| Astronaut
Candidates 2004 |  | | Prior
to boarding a KC-135 reduced gravity aircraft the 2004 astronaut class receives
a pre-flight briefing. | | RELATED
LINKS | | |
|
Astronaut
Candidates 2004 - Training Journals Journal
#11
March 2005
We've told you a bit about our travels to NASA Centers, but we must finish our
tale with our last three visits that took place from late January to the beginning
of April. White
Sands Test Facility and the White Sands Space Harbor are in New Mexico, not far
from Las Cruces. As the Center's name suggests, a lot of testing takes place here.
We had a chance to see the "fastest guns in the West." Recently the
two-stage, light-gas gun launchers were used for return-to-flight testing to see
how ice impacts the Shuttle, but they are usually used to test materials and see
how they withstand micro-meteorite impacts. Other facility testing includes setting
up large chambers with sensors and video equipment, and then firing (engines)
or operating parts of spacecraft to their extremes. This helps engineers understand
how failures occur and how to make the equipment more durable and reliable. In
addition to the testing, White Sands is home to the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
System facility. In order for astronauts to communicate with Mission Control,
as well as data and commands to be sent to and from computers, the receiving and
transmitting dishes at White Sands are crucial. About an hour from the Center
is the flat lakebed of the White Sands Space Harbor. Here, we watched experienced
astronaut pilots fly the Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA). The lakebed makes an
excellent practice runway, but it is strange to look at because the numbers, touchdown
zones, and centerline are all in black-not white. It's like looking at a picture's
negative. In this quiet, desert town, great contributions to space exploration
are being made daily.
In mid-March, we headed out to Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Our
first briefing got us thinking about Mars exploration. Dr. Joel Levine talked
to us about the Mars airplane, ARES, which has already tested successfully in
the Earth's atmosphere and waits being accepted to go to Mars. Once it travels
there, it will unfold from its capsule and fly like an airplane, collecting information
about the atmosphere and rocks of Mars. If you would like more information, check
out this website http://marsairplane.larc.nasa.gov. Other
exciting research we got to see at Langley included the 31-inch Mach 10 tunnel,
where miniature models of the Shuttle and other vehicles are tested; the structures
and materials department, where self-healing and ultra-thin materials are being
developed; and the Data Visualization and Analysis Lab, where three-dimensional
modeling is helping the medical field understand the effects of radiation. Langley
also supports flight research, and during our last day at the Center, we went
in the highly-modified Boeing 757 that is used for improving current transportation
and looking at how to make future concepts better. We left Hampton knowing that
we will someday be using data or designs that come from this Center.
The first week of April concluded our tours, as we traveled to the Kennedy Space
Center. When you think of NASA space flight, this Center probably comes to mind,
and rightly it should since every mission has launched from the pads on this Florida
coastline. We had a chance to go to these historical sites. From the small pad
that Alan Shepard launched from, to the massive and monumental pad that the Apollo
I fire occurred upon, to Complex 39 B where Discovery will lift off from this
spring, we examined and explored the amazing workings that deliver astronauts
to space. We even saw the old launching computer that takes up a good portion
of a room, yet doesn't even have the capability of a small hand-held calculator.
It's hard to believe something so simple got such a complicated job done. In addition
to the walk-through history, we looked into the future. We actually got to get
within inches of the Shuttle Atlantis. It is being prepared and assembled for
launch in July. The numbered tiles, large engines, huge tires-the whole vehicle
is impressive. Then we could compare Atlantis to Discovery, which we saw in the
Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Rather than horizontal like Atlantis, Discovery
stood vertically attached to the orange external tank that we saw in the fall
at Michoud. It also had its solid rocket boosters (SRBs). Another
look at the future came at the Space Station Processing Facility, where the hardware
that goes up in the payload bay is stored and tested. Many of these items are
only months away from being in space and assembled to the International Space
Station. One of the most memorable moments of the trip came the afternoon of April
6. Discovery rolled out of the VAB towards Pad 39-B. The massive crawler doesn't
move very fast, slower than walking pace, but that gives you time to take in the
beauty of the Shuttle. It was awesome to watch thousands of KSC employees lining
the crawler-way to take pictures. They've been working hard for many months, and
you could see the pride in their faces. It was the perfect way to end the visit
to this Center. We look forward to returning to KSC many times as we support future
launches and return to flight! -
The Astronaut Candidate Class of 2004 |
