STS-41B National Space Transportation Systems Program Mission Report

8/7/2019 STS-41B National Space Transportation Systems Program Mission Report

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STS-415NATIONAL SPACE T R S P O ~ ~ A T I O NSYSTE

MISSION REPORT

Manager, S hut t l e Dataand Evaluation O f f i c e

t%iager, Space Shutt le ProJeets


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TABLE OF CONTENTS


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-u_---INTRODUCTION AND MI SSIO N 2 8JE CT IVE SThe STS-418 National Space Transportation Systems Program Mission Report contains asummary of the major activities and accomplishments of the s i x t h operational S h u t t l eflight and f o u r t h flight of the OV-099 vehicle, Challenger. Since th is fli gh t was thefi rs t to land a t Uennedy Space Center, the vehicle was t ed directly t o the OP F (OrbitProcessing Facfl ity) where preparations f o r flight STS-$ , scheduled f o r early April1984, began i m diately. T h i s report also s marizes the significant problems t h a toccurred d u r i n g STS-$lB, and provides a problem t r a c k i n g l i s t t h a t i s a complete l i s t ofall problems t h a t occurred during the flfght. None of the problems will affect theSTS-41C f 1i ght .The major objectives of flight STS-41B were t o successful ly deploy the Westar satel 1i t eand the Indonesian Cornmunications Satellite-B2 (PALAPA-BE) ; t o evalcrate the #MU (MannedManeuvering Unit) s u p p o r t f o r EVA (Extravehicular Activities); to exercise the MFR(Manipulator Foot Restraint); t o demonstrate a closed-loop rendezvous; and t o operate thNLR (Nonodisperse Latex Reactor), the ACES (Acoustic Containerless Experiment System) anthe IE F (Isoelectric Focusing) in-cabin experiments; and t o o b ta in photographs w i t h theCinema 360 Cameras,The as-flown tfmeline f o r the STS-41B f l i g h t i s shown f n figure 1 a t the end of the re-port.l i s t s for the MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center) elements and Orbiter are shonn i n tabXI and 111, respectively, also a t the end o f the report.

The sequence of events f o r this f l i g h t i s shown i n table 1. The problea tracking

MISSION S U ~ ~ Y-u-------s launched from Launch Complex 39 a t KSC [Kennedy Space Center) on~ 3 4 ~ ~ 2 ~ ~ ~ : ~ ~ ~ ~&met. ( ~ ~ : ~ ~ : ~ ~ ~ 9aem. e,s.t,) and landed a tThis fl i gk t endone o f th e last major test objectives of the ~ r ~t h a t ofSpace Center. The prectsion wsth &ich t h i s objectjive was accomcil i t y a t 07:%4 a.m. e.s.t. on February 11, 1984.

plished showed t h a t a l l areas o f the ~ ~ t i o ~ ~ ~Space ~ r ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r ~ a t i oSystem Program werethef r peak o f readiness f a r cmpl et i ng this objecti ye.r t h i s flight was \dance D. Bvand, C o ~ ~ n ~ e r ;Lt. Commander Robert L. Gibson,Cape. Bruce McCandless 11, Ronald E. RNair, Phd., and L t . Col. Robert L.Specialists.eritary objectives), 29 were cmp eted f o r a 91 percent cmpletion rate.e IRT ( i n t ~ ~ r ~ t ~rendezvous t a r e t ) t o inflate after deployment result

O f the 32 DTOs ( d e v e ~ ~ ~ ~ e n ttest objectives) an d DSOsi n one and one-half of the three DTOs not being ccmplished; thus resulting in the cancellation of the rendezvous exercise. Also onz-half o f t h e DTO concerning MMJ operation

n t . The third DTO nh was also t o be COmed SPAS (Shuttle pal le t satel 1i te ) could not be acmnpl i shed because thei pul a t o r systm) f a i 1ure prevent d the SPAS deplhe closed circuit television las P ranging testpleted u s in g the inflated I R T .

