Shuttle Era (1982)

is [Music] [Music] hello I'm Lyn bondan and welcome once again to our series about America's civilian efforts in air and space during a quarter Century during this program we cover 1981 and 1982 to put 1981 into historical Focus that is the year scientists report the cloning of mammals and in 1981 American balloonists Travel 6,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean meanwhile NASA launches the space shuttle into Earth orbit for the first time in 1981 as astronauts John Young and Robert krippin headed for the Launchpad they represented more than being the pilots of this country's first space shuttle flight they represented years of hard work by thousands of people and businesses both large and small Columbia's Maiden flight was brief just 54 and a half hours 36 orbits and returned to Earth but it signaled the beginning of a reusable space transportation system look at the look at the s look at the [Music] 30 weeks later after Colombia had been returned to the Kennedy Space Center cleaned refurbished and rolled out to the pad astronauts Joe Engel and Dick truy flew Columbia into space again while an Imaging radar system mapped distant Earth the crew made a critical test of a Canadian developed mechanical arm that will be used to place payloads into and out of orbit on future flights even though the second mission was shortened from 5 days to 2 days because of a fuel cell problem the crew managed to carry out nearly all major [Music] [Applause] [Music] tests as Colombia landed the second time the circle was complete a new generation of space travel had begun [Applause] [Music] beautiful looking ahead to 1983 and Beyond NASA's Marshall space flight center began training space lab Crews when placed inside the cargo bay of the shuttle Orbiter space lab converts the shuttle into a research center that will be used by scientists from around the world PL and our experiments in Communications and weather forecasting crop surveys manufacturing astronomy and Life Sciences a mobile workstation a concept developed by NASA's Langley Research Center was tested underwater at Marshall's neutral buoyancy facility the mobile workstation may be used by Future astronauts to construct large platforms or antennas in Earth orbit it allows a pair of pressure suited astronauts to move horizontal Al and vertically and build systems that are too large or complex to fold up and transport aboard the shuttle as Colombia took its place in the history books a small unmanned spacecraft Voyager 2 made its Mark a billion miles from Earth Voyager 2 approached and passed by the planet Saturn and its 17 fascinating moons taking thousands of pictures and making detailed scientific measurements as it went those music-like sounds occurred as tiny particles hit and bounced off Voyager 2's plasma wave detector antenna Saturn's vast ring system is made up of many small particles that orbit the huge planet in wavelike patterns one instrument on board Voyager 2 actually measured the thickness of Saturn's rings and found that the edge of the main ring system is remarkably thin less than 500 ft thick it's atmosphere is dominated by a strong equatorial jet stream that blows Eastward at 12200 mph those storm systems are something like hurricanes here on Earth and are the means by which the internal heat energy of Saturn May feed the high-speed jet streams themselves as Voyager swept by it detected hot gases surrounding Saturn that are 600 million to 1 billion de F the hottest gas ever observed in the solar system for the Voyager teams years of analysis lie ahead in the meantime the small spacecraft will be watched and guided toward its Rendevous with the planet Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989 scientists have been studying the planet Venus for years and a large number of them recently met in an International Conference to compare their new findings apparently there are two major volcanic regions on the thick crusted Venus that serve as Escape valves for the planet's seething internal heat Venus clouds are upside down and are made up of a smog layer and a layer of sulfuric acid droplets that produce drizzle but seldom hard rain during its early history Venus may have been earthlike with cooler temperatures and an ocean when the Space Telescope is launched and begins operating in 1985 it will send electronic data to a newly established Space Telescope Science Institute at John's Hopkins University the Space Telescope will provide astronomers with 24-hour views of the sky of unprecedented Clarity this specially outfitted c141 the Kyper Airborne Observatory is operated by NASA's as Research Center in California the Kyper Observatory routinely takes astronomers and their instruments to altitudes above most of the Earth's distorting atmosphere from there they can examine distant galaxies and study their vast energy some of NASA's highflying picture takers look down rather than up down at the earth that is the high altitude U2 aircraft is a good example in addition to Aerial mapping cameras these planes carry air sampling devices to study the protective ozone layer in our atmosphere they are also helping to locate new water sources assess