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NASA NTRS2017

Lessons Learned: Mechanical Component and Tribology Activities in Support of Return to Flight

The February 2003 loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia resulted in NASA Management revisiting every critical system onboard this very complex, reusable space vehicle in a an effort to Return to Flight. Many months after the disaster, contact between NASA Johnson Space Center and NASA Glenn Research Center evolved into an in-depth assessment of the actuator drive systems for the Rudder Speed Brake and Body Flap Systems. The actuators are CRIT 1-1 systems that classifies them as failure of any of the actuators could result in loss of crew and vehicle. Upon further evaluation of these actuator systems and the resulting issues uncovered, several research activities were initiated, conducted, and reported to the NASA Space Shuttle Program Management. The papers contained in this document are the contributions of many researchers from NASA Glenn Research Center and Marshall Space Flight Center as part of a Lessons Learned on mechanical actuation systems as used in space applications. Many of the findings contained in this document were used as a basis to safely Return to Flight for the remaining Space Shuttle Fleet until their retirement.

Tribology↗

NASA NTRS2007

The Columbia Accident Investigation and The NASA Glenn Ballistic Impact Laboratory Contributions Supporting NASA's Return to Flight

On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during reentry, resulting in loss of the vehicle and its seven crewmembers. For the next several months, an extensive investigation of the accident ensued involving a nationwide team of experts from NASA, industry, and academia, spanning dozens of technical disciplines. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), a group of experts assembled to conduct an investigation independent of NASA, concluded in August, 2003 that the most likely cause of the loss of Columbia and its crew was a breach in the left wing leading edge Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) thermal protection system initiated by the impact of thermal insulating foam that had separated from the orbiters external fuel tank 81 seconds into the mission's launch. During reentry, this breach allowed superheated air to penetrate behind the leading edge and erode the aluminum structure of left wing, which ultimately led to the breakup of the orbiter. The findings of the CAIB were supported by ballistic impact tests, which simulated the physics of External Tank Foam impact on the RCC wing leading edge material. These tests ranged from fundamental material characterization tests to full-scale Orbiter Wing Leading Edge tests. Following the accident investigation, NASA spent the next 18 months focused on returning the shuttle safely to flight. In order to fully evaluate all potential impact threats from the many debris sources on the Space Shuttle during ascent, NASA instituted a significant impact testing program. The results from these tests led to the validation of high-fidelity computer models, capable of predicting actual or potential Shuttle impact events, were used in the certification of STS-114, NASA s Return to Flight Mission, as safe to fly. This presentation will provide a look into the inner workings of the Space Shuttle and a behind the scenes perspective on the impact analysis and testing done for the Columbia Accident Investigation and NASA's Return to Flight programs. In addition, highlights from recent Shuttle missions are presented.

Melis, Matthew E.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Highlights of 1981 activities

The highlights of NASA's 1981 activities are presented, including the results of the two flights of the space shuttle Columbia and the Voyager 2 encounter with Saturn. Accomplishments in the areas of space transportation operations; space science; aeronautical, energy, and space research and development; as well as space tracking, international activities, and 1981 launch activities are discussed.

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NASA NTRS2001

Chandra Space Flight Software: Using Software to Autonomously Operation the Largest and Most Sensitive X-Ray Telescope in the World

Chandra is the world's largest and most sensitive X-ray telescope. The Chandra X-ray Observatory is the third in NASA's family of "Great Observatories." The Chandra X-ray Observatory, launched by Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999, is NASA's newest Great Observatory. The Chandra space flight software is the operational software, which controls and directs the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The Chandra flight software has executed faultlessly for over 13,000 hours on-orbit. The Chandra flight software directly controls the Pointing, Aspect Determination, Electrical Power Subsystem, Propulsion system, and the Command, Communications, and Data Management subsystems. The software controls the spacecraft operations during all phases of the mission. The software also performs thermal control of the telescope to maintain pointing accuracy and monitors radiation levels throughout the orbit so that the Science Instruments can be safed if radiation thresholds are exceeded. The efficient operation of Chandra flight software has enabled the gathering of crucial science data. The Chandra flight software fault protection is the key to early detection and prevention of science instrument or spacecraft damage in an operating platform/environment, which is completely unforgiving. Permanently open Sun Shade Door and ACIS focal plane radiator sensitivity exposes science instruments and mirrors to damage for pointing anomalies causing an attitude excursion. The Chandra flight software must prevent these attitude excursions from occurring for ANY failure. Another example is that the power system has an unregulated bus, which imposes severe operating requirements on Chandra flight software to control array pointing and battery connection/disconnect using a unique algorithmic and logic approach. The Chandra flight software has enabled a truly autonomous vehicle with greater than 99% of all mission data collected as planned. Less than 15% of spacecraft operations are conducted in view (1 hour out of 8) leading to very extended periods without ground contact. The Chandra flight software implements the flexible mission plan during this out of view period, manages the solid state recorder capacity, controls all pointing and maneuvers, provides fault detection for all satellite subsystems, and initiates communications with the ground at the appropriate time. This paper will describe the software architecture features, key design elements and software testing techniques that have facilitated Chandra's success.

