Florida Today from Cocoa, Florida • Page 57

9E FLORIDA TODAY, Sunday, March 15, 1992 Endeavour must pass test before first flight Veteran astronaut hangs up his space suit Astronaut doles out Silver Snoopy awards NASA astronaut Jim Newman has been making the rounds at Kennedy Space Center, doling out Silver Snoopy awards to who have made a special contribution to the safety of manned spaceflight. Newman recently presented one of the awards to Port St. John resident Christopher Gariepy, an associate software engineer with Lockheed Space Operations the prime Shuttle processing contractor at KSC. 1 -tlV- Michael R. Brown.

FLORIDA TODAY SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR next month will undergo a Flight Readiness Firing, a test during which the spaceship's three liquid-fueled main engines are ignited at the launch pad for about 20 seconds. The tests are conducted before the first flight of any new Orbiter. NASA's last FRF test, pictured here, took place before Discovery's return-to-flight mission in 1988. Orbiter plumbing and external tank is working as a complete system, said John Plowden, the manager in charge of main engine operations at KSC for Rockwell International's Making preparations ByJlmBanke FLORIDA TODAY Shuttle Endeavour is poised for launch at pad 39B, but it must pass a critical test before NASA managers clear the vehicle for its first flight into space. The test which is known as the Flight Readiness Firing, or FRF involves igniting and firing Endeavour's three liquid-fueled Rocketdyne main engines for about 1 20 seconds, while the Shuttle remains safely bolted to the ground.

The event is targeted for April 6, but the exact date won't be known until after sistership Atlantis is launched from neighboring pad 39A, said Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Crippen. Atlantis is scheduled to fly March 23, but a delay in the liftoff will affect when Endeavour's test can be planned. "Right now, I would say we're still close to the original milestones we laid out," Crippen said. The FRF is not just a test of the Orbiters three main engines, which already have passed a trio of test-firings at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Miss.

The test, in fact, will give engineers and managers their best look yet at how well Endeavour's main propulsion system its engines, USF wins $16.5 million space grant ByToddHalvorson FLORIDA TODAY The University of South Florida i recently captured a $16.5 million grant to develop sensors for a new generation of spacecraft that will study Earth from outer space. The sensors, which will be used to study the planet's oceans, will be flown aboard satellites that will make up NASA's Earth Observing System. The $17 billion system will be comprised of a series of satellites that will monitor Earth's environ-' ment, making measurements of the planet's atmosphere, oceans, polar regions and land masses. The 10-year grant is the largest ever awarded to the Tampa school by a federal agency. "The NASA grant is a reflection of USFs increasing stature at a national level," said university President Francis Borkowski.

And it also is a reflection of the increasing role Florida universities are playing in the U.S. space program, said Charles Reed, chancellor of the State University Sys-. tern. "USFs success demonstrates that our state universities can effectively compete for world-class research programs," Reed said. The Gulf Coast college joins several other Florida schools which have been awarded sizeable space-) related grants.

NASA astronaut Vance Brand, a veteran of the AdoIIo and Snace Shuttle programs, has found a new spaceplane to work on. Brand, 60, is hanging up his space helmet to join the X-30 Na tional Aerospace Plane Joint Program Office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. "I thoroughly enioved mv 25 years at Johnson Space Center and the great experience of working on the programs from Apollo through Space Shuttle," Brand said. "However, I am looking forward to the challenge of working on the Aerospace Plane with its advanced technology and single-stage-to-orbit objective." The X-30 is envisioned as an aircraft that will take off horizontally, flying into orbit using air-breathing engines as its primary propulsion and then land on conventional runways. As director of plans for the NASP program office, Brand will develop program plans and objectives to meet the national goals proposed for the Aerospace Plane Program.

He also will be charged with ensuring that individual technologies are integrated into X-30 vehicles. During his tenure with NASA, Brand logged 746 hours in space on four flights, including the joint U.S.Soviet Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975. Brand commanded three Shuttle missions: STS-5 in November 1982. STS-41B in February 1984. STS-35 in December 1990.