The ascent phase was normal i n all respects, as was the E T (external t a n k ) separation anthe two OMS ( o r b i t a l m a ~ ~ u v ~ r ~ n ~systm) ~ ~ n ~ u ~ ~ ~ st h a t placed the \rehic:e i n the pl a nne165-nmi. circular orbit.their parachutes. The ET impacted w i t h i n th e planwd footpr in t - .The SRBs ( so l fd rocket boosters) were recovered a lo n g w i t h

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TABLE I . - STS-41B SEQUENCE OF EVENTSEVENTMU a c t i v a t i o n (1)

SRB HPU a ct iv a t i o n command (RH-BZ)MPS s t a r t ccxnmnd sequence (en gine 3)SRB i g n i t i o n command from GPC ( l i f t - o f f )MPS t h ro t t l edow n t o 73 percent thrus t (eng ine 3 )MPS t h r o t t l e u p t o 100-percent thrust (engine 3 )kxlrn um dynamic p ressureSRB separation commandMPS t h r o t t l e d o w n f o r 39 acce lera t ion (eng ine 3)Main eng ine cuto f f (RCO)Externa l tank separat ionS-1 i g n i t i o nS-1 c u t o f fM U d e a c t i v a t i o n (APU 3)OMS-2 i g n i t i o nm s - 2 c u t o f fMestar/PAkl satel 1it e dep loymentOWS-3 i g n i t i o n ( s ep a ra ti on f i r i n g )@Is-3 c u t o f f089s-4 i g n i t i o n ( o r b i t a d ju st f i r i n g )OFIS-4 cutoffgrate d rendezvous ta rg et dep l oyed j f a i 1edP ~ / P A ~ ~satel 1i t@d e p l o ~ ~ ~ ~ t5 i g n i t i o n ( ~ ~ p a r ~ ~ ~ ~ mf i r j n g )S t a r t f i r s t e ~ t r ~ ~ ~ ~ i c u l a ra c t i v i t yEnd f i r s t ~ x t r ~ ~ ~ ~ i c u ~ai- a c t i v i t yS t a r t second ~ x ~ ~ a w @ ~ ~ icu l ai- ac t iv i t yEnd s ec ond ex t rav eh i c u la r ac t i v l t yBPS-8 (f l i ght c o n t r o l ~ t ~ ~ )c ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ u tN U 2 a c t ~ ~ a t i o nn e u v e r i g n i t i o nE n t ry i n t e r f a c e (400,000 f t )End blackoutrmf n a l area energy m ~ ~ a g ~ ~ ~ ~i n l an d in g gear c on tac tNose landing gear c on tac tWheels stopAPU d e a c t iv a t io n c m p l e te

IAc t ua 1G.m.t.034:12:%:10034: 12:55: 1203 4:12: 55:13034: 1 2:59 :32.703 4:12: 59:53.4034: 1 2 :59 :59.998034 :13:00:29.4034:13:01:00.8034 :13: 01 :07.0034: 13: 02:01!. 6034:13:07:50.1934:13:08:41.7603 4: 13:Of :00034 :13: 10:41.8034: 1 3: 13: 12.0034: 13:14 :43034:13:45:24.8034 :13 :47 :29.8034:20:59:00034:21: 13: 53.2034 :21: 1 4 :06.203G: 10:23:23.20 36 : 1 0 2 3:54.4036: ll :5 1037:15:13:16037:15:28 :16.2037: 15:28328.603 8 :12 : 10038:18:05040 :10:24040: 16:41041:08:58:53042:ll: 11:19042: 11:16:15.2042:11:19: 03.4042: 11:32: 27042:l l : 45: 1 2042: 12:01:29042: 12:09 :302042: 12:15 :55042: 12: 16:06042: 12: 17:02042:12:31:08

