News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 9

9A Fort Myers News-Press, Tuesday, March 23, 1982 Fullerton rookie in space, but not at shuttle controls Lousma calls last 20 years his training for this flight it vr tv New York Times Service Although this is Gordon Fullerton's first venture In space, It Is not his first experience at the controls of the space shuttle. In 1977, he was a member of one of the two crews of astronauts who piloted the prototype shuttle Enterprise in a series of approach and landing tests at Edwards Air Force Base in California. A Boeing 747 piggybacked the Enterprise to a high altitude and released it The astronauts then steered it unpowered to a touchdown on the desert floor, duplicating the critical final minutes of a real shuttle flight. With that experience behind him, Col. C.

Gordon Fullerton was a natural choice for one of the four crews for the Columbia's orbital test flight program. Another qualification also seems to favor him for the mission. Unlike so many astronauts, who rose from the ranks of jet fighter pilots, Fuller-ton spent most of his Air Force career in multi-engine craft, bombers and cargo planes. "That's what the shuttle is, a cargo plane," he said of the Columbia, with its three onboard rocket engines and 60-foot-long payload bay. The 45-year-old Fullerton waited in line more than 15 years for this chance to prove himself in space.

After graduation in 1965 from the Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards, he served briefly as a test pilot at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and then was selected as an astronaut In the Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laborato ry program. But when the program was abruptly canceled In 1969, he returned to bombers and cargo planes, though in a few months be was back In line as an astronaut for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. For a long time, however, the closest he came to space flight was as a member of the support crews for the Apollo 14 and 17 lunar missions in 1971 and 1972. Otherwise, all he could do was wait patiently as the shuttle emerged from its difficult nine-year development program. "It's going to be a great personal adventure," he said a few weeks before the launching.

Charles Gordon Fullerton was born Oct 11, 1936, In Rochester, N.Y. His family moved to Portland, when he was in the first grade. As a boy there, he worked four years as a newspaper carrier for The Oregonlan. The newspaper, which usually relies on wire services to cover the space program, sent a reporter to the former paper carrier's final prefllght news conference at the Johnson Space Center last month. After he graduated from U.

S. Grant High School in Portland, Fullerton attended the California Institute of Technology, earning a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering in 1957 and a master of science degree in 1958. He worked as a mechanical design engineer for the Hughes Aircraft Co. before he Joined the Air Force later in 1958. knowledged that the shuttle was a more complex and challenging vehicle to fly than was Apollo, and that the current mission was the most demanding so far.

But he was just happy to be going back into space after a nine-year wait At the age of 46, Jack Robert Lousma (pronounced as in is a sturdy 6 feet tall at 195 pounds and has thinning, light brown hair. He was born on a leap year day, Feb. 29, 1936, in Grand Rapids, Mich. His father, Jacob Lou wsma, who died early this month, dropped the on his son's birth certificate to make it easier to spell. At the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Lousma studied aeronautical engineering and earned a letter in football in his sophomore year, before being sidelined by an elbow injury.

While in college, he married Gratia Kay Smeltzer, a classmate at Ann Arbor High School. They have four children, Timothy, 18, Matthew, 15, Mary, 13, and Joseph, 1 V. The Lousmas live near the Johnson Space Center at the edge of Houston. His career has brought him many honors, including an honorary doctorate from his alma mater and two of the most prestigious aerospace awards, the Robert J. Collier Trophy for 1973 and the Robert H.

Goddard Memorial Trophy for 1975. Lousma has had little time lately for the golfing and hunting he enjoys so much. "I've never broken 80," he said of his golf game. His few bird-hunting trips these days are with his two older sons. "It's a good father-son opportunity," he says.

New York Times Service NEW YORK "I consider everything I've done for the last 20 years as training for this flight" Col. Jack R. Lousma of the Marine Corps said a few weeks before climbing into the space shuttle Columbia as commander of Its third test mission. For Lousma, "everything" includes these achievements: He has logged more than 3,600 hours in high-performance jet aircraft. He earned his wings as a Marine pilot in 1960 and was assigned to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as an astronaut in 1966.

Lousma trained as a member of support crews for three of the Apollo lunar missions and as a backup pilot for the Apollo spacecraft that linked up with a Soviet Soyuz craft in 1975. He orbited the earth 858 times in 1973, for a total of 24 million miles, as a member of the second crew to occupy the Skylab space station. During the mission, he spent 11 hours in two separate space walks outside the Skylab. Since 1978 he has sought to familiarize himself with the space shuttle. He and his co-pilot Col.