flood damage and fight forest fires two landsat satellites continue to orbit the earth 14 times a day from their 570 Mile High vantage point they return images like these taken over Rich California farmlands Telltale red images indicate vigorous vegetation growth the state of California is using landset imagery to inventory and map its irrigated crop land not all of NASA's research has application to airplanes or spacecraft sometimes that situation is reversed on a little used Runway within sight of where the space shuttle Colombia already landed twice Engineers are studying how to make tractor trailers and weekend motor homes more fuel efficient using known aerodynamic techniques the corners and underbody of this van were rounded result 70% lower drag with a 30% fuel savings just by reducing the air resistance as the van travels along these encouraging results May help change the shape of many vehicles in the future this car can be driven thousands of miles without ever moving only the wheels spin to simulate driving it is part of a program that the jet propulsion laboratory has been involved in for the Department of energy since the late 1970s the research is aimed at making electric powered cars competitive with those we now use for our regular shopping or commuting around town much of the activity this past year focused on finding batteries that will last longer and have an operating range of 75 to 100 m per day since May residents of the Pacific Northwest have been receiving some of their electricity from an old power source gathered here at goodno Hills Washington by the largest wind turbines in the world 350 ft tall with blades the length of a football field the three computer controlled turbin represent the first Wind Farm a cluster of wind generators working together to act as a single power source built as part of the Department of Energy's Federal wind energy program the trio of wind turbin are managed by the Lewis Research Center and provides 7 and5 million watts of electricity to the Bonville power Administration enough to power nearly 2,000 of the area's homes NASA launched satellites for a variety of users including a new Comstar communication satellite for the Comsat General Corporation also launched was the second in a series of improved weather satellites goes 5 for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration another plane the quiet short Hall research aircraft or qsra performs exceptionally well in short takeoff and Landing operations by directing its own exhaust over the plane's upper Wing the qsra is able to improve its short takeoff and Landing performance the Qs Ra's simple but versatile systems permit a wide variety of flight investigations that are providing important data to the American Aerospace industry following a hard Landing from 12 ft it was decided not to repair the x4b vertical takeoff and landing airplane the x4b is really a very sophisticated electronic flying simulator and has been used as a research tool at as for the past 20 years the largest wind tunnel in the world with a test section of 40x 80 ft is being made even larger six new 22,500 horsepower Drive Motors are shown here being installed in the as facility when complete the improvements will add an 80x 120 ft Test Section capable of handling full-scale aircraft with engines running it will also increase the air flow in the existing 40x 80ft Test Section by 115 mph this busy wind tunnel has been operating two shifts a day for the last 30 years so in 1981 NASA's men back into space during the following year 1982 in other fields of research scientists announced that more evidence points to the possibility that viruses cause human Cancers and in 1982 doctors used bone Marl transplants to treat leukemia 1982 is the year of three more manned space shuttle launches as well on March 22nd astronauts Jack LMA and Gordon feron started off on a journey that would last more than 8 days in space as part of the test program to check out space shuttle Columbia's systems the crew started and restarted the orbital maneuvering engines turned the Orbiter toward and then away from the Sun for thermal testing and successfully operated the remote manipulator arm picking up and moving various parts of a space science payload they also carried experiments to monitor solar flares medical and materials processing and the effects of Zero Gravity on flying insects as suggested by High School student Todd Nelson after 384 hours and a 1-day delay because of bad weather Columbia landed at the Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico approximately 12 Weeks Later astronauts Tom mattingley and Henry Hartsfield piloted Columbia on its fourth and final test flight the spacecraft's nearly Flawless performance marked A fitting end to the orbital flight test program making it possible to certify the space transportation system as a fully operational carrier on July 4th after 7 Days in orbit Columbia made a perfect landing on a concrete Runway another first the president and Mrs Reagan were there to watch The Landing and greet the crew November 11th and space shuttle 5 the first operational flight two commercial communication satellites were hauled into orbit