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The f i r s t d a y of the STS-41B flight progressed satisfactorily with d a t a being obtained ona l l seven planned DTO/DSO's. Only minor anml ies occurred, none of which had any impacton the successful compl@t~onof the flight.Satellite was deployed as planned a t 34:20:59:00 G.m.t. The Orbiter was separated frornthe sate l l i te and the Westar perigee b u r n was performed. The Westar satel l i te d i d notachieve the planned geosynchronous orbit. As ares:ilt, the PALAPA-B Indonesian satel l i te deployment was delayed 2 days i n an effort t ounderstand the Westar situation.On the second day , the IRT balloon did no t inflate after deployment.rendezvous exercises were cancelled.was able t o t rack the target t o a range greater t han 30,000 ft. and goad short-rangesensor d a t a (Ku-Band radar, st ar tracker, and crewman optical ~ l i g n ~ @ ? ~ ts i g h t ) wereobtained which partially fulfilled the planned short-range DTD.objective, the atmospheric d r a g profile of the b a l l o o n as i t slowed and entered, and theCCTV laser r a n g i n g test could not be accomplished because of the IRT failure.On the second day, the c a b i n pressure was lowered t o 10.2 psia i n preparation f o r the twoEVA's. towering the c a b i n pressure reduced the required prebreathing time prior t o thetwo EVA's from 3 hours, as on a previous mission w i t h 14.7-psia cabin pressure, t o 1 hour.All subsystems i n the cabin area functioned satisfactorily d u r i n g the 72-hour period oflower pressure.The third day was devoted prirnari!y t o conducting experiments, both those i n the cabin andin the payload bay, and preparing for the first EVA.C o n f i g u r a t i o n Comunicatioits Test t h a t involved encrypting and decrypting voice a n d d a t a ,was performed smoothly.The decision was made by the Indonesians t o deploy their satellite ( P A L A P A - 6 ) on thefourth day of the mission. The satell i te was deployed on t i m e and a t the proper attitude.The PALAPA-5 also d i d not achieve i t s desfred orbit and i s i n ~ ~ p r o ~ i i ~ ~ ~ e ~the same o r b i(639 by 148 w m i , ) as the Westar.The f i f t h day was h i ~ h ~ i g h t ~ dby the campleta'on o f a very ambitu'ous EV A d u r i n g which man,the f i r s t time, separatd from the orbiting vehicle w i t h o u t tethers, a n d , u s i n g thetraversed t o distances as far a s 320 feet from the Orbiter. The two cremen wereable t o perform the planned tasks during the EVA plus remove CCTV camera D for inflightmaintenance within t rei nstal l a t i on during the second EVA.ions with the me difficulty s experlenced by one o f the

I 1 i n locking h ot rest ra i nts. A n o ~ ~ e rd i ~ f i ~ u ? ~ yoccurredad t o speak louder t h a n normal t o eriergize the

In addition, the sta r Comnicat ionsI t is no w i n a 162- by 656-nmi. o r b i t .

As a result, theEven t hough the balloon d i d n o t inflate, the crewThe long-range-rendezvous

DTO 07G5, tbe Shuttle Launch

EV A c ~ ~ i c a ~ i oVOX (voice-operated) microphone. All objectives associated w i t h the first EV A wereaccompl i shed.The sixth day was devoted t o in-cabin operations, obtaining d a t aand preparing equi ent f o r the M A ~ l ~ n n ~ df o r the seventh day-the SPAS-01 i n the p ~ l o ~ dbay d an d d a t a o b taand 050's were completed on the sixth day.

f ran var i 011s experiments,Warious experiments onned. All planned BTO'sA significant problem o f the ST5-41B mfssfon developed on the morning of the seventh dayd u r i n g checkout o f the RMS prior t o EVA. The ann operated p ro p er ly except for the wrist, ioInt.the first EVA. The crew attempte to recover u5c o f the am by performing ground-suggested procedures, b u t all attempts failed t o activate the wrist j o i n t . The am wasrecradled and all RM S and deployed SPAS operations planned f o r the sec;nd E V A werecancel led.

The j o i n t would not move when ~ ~ ~ ~ a ~a l t h o u g h i t had operated properly d u r i n g

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The second EWA, although replanned because of the above activities b d n g cancelled, wass t i l l successful. The c rwas not deployedthk slide wire 1spent the final full day i n orbft~ x ~ e r i ~ e n td a t a ~ ~ t h ~ r i ~ ~s t i l l rthe next morning. The .CP"CV compl

042:11:16:15 G.m.t., the 168-secowa s normal i n a11 respects and all schedperformed. After completing the HAC (hethe Orbiter was guided t o tlrOrbiter landed on ruRol lout required appfeet from the end ofThe le f t Oprls pod TP S received damageother TP S t i l e damag@was consistent

~ r o x i ~ ~ ~ e ~ y2000 feet frm the ~ ~ ~ i ~ n i ~af th e runway.10,800 feet w i t h the Orbiter stopped approximately 2,200r i n g entry such t h a t a burn-through occurred. Allt h previous f l i gh t s .

