Shuttle Preparation and Planets (1977-78)

e no [Music] a [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 10th episode we cover 1977 and 1978 to put 1977 into historical perspective that's the year scientists find a new life form which digests carbon dioxide and makes the gas methane these life forms are different from plants animals and bacteria during 1977 NASA spacecraft continue on their Journeys towards the planets in space science two unmanned Voyager spacecraft like this are now on their way toward the planets Jupiter and Saturn their Journey could last over a decade with investigations of more than a dozen major planetary bodies including Uranus the program is designed to yield valuable new information about the origins of the solar system and formation of the earth one of the ways it will do this is with pictures during that Peri Dr Bradford A Smith is associate professor of planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona and team leader of the Imaging experiment on voyagers We Begin our observations of both Jupiter and Saturn approximately 100 days before we arrive at the planets themselves during that period of time we're constantly looking at the planet each planet both Jupiter and Saturn rotates in approximately 10 hours so every 10 hours as we're approaching these planets over that 100 day period we will see the whole surface of the planet rotating beneath us as we get closer and closer the resolution gets higher we see smaller and smaller features and as we get very close we we finally get so close that we can't see we don't have enough pictures to cover the entire surface of the planet but we will select out particular features of great interest observed during that so-called Observatory phase and these features will be targeted for close examination as we fly by the voyagers are to leave the solar system each carries a cosmic greeting card in the form of a gold coded copper disc called sounds of Earth they are assembled by a group of prominent scientists and Educators the record begins with 115 photographs and diagrams in analog form that describe mathematics chemistry geology and biology of Earth and our location the pictures are followed by greetings in 60 languages sounds of weather Birds other animals and almost 90 minutes of music from around the world finally here in part is the text of a printed message from from the president of the United Nations on the chance that someone is out there this is a present from a small distant World a token of our sounds our science our images our music our thoughts and our feelings we are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours we hope someday having solved the problems we Face to join a community of Galactic Civilizations This Record represents Our Hope and our determination and our Good Will in a vast and awesome universe and in 1977 NASA continues development of Space Shuttle Enterprise Houston go ahead we have a couple of updates to your uh free flight Q card the altitudes okay stand my one okay we're ready to copy separation is at uh 23.0 next one 1 18.0 roll out on final at 8.3 and then 1 Point Niner I suggest you go ahead and uh start your engines and begin your taxi [Music] it's called Enterprise first of the Space Shuttle orbiters the beginning of a new space transportation system a craft that can carry up to 65,000 lb into space and land back on earth like an airplane five times two astronauts were carried piggyback at Top This 747 Jet and released five times they brought the huge spaceship in for powerless Landings okay the gear is coming down at 270 coming open and they're all down coming down look down here 50 ft 40t 30 20 holding can 220 about 5T summing up the year's work for all four of the astronaut crewman astronaut Gordon Fullerton we're at the end of the approaching Landing test phase of this program but it's it's really not end at the beginning it's uh just a small step uh really accomplished toward getting the Orbiter into space and then in that aspect uh I'm looking forward to more of the same exciting times uh as we continue on toward that first orbital flight Enterprise will not be the first shuttle into space but this one will be shown here being assembled by Rockwell International it is simply designated Orbiter 102 also completed this year the 154 ft long 27 and 1/2 ft wide external fuel tank for the shuttle designed and assembled by Martin Marietta at NASA's Mishu assembly facility near New Orleans the external tank will fuel shuttle's three main engines on the way to orbit another major milestone for the new space transportation system was the successful test firing of one of the two thall solid rocket Motors that will also help boost the shuttle Orbiter into space this animation shows how they work during launch the two solid rocket boosters strapped to each side carry their own propellants and burn for about 2 minutes before separating their onboard parachutes will then bring them back to Earth for recovery and reuse the large external fuel tank continues feeding the shuttle engines for an additional 6 minutes separating just before the shuttle reaches orbit this is the only part of the shuttle system that will not be used again when NASA announced it was recruiting between 30 and 40 new astronauts more than 8,000 hopeful candidates responded including over 1500 women the Johnson Space Center in Houston is in the final screening process to select from this group both Mission Specialists and Pilots for future space shuttle flights to get a field for handling large structures in space engineers at the Marshall space flight center have been practicing underwater the closest you can come for long periods of time to simulating the weightlessness of space it's anticipated that the shuttle will make the building of large space structures possible as well as the Assembly of heavier satellites and instruments to better observe Earth and provide improved Communications even solar satellites could be constructed constructed to beam the sun's energy to Earth if it becomes an economic and reasonable alternative to some of our groundbased energy resources manufacturer of the first flight unit has begun on Space lab shown here in mockup space lab is unique because it represents a Cooperative Venture by NASA and the European Space Agency to be built in self-contained modules the space lab will be placed inside the shuttle payload section there from one to four payload Specialists will attend to a variety of experiments while working in a shirt sleeve environment space lab