one for satellite Business Systems and one for tesat of Canada their deployment was a complete success space shuttle had delivered as promised Columbia and the four astronaut crew landed back on Earth at 9:33 a.m. eastern standard time on November 16th another Milestone event the completion and rollout of the second space shuttle Orbiter took place in July Christen Challenger the new Orbiter is scheduled for its first mission early in 1983 Challenger traveled Overland to NASA's Dryden flight research facility where it was mounted on top of the 747 carrier aircraft and flown to the Kennedy Space Center Florida to ready it for its first flight looking farther into the future NASA has selected eight companies to prepare Space Station Mission studies the studies will contribute to the development of specific Mission requirements and overall architectural options which will be incorporated in NASA studies of a shuttle tended permanent orbiting facility the companies are expected to identify and analyze the scientific Commercial National Security and space operational missions that could be most efficiently conducted by a space station 1982 was also a busy time for unmanned spacecraft two satellites for Western Union were launched called West Star 4 and five these communication satellites relay a variety of radio television programs as well as transmit complete additions of magazines to Regional printing plants US News and World Report time people and Sports Illustrated all use Westar other unmanned launches included an anic 4 communication satellite operated by telesat of Canada RCA americom satcom 4 and5 and intelsat 5 around the country the various elements of the Space Telescope are being worked on and assembled at the perk and Elmer plant in Connecticut the 92in telescope mirror has been finely buffed and Polished a Widefield camera is being built and tested at the jet propulsion laboratory in Pasadena these mockups of the space telescope's Parts give an idea of its size it's here at the locked plant in Sunnyvale California that it will be assembled at the Marshall space flight center in Alabama astronauts practice working around the Space Telescope in a tank filled with water to simulate the gravity-free space environment the Space Telescope will be placed into orbit from the shuttle payload Bay in 1985 it's designed to be an international Observer atory located in space for the study of the universe and is expected to provide new advances in astronomy and physics an infrared astronomical satellite will soon be launched from the western test range in California it's shown here undergoing tests at the jet propulsion laboratory IRAs as it is called is an international project that includes NASA the Netherlands and the United Kingdom the new Earth orbiting instrument with its 68 infrared detectors will be used to witness the birth of new stars and the death of old ones IRAs will probe through space searching for Celestial phenomena that are invisible to our eyes but glow in the infrared Pioneers 8 and N launched in 1967 and 1968 and orbiting the Sun since that time passed within 1 and 1 half million miles of each other on October 7th in space terms a close encounter they like the two unmanned Pioneers that followed them Pioneers 10 and 11 contined to return a stream of new information about our solar system to Earthbound scientists the spacecraft have traveled billions of miles from Earth passing safely through Rocky asteroid and radiation belts along the way these are some of the last photographs of Mars they were taken by the Viking one Orbiter and processed this past spring at NASA's jet propulsion lab more than 50,000 photographs have been taken by the Viking spacecraft since 1976 the two Vikings were launched 11 years ago as they arrived at Mars the Lander portion of the spacecraft separated and touched down softly on the Martian surface leaving the orbiters circling above the planet the Viking one Lander continues to send back valuable Imaging and meteorological data every week the fourth Earth scanning landsat was launched from California on July 16th lat 4 is designed to continuously collect accurate information on Earth's resources information useful in land use planning exploration and agriculture an onboard thematic mapper recorded these views which should help urban planners better manage and monitor urban sprawl into the surrounding Countryside after completing its three-year Mission lat 4 is designed to be retrieved by the space shuttle this is medicine B Wyoming site of the dedication of two wind powered generators on September 4th the project is a joint Endeavor of NASA's Lewis Research Center the department of energy and the Bureau of Reclamation one unit was built by the Hamilton standard company and is nearly 400 ft high it's capable of producing four megaw of electricity the second unit constructed by the Boeing engineering and construction company is powered by a rotor 300 ft in diameter and can produce 2.5 megaw of electricity when operating together the pair of wind turbines will provide enough energy to meet the needs of 3,000 homes in the Rocky Mountain Area the Lewis Research Center has been working on experimental ION