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SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERSThe performance of the SRPJ's (sol rocket motors)limits. Quick-look evaluation sh s t h a t head pres res and propellant b u r n rates werevery close to those predicted f oas predicted. Operation o f b o t h SRB TVC (thrust vector control) systems was satisfactoryand no anomalies were experienced. Postf light inspection showed t h a t no hydrazine leaksoccurred,Review of d a t a shows t h a t all SRB power from the Orbiter was w i t h i n specification, Therate Wro performance was also w f t h i n specification.s l i g h t deviation i n t r a c k i n g compared w i t h the other rate gyros, b u t this deviation waswe1 1 w i t h l n speci fi ca t ion.The decelerator subsystems on both SRB's performed normally w i t h the exception o f one mainparachute on each SRB t h a t failed t o inflate. An investigation team has been established.Table I 1 contains a current anomaly l i st for the SRB's.

s well w i t h i n the specification0 t h motors. The separation times for both SRWs

Rate gyro 6: (serial number 29) had a

EXTERNAL TANKA11 prelaunch requirements were ret w i t h no LCC (launch commit criteria) violations.separation and entry were a s predicted, tumble was confirmed, and impact was w i t h i n thef oo tpri n t .The prelaunch thermal environ n t wa s as expected. The TP S ( t h mal protection system)@x~~r iencedonly minor ice/f t b u i l d u p i n areas t h a t had app r ved waivers prior t of l igk t .

ET

Liqu id ~ x y ~ e nand l i q u i d h ~ d r ~ ~ ~ ~proent h ~ ~ ~ r ~ o u ~gas ~~~~~~~was satisfactory; all i nShuttle Rain Engine) pres

gleted ~ a ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ c t ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ *Purge ents prior t o and d u r i n g loading were met.

he engine start bu ops t o ~~i~~~~~~were normal. Engine operation and~ ~ f ~ ~ ~ ~ c ed u r i n g ~ t i ~ ~ ~ ~ t o ~ .During s t ~ ~ d y - s t and ~ r ~ i t e r / ~ S ~ pressures and tixtiere r a t i o and thrustPower level th lpot t l ing operation appearedCO (main engine cutoff) occurred approxi-l e 11 contains a current listing o f an t h i n the S H E /systems.

i

The overall p e r ~ o ~ ~ ~ c eo f the Orbiter was ~ ~ t ~ ~ f ~ c t ~ ~ y .A bpi& discussion of thesignificant anmalies i s c ~ ~ t a i ~ ~ ~i n the f o l l o ~ i n ~paragraphs. A complete l fst o f theOrbiter f ligh t anomalies i s contained i n table 111.

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e AP U (auxiliary p:13:15:46 G.m.t. a r the remainder of th,? mission.The APU 1 gas g erator injecto rr ati c prelaunch

ng system A failed off a t/

a t T p l u s 2 minutes - all other APU 1 pzero prlor to entry an d there was no impAPU 2 gas generator/foe? pump valve system A heater failed d u r i n g prelaunch operations.System B heater was used for the ent ire fli ght with nci impact t o the mission,

Interco~uni~at ion1% Noise-A t 034:21:00 G.m.t., the crwireless communication systems A and B e(wireless crew cmmunications unit) wall unit. There was no further mission impact.

reported continuous static noise on b o t h the hardwired andThe crew isolated the problem t o the WCCUR i g h t RCS Thruster R3D DriveLDZrete FaiLed

A t 038:11:49 G.m.t., the R3D thruster (J et ) driver discrete failed d u r i n g a hot-fire testp r i o r t o the first EVA. The thruster was s t i l l usable w i t h o u t mission impact.Supply Water Dump Valve Failed To Open

A t approximately 039:08:35 G.m. t . , the supply water dump valve failed t o open whencommanded. Tke excess water was disposed o f by operating the flash evaporator system.g t h e ~ ~ lco~ditioniRgusing the dump ncmzle heaters and after one revolutionide suno the valve was opened a t 40:05:39 G.m.t. The supply ater continuedto fai l t o dmp , t h u s i ~ ~ i c a t i n ~line freeze up.r u p ~ u ~ ~ dupStrJ%B?I o f the d u ~ pvalvpe. ~ i ~ ~ O l ~ ~ a ~ ~ o ~sf the TPS i n d i c a t e d ice formation 0.7both ~~~a~~~an d waste water nozzles.Postflight, the water 1

t

o problems occurred w i t h i n the Ku-Bnt to zero d u r i n g a crew sleep peris cycled t o off, then back t oThe RF ( r a d i o frequency) power o u t p u tt e r the crew sleep period, the Ku-Band powert i o n reset the f a u l t sensing logic. The XFnal for the r ~ a i ~ ~ ~ ro f the mission.r o u t p u t was recovered and r

d , the Ku-Band failed the self-test initially anda n I d u r i n g the initial activitles of the first EVg the second EWW and a successful lock-on o f extrravehiu l d not lock u p OR extravehiculari-ch mode was usedn 2 was completedwi t h subsequent nmi nal p ~ r ~ o ~ ~ n c e .