Crumbley, Tim↗

NASA NTRS2003

Neural Development Under Conditions of Spaceflight

One of the key tasks the developing brain must learn is how to navigate within the environment. This skill depends on the brain's ability to establish memories of places and things in the environment so that it can form cognitive maps. Earth's gravity defines the plane of orientation of the spatial environment in which animals navigate, and cognitive maps are based on this plane of orientation. Given that experience during early development plays a key role in the development of other aspects of brain function, experience in a gravitational environment is likely to be essential for the proper organization of brain regions mediating learning and memory of spatial information. Since the hippocampus is the brain region responsible for cognitive mapping abilities, this study evaluated the development of hippocampal structure and function in rats that spent part of their early development in microgravity. Litters of male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were launched into space aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on either postnatal day eight (P8) or 14 (P14) and remained in space for 16 days. Upon return to Earth, the rats were tested for their ability to remember spatial information and navigate using a variety of tests (the Morris water maze, a modified radial arm maze, and an open field apparatus). These rats were then tested physiologically to determine whether they exhibited normal synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. In a separate group of rats (flight and controls), the hippocampus was analyzed using anatomical, molecular biological, and biochemical techniques immediately postlanding. There were remarkably few differences between the flight groups and their Earth-bound controls in either the navigation and spatial memory tasks or activity-induced synaptic plasticity. Microscopic and immunocytochemical analyses of the brain also did not reveal differences between flight animals and ground-based controls. These data suggest that, within the developmental window studied, microgravity has minimal long-term impact on cognitive mapping function and cellular substrates important for this function. Any differences due to development in microgravity were transient and returned to normal soon after return to Earth.

Kosik, Kenneth S.↗

NASA NTRS2006

Overview of High-Resolution Nondestructive Inspection of the Space Shuttle External Tank (ET) Spray-on-Foam Insulation (SOFI) and Acreage Heat tiles using Focused, Synthetic and Holographical Millimeter Wave Techniques

Space Shuttle Columbia's catastrophic failure has been attributed to a piece of spray-on-foam insulation (SOFI) that was dislodged from the external tank (ET) and struck the leading edge of the left wing. A piece of SOFI was also dislodged in the recent Space Shuttle Discovery's flight. From immediately after the Columbia accident, microwave and millimeter wave nondestructive testing methods were considered as potential effective inspection tools for evaluating the integrity of the SOFI. To this end and as a result of these efforts, both real-focused, synthetic focusing and holographical techniques, at a wide range of frequencies covering 24 GHz to 150 GHz, have been developed for this purpose. Images of various complex SOFI panels with a wide range of embedded anomalies (representing real potential defects) have been produced using these techniques, including relatively small anomalies located near complex structural features representative of the external tank. These real-focused and 3D holographical images have effectively demonstrated the utility of these methods for SOFI inspection as being viable, robust, repeatable, simple, portable and relatively inexpensive (tens of $K as opposed to hundreds of $K). In addition, the potential viability of these methods for inspecting acreage heat tiles have has been demonstrated. This paper presents an overview of these activities, representative images of these panels using all of the imaging techniques used and a discussion of the practical attributes of these inspection methods.

Kharkovsky, S.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Improving Performance of the System Safety Function at Marshall Space Flight Center

The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) determined that organizational and management issues were significant contributors to the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia. In addition, the CAIB observed similarities between the organizational and management climate that preceded the Challenger accident and the climate that preceded the Columbia accident. To prevent recurrence of adverse organizational and management climates, effective implementation of the system safety function is suggested. Attributes of an effective system safety program are presented. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) system safety program is analyzed using the attributes. Conclusions and recommendations for improving the MSFC system safety program are offered in this case study.

