Jonathan's Space Report

No. 112		1992 Apr 27
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kosmos-2184 was launched from the Russian spaceport Plesetsk on Apr 15
around 0800 UT.  After the second stage circularization burn and payload
separation it was in a 967 x 1014 km orbit inclined 83 degrees. It is a 
Doppler beacon navigation satellite for the SNG navy, replacing
Kosmos-2074 launched in 1990.

Meanwhile back in Transoxiana, Progress M-12, a robot supply ship, was
launched from Baykonur on Apr 19 toward the Mir space station. Cosmonauts
Aleksandr Viktorenko and Aleksandr Kaleri are aboard the station.

Space Shuttle mission STS-49, the maiden flight of orbiter Endeavour, is
planned for launch on May 4 at 1234UT.

STS-49, commanded by the NASA Chief of the Astronaut Office, Dan
Brandenstein, will be the first flight on which 4 crew members go EVA on
a single mission. (Possible exception: it depends on quite how you
define 'single mission' for the Mir). Primary spacewalk team is Pierre
Thout and Richard Hieb. They will perform EVA-1 and EVA-3, while Kathryn
Thornton and Thomas Akers will perform EVA-2. The first EVA will be to
attach a new UTC/CSD Orbus 21S kick stage to the Hughes Intelsat VI F-3
satellite stranded in low orbit. EVA-2 and EVA-3 will be part of the
ASEM experiment to practice assembling mock space station components;
the idea is to get a feel for what EVA construction crews can and can't
do. It's a more sophisticated version of the EASE/ACCESS experiments
done in 1985 on mission 61-B. 

STS-49 cargo:
 RMS (Remote Manipulator System)
 
 Hughes Cradle with Orbus 21S PKM, capture bar, docking adapter,
  and MFR (Manipulator Foot Restraint)
 
 MPESS (Mission Peculiar Experiment Support Structure) with
  ASEM Node boxes(2), Truss pyramid components, Grapple fixture
  and EVA rescue device prototypes: Astrorope, Telescopic pole,
  Bi-stem pole,	Inflatable pole, Crew propulsive device (based on Skylab-HHMU)

As far as I can tell the Hughes Cradle is a new design; the MPESS
cross-bay truss pallet has flown 13 times previously.

STS-49 bios:
Brandenstein, Daniel Charles (Commander)
 Birth: 1943 Jan 17, Wisconsin
 Rank: Capt USN
 Selected as NASA pilot astronaut, 1978
 Pilot, Challenger, mission STS-8, 1983
 Commander, Discovery, mission 51-G, 1985
 Chief of Astronaut Office, 1987
 Commander, Columbia, mission STS-32R, 1990
 Total spaceflight hours 575:48; 2 rendezvous/captures
 (Spartan-101, LDEF)

Chilton, Kevin P. (Pilot)
 Birth: 1954 Nov 3, L.A.
 Rank: Lt Col. USAF
 Selected as NASA mission specialist astronaut, 1987
 Total spaceflight hours 0:00 

Hieb, Richard J. (Mission Specialist 1)
 Birth: 1955 Sep 21, North Dakota
 Selected as NASA mission specialist astronaut, 1985
 Mission Specialist 5, Discovery, mission STS-39, 1991
 Total spaceflight hours: 199:22

Melnick, Bruce E. (Mission Specialist 2)
 Birth: 1949 Dec 5, N.Y.
 Rank: Cdr US Coast Guard
 Selected as NASA mission specialist astronaut, 1987
 Mission Specialist 1, Discovery, mission STS-41, 1990
 Total spaceflight hours: 98:10

Thuot, Pierre J. (Mission Specialist 3)
 Birth: 1955 May 19, Connecticut
 Rank: Cdr USN
 Selected as NASA mission specialist astronaut, 1985
 Mission Specialist 3, Atlantis, mission STS-36, 1990
 Total spaceflight hours: 106:18
 
Thornton, Kathryn Cordell (Mission Specialist 4)
 Birth: 1952 Aug 17, Alabama, as Kathryn Cordell
 Education: PhD in physics, U VA., 1979
 Selected as NASA mission specialist astronaut, 1984
 Mission Specialist 3, Discovery, mission STS-33R, 1989.
 Total spaceflight hours: 120:07

Akers, Thomas D. (Mission Specialist 5)
 Birth: 1951 May 20, Missouri
 Rank:  Capt USAF
 Selected as NASA mission specialist astronaut, 1987
 Mission Specialist 3, Discovery, mission STS-41, 1990
 Total spaceflight hours: 98:10

Historical note: The following Shuttle payloads
have involved major Station construction experiments:
 Payload		Mission	Date	Type
 MPESS/OAST-1 		41-D	1984	Deploy large structure
 MPESS/EASE-ACCESS	61-B	1985	In-orbit construction
 SHARE 1		29R	1989	Heat pipe component
 EDFE			37	1991	EVA transportation 
 SHARE 2		43	1991	Heat pipe component


____________________________________________
|Current STS status:                       |
|Orbiters               Location   Mission |
|                                          |
|OV-102 Columbia        OPF Bay 3  STS-50  |
|OV-103 Discovery       OPF Bay 2  Mod     |
|OV-104 Atlantis        OPF Bay 1  STS-46  |
|OV-105 Endeavour       LC39B      STS-49  |
|                                          |
|ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks                       |
|                                          |
|ML1/STS-46             VAB Bay 1          |
|ML2/STS-49/ET/OV-105   LC39B              |
|ML3/STS-50/ET          VAB Bay 3          |
--------------------------------------------


 .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
 |  Jonathan McDowell                 |  phone : (617) 495-7176                |
 |  Harvard-Smithsonian Center for    |                                        |
 |   Astrophysics                     |                                        |
 |  60 Garden St, MS4                 |                                        |
 |  Cambridge MA 02138                |  inter : mcdowell@cfa.harvard.edu      |
 |  USA                               |                                        |
 '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------'