On two occasions ( Q ~ ~ : ~ ~ : 3 ~ ~ 4 ~C..meto and ~ 4 ~ : 1 Q : 6 : 5 %Gew,t.), RCS vernier thrustersR5R and R5 D both failed o f f .mission after the second fallure.The t ~ ~ u ~ ~ ~ r $Mere turned o f f for the remainder o f the

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RMS \Wst040:09:23:33 G.m.t., the Rgrapple the SPmode). The j othe BITE (built-in test equi ne) . The crew verified the failure. Thed the crew t o cycle p o w - t op l i e d t o the arm, the fa ilure indication reapp red, thus indicating a hard

he joint was i n p o s i t i n to be cradled, the c r was directed t o cradle it.

n t fa iled in the primary system. Durings sent to the wrist yaw j o i n t (Orbiterve and the corn scan failure alarm wasRMS t o clear the failure indication,

A l l RMS-SPAS operations f o r the EV A re cancel 1ed.

A t 040:10:56 G.rn.t., the battery-powered EMrJ TV camera failed t o came on. The crewsubstituted verbal comments i r , citses where W recording was planned for the M~ thrusterfirings and f o r the Freon transfer experiment.N Camera Failurts-

:08 G.rn.t., th e RF$S e lbthe lens. Payload bay cameras A nd C were used for the ~~ evaluation tests.camera 5 lost the t i l t functton an d was slstuck.D o The color wheel problem was resolved; however, the pa n and t i l t functions werenot recovered.

TW camera lost focus and a loose object was observed i nAlso, CCTVInflight maintenance was performed, substituting a cabin N for payload bay camera

t o pan. In a d d i t i o n , the color wheel was

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-EXTRA\IEHICULAR ACTIVITYS Y

re cmpletely successful w i t h a l l s ~ ~ r yobjective . Two o f the DTO'sd due to the fa ilure i n the R W j an d t experi enced fiveb l i m a t o r high-pressure messages, three on the E n the EMU-1 suit,These conditions were corrected by s t anda rd f l i g h SESA (special equip-ment stowage assembly) f o o t restraints came loose from their clamp. hey were instal leda t KSC p r i o r t o launch and torqued t o the required specifications. they came loose,i s not k n o w n , b u t the crew was requested t o safety-tether them prior t o entry. Thehydrazine transfer demonstration experiment was successful ly performed, b u t a commercialQ D (quick disconnect) appeared t o be frozen.a postflight inspection will determine i f any internal leaks exist.The experiment w as essentially cmpleted andFIRST EVA

An ambitious firs t EVA was successfully accomplished.satisfactorily. The crew were able t o concern themselves w i t h t h e task a t hand w i t h c u thaving t o concern themselves w i t h EMU operation.as follrws.The EMU and EV A hardware worked

Some nuisance-level anomalies were notedDuring the preparation for EVA i n the airlock, static was noted on the communicationchannels while i n the RF iwde. This distraction was alleviated by going t o hardline mode.During EV A preparations, the crew experiersed di fficulty attaching the EVA check1 i s t t othe I@ am.further difficultie sAn inflight repair was acc~mplish~dt o lock the restraining screw and no

st p r i o r t o egress, Astronaut Stewart received a sub1i m a t o r p r e s s u r e c a u ~ i ~ n ~ a n ~ - ~ a r n j09ssage. The pressure rose t o 4.0 p si a t which p o i n t the wrnipzg alarm was t r ipped . Thesubii'imator was tUPRcd off an d restarted per f l i g h t procedures. Af t e r this restart, properoperation w as observed d u r i n g the rest of the EVB. All EM U operations were nominal.The ~~~U system performance was n o ~ i ~ a ~The c rtranslat ionso Since there is an offset o f a p p r imately 0.6-Inch between 14Mil geometriccenter-of-thrust and thelating in the +X direction i s induced, ff att i tu h o l d is on d u r i n g translations, thea t t i t u ~ ~ - ~ o l dl ic i s w w k i n g t o maintain very 1 pitch rates by cutting o f f two of thefour thrlrsters tc h f i re t o produce +X tr anslat i The control electronics assembly i scycl i ng between ~ ~ n d i n g4 and 2 thrusters ext ly rapidly, hence the chatter .