Electric rocket engines for more than two decades Electric engines produce minute amounts of thrust and do it more efficiently than conventional chemical Rockets one experimental electric engine c 2 has been tested for 11 years and journeyed more than a billion and a half miles through space ion propulsion systems are especially attractive for possible Comet and asteroid rendevu missions exploration of the outer planets station keeping of communication satellites and orbital platforms the next space test of an ion rocket engine will take place in 1983 the Lewis Center has also been working on Earth applications of solar power for example a solar electric powered Medical Clinic has been designed and several constructed for the US agency for International Development built by the solar Rex Corporation they're being installed in remote villages in Gana Ecuador Kenya and Zimbabwe the medical system package includes a refrigerator sterilizer examination light two-way radio and numerous interior and exterior lights all powered from the Sun researchers at NASA's jet propulsion laboratory working in conjunction with Scientists from the University of Southern California are applying space related computerized image analysis techniques to the Earthly treatment of arteriosclerosis and stenosis of the arteries diseases that affect thousands of Americans to calculate the degree of disas disase present the computer first indicates the edges of the artery with black lines the white lines which just appeared are the computer's best estimate of where the walls of the artery would be if there were no disease present using these guidelines statistics such as the degree of narrowing can be computed and printed out for the patient's file these same techniques were used to enhance significant areas of the planet Saturn for scientific study from pictures taken by the Voyager spacecraft NASA's aeronautical research and Technology Program continues to make contributions across a broad spectrum of Aviation case in point the rotor systems research aircraft or rsra being flown at the as Research Center this unique flying laboratory looks like a cross between an airplane and a helicopter and can fly like both the main objectives of the research are to flight test Advanced rotor Concepts to increase performance lower noise and vibrations and improve flight Control Systems the rsr ra is a valuable tool for testing out new rotor Concepts the Bell xv15 is another research aircraft that holds great promise for both military and civilian use it can hover like a helicopter or Cruise like a turboprop airplane once the 25- Ft prop rotors are rotated forward it can fly at speeds up to 350 mph the xv15 flew proof of concept and extensive operational demonstration flights for the military in 1982 including the one shown here for the [Music] Navy after practicing carrier takeoffs and landings at the Navy's North Island base in San Diego the Tilt rotor went through sea trials on the USS Tripoli the xv15 is generating a lot of interest for use in search and rescue operations as an economical way to supply offshore oil rigs and as an inter city transport a wind tunnel at the Lewis Research Center in Cleveland is one of the places research is being done to design highly efficient propellers for future aircraft the unusually shaped propeller has many blades which spin at speeds greater than those of conventional props when applied to commercial Transport Aircraft researchers believe it will result in fuel Savings of as much as 30% over conventional turbofan powered planes while operating at similar speeds and altitudes the Lewis Center also has an icing research tunnel to study problems associated with aircraft flying into conditions that cause ice to build on planes surfaces the main objective is to provide for more efficient more lightweight ice Protection Systems that can be applied to general aviation aircraft helicopters and future commercial transports they called it salute to NASA Aeronautics and it was the theme for the 1982 Experimental Aircraft Association National Convention in Oshkosh Wisconsin [Music] NASA's Langley Lewis and Ames Research centers participated in the 8-day event with people and Equipment highlighted at the world's largest annual Aviation convention were NASA's research and advanced technology developments in civil military and general aviation 600,000 people saw NASA pilot Tom McMurtry from The Dryden flight research facility put the oblique wing ad1 airplane through its Paces the pivoted wing of the ad1 can be rotated to an oblique angle of up to 60° a maneuver that reduces Air drag to increase speed and range without using more fuel visitors were treated to an endless variety of aircraft from homebuilts to Vintage World War II bombers and Fighters as more than 10,000 planes flew in and out of Whitman field in Oshkosh during the [Music] convention that's NASA's 1982 as seen by the eye of the camera please join us for our next and final show in this series 25 years of progress we will cover NASA activities in 1983 I'm Lyn Bondurant [Music] [Music] okay looking good Roger Clum be on the roll [Music] Columbia Houston your go at 40 go [Music] 40 e e e e e e e e e