Apr 29 1985
From The Space Library
NASA and the Defense Department (DOD) with White House concurrence abandoned any consideration of transferring the management of Space Shuttle operations to a commercial venture or quasi-public corporation for the foreseeable future, Aviation Week reported. The decision would thwart plans of commercial ventures that had sought the combined Space Shuttle management/marketing role. The Shuttle Operations Strategic Planning Group, a team made up of officials from NASA, DOD, the White House, and private enterprise, said ". . . the suggestion that the Space Shuttle should or could be transferred, sold or leased to private enterprise for its operation, marketing and future development is simply not a viable alternative for the foreseeable future." Although some commercial space officials called the group's study a "whitewash," others believed the decision could introduce more Space Shuttle launch and cost stability, a critical issue with a large segment of commercial space ventures that needed Space Shuttle transportation no matter who was managing it.
DOD Space Shuttle military space-flight requirements, including the potential for Strategic Defense Initiative Space Shuttle activity, were key elements in the decision not to take management of the program away from NASA.
As a result of the decision, NASA would have to create a new management structure in order to get the Space Shuttle out of existing development-oriented management. "As the shuttle evolves and the flight rate increases;' the strategic planning group said, "organizational realignments within NASA will become necessary to ensure that NASA's R&D and shuttle operations do not detract from one another but are mutually supportive." (Av Wk, Apr 29/ 85, 42)
NASA launched at 12:02 p.m. EDT today from KSC the Space Shuttle Challenger mission 51-B carrying seven astronauts, Spacelab 3, 24 rats, and two squirrel monkeys for the most intensive science mission to date, the Washington Post reported. Launched 17 days after Discovery left the same launch pad, the Challenger flight bested the previous "turnaround" record of 34 days.
Challenger carried the oldest crew ever to fly in space. Marine Col. Robert Overmyer, commander, was 49; Frederick Gregory, pilot, and Taylor Wang, payload specialist, were 44; Don Lind, mission specialist, was 54; Lodewijk van den Berg, payload specialist, was 53; William Thornton, mission specialist, was 55; and Norman Thagard, mission specialist, 41. The crew called the flight one by scientists for science. "This mission marks the first time that scientists who designed their own experiments will be executing those experiments in space," said Lind, who had been waiting 16 years for the flight. The five scientists would work in around-the-clock shifts on the 15 experiments inside the European-built Spacelab.
Before liftoff NASA decided not to have the crew launch two Get-Away Special satellites, one a student experiment and the other a Pentagon payload, because a nine-volt battery had failed on the last Space Shuttle flight. Ground tests showed that three other batteries from the same batch failed after 18 hours in vacuum. The satellites would return to the ground with the Space Shuttle.
The crew successfully deployed a satellite intended to calibrate air traffic control radars on the ground, but encountered difficulties when trying to deploy a U.S. Navy satellite that would locate drifting weather buoys. The satellite would not move from the cargo bay despite repeated signals to trigger deployment.
Later the crew discovered they had no fresh water from their galley faucet and had to bypass the faucet and reconnect themselves to their water supply using an all-purpose hose carried for such emergencies. Other problems ranged from an overheated hydraulic system power unit to a urine collection device that one crew member said sprayed water "all over the place." The monkeys and rats appeared to be doing well. Four of the rats had surgical implants in their hearts to record changes in heartbeat and blood flow. The others were testing cages and equipment for future animal experiments. The monkeys were on a shakedown flight to determine how they tolerated living in orbit. If they didn't get nervous or frightened in space, later flights would carry squirrel monkeys with surgical implants to test for space sickness and heart changes. (W Post, Apr 28/85, A18, Apr 29/85, A3, Apr 30/ 85, A7)
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