reported a "chatter" d u r i n g +Xsystem center-of-mass, a positive p i t c h motion while trans-

SECOND EYASystem ~~~~~~a~ ~ o ~ ~ ~ i n ~SPAS wasnot ~ c ~ i ~ ~ ~ ddueevaluation tes ts. Stewart Rad foo t ~ e ~ t ~ ~ i ~ ~~~~~~~~s sirnilar t o those ~ x ~ ~ r ~on thef i r s t EVA. Again, t h e p r o ~ l e ~ sdid not deter the crew from keeping to the timeline,

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RENDEZWOUS AND RANGINGAs a result of the failure of the IRT t o inflate, the rendezvous was cancelled. On theday of the target release, the target was tracked, and good sensor d a t a was received fromdistances beyond 30,000 feet u s i n g the Ku-Band rendezvous radar , the crewman opticalalignment sight, and the star tracker. These d a t a were used t o make manuever calcula-tions, b u t the maneuvers were not performed. The short-range DTO was scored as 50 percentaccomplished, based on the d a t a collected.Attempts t o track the target on the day after release were totally unsuccessful and thelong-range DTO was scored as zero accomplished.The postflight processing of the downlinked relative vehicle tracking d a t a may be signifi-cantly imPacted because of multiple objects i n the sensor field-of-view and u n k n w n targetcharacterist ics caused by the IRT failure, and also because of downlink d a t a transmissionprobl ems.

CREW EQUIPMEN_T_The crew equlpent operated satisfactorily i n performing the required functions. Thegalley an d personal hygiene stat ion were operated satisfactori ly and enabled the crewt o complete their eating an d personal hygiene functions more eff ic iently . One problem,s t i l l very prevalent a s i t has been on previous missions, i s trash managemnt. The crewsuggested t h a t incorporating trash exercises i n long-duration simulations my be helpfulin resolving the problem. The crew also suggested t h a t more jettison stowage bags besupplied. Also, difficulty was experienced when opening and closing stowage lockers onthe middeck. The crew suggested t h a t various design fixes be flown i n an effort t o f i n done t h a t will resolve t h i s problem.

The Westar satellite was deployed a t 034:20:59:00 G.m.t. (within 1 second o f t h e plannedtime). The $eploym@ntwas nominal i n a l l respects w i t h CCTV video covering the deployment.The Orbiter performed a nominal separation maneuver an d the Westar PAM-D perigee motorignited on time 45 minutes after d@plo~en~.162.-mi. o r b i t instead of i t s planned ~e~~yn~hronousorbit. The cause of this situationi s being investi ted by the Hestar contractors. A11 aspects of the Orbiter operation fo rthis deployment

The Westar satellite achieved a 656- by

I N D O ~ E S I A ~(PALAPA-B) S .1TELlITEThe deployment of the PALAPA-B satell i te was delayed until the four th day so t h a t prelim-inary analysis of the Westar situation could be made prior t o tin the PALAPA-B t odeploymnt.The PALAPA-B was deployed a t 037:15:13:16 S.m.t. (within 1 second of the planned time).Video coverage showed the deployment t o be nmlnal in a l l respects. The PALAPA-8 achievedapproximately the same orbit (639 by 148 n m i . ) as the Westar. Ib n investigation of b o t hsituations i s being conducted.were nominal . All aspects o f the Orbiter operation f o r th i s deployment

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IMTEGRATFn RENDEZVOUS TARGETThe IRT deployment occurred a s planned a t 03:11:51 G.m.t. However, shortly after deploy-t , the crew reported t h a t i t appeared t h a t the staves which held the b a l l o o n i n apact manner had not separated as planned. Because the staves d i d not separate, theloon could not inflate properly and instead of becoming spherical, took on the appear--sided (black an d silver) piece o f cloth. The crew also rtnorted t h a t theave separated from the cloth; however, later reporis indicated the

re s t i l l intact as one piece. As a result of the debris potentidlduring the final phases o f rendezvous and proximity operations, the rendezvous was cancel-1ed.The IRT was developed t o provide a r adar and visual target of k n w n characteristics f3ruse i n calibrating the Ku-band rendezvous r ad ar , developing STS rendezvous techniques, an ddetermining drag characteristics a t o r h i tal a1 t i tudes.

