Jonathan's Space Report No. 112 1992 Apr 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kosmos-2184 was launched from the Russian spaceport Plesetsk on Apr 15 around 0800 UT. After the second stage circularization burn and payload separation it was in a 967 x 1014 km orbit inclined 83 degrees. It is a Doppler beacon navigation satellite for the SNG navy, replacing Kosmos-2074 launched in 1990. Meanwhile back in Transoxiana, Progress M-12, a robot supply ship, was launched from Baykonur on Apr 19 toward the Mir space station. Cosmonauts Aleksandr Viktorenko and Aleksandr Kaleri are aboard the station. Space Shuttle mission STS-49, the maiden flight of orbiter Endeavour, is planned for launch on May 4 at 1234UT. STS-49, commanded by the NASA Chief of the Astronaut Office, Dan Brandenstein, will be the first flight on which 4 crew members go EVA on a single mission. (Possible exception: it depends on quite how you define 'single mission' for the Mir). Primary spacewalk team is Pierre Thout and Richard Hieb. They will perform EVA-1 and EVA-3, while Kathryn Thornton and Thomas Akers will perform EVA-2. The first EVA will be to attach a new UTC/CSD Orbus 21S kick stage to the Hughes Intelsat VI F-3 satellite stranded in low orbit. EVA-2 and EVA-3 will be part of the ASEM experiment to practice assembling mock space station components; the idea is to get a feel for what EVA construction crews can and can't do. It's a more sophisticated version of the EASE/ACCESS experiments done in 1985 on mission 61-B. STS-49 cargo: RMS (Remote Manipulator System) Hughes Cradle with Orbus 21S PKM, capture bar, docking adapter, and MFR (Manipulator Foot Restraint) MPESS (Mission Peculiar Experiment Support Structure) with ASEM Node boxes(2), Truss pyramid components, Grapple fixture and EVA rescue device prototypes: Astrorope, Telescopic pole, Bi-stem pole, Inflatable pole, Crew propulsive device (based on Skylab-HHMU) As far as I can tell the Hughes Cradle is a new design; the MPESS cross-bay truss pallet has flown 13 times previously. STS-49 bios: Brandenstein, Daniel Charles (Commander) Birth: 1943 Jan 17, Wisconsin Rank: Capt USN Selected as NASA pilot astronaut, 1978 Pilot, Challenger, mission STS-8, 1983 Commander, Discovery, mission 51-G, 1985 Chief of Astronaut Office, 1987 Commander, Columbia, mission STS-32R, 1990 Total spaceflight hours 575:48; 2 rendezvous/captures (Spartan-101, LDEF) Chilton, Kevin P. (Pilot) Birth: 1954 Nov 3, L.A. Rank: Lt Col. USAF Selected as NASA mission specialist astronaut, 1987 Total spaceflight hours 0:00 Hieb, Richard J. (Mission Specialist 1) Birth: 1955 Sep 21, North Dakota Selected as NASA mission specialist astronaut, 1985 Mission Specialist 5, Discovery, mission STS-39, 1991 Total spaceflight hours: 199:22 Melnick, Bruce E. (Mission Specialist 2) Birth: 1949 Dec 5, N.Y. Rank: Cdr US Coast Guard Selected as NASA mission specialist astronaut, 1987 Mission Specialist 1, Discovery, mission STS-41, 1990 Total spaceflight hours: 98:10 Thuot, Pierre J. (Mission Specialist 3) Birth: 1955 May 19, Connecticut Rank: Cdr USN Selected as NASA mission specialist astronaut, 1985 Mission Specialist 3, Atlantis, mission STS-36, 1990 Total spaceflight hours: 106:18 Thornton, Kathryn Cordell (Mission Specialist 4) Birth: 1952 Aug 17, Alabama, as Kathryn Cordell Education: PhD in physics, U VA., 1979 Selected as NASA mission specialist astronaut, 1984 Mission Specialist 3, Discovery, mission STS-33R, 1989. Total spaceflight hours: 120:07 Akers, Thomas D. (Mission Specialist 5) Birth: 1951 May 20, Missouri Rank: Capt USAF Selected as NASA mission specialist astronaut, 1987 Mission Specialist 3, Discovery, mission STS-41, 1990 Total spaceflight hours: 98:10 Historical note: The following Shuttle payloads have involved major Station construction experiments: Payload Mission Date Type MPESS/OAST-1 41-D 1984 Deploy large structure MPESS/EASE-ACCESS 61-B 1985 In-orbit construction SHARE 1 29R 1989 Heat pipe component EDFE 37 1991 EVA transportation SHARE 2 43 1991 Heat pipe component ____________________________________________ |Current STS status: | |Orbiters Location Mission | | | |OV-102 Columbia OPF Bay 3 STS-50 | |OV-103 Discovery OPF Bay 2 Mod | |OV-104 Atlantis OPF Bay 1 STS-46 | |OV-105 Endeavour LC39B STS-49 | | | |ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks | | | |ML1/STS-46 VAB Bay 1 | |ML2/STS-49/ET/OV-105 LC39B | |ML3/STS-50/ET VAB Bay 3 | -------------------------------------------- .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | phone : (617) 495-7176 | | Harvard-Smithsonian Center for | | | Astrophysics | | | 60 Garden St, MS4 | | | Cambridge MA 02138 | inter : mcdowell@cfa.harvard.edu | | USA | | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------'