What Makes a Mission Name?

By Don Petit, Astronaut, ISS Expedition 30/31

        
What space station crews call our "mission" is a bit more complicated than what you might think. Under normal operations, there are six crew members living on board station. We send up a three-person crew in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft four times a year, and the launches and landings are generally timed for spring and fall, to avoid severe weather in Kazakhstan.* This results in Soyuz crew overlaps of either four months or two months, with each three-person crew staying for about six months.

There are a number of advantages in this scheme, particularly during handover, when the newly arriving crew (we're expecting one tonight) learns from the seasoned crew all the onerous nuances impossible to know except by being onboard.

Crews on space station are called "Expeditions," a fitting name for a collection of explorers living on the frontier. Since there are two possible three-crew overlaps for each expedition, there are two possible expedition numbers that span a set of nine individuals. In addition, each crew of three arrives in a Soyuz with a designated engineering number, plus a space station mission number and a crew-chosen call sign. Thus, for my mission, I am Expedition 30 for four months, Expedition 31 for two months, and a crew member for Soyuz TMA-03M and Soyuz 29s, with call sign Antares.

This all gets multiplied by two, since we automatically function as backup crews for the mission that flies six months before us. So I am also backup crew for Expedition 28/29, on Soyuz TMA-02M and Soyuz 27s, with call sign Eridianus.

Then there are the management teams on the ground. These are people who work relentlessly through weekends and holidays to support the lucky crew members on space station. These management teams are called "Increments," and they have numbers that usually correspond to the expedition numbers. Sometimes, though, these can get shifted to adjacent mission numbers. Of course, the nomenclature for increments, like expeditions, also gets multiplied by two, since every prime crew participates as backup crew for an earlier increment. When talking to crewmembers, people will speak in expeditions; when talking to NASA planners, they will speak in increments. Like the blind men feeling the elephant, we tend to describe our work from our immediate perspective. It is understandable that these subtleties can lead to confusion.

That's why, when someone asks me what mission I am flying, the answer might lead to a conversation something like this: "I am backup crew for Expedition 28/29, also known as Increment 28/29, in Soyuz TMA-02M, or Soyuz 27s, called Eridianus, but am prime crew for Expedition 30/31 in Increment 30/31 for Soyuz TMA-03M, or Soyuz 29s, called Antares." This kind of answer baffles even my fellow astronauts. I have decided that my mission identity is simply going to be dictated by the one with the largest three-crew overlap. Hence, I call myself Expedition 30. If you want the details, be prepared to settle in for a long conversation.

*There are exceptions. Expedition 29 (also known as Expedition 30, Increment 29, Increment 30, Soyuz TMA-22, or Soyuz 28s, with call sign Astraeus) slipped two months and launched in a November snowstorm so severe that from the viewing station only 1½ kilometers away, neither the rocket nor the launch pad were visible. At engine ignition, the TV cameras discovered they were pointed in the wrong direction, and quickly panned to the rocket, which appeared like a giant, slowly moving road flare-which was visible for perhaps 15 seconds before becoming completely obscured.

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LiveChat Roundup - 5/25/2012

By Jim Gerard, INSPIRE Education Specialist, KSC, FL

Did you realize that most small aircraft relied on the same technology invented during World War I and II? The 'six-pack' cluster of artificial horizon, directional gyro, turn coordinator, airspeed, vertical speed and altitude, were patterned after 'steam gauges' with analog dials and indicators.

Old 'steam gauge' cockpit

A pilot first learns to fly in the natural visual world and then learns to fly again in the instrument world.  These are two different ways of flying.  One is intuitive, and the other is not.  Only a small percentage of the population has the ability to learn to fly by gauges.  It is not an easy skill to learn and keep.

New 'glass cockpit'

The solution is digital displays and what are referred to as 'glass cockpits'. Information needed to operate the aircraft can be layered over navigational tools, ensuring a safer, more automated cockpit. This was the topic of  last night's Live Chat with Paul Krasa from Langley Research Center. Mr. Krasa talked to 34 INSPIRE OLC members in recounting the engineering and design that went into the new cockpit displays now being seen on private aircraft. 

