Sep 20 1979
From The Space Library
NASA launched the high-energy astronomy observatory HEAO 3 at 1:28 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on an Atlas Centaur into an orbit with 492-kilometer apogee, 477-kilometer perigee, 94.3-minute period, 43.6° inclination. It was third of a series designed to survey the sky for X-ray sources, measure gamma-ray flux, and define the composition of cosmic-ray nuclei.
The first HEAO, launched in 1977 with a 6-month design lifetime, measured and mapped X-ray and gamma-ray sources for 17 months, reentering Earth's atmosphere in March 1979. It had increased the number of known X-ray resources from 350 to 1,500 and had discovered a new black-hole candidate as well as a dust cloud enveloping a supercluster of galaxies. The second, called Einstein, carrying the largest X-ray telescope ever built, was launched November 1978 with a 1-year lifetime to examine in greater detail the findings of HEAO 1.
HEAO 3 carried a gamma-ray spectrometer and experiments on a cosmic-ray isotopes and heavy cosmic-ray nuclei. Data from the three observations would cast light on the origins of high-energy radiation in space and the formation of elements and of the universe. (NASA Release 79-113; NASA MOR S-832-79-03 [prelaunch] Aug 10/79, [postlaunch] Sept 20/79; prelaunch summary, Sept 10/79)
NASA announced that JSC was studying two ways to repair Space Shuttle tiles in orbit, both requiring crew members to go outside the Shuttle. JSC director Christopher C. Kraft called it "prudent" to be ready for in-orbit repairs, in case the tiles did not come up to specifications in actual fight: the thousands of heat-resistant blocks covering the underparts and sides of the orbiter might be damaged at launch and need patching before reentry.
The first idea, using an extendable boom carrying television cameras and a platform, would relay images of a damaged area into the cockpit and sustain a space suited astronaut making external repairs. The other concept would use a jet backpack to maneuver an astronaut around the orbiter to inspect it and make repairs wherever necessary. JSC had three studies under way by General Electric, Martin Marietta, and McDonnell Douglas on repair materials and tools suitable for outer space. (NASA Release 79-120; JSC Release 79-58)
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