Kiessling, Ed↗

NASA NTRS2003

Final Report for the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) from Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation

The Advanced Camera for Surveys ACS was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia just before dawn on March 1, 2002. After successfully docking with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), several components were replaced. One of the components was the Advanced Camera for Surveys built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. (BATC) in Boulder, Colorado. Over the life of the HST contract at BATC hundreds of employees had the pleasure of working on the concept, design, fabrication, assembly and test of ACS. Those employees thank NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center and the science team at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) for the opportunity to participate in building a great science instrument for HST. After installation in HST a mini-functional test was performed and later a complete functional test. ACS performed well and has continued performing well since then. One of the greatest rewards for the BATC employees is a satisfied science team. Following is an excerpt from the JHU final report, "The foremost promise of ACS was to increase Hubble's capability for surveys in the near infrared by a factor of 10. That promise was kept. "

Volmer, Paul↗

NASA NTRS2015

Space Shuttle Rudder Speed Brake Actuator-A Case Study Probabilistic Fatigue Life and Reliability Analysis

The U.S. Space Shuttle fleet was originally intended to have a life of 100 flights for each vehicle, lasting over a 10-year period, with minimal scheduled maintenance or inspection. The first space shuttle flight was that of the Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102), launched April 12, 1981. The disaster that destroyed Columbia occurred on its 28th flight, February 1, 2003, nearly 22 years after its first launch. In order to minimize risk of losing another Space Shuttle, a probabilistic life and reliability analysis was conducted for the Space Shuttle rudder/speed brake actuators to determine the number of flights the actuators could sustain. A life and reliability assessment of the actuator gears was performed in two stages: a contact stress fatigue model and a gear tooth bending fatigue model. For the contact stress analysis, the Lundberg-Palmgren bearing life theory was expanded to include gear-surface pitting for the actuator as a system. The mission spectrum of the Space Shuttle rudder/speed brake actuator was combined into equivalent effective hinge moment loads including an actuator input preload for the contact stress fatigue and tooth bending fatigue models. Gear system reliabilities are reported for both models and their combination. Reliability of the actuator bearings was analyzed separately, based on data provided by the actuator manufacturer. As a result of the analysis, the reliability of one half of a single actuator was calculated to be 98.6 percent for 12 flights. Accordingly, each actuator was subsequently limited to 12 flights before removal from service in the Space Shuttle.

Rudder↗

NASA NTRS2004

Final Report for the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS)

ACS was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia just before dawn on March 1, 2002. At the time of liftoff, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was reflecting the early morning sun as it moved across the sky. After successfully docking with HST, several components were replaced. One of the components was the Advanced Camera for Surveys built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. (BATC) in Boulder, Colorado. Over the life of the HST contract at BATC, hundreds of employees had the pleasure of working on the concept, design, fabrication, assembly, and test of ACS. Those employees thank NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center and the science team at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) for the opportunity to participate in building a great science instrument for HST.

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NASA NTRS2003

STS-107 Flight Day 5 Highlights

The fifth day of the STS-107 space mission begins with a presentation of The Six Space Technology and Research Students (STARS) program experiments aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. Students from Australia, China, Israel, Japan, Lichtenstein and The United States send scientific experiments into space. The video includes the progress of experiments with various insects including silkworms, carpenter bees, ants, fish, and spiders.

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NASA NTRS1995

Cryogenic Two-Phase Flight Experiment: Results overview

This paper focuses on the flight results of the Cryogenic Two-Phase Flight Experiment (CRYOTP), which was a Hitchhiker based experiment that flew on the space shuttle Columbia in March of 1994 (STS-62). CRYOTP tested two new technologies for advanced cryogenic thermal control; the Space Heat Pipe (SHP), which was a constant conductance cryogenic heat pipe, and the Brilliant Eyes Thermal Storage Unit (BETSU), which was a cryogenic phase-change thermal storage device. These two devices were tested independently during the mission. Analysis of the flight data indicated that the SHP was unable to start in either of two attempts, for reasons related to the fluid charge, parasitic heat leaks, and cryocooler capacity. The BETSU test article was successfully operated with more than 250 hours of on-orbit testing including several cooldown cycles and 56 freeze/thaw cycles. Some degradation was observed with the five tactical cryocoolers used as thermal sinks, and one of the cryocoolers failed completely after 331 hours of operation. Post-flight analysis indicated that this problem was most likely due to failure of an electrical controller internal to the unit.