Mr. Krasa also talked about the importance of engineers, and how they truly touch the future. Before any new technology is available on the market place, engineers are using it. X-Box, iPod, Blu-Ray and many other devices were first used by engineers. Others may have dreamed the ideas and created the design, but it was the engineers that made it a reality.

As the OLC gets ready for summer, we have a special event that most of you can participate in, the transit of Venus. A special LiveChat will provide some insight into the significance of this event, with tips on how to enjoy it safely. Sign up today on the Discussion Board to take part in this chat! See you there!

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My Address in Space

By Don Petit, Astronaut, ISS Expedition 30/31

If my family and friends were to write me a letter, what address would they use? When I type my name on one of my stories, what address should I give?

It occurred to me that Space Station is a place as deserving of an address as other frontier stations like McMurdo Base or the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Base in Antarctica. These places have formal addresses, complete with zip codes. Even Navy ships have addresses. With the future development of commercial spaceships, I could realistically contemplate someone sending me a letter. So what address would they use? Do they need a zip code? Do you affix an “airmail stamp” or do we create a new category of “rocket mail” stamps? If Space Station were to have an address, instead of writing letters to Santa Claus asking for stuff, kids could write letters to astronauts asking questions about science and engineering.

My sleep station, a coffin-sized box, is located in the fifth deck space of Node 2. From an Earth-based perspective, I pop out of my sleep station as if I were coming out of the floor. I am thus situated on the International Space Station (ISS) in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with an orbital inclination of 51.6 degrees (the angle of our orbit plane to the equator) and an average altitude of 400 kilometers. It occurred to me that my address should be: Node 2, Deck 5, ISS, LEO 51.603. The first three digits of your space zip code would be your orbital inclination and the last two a designator for your particular space station, with ISS being the third in this location (after the Salyut series and Mir). This zip code nomenclature should suffice, at least until there are more than 99 different space stations in orbit.

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LiveChat Roundup - May 17, 2012

By Jim Gerard, INSPIRE Education Specialist, KSC , FL

How crowded are our skies? Take a look at this video that shows a 24 hour period of air traffic, then come back to the blog.

From the looks of the video, it is surprising we don't see air collisions every day! But two factors to remember: this is a two dimension representation of a three dimensional space, so aircraft fly over and under one another. A second factor is each aircraft indicator is the length of Rhode Island! There is much more room between aircraft than indicated. Never the less, our airspace is considered 'full'.

This was the subject of Langley Research Center's Guy Kemmerly, and aeronautical engineer working on Airspace Systems. 36 Online Community members were on hand to hear Mr. Kemmerly talk about the dangers of crowded airspace and how to relieve it. From larger, faster aircraft that fly from hub to hub, to computerized air traffic control allow smaller distance between planes, Mr. Kemmerly worked his way to goal of having "a plane in every garage". You can hear the whole presentation in the LiveChat Archives!

Next week, we hear what kind of aircraft may be parked in every garage when Paul Krass talk to us about Personal Air Transport. And, the following week, a special LiveChat to get you ready for the Transit of Venus! Sign up for both chats today on the Discussion Board!

What's your (call) sign?

By Jeremy Frank, Autonomous Mission Operations Project Lead, JSC, TX

Mission Control is usually portrayed in movies and television shows as filled with people intently staring at computer screens showing information about a spacecraft and the astronauts inside it. These people are referred to as flight controllers. Each of these flight controllers has responsibility for one part of the mission, or part of the spacecraft. The International Space Station flight control team consists of between 15 and 35 flight controllers, depending on what activities are taking place. Each of these people has a different responsibility. Perhaps the most famous of these flight control positions is the Flight Director; she or he has the responsibility to run the mission, and ensure that the crew is safe. Another well-known flight controller is the Capsule Communicator, or CapCom; this person's responsibility is to communicate with the crew. Other flight controller responsibilities, while less well known, are equally important. One person is responsible for managing the orientation of the ISS and its orbit around the Earth; another is responsible for managing the activities of the crew, and so on. Each of these flight controllers have unique, and short, 'call signs' to uniquely identify them.

