DATE=5/18/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=SHUTTLE OVERVIEW
NUMBER=46342
BYLINE=DAVID MCALARY
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
INTERNET=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The U-S space shuttle Atlantis has lifted off
for a rendezvous [scheduled for 12:32 a.m. Sun., May 21]
with the International Space Station. As V-O-A
Science Correspondent David McAlary tells us, six
Americans and a Russian are on the supply, repair, and
rescue mission.
TEXT: The shuttle is carrying more than a ton of
hardware including smoke detectors, cooling fans, a
computer, and the rest of a Russian crane already
partially assembled on a previous mission.
But the supply aspect of the mission is not
the most important. The primary task is maintenance.
Shuttle flight director Phil Engelauf says the
Atlantis team will fix technical problems such as
malfunctioning batteries and a failed communications
antenna that have arisen since the a U-S "Unity" and
Russian "Zarya" modules were first mated in 1998.
/// ENGELAUF ACT ///
We have some hardware that has degraded with
time with its operation in orbit and we have
some normal maintenance that has to be done in
order to keep the vehicle (Eds: space station)
flying. Because the vehicle has been operating
in orbit, this hardware would have had to be
replaced as a normal course of maintenance over
time.
/// END ACT ///
The astronauts are also carrying earplugs, a
ventilation fan, and carbon dioxide monitors for their
visit to the station. The fan is to improve air
circulation in the Russian Zarya module. The last
crew to go there found that the air was stale and
nearly got sick. The C-O-two monitors will check for
possible C-O-two contamination. U-S space station
official Bob Kabana says the ear plugs are a temporary
measure to protect the crew from noisy fans and other
equipment on Zarya.
/// KABANA ACT ///
We're looking at improved fans that will be
installed, retrofit, later on in the assembly
once those fans are checked out and pass
inspection. In the meantime, we're going to
have to provide hearing protection for the crew.
/// END ACT ///
A highlight of the flight is a six-and-a-half hour
spacewalk. That is necessary to complete the
installation of the Russian crane and for the antenna
repair.
In addition, the shuttle will lift the space station
into a 45-kilometer higher orbit. The orbit is
dropping about two-and-a-half kilometers a week
because of friction with particles in the upper
atmosphere. The boost is necessary to keep the outpost
from crashing back to Earth.
A second Russian module originally scheduled to be in
orbit by now could have been helping maintain the
station's proper altitude. But the unit - called the
Service Module -- is two-and-a-half years overdue
because of the Russia's financial problems and
failures of the Proton launch rocket.
Bob Kabana says the Service Module is now expected to
take off from Kazakhstan in mid-July on a Proton
rocket with an improved engine.
/// SECOND KABANA ACT ///
Everything is on track so far for a launch of
the Service Module this July. We have seen
nothing that would indicate otherwise. Now, we
do have those Proton launches with the modified
engines yet to go. There's currently one
scheduled in the 5-6 June time frame and another
one toward the end of the month. We'll be
watching closely to see the success of those
rockets. But barring any unforeseen
circumstances, we're on track for a July launch
of the Service Module.
/// END ACT ///
When the module is finally in place, the first
research crews can inhabit the station, because the
unit also provides living quarters and scientific
research facilities.
/// THIRD KABANA ACT ///
This is our year to get a functional space
station or orbit with a crew living on board
doing science. I know there has been a lot in
the media lately about problems with the space
station and all I can tell you is they have all
been identified, we've got a plan in place, and
we're ready to go.
/// END ACT ///
Full time occupation of the space station is scheduled
for October. (SIGNED)
NEB/DEM/KBK
18-May-2000 10:35 AM EDT (18-May-2000 1435 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
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