STS-114 Mission Coverage and Discussion

SpaceNut · 2005-10-04 07:51:32

[url=http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-96883sy0oct04,0,1439302.story?coll=dp-news-local-final]Cosmic suitcase mysteries
NASA Langley scientists study a variety of experiments retrieved from the space station.[/url]

So why should this matter, well put it this way if you were the one footing the bill wouldn't you want to know what you have gotten for the money that was given.

Basically very little info ever seems to make it to the public with regards to the experiments that have been preformed on the ISS or of the shuttle.

NASA Langley has retrieved its luggage, three years behind schedule.

Yup in part thanks to warning that were ignored...

A lot of people have been waiting a very long time to see this," said Don Roxby, a scientist who spoke in hushed tones as he stood around a table Monday with other scientists and engineers in hooded white suits and masks, blue caps and yellow gloves.
Before them was one of two aluminum suitcases with gold-colored handles, open for inspection for the first time since being retrieved from the International Space Station by the shuttle Discovery on its July-August voyage.

So while they were waiting these last three years what have they been doing?

So what was so important anyways:?

Dubbed MISSE I and MISSE II - for Materials International Space Station Experiments - the 2-foot-by-2-foot-by-41/2-inch cases spent four years aloft.
Their contents looked like cosmetic kits to the layman, artists' palates to the scientists. Each white, blue, red, yellow, green or black spot indicated an experiment had been done - 254 of them in MISSE I and 256 in MISSE II.
The experiments involved polymers, solar cells, paints, optical coatings, films and wires - each submitted to the rigors of space.
"Some of the things we're testing are really new technology, and there are specific questions as to how the materials will behave in space," said Bill Kinard, MISSE's chief scientist. "... That's what this is about: the truth. (An experiment) has survived in space."

I think some one is using fuzzy numbers again for cost...

The value of the MISSE program, besides the data available, is in its cost. Kinard said that NASA spent "a couple of million dollars" for the experiments. "That beats launching a $200 million satellite."

Another source of info:
[url=http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031785431897&path=!news&s=1045855934842]NASA takes peek at results
Langley Research Center scientists open luggage that finally returned from space[/url]

What type of effects were observed in the name of science.

MISSEs are passive experiment containers designed by Langley initially for Mir, the Russian space station. The cases, attached like an open-faced sandwich to the space station's solar panels, carry hundreds of samples of materials for testing in the harsh environment of space.
Each container is about 24 inches square and 5 inches wide. Inside MISSE 1 and 2 were some 900 specimens ranging from new materials that might someday be used on the space station or on future spacecraft as well as seeds from student-led experiments.
The samples were exposed to what Kinard called the "hostile conditions of space" -- ultraviolet radiation, cosmic radiation, highly reactive atomic oxygen, swings in temperature between extreme heat to cold as well as micrometeorites that bombard them as they circled the Earth.

So why do we want to do these test:

Materials that pass testing could be used on the shuttle's replacement, the Crew Exploration Vehicle, to go to the moon or someday to Mars as optical or thermal control coatings, environmental monitors or inflatable materials.

So the final question would be is can these types of tests be preformed here on Earth with regards to material science weathering and what would there costs be?

SpaceNut · 2005-11-21 08:17:05

Well it has been a while but the wait may have been worth it with regards to a [url=http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1132568163235890.xml&coll=1]Marshall space experiment becomes a test of patience
Scientists say materials sent up in '01 'held up beyond our expectations'[/url]

The Feb. 1, 2003, Columbia tragedy, which killed seven astronauts and led to a more than two-year halt for the space shuttle program, delayed not only the construction of the International Space Station but also the collection of some of its valuable experiments - including two suitcase-sized MISSE experiments from Marshall.
Finckenor leads a team of six Marshall researchers responsible for 227 out of 950 materials that were part of the $2 million Materials on International Space Station Experiment, or MISSE.

Material science is a must in order to understand what will and will not withstand the long duration within the space environment.

Rxke · 2005-11-21 08:27:59

In a way, this is an eerie re-enactment of the LDEF experiment http://setas-www.larc.nasa.gov/LDEF/

that was sent up, free floating, but stayed in orbit waaaaay past it's initial timeframe because of the Challenger accident. Proved some interesting stuff, in the end, seeds still viable, etc...

SpaceNut · 2005-11-21 08:49:10

Nice tag line thou I choose to use the mental ignore button and If I have nothing to offer other than offensive comment then I choses to filter thoses before even writing them since this gains nothing.
Yup I saw LDEF experiment at the end of the article mentioned. It is surprising after all this time how little we actually know with regards to material behaviors.

Rxke · 2005-11-21 09:45:33

My tagline was meant as a harmless punny joke...

I recall the LDEF scientist -in contrast with the 'suitcase scientists- being quite shocked to find some of their samples had just... vanished, when they first laid their eyes on it.
Stuff they thought would withststand deep space conditions very well, had just 'evaporated'... Imagine your $$$ sat, spacestation or whatever sporting a coating that on paper looks great, but in orbit just... shrivels up and dies.

In a way, it looks like these long-term exposues are jinxed, they always turn out to be 'longer-than-expected-term-exposures'... Probably leading to stuff not ending up in applications etc...

I mean, the stuff they test is cutting-edge, but they plan to get results in a year, but instead it takes much longer because the experiment just don't come back...

SpaceNut · 2005-12-14 07:21:04

Is this the only level of science that ISS and Shuttle are ever going to be good for?

It is great that schools are learning about space but there must be more than this?

[url=http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=429619&category=SCHENECTADY&BCCode=&newsdate=12/14/2005]Space seeds sprout school's cosmic study
Central Park students will examine and grow seeds returned from space station[/url]

BWhite · 2005-12-14 21:08:11

Is this the only level of science that ISS and Shuttle are ever going to be good for?
It is great that schools are learning about space but there must be more than this?
[url=http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=429619&category=SCHENECTADY&BCCode=&newsdate=12/14/2005]Space seeds sprout school's cosmic study
Central Park students will examine and grow seeds returned from space station[/url]

A contrary view

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#301 2005-10-04 07:51:32

Re: STS-114 Mission Coverage and Discussion

#302 2005-11-21 08:17:05

Re: STS-114 Mission Coverage and Discussion

#303 2005-11-21 08:27:59

Re: STS-114 Mission Coverage and Discussion

#304 2005-11-21 08:49:10

Re: STS-114 Mission Coverage and Discussion

#305 2005-11-21 09:45:33

Re: STS-114 Mission Coverage and Discussion

#306 2005-12-14 07:21:04

Re: STS-114 Mission Coverage and Discussion

#307 2005-12-14 21:08:11

Re: STS-114 Mission Coverage and Discussion

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