ISOELECTRIC FOCUSINGThe preliminary postflight d a t a from the IEF (Isoalectric Focusing) payload indicated t n a tproduct-separation d i d occurr b u t n ot t o the extect expected by the Principal Investigator.Photography internal t o the IEF was excellent and was equivalent t o ground-based d a t acollected preflight. No inflight anomalies occurred.

MONODISPERSE LATEX REACTORThe latex spheres i n one of the four internal reactors of the VL R (Monodisperse LatexReactor) payload coagulated, thus losing the sample in t h a t reactor.flight anomalies t h a t indicated this product failed inside the reactor.latex spheres i n the other three reactors d i d grow and are consfdered acceptable.

There were no in-The monodisperseACOUSTIC CONTAINERLESS EXPERIWEWT

The ACES (acoustic containerless ~xperim~ntsyotm) ha d a damaged glass sample when theACES was ~ i ~ a ~ ~ ~ ~ l ~ ~after the flight.sample prob~~lyha d escaped from the cage d u r i n g launch.ence o f the samples several times and t h a t they were acoustically controlled f o r somei n g o f a vapor product inside the oven chamber onto the video cacera lens system.her i s t h a t the rate of increase i n the chamber and sample temperature i n f l i g h t wasless t h a n expected. The last p h ~ n ~ e n o ~i s t h a t during the time the sample was i n themlted phase, i t received a d d i t i o n a l energy Prom an u n k n o w n source which wcited thesample and caused i t t o exit from the low-pressure well i n the center of the acousticc h a ~ b ~ r .

9 rcviev o f the videa data indicates t h a t theVideo tape indicates the pres-One of fhese i s t h e out -d u r i n g the mlted phase. Several other phenomena occurred internal t o the ACES t h a trequire further invest-fgation before future ACES flights.

s p a ~ l ~ a ~cont ly well i n p ro v i d i n gsped a1} expe camera i n the payload

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GETAWAY SPECIALSThe f ive GAS (getaway special ) experiments f lown on STS-418 were:

1. GO51 - sponsored by Genera l Te lephone (modi f ied opt ica l and e lec t r i ca lo f arc discharge)2. E 3 4 9 - sponsored by Goddard Space F l i g h t Cente r and R. MacIntosh (atomeros ion )3. 6-309 - sponsored by the Uni ted States A i r For ce and J.kdolphson (comicexperiment )

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4. E004 - s ponsored by U tah S ta te U n i v e r s i t y ( t he rmoc ap i l l a ry f l ow i n l i q u idcolumns, c a p i l la r y waves on water, and spore growth experime nt)5. G-008 - sponsored by A I A A and U tah S ta te U n i v e r s i t y ( s o lde r i ng experimen t, pc r ys ta l l i s a t io n, and seed germinat ion)

The i n i t i a l r e p o r t s i n d i c a t e t h a t e xp er im en ts 6-051, 6-399, and 6-309 operated propeNo report has been received on 6 0 0 4 and 6-088.CINEMA 360 CAMERA

The Cinema 360 Camera System was su cc es sf ul ly flo wn i q t h e c a b i n and i n t he payload bBoth cameras operated f lawless ly and produced excel lent f i Im .The i n -cab in vers ion was a s p e c i a l l y a d a p t e d A r r i f l e x 35m Model 111 camera t o which / f 2.8 firsh~ygre lens and a 4OO-foot f i l m magazine.o f i l m a c t i v i t y w i t h in a f i e l d of vjew t h a t #a:, 180 by 360 degreeth e c~~~~~ engaged i n ~ ~ ~ ~ ~da i l y rou t i nes as s oc ia ted w i t hf l y i n g t h e spacecraft, payload h an d l fng and ~ @ p ? ~ ~ ~ ~ n t ,and other in-cabin housekeepa c t i v i t i e s .