is expected to make significant contributions to science medicine industrial processing and other fields how stars produce the energy that makes them burn so bright and then how they transmit this energy through millions of miles of space losing very little intensity along the way is of great interest to scientists to study the stars heo1 high energy astronomy Observatory was launched in August already he's instruments have found a gigantic star whose x-ray radiation increases violently over a period of time then returns to normal po1 will be joined in its task of mapping the sky for x-ray sources by two other observatories in the future NASA continued applying the technology and science learned in space to improve improve systems for managing the Earth and managing our business here on the ground this includes further use of our remote sensing capabilities which enable us to look at the whole earth or large regions of the Earth in ways not previously possible lanat satellites 1 and two for instance are helping us understand the condition of agricultural crops forests and groundwater observations that make it possible to predict and manage more efficiently most of NASA's launches this year were paid for by other users in other countries these included launches for the European Space Agency Japan Indonesia and Italy not all the launches were successful however both a Delta and an atlas rocket failed shortly after liftoff the first unsuccessful launch in 3 years for the Delta and since 1975 for the atlas more and more NASA is working with other government agencies such as the department of energy NASA's understanding of rotating Machinery solar cells and heat transfer is being applied to the development of windmills and better turbines the Lewis Research Center in Cleveland for example is gathering information on as many electric vehicles as possible and is also working to improve nickel zinc batteries NASA is also applying solar energy technology to new developments that may bring it into effective use as part of the national energy program efforts to apply technology to make Aviation safer more economical cleaner and quieter continued this year at several NASA field centers Energy Efficiency to curve airplane fuel consumption has high priority areas of study include engine research improved shapes computerized flight control systems and lighter stronger aircraft structures these crash tests at the Langley Research Center are an attempt to find out what happens when a general aviation airplane does just that the highly instrumented plane and dummies should help aircraft manufacturers build even safer airplanes in the future these spin tests look at a different safety problem the problem of spins and stalls in general Aviation airplanes in part of the project researchers are trying to determine the effects of tail design on spin characteristics a new research aircraft which combines features of both helicopters and conventional airplanes the xv15 Tilt rotor completed its first phase of flight testing these short and vertical takeoff and Landing aircraft make May one day improve in city [Music] transportation 1977 an important year for both Aeronautics and Space research with much of the technology finding downto Earth [Music] uses those are some of the NASA highlights of 1977 the following year 1978 is a significant year in the history of science 1978 is the year the first test tube baby is born and in 1978 no new cases of small poox are reported in the world meanwhile NASA work progresses in 1978 it was a year of preparation especially for the reusable space shuttle astronomers were able to point an orbiting telescope at stars while aiming and making Corrections much like groundbased observatories Pioneer spacecraft arrived at Venus and landed on that planet's shrouded service the voyagers continued their journey toward Jupiter and Saturn with the Department of energy NASA built a wind generator for a small New Mexico town and in Aeronautics a wide range of research projects to improve both General and Commercial Aviation 47-year-old John Young veteran of two Gemini and two Apollo space flights will be Commander for the first Mann shuttle mission here he practices making Landings in a space shuttle simulator at the Johnson Space Center with Robert krippen The 40-Year-Old astronaut who will fly with young as [Music] pilot anticipating the space shuttle flight schedule in the years ahead NASA selected 35 new candidate astronauts in 1978 to begin training as shuttle mission specialist and Pilots the 35 including six women were chosen from nearly 8,000 applicants and will be training until mid [Music] [Music] 1980 Enterprise was flown in its now familiar plane on plane birth from California to NASA's Marshall space flight center in Huntsville Alabama for the first time all the major components of the space shuttle transportation system came together for testing when completely assembled the shuttle Orbiter will sit a stride two recoverable solid rockets and a top a giant external fuel tank the entire system was subjected to vibrations similar to those that will occur at launch at the thol corporation facility in Utah a shuttle booster that will produce about 2.65 million lbs of thrust at launch was successfully test fired again each of the Space Shuttle three main engines that will provide the Orbiter with its primary power from Launchpad almost to Earth orbit were also successfully tested work is continuing on the second shuttle Orbiter at the Rockwell plant in California this is the spacecraft that will actually make the first flight with astronauts young and krippin at the controls looking farther ahead Marshall spaceflight Center Engineers have been studying problems that astronauts May face during future shuttle missions and they are doing it underwater this is one of the few ways that near weightless Maneuvers can be practiced here on Earth 1978 was a very busy year for space science one of the most ambitious missions involved two Pioneer spacecraft that were launched toward a Rendevous and landing on this planet Venus scientists believe that by studying the weather of Venus they can learn about our weather here on Earth the Pioneer Orbiter spacecraft is programmed to Circle Venus every 24 hours studying the upper fringes of the venusian atmosphere as it travels along the second spacecraft the multiprobe is made up of a space bus with four data Gathering spheres that plunge down simultaneously to different parts of Venus returning valuable information about its 900° surface and