bio satellite project historical summary report

8/7/2019 Bio Satellite Project Historical Summary Report

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R P I

(NASA-TM-X-72394) BIOSATELLITE PROJECTHISTORICAL SUMMARY REPORT (NASA) 287 p N75-71902

Onclas00/98 09944

; DECEMBER 1969NASA/Ames Research Center Moffett Field, California 94035


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* (.

H I S T O R I C A L S U M M A R Y R E P O R TD e c e m b e r 1969

Prepared by the project staf f

Technical Editor J. W. Dyer

Approved

Charles A . WilsonProject Manager

AMES R E S E A R C H C E N T E RNATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND S P A C E ADMINISTRATION

Moffett Field, California 94035


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F O R E W O R D

Biosatelhte was the pioneering e f for t to c ond uct biologica l scienti f ic exp erim ents in space.M a n y diverse exp erime nts were taken from rudimentary l aboratory concepts to exac t ingprotocols with f l ight hardware and ground con t ro l s suff ic ient t o pe r fo r m th e exper i m en tremotely in space an d to properly inte rpre t the resul ts The project developed an outs tan d-in g autom ated b io logical spacecraf t l abo ratory , which provided th e exper i men t s a two-gassystem, sea level pressure atmos phere, shir t s leeve tem pe ra ture , and extrem ely low accel-erat ion ra tes below 1/100,000 o f ear th gravi ty Eq uip m ent design and special ope rat ion sprocedures perm itted late ins tal lat ion of biological specimens in the s pacecra f t beforelaunch, careful moni tor ing th rough NAS A's STADA N network and thei r swif t aerial re-covery and return to the l aboratory by the U S Air ForceDespi te th e impress ive technological de velop me nts accom plished by the project andnoted in this report , perhaps th e most s ignif icant aspect of Biosatelhte was the develop-ment o f an effective team o f biological scientis ts , engineers , and technicians f rom univer-sities, indus t ry , a nd government, whose combined effor ts brought these experiments tof rui t ion Their dedica ted and effective support to this common goal i s grateful ly acknow-ledged and s incerely appreciated.

Charles A . WilsonBiosatelhte Project Manager

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report is based largely on mater ials prepared by.W . E. Berry W . L. Jackson T. TendelandB Chin J.G Miller J . W. TremorR. A Christiansen R H Parker J . C. Van EssR E. Corndan L J. Polaski C. A . Wilson_ J .P . Hemi up E.Rosen C. M. W m g e tJ. E. Hewitt J. A. Rubenzer N. D Y e t k aW. D . Hightower P. D Sebesta L. S. YoungR. A. Hof fm a n J. R. Spahr

Reviewers were B C. Look and R. H Parker


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CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

Page

2. PROGRAM ORIGIN 3Concept 3Experiment Selection and Definition 4Spacecraft Contractor Selection 6

3. MISSION REQUIREMENTS AND CONSTRAINTS 7Experiment Objectives 7Spacecraft 12Launch Vehicle \ 14Tracking, Telemetry, and Control 14Recovery , 15

4. SPACECRAFT DEVELOPMENT 17Radiation and General Biology (Three-day) Spacecraft 17Biorhythms and General Biology (21-day) Spacecraft 40Primate (30-day) Spacecraft 42

5. EXPERIMENTS DEVELOPMENT 77Radiation and General Biology Three Day Experiments 77Twenty-One-Day Biorhythms and General Biology Experiments 98Primate Mission Experiments 104

6. SPACECRAFT SYSTEM TESTS 121Radiation and General Biology Mission Spacecraft 121Primate Missiort Spacecraft 127

7. LAUNCH. TRACKING, AND DATA SYSTEMS. 137AND RECOVERY DEVELOPMENTSLaunch Vehicle 137Launch Site Facilities 144Tracking a n d Data Systems . ' 1 5 0Recovery 165

in


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CONTENTS (continued)Page

8. BIOSATELLITE FIELD AND FLIGHT O P E R A T I O N S 169Field Organization and Procedures 169Biosatelhte I Flight Operations 171Biosatelhts II Flight Operations 181Biosatelhte III Flight Operations 197

