Jan 21 1980
From The Space Library
JSC reported that it would conduct a 30-hour mock mission of Space Shuttle Columbia beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday, January 23, running through orbital operations to landing. Flight directors and their teams of controllers would monitor system performance, carry out navigation and targeting, and watch support-crew adherence to mission timelines. Simulation specialists would spring problems on the controllers and on the orbiter crews going through routine duties in the Shuttle simulator and another orbiter mockup.
About 500 persons would participate in the "flight," including prime crew John W. Young and Robert Crippen and backup crew Joe H. Engle and Dick Truly. Flight directors would be Neil Hutchinson for the launch team, Chuck Lewis for the orbit team, and Don Puddy for the landing team. This simulation would check out operational procedures over an extended period; previous simulations had not lasted as long. More 30-hour practice flights would occur every six weeks to two months in preparation for the real thing. (JSC Release 80-003)
The European Space Agency (ESA) reported that detailed evaluation of records from the Ariane's first test flight December 24, 1979, confirmed that it was a complete success. Each of the three powered stages had performed better than predicted, and the results would allow integration of the second launcher to proceed without change except for a pogo-correction device not used on the first flight. The second flight was set for late May or early June 1980. (ESA Info Bltn 1)
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