Swanson, T.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Expedition 7 Crew Interview: Yuri Malenchenko

Cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko of Expedition Seven is seen during a pre-launch interview. He begins by telling why he wanted to become a cosmonaut. Malenchenko expresses his reaction about the news of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident, and how this mission will be different from other missions. He also expresses the challenges that face Malenchenko and Ed Lu such as the crew reduction from three to two, less supplies and no space shuttle flights. Malenchenko says that he will have to work on a compressed schedule, which will make the mission even more challenging. A description of the handover of Expedition Six is given. Malenchenko and Ed Lu will be cramped in a confined space on the Soyuz Spacecraft for two days before docking, and he talks about this experience. Lastly, Malenchenko gives his thoughts on how it will be to work with Ed Lu in space, and tells of Lu's trustworthiness and reliability as a fellow crew member.

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NASA NTRS1982

Columbia undergoes final shakedown during seven-day STS-4 mission

The launch preparations for the Space Transportation System 4 flight of the space shuttle Columbia are described. The details of the spacecraft's mission profile are given. Several experiments and payloads are described. An account of the remote manipulator system is given. Studies of long-term thermal extremes on the orbiter subsystems and a survey of orbiter induced contamination of the payload bay are identified as mission priorities.

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NASA NTRS2004

Results of the Vapor Compression Distillation Flight Experiment (VCD-FE)

Vapor Compression Distillation (VCD) is the chosen technology for urine processing aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Key aspects of the VCD design have been verified and significant improvements made throughout the ground;based development history. However, an important element lacking from previous subsystem development efforts was flight-testing. Consequently, the demonstration and validation of the VCD technology and the investigation of subsystem performance in micro-gravity were the primary goals of the VCD-FE. The Vapor Compression Distillation Flight Experiment (VCD-E) was a flight experiment aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia during the STS-107 mission. The VCD-FE was a full-scale developmental version of the Space Station Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) and was designed to test some of the potential micro-gravity issues with the design. This paper summarizes the experiment results.

Hutchens, Cindy↗

NASA NTRS1999

STS-93 Flight Day 4 Highlights and Crew Activities

The five astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia began their fourth flight day preparing to make additional celestial observations through the shuttle's windows and continue work with a variety of instruments. Pilot Jeff Ashby and Mission Specialists Steve Hawley and Michael Tognini set up an exercise treadmill and the Treadmill Vibration Information System (TVIS) which measures vibrations and changes in microgravity levels caused by on-orbit workouts. Astronomer Hawley again made observations of Venus, Jupiter and the Moon with the Southwest Ultraviolet Imaging System (SWUIS) as Commander Eileen Collins and Pilot Jeff Ashby put the shuttle in the proper orientation for his observations. Tognini and Coleman checked the bioprocessing experiments, and harvested mouse-ear cress plants as part of the Plant Growth in Microgravity experiment. Collins and Ashby once again fired the shuttle's engines so that the sensors of the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) satellite were able to collect ultraviolet, infrared and visible light data. Columbia was orbiting at an altitude of 182 statute miles with all of its systems in excellent condition.

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NASA NTRS1983

Stability and control over the supersonic and hypersonic speed range

The performance and aerodynamic characteristics of the Space Shuttle Columbia are analyzed over the speed range from Mach 2 to 26 using flight data taken from the first five Space Transportation System flights. These data are used to reconstruct the entry trajectory, calculate vehicle performance, and estimate lateral stability and control derivatives including those assocated with the onboard Reaction Control System. The trajectory reconstruction process is discussed in its relationship to the determination of the vehicle flight characteristics. Vehicle performance results are presented which show that lift and drag were generally overpredicted by 3 percent and that the life-to-drag ratio was underpredicted by 1 percent. Anomalies in pitching-moment trim characteristics are shown and noted to be due to real-gas and Mach-number effects. Lateral stability and control derivatives estimated using programmed test input maneuvers are corrected with preflight predictions and are usually within the uncertainties associated with the predictions. The lateral reaction-control system effectiveness is evaluated.

Compton, H. R.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Search for ultraviolet Shuttle glow

In January 1986, the Space Shuttle Columbia carried two ultraviolet experiments (UVX) in an attempt to observe very weak diffuse emission from various astronomical sources at wavelengths below 3200 A with moderate spectral resolution. The experiment attested to the feasibility of low cost astronomy from the Space Shuttle using Get Away Special canisters. Emissions from O2, O, and NO were detected and shown to be consistent with an atmospheric origin.

Tennyson, P. D.↗