9. MISSION R E S U L T S 213Biosatelhte 11 213Biosatelhte III 216

10. CONCLUSIONS AND R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S 223Conclusions 223R ecommendations 224

AppendixesA BIOSATELLITE M A N A G E M E N T AND R E S O U R C E S 227

Orga nization S tructure an d R esponsibilit ies 2 2 7Contracts 237Communications 248Funding History 256Projections of Total Cost an d Schedules 2 60

B MECHANICAL A E R O S P A C E G R O U N D S T A T I O N 265AND G R O U N D E Q U I P M E N TGround S tation For Three-day and Primate M issions 265Biosatelhte A erospace Ground E quipment 266

/C B I B L I O G R A P H Y OF SCI ENT I FI C PU B L I CAT I ONS 273

Primate 2733-day 276

IV


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ABBREVIATIONS

A/C t att i tude controlACS att i tude-control systemA F audio f requencyAFB Air Force BaseAFETR Air Force Ea stern Test RangeAGE aerospace g round equ ipme ntAIDS American Ins ti tute of BiologicalSciencesampl amplifierARC Ames Research Cen terARM "arm" commandATS Advanced Technology SatelliteAFFTC Air Force Flight Test CenterAF RRS Air Force Rescue and Recovery

ServiceAD/IPS adapter inverter power supplyBbps bits per sec

CaF calcium fluorideCN S central nervous systemCap capsuleeg center of gravityC centigradecc cubic centimetercm centimeterC RT cathode ra y tubecm d commandcomm commandcw continuous wave

DM delayed ma tch ingDO D Department of Defensedb decibeldemod dem odu l a to rdet detectorEEEC electroencephalogramEK G electrocardiogramEM I elec tromagnet ic in ter ferenceEM C electromagnetic compatibility

EM CEO GEP&DETRES TEOTex pFf i tFfcfp sftFCFC CGGEGM AGSFCGS RGM TGFEggrdHhrHzh trIIEEAIFDITPPI R F N AIRJJP LKKSCkgkH z

e lec t romyogramelectrooculogramelectric power and distribution systemEastern Test RangeEastern Standard TimeEastern Daylight Timeexper iment

nightFahrenheitfoot-candlesfeet per secfoot (feet)fuel cellfuel cell controllerGeneral Elec t ric Compa nygab-management a ssemblyGoddard Space Fl igh t Ce ntergalvanic skin responseGrenwich mean t imegovernment f u rn i sh ed eq u ipm en tgravityground

hourHertz (cycles/second)heater

integrated exper iment e lec t ronic sassemblyinflight disconnectin tegra ted tes t program planinhibited re d fuming nitri c acidinfra re d

Je t Propulsion Laboratory

Kennedy Space Centerkilogramkilohertz


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Abbreviations (continued)

RLiFLO XLH,hnIbMMSFNMevmH znunmlmmmr/hrMSOCCmfgmonNNOR A DNASANASCOMNA Snegnm

OGOOSSOWSPO A DO& Cop

PC MPICOPIPPSSAPM RP02PC02presspw rvi

hthium fluoridehquid oxygenliquid hydrogenlinearpound

million electron voltsmegahertzminutemilbbtermillimetermillirads/hourMulti-Satellite C

Centermanufac tur ingmonitor

AdministrationNASA CommunicinetworkNaval Air Stationnegativenautical mile

Office of Space Scienceone word storage p r o g r zOrbiting Astronomical


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Abbreviations (continued)

WWECO Western Electric Companywk weekw wattwt weightZZPG impedance pneumogram

V II

rj


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1. INTRODUCTION

W h a t c an be l e a r n ed a b o u t basic l i fe processes by observ ing them in an ear th o rb i t ing l abora-tory7 W ha t a re the e f fec t s o f space f l ight on var ious l i fe s y s t e m s 9 M i g h t there be i m p l i c a t i o n sfo r long r ange development o f space f l ight p rograms f rom s tudy o f m a m m a l i a n p h y s io l og y inweight les snes s9 These were the ques t ions addres sed by the c o n c e p t o f Bi o s a t e l h t e

