - KSC Transportation, Payload Ground Operations Contractor (PGOC) Transportation, the head of the Bureau of Explosives, the Department of Transportation, and the LSSM - to get all of this to come together. The problem was worked on throughout the entire weekend, with the documentation faxed to the LSSM on Monday, who, in turn, faxed it to the carrier. Thankfully, the probe arrived on schedule, thanks to an incredible effort.

[Click here to learn more about the upcoming Cassini mission.]

The Space Station Node

The most current mission of national interest was the arrival of the Space Station Node, the first major piece of station hardware. This was an effort involving about 50 people, however, despite all the planning, there were problems. The node was transported in a special canister, call the Space Container Transportation System (SCTS), which was built to fit into a military airplane, specifically a specially modified C-5. The C-5C is the only aircraft that this canister will fit into, and it takes almost the entire cargo space. If a mechanical problem arises with the plane making it unusable, there is only one additional specially modified C-5C to use.

For this mission, there were two aircraft scheduled - a regular C-5B for ground support equipment, and the C-5C, carrying the node. The arrival times were to be late at night, around midnight, with partial offload immediately after arrival, and the node offload the following evening. Those were the plans, anyway. Needless to say, it didn't quite happen that way! Weather at the originating installation, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Huntsville, Alabama, was not cooperative, resulting in an overweight flight load. Part of the cargo had to be removed from the C-5B prior to its departure at MSFC, thus delaying the arrival at KSC, and requiring an additional trip back to retrieve the cargo left behind. Instead of arriving at 10:30 p.m., the planes finally arrived at 1:30 a.m. The C-5C was parked on the ramp at the SLF for offload later that evening, while the C-5B was parked on the runway for offloading and subsequent departure (at 2:15 a.m.) for its return trip. At 6:00 p.m. that same day, preparations were started to offload the node from the C-5C, an operation which took close to six hours to complete. The clearance between the SCTS canister and the walls/ceiling of the plane was about one inch. Moving the canister required very slow, precise movements; basically it was inched out of the cargo bay! After offload, it was transported to the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF).

Of course, what comes in must go out. We looked at the problem of returning the canister and the ground support equipment later that week. Same problem, different day. The C-5C arrived at the SLF Thursday evening and prepared for the upload of the canister on Friday evening. When the plane arrived, we discovered there had been several mechanical problems, which did not worry us since the aircraft was not scheduled to depart until Sunday morning. Plenty of time to fix it, right?

Wrong! The upload began around 6 p.m. on Friday evening, proceeded slowly but smoothly, finishing at 1:30 a.m. Since we had a launch conflict with the SLF, the C-5B arrived Saturday at the Skid Strip, two hours later than originally scheduled. The upload of the GSE began, and upon completion, the plane was closed up for its Sunday morning departure. During the loading, however, I was called by the Ops people at the SLF advising me that another problem had arisen with the C-5C, which was going to adversely impact not only all the ground transportation arrangements I had made for the air crews, but also the flight departure time. I was told the parts had been ordered to repair the plane, and would hopefully arrive the following morning. On Sunday morning, I called the SLF, only to learn of yet another mechanical problem, which would delay departure, and which required additional transportation arrangements for the air crews. The C-5B departed the Skid Strip on time Sunday morning, but the C-5C was still on the ground at the SLF. Of major concern at this time was the impact the plane was having on the launch activities, since a shuttle was due to launch on Tuesday.

Monday morning - the C-5C was still on the ground. We set up a convoy of vans, retrieved the air crew at noon and transported them to the SLF (again!). They scrambled to get the plane fixed and airworthy, finally succeeding, and departed at 10:08 p.m. Monday. We were never so glad to see a plane leave in our entire lives!!

In the world of offloads, we hope for the best and try to plan for the worst. As I have mentioned in the episodes above, when things go wrong, they go wrong in a big way! Fortunately, problems like these don't happen regularly - just often enough to keep the job interesting.