The f i s h e y e len

The payload bay camera wag i de n t i c a l t o t he i n -c ab in camera ex cep t t ha t i t used a1000-foot magazine and was mounted i n a mo dif i ed GAS can is ter. The mo di f ied GAS c a nhad a precis ion-machined l i d th a t housed a quartz dom? f o r the f i sh e y e l e n s t o l o o kthrough, and e le c t ro n ics th at a l lowed the crew t o remote ly change f -s top, frame ra te ,operate the camera. This camera was used t o c a p t u re f o o ta g e o f EVA'S , payload deployan d RMS deployment.SHUTTLE PALLET SATELLITE

The SPAS (Shu t t l e pa l l e t s a te l l i t e ) exper iments , f o r t he most pa r t, per fo rmed v e ry wThe SPAS mass s p c t r -franie ~ ~ c ~ o s ~ i t c ~f a i l e d a nd t h e swivel frame woulds ta y i n t h e +X p o s i t anded. A ~ i c r o s ~ ~ c ha d j ~ s t ~ ~ n twas made during EVAa n d p a r t i a l c a p a b i l i ed, However, control o f t h e s w iv e l w as from the grow i t h v is u a l v e r i f i c a t i o n o f mass spec tremeter frame po s i t io n ve r i f i e d each t ime v i ag r o u n d - c o n t r o l l e d l i v e TV. The mss spectrometer s tatus readout w as i n v a l i d .A t approx imately 05:19 :40 T, t h e SPAS w as t ak en o f f Or b i t e r power and reac t i v a ted fRF fun c t io n in g w i th the ma s pec trometer reac t i v a ted a t 05:ZO:OO MET. This a c t i on wi n p r ep a ra t i on f o r RMS operat ions.3.6 deg C on t he s t a rboard t runn ion and 4.6 deg C f o r t h e p o r t t r u n n i o n . On RMS chethr! RMS w r i s t y a j o i n t e xp er ie nc ed a h a rd f a i l u r e a nd t h e RMS operat ions were aborte: The S P A S was l e f t i n the RF mode with the mass spectrometer on u n t i l th e EVA was con-plete d. Trunnion temperatures a t EVA complet ion (06:03:35 MET) were -6.2 deg C and-1.5 deg C f o r t he s t a rboard and po r t S P A S t runn ions , res pec t i v e l y . S P A S was returneO r b i t e r e l e c t r i c a l power a t 06:03:49 MET and the heat pipe was turned on.

Longeron t runnion temperatures a t that t ime were

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IC COEFFICIENT I D IFICAI ' ION P ~ C K A ~ E / ~IGW RESOLUTIONe ACIPIHiRCSP (A erod yna mic C o e f f i c i e n t I d e n t i f i c a t i o n P a c k a ~ ~ / H i g hResolu t ion Acce lero-t e r Package) experiment i s p a r t o f the O rb i te r exper iments suppor t ing aerodynamicresearch p rograms i n t he f l i g h t env ironment.

The experiment was loc ated beneath th e re ar pay load bay l i n e r i n the w ing car ry - throughstru ctu re , and was mounted on a spec ial sh elf t o t h e l e f t s f t he v e h ic l e' s c e n te r li n e .The AC I P exper iment hardware cons is ted o f t r iax ia ' f l i near and angular acce lerm-eters andr a t e gyros a l i g n e d t o t h e O r b i t e r axes. H i R N cons is ted of a t r i a d o f I -m i c ro ac c e le r -omete rs a l i gned t o t h e A C I P acce lermeters and combined w i th the A C l P da ta stream. Theseinst rum ents sense th e dynamic at t i tu d es and veh ic le performance du r in g the launch, o rb i t ,en try , and descent phases o f f l i gh t , and p rov ided ai( ac c ura te de te rm ina ti on o f t h e aero-dyn am ic c o e f f i c i e n t s f o r t h e O r b i te r .P r e l i m i n a r y i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f AC I P / H i R A P data from STS-418 s how d t ha t a11 s c i e n t i f i csensors were act iv e and operated nominal ly . The data in di ca te d th e occurrence o f s p e c i f i cf l ig h t events; e.g., ascent, payload deployment, th ru st e r- f i r i n g s, en try maneuversand touchdwn.H igh concent ra t ions o f data anomalies occurred i n a l l channels during the warm-up periodf o l l o w i n g AC I P turn-on before the deorbi t maneuver.t h i s p res en t s a p rob lem o r i f a r y a c t i o n i s required. F u r t h e r i r v e s t i g a t i s n w i l l revea l i f

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STS-41B National Space Transportation Systems Program Mission Report

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