Three mi s s i o n s w e r e p l an n ed , tw o f l ight s f o r each Gen era l b io log ica l s tud ies wereselected f r o m am o n g p r op o s a l s to represen t a cross sec t ion o f r e l a t ive ly w el l - kn o w n s p ec i men srang ing f rom frog eggs , pepper p l an t s , a nd hu m a n ce l l t i s s ue t h r o ugh i r r ad i a t ed Drosophila a ndNenrospora Body chemis t ry and c i rcad ian rhythms were to be s tud ied wi th l abora to ry r a t sin a 2 1- d ay f l i gh t Higher -o rder func t ions , i n c l u d i n g bra in wave pa t te rns under s t r es s o f m e n t a lp e r fo r man c e , c a r d i o v a s c u l a r f un c t i o n s , a n d c a l c i um a n d w a te r me t abo l i s m , w e r e to be ob-served on a m o n k e y for up to 30 d a y sA succes s fu l genera l b io logy mis s ion w a s f l ow n in Sep tember 1967, a f t e r f a i lu re o f d e o r b i tin the first f l ight Some ef fe c t s o f weight les snes s were show n, appa ren t ly re l a ted to the r a p id i tyo f cell processes Both enhanc ing a n d an t ag o n i s t i c e f f ec t s w e re s ho w n of r ad i a t i o n a nd w e i gh t -les snes s on var ious spec im ens The long u t i l i z e d c l i n o s t a t f o r e a r th - bo un d l abo r a to r y inves t i -ga t i o n o f g r av i ty o n p l a n t s w as i n d i s t i n gu i s hab l e f r o m s p ace f l i gh t i n it s e f f ec t s o n p ep p e rp l an t s a n d w he a t s eed li n g s , s t r en g th en i n g i t s v a l i d i t y for use in g r o u n d - b a s e d e x p e r i m e n t sT he p r i ma te mi s s io n , f l o w n i n Jun e - Ju l y 1969, ind ica ted severa l phys io log ica l consequenceo f space f l igh t , w h i c h a r e un d e r s t ud y E f f ec t s up o n s l eep /w ake fu l n e s s , b lo o d d i s t r i b u t i o n ,water m e t a b o l i s m , a n d f u r t h e r d a t a o n bo n e dens i ty (p rev ious ly observed in m a n n e d f l i gh t )are o f most i m m e d i a t e i n t e re s t A ques t i o n o f c i r c ad i an r hy th m e f f ec t s a l s o w a s ra i sedThe b io rhythms and genera l b io logy mis s ion , p l anned to car ry r a t s , Tnbohum p l a n t s .a nd hum an c e ll t i s s ue , w a s cancel led in Dec ember 1968 bec au s e o f r i s ing p r o g r a m cos t s a ndbud ge t c o n s t r a i n t sThe p ro jec t r equi red a coopera t ive e f fo r t o f b io log ica l s c ien t is t s and space f l i gh t engineer sthat p r ov ed an am bi t i o u s un d e r t ak i n g T r an s l a t i o n o f exp e r i m en t s f r o m l abo r a to r y ben c h toa u t o m a t e d f l ight l abora to ry , app l ica t ion o f ex i s t i n g s p ac ecr a f t t e c hn o lo gy , a nd i n t e g r a t i o no ft he tw o elements in to a n o p e ra t io n a l s y s t em ev o l v ed un an t i c i p a t ed p r o b l ems tha t r ep ea t ed l yincreased total cos t p r o j ec t i o n s T h e s e cost inc reases then were compounded by r e s c h e d u l i n gto keep the cur ren t r a te o f e x p e n d i t u r e s in c hec k T i me t ab l e s o f a c c o m p l i s h m e n t s w e reseverely s tretched, f o r both th e agency a nd th e p r i n c i p a l s c o m m i t t e d to the p r o j e c t T e r m i n a -tion of the pro jec t w a s ordered b y N A S A H e a d q u a r t e r s o n J u l y 1 1 , e f fec t ive w i t h th e "order lycomple t ion o f e f f o r t o n t he Bi o s a t e l h t e I I I miss ion "

This d o c umen t s ummar i ze s th e a c c o m p l i s h m e n t s a n d t r i a l s of the Biosa te lh te p ro jec tM an ag em ent , eng ineer , and sc ien t is t exper ience in the un iq ue p roblem s o f b iosc ience in spacef l i gh t w a s p e r h a p s a m o n g th e more i mp o r t an t y i e l d s of the e f fo r t T h e p urp o se o f thisreport is to help ava i l the exper ience ga ined to our co l leagues