For the AMO project, we are conducting a much shorter 'mission' (2 hours, instead of 2 weeks for a typical Space Shuttle mission, or 6 months for the typical crew stay onboard the International Space Station). Our 'spacecraft', the Habitat Demonstration Unit, is also quite a bit simpler than either the ISS or the Space Shuttle! As a result, we created a much smaller flight control team. Even with this smaller team, we will learn a great deal about how to conduct operations in the presence of larger time delays than those experienced during any previous human spaceflight missions.

We opted to keep 'traditional' call-signs for the Flight Director and Capcom, but most of the other flight control responsibilities are a mix of traditional responsibilities. As a result, we chose to name our positions based on the names of Near-Earth Asteroids. These objects take their names from many different sources, so we had a lot of names to choose from! Our flight control call signs and positions are: FLIGHT - Flight Director. In charge of the flight control team. CAPCOM - Capsule Communicator. Responsible for communicating with the crew. PSYCHE - Biomedical Engineer. Responsible for crew health and safety, hygiene, and medical consultation. IRIS - Robotic systems. Responsible for external camera operation. KALI - Operations Planner. Responsible for creating and managing daily activities of the crew. JUNO - Spacecraft systems. Responsible for electrical power and life support. VESTA - Mechanical systems. Responsible for onboard computers, data networks, avionics. CERES - Payloads / Science. Responsible for geological laboratory and management of geology samples.

You can learn much more about the history of the Mission Control Center, and the job of flight controllers here.

And don't forget to follow along with the AMO tests at www.facebook.com/nasa.amo!

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LiveChat Roundup - 5/10/12

By Jim Gerard, NASA INSPIRE, KSC, FL

The INSPIRE weekly LiveChat commenced on Thursday, May 10, with presenter Frank Jones, an aerospace engineer from Langley Research Center. 41 were in attendance to hear Mr. Jones talk about his work as an Associate Director in Aeronautics at LaRC. His presentation divided into Simulation Services, Aircraft Services, Supported Projects and Robotics and Autonomous Systems.

Mr. Jones talked about LaRC's Concept-to-Flight Research, which allows engineers to take an idea from thought to practicality. An engineer can work out his design through computer simulation and modeling to reduce the amount of time needed for costly and dangerous test flights.

You can find out more about the work done at Langley by attending our special LiveChat next Tuesday at 3:00pm CT with Digital Learning Network specialist Karen Ricks. And then on Thursday at 8:00pm CT we'll hear from John Koelling, also from LaRC, who will update us on the future of Airspace Systems. Sign up now on the Discussion Board!

Toe Koozies

By Don Petit, Astronaut, ISS Expedition 30/31

It was time to get new socks. Mine had been worn for a week, and had reached their pull date. Groping in the bag of socks, I pulled out a pair of women's (small) ankle socks by mistake. Not wanting to fold them up and put them back, I decided to just try them on - maybe they would stretch. They covered my toes, but only reached just past the ball of my foot. I quickly concluded, "This will not work."

But that was based on my experience on Earth. It occurred to me that up here, you use your feet differently. In zero-g, you hook your feet under "handrails," thus shifting the load from the bottom to the top of the foot, just behind the toe knuckle. After about two months in orbit your feet molt, and like some reptilian creature the callused skin on the bottom of your foot sheds, leaving soft pink flesh in its place. In the weightless environment, calluses apparently have no use, at least on the bottoms of your feet. However, the tops of your feet become red-rubbed raw and gnarly. And the bottom calluses shed faster than the top calluses can grow. Perpetually raw and hypersensitive, your foot tops can use a bit of padding to ease the pain.

Serendipitously, I discovered that these short socks provide the necessary protection for toes and toe tops while leaving your heels out where they can breathe. They are the zero-gravity equivalent to flip-flops. The more that I wore them, the more I liked them. I have dubbed this new space fashion "toe koozies" - they are perfect for lounging around in a Node or the Cupola.

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