SolarMax Repair Mission

[Music] the manned maneuvering unit is  the culmination of more than a decade of research and development by Martin Marietta  Aerospace adopted by NASA as standard space shuttle equipment mmu gives astronauts the ability  and freedom to move around outside the Orbiter yeah the backpack unit is propelled by  small nitrogen gas jets that are controlled by the astronaut pilot through  controllers on the ends of the unit's arms in the space environment astronauts will be  able to perform a variety of tasks including servicing and inspection of satellites  and inspection of the Orbiter itself fate in the form of a disabled satellite may give mmu the opportunity to prove its value  in a practical demonstration 290 miles into space in February 1980 the solar maximum  mission was launched into Earth orbit the satellite was designed to study solar flares the violent eruptions that  occur on the sun's surface once Aloft solarmacs came under the control of NASA's Goddard space flight  center in Greenbelt Maryland one of the center's activities monitoring  seven on-board scientific instruments would give scientists a better understanding of the  sun's explosive nature and its effects on Earth then nearly one year into orbit the 200  million dollar mission was cut short a fuse failure in the spacecraft's  attitude control system sent solar Max into a slow unstabilized spin  that left four of the scientific instruments useless and diminished the  effectiveness of the remaining three the solution which will permit solar Max to  continue Gathering data lies with sending the 13th schedule space shuttle flight  on a repair mission in early 1984. positioning itself near the disabled satellite  the shuttle would engage the spacecraft with its manipulator arm placing it on a support cradle in  the orbiter's cargo bay there the failed attitude control system module would be replaced and the  repaired spacecraft returned to orbit [Music] the main obstacle to the plan is the spinning  satellite itself it must be stabilized before the orbiter's remote manipulation system can dock  with the spacecraft's elusive grapple fixture the one tool that makes this delicate operation  possible is the manned maneuvering unit at Martin Marietta's Denver Space Center astronauts working  with the six degree of Freedom space operation simulator have developed flight techniques  that form the critical Link in the solarmax repair Mission The computer-driven man-rated  Carriage simulating a gravity-free environment allows astronauts to practice the delicate  procedure of attaching a new grapple fixture to the unstabilized solar Max with the aid of a  hand-operated satellite attachment device actually with a new fixture in place the astronaut  working at a distance of 300 feet from the shuttle would use the mmu's thrusters  to steady the spinning spacecraft the placement of a new grapple fixture is  necessary to allow the orbiter's manipulator arm to dock the spacecraft without posing  a danger to fragile solar panels [Music] further thrusting action could also  maintain solar Max in the proper attitude to enable the approaching Orbiter  to engage the newly placed grapple fixture tests at the Martin Marietta Facility have proven  that mmu is capable of halting a rotation rate markedly higher than the eight to nine tenths of  a degree per second rate experienced by solar Max after being secured in the orbiter's cargo  bay the malfunctioning attitude control system module would be replaced with the spare  unit for the landsat D Prime satellite you're not is because it's because return  to orbit by the remote manipulator system solar Max would again beam to Earth data  received by its seven scientific instruments it would help scientists expand their knowledge  of how energy is built up or stored what triggers its release and propagation out through  the sun's atmosphere to Earth and Beyond and reveal the long-term degradation  effects of the low earth orbital environment uh the solarmax repair Mission presents an  unparalleled opportunity to prove the worth of spacecraft that can be repaired on orbit it  also provides an important test of the Space Shuttle equipped with the manned maneuvering unit  particularly in today's tight budgetary climate the ability to repair refuel or otherwise service  satellites already on orbit is of great value the combination of the space shuttle's access  to both high and low inclination orbits from launch facilities at Vandenberg Air Force  Base and the Kennedy Space Center the mmu provided capability for an Eva crewman to operate  independently of the Orbiter and the refinement of Eva techniques marked the opening of a new era  in Satellite operations and design philosophy thank you