Selected as an astronaut in 1966, Brand has applied his engineering expertise to numerous ground and flight test projects. In the Astronaut Office, he has held the positions of chief of the operations development branch and chief of the safety branch. He also served as assistant project manager for integration and assembly of NASA's planned space station Freedom. Brand has received many awards, including: Federation Aeronautique Internationale Yuri Gagarin Gold Medal in 1976; De La Vaulx Medal in 1983; AIAA Special Residential Citation in 1977; AAS Flight Achievement Award for 1976; Two NASA Space Flight Medals in 1983 and 1984. If BRAND Gariepy works in the Launch Processing Systems Applications directorate at the space center.

He is responsible for the devel-opment and maintenance of application GARIEPY software for sound suppression systems at NASA's Shuttle launch pads. The sound suppression systems pour hundreds of thousands of gallons of water on the launch pad just before Shuttle liftoffs. The water prevents the loud, rumbling sound waves created by a launch from damaging the Orbiter or its payload during the initial seconds of a flight. Gariepy holds a bachelor of science degree in computer science from Western New England College. He currently attends Florida Institute of Technology where he is working on a masters degree in the same field.

Newman also presented Silver Snoopy's to three employees of USBI Co. John Proferes, John Ghaneie and Herbert Muchow were honored by the astronaut corps for their work in preparing the Shuttle's twin solid rocket boosters for launch, which is USBI's responsibility at KSC. "Those of us who are astronauts thank you for the continued and outstanding support you have given us through your work," Newman said. Proferes has been with USBI for 10 years, Muchow for four years and Ghaneie for two years. The Silver Snoopy is an award that enables the astronaut corps to recognize outstanding contributions to the safety and success of America's manned space program.

The award, which is given to no more than 1 percent of the KSC work force each year, always is presented by an astronaut in the employee's work place. Reported by Florida Today Staff Writers Todd Halvorson and Jim Banke yi iiiiiimip jwi Rocketdyne Division. NASA safety rules dictate all new Orbiters be put through an FRF before their first launch. from Cape will be determined by Congress, which will be asked to fund the venture. The cost of the project, which would begin in 1996, is estimated at $150 million per year and the goal is not to exceed $1 billion for the whole project.

These days, Lane said, that's an inexpensive price for one or two spacecraft let alone 16. iiitJik An FRF also took place before Discovery's return-to-flight mission in 1988 so the launch team could test new procedures and systems put in place following the 1986 Challenger disaster. Just as Endeavour's FRF date is dependent on when Atlantis launches, Endeavour's launch date will depend on when the FRF takes place. "I'd like to see the FRF behind me before I'm ready to commit to anything," Crippen said. "(But) we ought to be able to get off somewhere around the first week of May." KSC schedules show Endeavour is tentatively scheduled for launch May 7.

"When we come out of FRF, the principle race from there is to get the payload installed and turn the engines around so they are ready to fly. Then we're basically there," said John "Tip" Talone, the KSC manager in charge of preparing Endeavour for launch. NASA's newest Orbiter will carry a crew of seven, led by chief astronaut Dan Brandenstein, on a seven-day mission. During the flight, spacewalking astronauts will rescue a stranded communications satellite and demonstrate techniques for building NASA's proposed $30 billion space station Freedom. for launch NASA Canaveral Lane and other JPL scientists, as a result, are confident the project will be approved.

"This project will in fact be another step to understanding Mars and possibly considering establishing a colony there," he said. "And if it looks sensible, and reasonable, and there are no horrendous problem areas, then there's a chance that Congress will let NASA do this." rT your sJ i a better idea! Is? ll I 'A MARCH 19th 7:00 PM A.G. Edwards' Reflection Bldg. U.S. 1ft Hibiscus bMnMm 7-UM I id ii vmj nil Harbor City Blvd.

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The 300-pound spacecraft, in fact, will be capable of studying the Martian atmopshere as well as its climate and terrain, all important factors in planning manned missions to the Red Planet. The small spacecraft also will be equipped with tiny 10-pound camera-laden rovers designed to scout the Red Planet's surface for potential Mars base sites. Sixteen Martian landers would be launched four at a time from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard Delta-class rockets. The first four spacecraft would be launched in 1999, another four would fly in 2001 and the final two quartets would follow in 2003. A larger, communications satellite would be launched on a fifth Delta-class rocket to relay information from Mars back to Earth.

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