European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 16, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Final preparation for liftoff begins about two weeks before the designated Date when shuttle Boss truly convenes a flight readiness review at the Kennedy space Center. The review Crippen said will be much More thorough than those that preceded the last few shuttle launches. Because of the higher flight rate and other factors we had diverged from the High level of detail that it had started out to be he said. Following the review we will end up with action items he of these will be designated launch constraints meaning they have to be corrected and closed out before we can two Days before the planned launch Crippen will activate his newly created Mission management team a group of 20 Nasa and contractor managers skilled in All elements of the shuttle system. We will look at All the changes that have occurred since the flight readiness review and we will report on the closure of the launch constraint items he said. We will Start looking at things like weather. Out of this meeting will come a decision on whether or not to Start the launch the management team will meet again the next Day to review countdown Progress and to decide whether to fuel the half million gallon external fuel tank. At three hours before liftoff the members who Settle before consoles in a Glass enclosed Corner of the launch control Center three Miles from the launch pad. Nasa s leaders will assemble in another Glass enclosure on the other Side of the control Center called the operations management room. Here will be people like administrator James Fletcher shuttle program director Arnold Aldrich truly Field Center directors the Agency safety director and others. The two groups will talk by intercom and Telephone. In the past the final of to launch came from the senior management official present. He nodded assent based on the recommendation of the launch director. The operations management room will be a More Businesslike place than we re used to Crippen said. In the past you could say that if nobody showed up in that room you could have gone ahead and launched with the launch director making the decision. Now each person in that room just like those on my Mission management team will have his own input into the launch decision. If anyone has a concern he can bring it to me. The lines of communication will be open to everyone anywhere in the Between the two Glass cages launch director Bob Sieck and his launch controllers will be monitoring the countdown in touch with the astronauts aboard the shuttle and with the flight control Center in Houston. Sieck says it s a luxury to be the launch director alone and not have to be saddled with the multiple assignments he had previously As director of shuttle operations at the Kennedy space Center. Crippen emphasizes the main responsibility for the countdown lies with the Sieck Crew. They have pre ordained ground rules and launch commit criteria and we Are there primarily to Monitor and to handle the off nominal occurrence things that we were not smart enough to foresee he said. A key moment will come at the nine minute before liftoff Mark in the count when a planned hold will be called. At this Point Sieck will poll the members of the launch team to determine if there Are any problems. Crippen will Monitor conduct his own poll and then will make the decision whether to Start the clock for the final count. The vote must be 100 percent or we won t go ahead he said. Erma Bombeck Robert Crippen together with Bob Sieck will decide on the launching of the next shuttle Mission. Earth s orbit is a junkman s dream by Harry f. Rosenthal associated Pressw Hen the soviet Union launched Cosmos 1941 on april 27, it added to the productive satellites in orbit but also contributed 28 pieces to the junk that circles the Earth. Every time a rocket slices through the atmosphere to the void beyond it adds to the litter. Some of the 7,110 pieces in orbit Are destined to travel around the Globe for All time. The United states and soviet Union Are the principal contributors of Man made objects in space which Range in size from a screwdriver dropped by a space walking astronaut to the soviet Mir space station. Somewhere out there too if they Haven t re entered the atmosphere and burned up Are 10 or 12 screws about is Inch in diameter missing when the 1984 shuttle Mission returned from repairing the solar Max satellite. Another object that racked up millions of Miles before it finally burned up was the Thermal Glove that floated out of gemini 4 in 1965 while de White had the Hatch open for the first space walk by an american. The . Space come in Colorado tracks All objects in space and All countries Are obligated to inform one another about their launches. Six Days after the Cosmos 1941 launch in a weekly update the space command said 3,246 of the 7,110 pieces they were tracking by radar came from the soviet Union. The trackers said they detected 28 new pieces and that eight others had decayed re entered the atmosphere for a net gain of 20 pieces. The United states was responsible for 3,148 pieces the european space Agency 481 Japan 82, and France 40. The totals Are nearly always three pieces of space debris for every working satellite. More than half the debris comes from More than 90 satellites that have exploded unaccountably according to Don Kessler project scientist for debris studies at Nasa s Johnson space Center. Dangerous chunks of shrapnel whizzing through space at 22,000 Mph also come from spent rocket bodies that shatter when residual fuels come in Contact with each other. A 3-millimeter particle has As much kinetic Energy As a Bowling Ball going 60 Miles an hour and if it hit an electrical component it would probably cause that system to cease functioning Kessler said. Space shuttle challenger returned from a Mission in june 1983 with a Chip in the Middle window on the right Side of the cockpit. Chemical analysis showed the culprit was a Flake of the paint used on rockets and payloads. The window had to be replaced. Space station planners Are faced with a considerable design problem because of the junk Kessler said and have added 2,000 pounds of shielding to each of the six modules that will be occupied by astronauts. The explosions of satellites or rockets often Aren t detected for a year or More after they occur he said. A French made ariane rocket blew up nine months after it deposited its cargo in space. The fragments of that explosion probably caused by Over pressurization of gases number 450. After six . Delta rocket second stages exploded the last in 1981, three years after it was launched the manufacturer fixed the flaw that caused the blasts leaks in tanks holding fuels that Burn when they Combine. In the 23 years i be been writing this column i have prided myself on the fact that i cannot be bought and i Don t use handouts cute releases touting products. A few Days ago however a Box arrived with an intriguing press release for a paperback Book titled have a love affair with your husband before someone else does. Before i could say it would serve her right i parted the tissue and there were All the ingredients to save my marriage. First there was a Box of highly scented Potpourri with a note that said to begin the infatuation open the Flap up Over the bag and pour into your favorite next were two candles that had melted a fake Rose a scratch pad that said meet me for lunch a bottle of Vanilla Creme lotion for Massage a copy of the Book and a hand Mirror with a note on it that read look at yourself. You re More Beautiful than you at my age i can t afford the luxury of Reading dedications tables of contents forewords or first chapters so i got right to the last chapter of the Book. In the previous chapters it was assumed we both lost weight had our hair styled showered together fantasized and had an encounter Over the clothes hamper. Now we were ready to embark on a romantic vacation together. It suggested we climb into our red sports car with the top Down and Speed to a boat where we would set sail anchoring each evening in a different Cove. At the end of the Day we would slip into each other s arms and into a perfect sleep exhausted from the sea and the Sun. Not since Marabel Morgan sent Saran wrap Stock soaring with the total woman have i been so titillated. Then it hit me. Something was wrong with the title of the Book. Women Are romantic by nature. Did t the Survey by woman s Day report 87 percent took Romance Over hot passion they Don t need manuals or props. They re the ones who get choked up when they get a food sheer that makes rosettes out of radishes just because Harvey bought it it s the woman who pulls Back the covers to discover her husband has outlined her body in Chalk and thinks it s funny. Is that a prelude to Romance or what it s women who watch every miniseries Jaclyn Smith Ever made and breathe heavily when they read Danielle steel i gathered up All the stuff put it Back in the Box and dumped it on my husband s nightstand. I altered the title of the Book to read have a love affair with your wife before someone else does. My husband paused to set the clock picked up the Mirror and stuck out his Tongue and said do your Gums Ever bleed when you Brush your Teeth c 1988 Ernia Bombeck saturday july 16,1988 the stars and stripes Page 17