carbon dioxide environment this is a computer representation of the atmosphere of Jupiter [Music] two unmanned Voyager spacecraft are on route to Jupiter now the first Voyager will reach the planet in March 1979 followed by the second spacecraft 4 months later then on to Saturn at the time of closest encounter on November 12th 1980 Voyager 1 will have traveled 1.4 billion miles through space the Voyager missions make it possible for scientists to go back in time and Sample the conditions from which the Sun and planets including the Earth are believed to have formed I International ultraviolet Explorer is a telescope in space which is operated effectively in real time by astronomers on the ground visiting astronomers at the Gard space flight center can have the telescope pointed decide what data to take and modify their measurements as they observe with craft like like iue scientists can begin thinking in terms of observatories in space as facilities also launched in 1978 the second in a series of high energy astronomy observatories HE2 the 7,000lb spacecraft carries a large x-ray telescope with four major experiments which can be pointed at specific objects to study them in detail the high energy explorers are giving astronomers a different view of our universe and helping us to better understand it the Space Telescope moved through another manufacturing phase this year at the Corning Glassworks in Upstate New York and is scheduled for deployment by the shuttle Orbiter in 1983 looking from space with instruments in space we can see the universe in ways that are impossible from the ground bringing us closer to even greater discoveries in Cosmic astronomy [Music] there was continued and increased emphasis on applications in 1978 lat 3 a remote sensing spacecraft was orbited efforts like these over the next decade will try to develop a capability to watch and understand what's happening on the surface of the Earth land and water and to put all that data together in such a way that it can be used as management information for the global environment before its so far unexplained Short Circuit the first seap collected data for 99 days what it returned during that time were images of sea ice waves Coastal conditions and various land forms it also measured sea surface wind speeds and temperatures project scientists expect it will take more than a year and a half to process the data collected by cat this is Beth a perfectly healthy child of a NASA employee at the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas she is shown here testing out the fit and mobility of an isolation suit that can be used by a youngster with a rare disorder known as severe combined immune deficiency disease because of his inability to fight off even the most common germs 7-year-old David has had to be confined in sterile isolation since birth the NASA developed isolation suit now allows David to get out and at least do some of the things normal children enjoy benab bruso and Maxi Anderson two of the three men that crossed the Atlantic using a helium filled balloon stopped by The Goddard space flight center to meet some of the people who monitored their flight with the help of the Nimbus 6 [Music] satellite on their first attempt the Nimbus 6 Beacon made it possible to alert airca rescue and they became lost in a heavy storm so for the second try benab bruso said they decided to take along an extra beacon on the second flight uh because of uh the fact that we knew that the only link we had with the world on the first flight was the satellite transmitter we had two and again the uh information came to us in Flight telling us uh of our course and our uh uh position uh it confirmed uh uh the weather uh data that uh our uh base station had and allowed us to change altitudes uh properly so that we were able to uh complete the flight successfully and in fact on the tail end of it we changed altitudes and vectored ourselves onto a very close uh uh destination uh proximity of Paris [Music] last January the first large operational wind generator to be used in the United States in several decades began producing electricity the place Clayton New Mexico population about 2900 the project is funded by the department of energy and managed by NASA's Lewis Research Center in Cleveland the 100t high wind generator is capable of producing 200 KW that feed directly into Clayton's utility system about enough to Electrify 60 homes the research is aimed at improving performance and helping determine the future cost of electric power generated by wind systems in Aeronautics the emphasis is on basic research and basic technology preparing the way for future advances in aviation at the same time NASA continues to develop Technologies to the point where industry can take them up [Music] one of the major research efforts involves using full-scale wind tunnels and other facilities to improve crop dusting aircraft studies of how spraying is affected in the Wake behind the airplane handling qualities fuel efficiency and overall airplane performance are the goals see those vertical fins on the wing tips of This Small Business Jet those are called winglets and they were invented by Dr Richard T whittam of NASA's Langley Research Center what the winglets do is reduce the drag on the plane as it moves through the air saving fuel in the process just about any plane can benefit from the largest jet cargo tankers to small CrossCountry planes like this one made for the homebuilt market again and again engineering research pilot Jim Patton forces his single engine plan into a stall spin what he and the data Gathering Engineers on the ground are trying to do is improve the design for wings and tail sections of airplanes to make them more resistant to stall spins this type problem accounts for about 30% of Crash fatalities in small private airplanes combinations of wind tunnels simulators radio controlled model flights and fullscale tests are used to gather the needed data there were two anniversaries in 1978 that need to be noted 75 years ago Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful powered flight in an airplane it was also just 20 years ago that the Space Program officially began an extension of the basic Wright brothers flight 1978 a year of progress in both Aeronautics and Space research and those are NASA film clips from 1978 please join us next time when we cover NASA's progress in the Years 1979 and 1980 I'm Lyn bant [Music] okay we got off and look at Roger Clum on the [Music] roll Columbia Houston you're go at [Music] 40 e e e