C. Gordon Fullerton of the Air Force, spent more than 1,000 hours training In the computerized shuttle simulator. It Is therefore not surprising that Lousma exuded a sense of readiness and command as he went through the final days of preparations for the launching. He ac jk; 1 UPI ASTRONAUTS HEAD FOR LAUNCH PAD Jack Lousma, right, and Gordon Fullerton Crowd. Shuttle mission 3 at a glance r' VY.

ftjiSSJuSty 1 1 'J i Jii From page 1A and started the three-day drive home right after liftoff. Though crowd counts are suspect especially when people are spread throughout a number of locations, local authorities believe the Monday launch set a record. Retirees on vacation and college students making their annual trek to Florida over spring break helped push the crowd past the 1 million mark set at the 1972 nighttime launch of Apollo 17, the last moon flight. Columbia's maiden flight last April drew 750,000 and an estimated saw the ship's return to space last November. Motel and hotel space was booked up two months ago and beaches and causeways around the Cape were turned Into gigantic parking lots.

Jack Estes, 18, saved enough money from a part-time job, skipped school, and over his parents' objections flew to Florida. "Nobody cares back home," said the high school senior from Leominster, Mass. "People think I'm pretty fanatical. My parents are angry and I guess only the science teachers will be easy to deal with when I get back." Twenty-two college students from Michigan State arrived in a bright yellow and orange school bus, gutted to add bunks, tables and stereo equipment. The five buddies who own It charged $90 a head to classmates who wanted to combine the spring-break beach trip with the launch.

CAPE CANAVERAL (AP) Here, at a glance, are some facts and figures on the third test flight of the space shuttle Columbia: Launch: 11 a.m. EST, March 22, from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. Orbit: 116 times at an altitude of 150 miles. Mission Length: 7 days, 3 hours, 27 minutes. Landing: At Northrup Strip, White Sands Missile Range, N.M., on March 29.

Astronauts: Commander Is Marine Col. Jack R. Lousma, 46, one of three crewman on the 59-day Skylab 3 mission. Pilot Is Air Force Col. Charles G.

Fullerton, 45, a space rookie who took part In the shuttle approach and landing tests In 1977. Major objectives: To subject the spacecraft to various thermal stresses; to further test the 50-foot mechanical arm for future use deploying and retrieving satellites; to examine changes In the ship's environment Induced by the spacecraft Itself so changes can be taken Into account In planning scientific exercises; to conduct a number of scientific experiments. Cost: Total cost of shuttle program to date, more than $10 billion. Dimensions: The orblter Is 122 feet long and 57 feet wide, with a wlngspan of 78 feet. At launch, the orblter was mated to a pair of 194-foot-tall solid rocket boosters and an 18-story external fuel tank.

Turn-around time: Four months, 8 days since the Nov. 14 second landing. Next launch: The last of four test flights Is scheduled for June 27. The use of the backup landing site In New Mexico could delay this target date. UNbJ.

units uourson WITH FLAG IN BACKGROUND, PART OF RECORD CROWD WATCH SHUTTLE LAUNCH this group was stationed along the Indian River near Tltusvllle From page 1A Shuttle. Military plans to keep 4th mission under wraps 0 v- "-mm 'Rjps'' 1 I 'ft The Defense Department will give no clues to just what it's putting up in space. Unlike previous missions, when cargo was loaded while the Columbia was in its hangar, the classified cargo will be loaded into the 60-foot-long cargo bay as the spacecraft sits vertically on the pad. DOD wants Its experiments Inside the spacecraft for as short a time as possible. Sources have speculated that the military is sending up a camera, probably one capable of taking infrared images of foreign military installations.

More than likely the camera will incorporate some new technology, and it may even be a prototype for more sophisticated spy satellites that will fly future secret military shuttle missions. Defense Department officials say the classified shuttle mission will mean a few changes in the rules. Press and public access to the mul-tibilllon-dollar spaceship won't be as free as to the purely scientific missions. Television cameras that have previously shown the opening of the payload bay doors won't be turned on for Shuttle 4. By PETER ADAMS Gannett News Service CAPE CANAVERAL Get a good look at the shuttle Columbia in space this week.

When it lifts from its launch pad for the fourth mission in early July, military secrecy will keep the spaceship under wraps. Aside from a few small NASA scientific experiments, the fourth mission is dedicated to a top secret Department of Defense payload, known only as DOD 82-1. That's all the U.S. Air Force will say. The first military mission will last seven days, the same as the current flight.

Astronauts Thomas Mattingly and Henry Hartsfield will orbit 161 miles above the Earth, a slightly higher altitude than previous flights. Since the fourth mission is the last of the shuttle test flights, it will carry several NASA instruments to monitor the performance of spacecraft hardware. NASA also has plans to repeat two experiments carried on Shuttle 3. One will manufacture tiny latex spheres In a test of zero-gravity manufacturing, and another will separate a valuable enzyme from frozen kidney cells. 7 1 400 degrees.

During the mission, Lousma and Fullerton will change the position of the spacecraft periodically so that each side will face the sun for prolonged periods of up to 80 hours. At first the ship sailed In its normal "barbecue mode" slowly rotating to stabilize temperatures throughout the vehicle. On the eighth orbit before beginning their first 8-hour sleep, the astronauts turned the ship's tail toward the sun, exposing the scientific instruments in its cargo bay to shade and extreme cold. It was to remain in that attitude for 25 hours. "It looks right on," Mission Control's Sally Ride said from Houston when they asked her if they had the shuttle in the proper position.

She also advised them to turn up their cabin heater, as the temperature would soon begin falling without benefit of the sun's rays. The astronauts will also make extensive tests of the shuttle's 50-foot robot arm and conduct a series of scientific experiments involving medicine, astrophysics, plant behavior and astronomy. The problem with the auxiliary power unit (APU) was vexing to NASA engineers, since the instruments also had problems on the first two shuttle missions last year. In November, the second launch of the Columbia was delayed nearly two weeks because of clogged oil lines In two APUs. Launch Director George Page said the problem Monday was a new one in vol vlng the APU cooling system rather than the oil system.

He said the problem will not force an early return of the Columbia. The units operate the steering systems on ascent and re-entry. The errant unit reached a temperature of 330 degrees five degrees above the danger line when it was turned off. "We don't need the APUs again until we land," he said. "We can land very easily on two APUs, but I think we'll have three." Page was exultant about the flawless launch, which displayed for the first time the technological polish that NASA has promised will accompany shuttle missions.

Each of the first two flights was delayed for several days because of last-minute problems on the launch pad. "For the first time we did it on the day we had planned to," said Page. "Everything clicked right in." There was a cauldron of fire and an outlandish roar as Columbia's three engines and two rocket boosters catapulted the ship off launch pad 39A at 11:00:08 a.m. EST. Seven seconds later, the ship cleared the 347-foot launch tower and arced majestically backward over the Atlantic Ocean.

Ten minutes into the flight the astronauts were in orbit skimming over the world at 17,400 mph. President Reagan watched liftoff on television and called it "a magnficient achievement" Only the problem early Monday morning with a ground temperature sensor marred the otherwise spotless performance. Launch crews quickly tracked the problem down, but It took an hour to repair the sensor. Lousma and Fullerton were allowed to sleep an extra hour during the delay s. Canadian officials would like to send astronaut into space Us VH 1 CAPE CANAVERAL (AP) Governor-General Edward Schreyer of Canada says he'd like to send more than an arm aboard America's space shuttle.

He'd like to send a Canadian astronaut. Schreyer and Canadian Council-General Kenneth Taylor attended Monday's launch of the space shuttle Columbia and Schreyer said he would like to see "greater involvement" of America's northern neighbor in future space exploration. Asked whether that meant a Canadian astronaut, the head of state re-piled: "I can't think of a single thing wrong with that idea." Taylor, the former ambassador to Iran who helped sneak eight American hostages out of Tehran two years ago, said of the launch, "It's an Important occasion for us." His countrymen have always had a keen interest in the American space program, be said, but it's even more pronounced now because the shuttle uses the Canadarm, a 50-foot robot arm that will be used to dispatch and fetch payloads in space. "We have a tremendous amount of enthusiasm. But with the arm It's even more exciting," said Taylor, who called the launch "tremendous." One of the astronauts got Canada fever on Monday while in orbit.

Commander Jack R. Lousma peered into Columbia's cargo bay described the sight to Mission Control: "We see the American flag and we've got 'Canada' written og, the arm." r- f- MirJx r. i 1 mil m.i mmmmA AP SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS IGNITED AS COLUMBIA BEGINS LIFT-OFF photo made by remote from a camera placed on rocket gantry.