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2. P R O G R A M ORIGIN

CONCEPTDuring it s 1962 summer s tudy, th e Space Science Board of the N a t i o n a l A c a d e m y of S c i encesw as asked by N A S A to cons ider methods by which the space program could h elp solve basicbiological problems The Board recommended that NASA s tudy the p r o b l e m s of the bio logicaleffects of weightlessness , the dissociat ion of living sys tems f rom Ear th t ime-regula t ing in f luencea nd radiat ion T he Biosatelhte program w a s establ ished to i mp l emen t th ese r ecomm enda t i on sAssigned a s a project to Am es Resea rch Cen te r (ARC ) in late Oc tober, 1962, th e originalconcept was to use an Air Force developed (LMSC 698AA) space vehicle launched into polarorbit from the Pac i f i c M iss il e Rang e (PM R) Data were to be recorded by the Air Force t r a c k i n gnetwork, and recovery m ad e in the Paci f ic AR C accepted w ith the reservat ion tha t the projectmight be subs ta n t i a l ly changed i f the l au nch were moved to the Eas tern Tes t R an ge (ET R) assuggested by Lockheed Missile a nd Space Company (Ai r Force ' s pr ime cont rac tor )Appr ova l of the Projec t Approval Document (PAD) by the Admi n i s t r a to r w a s d e l a y e dpending reso lution of several key poin t s The mos t chal leng ing exper im ents un de r con s id era t iodeep brain probe EEC, hem odyn am ic inves t igat ion , and the role o f ves t ibu ld r a p p a r a t u s inpr imate an imal srequi red a t leas t 14 to 30 days ' mis s ion dura t ion The sea- level a tm os phereof oxygen and nitrogen w as neededThe Air Force 698AA vehicle launched from PM R could produce short telemetry datarecords in only 13 of 16 da ily orb its on the Air Force t r ack ing net I t s te lem etry sys tem wasnot sui ted for NASA networks tha t might cover f l ights f rom E TR, i ts life suppor t sys tem was5 psia O 2, its at t i tude-control system a nd electrical power source were designed fo r only fivedays , and the Air Force ha d cancel led recoverable configurat ions that had no t per fo r medsatisfactorilyThe Mercury capsule, also considered, could not be injected by its l a u n c h vehicle intohigh enough orbit , w a s s t ruc tura l ly a nd weight l imited to 5 psia O 2, and l acked growth poten-tial for Biosatelhte beyond 14 days ' fl ight dur a t i onThe Gemini spacecraf t w a s recommended for its technical adaptab i l i ty I t could be ad-jus ted for 30-day capa bi l i ty , s t il l with 450 Ib exp erim ent eq uipm ent, and i ts da ta system a ndcompatible ground networks were adequate A n es t imated 350 Ib of h a r d w a r e w o u l d have tobe added to increase its power a nd at t i tude-cont ro l durat ion to 30 day s , to tu l ly a u t o m a t ethe at t i tude-cont ro l sys tem, and to provide fo r sea- level a tmosphere Schedu le con s id era t ionsruled ou t the use of Gem ini for pr im at e biology f l ights Fl ig ht before J u l > 1965 would notbe possible with th e scheduled demons t r a t ion of ma nned spacecraf t rendesvous capa b i l i tyAlso, th e earth orbiting laboratory w as then projected for 1966, if no ear l ier a l t e rna t i vedeveloped.By January 1963, exper imen t requi rements had been surveyed, ind ica t ing a r ange ofparameters not sa t is f ied by a s ingle vehicle config urat ion A spac ecraf t to be lau nc hed wi ththe Scou t w a s considered, but it could accommodate only th e s imples t sho r t -du rat io n exper i -ments , and development of such a capsule system did not appear jus t i f i ed

Preceding Page Blank


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The Air Force Discoverer M a r k V/A-45 capsule on a Thor-Delta launched f rom ETRwas found to have 450-lb experim ent capa city for 14 days, but in only 2 ft3 of space TheMar k V, scaled up in vo lume, a nd wi th an "adapter" added for auxi liary eq uipm ent , wouldsatisfy all know n requirements The Thor-Agena w as considered for a launch vehicle, butpolar orbit from PM R sharply l imited data availabil i ty, no launch facility w as available fo rit on ETR, and it cost more than th e Thor-DeltaBefore agreeing on the co nfig ura tion, a contracted competi t ive study was directed byHea dqua rters Three proposals were selected and funded for study two (General ElectricCo. and Lockheed Missile and Spa ce Co ) recom men ded the scaled-up M ark V capsule, andone (Northrop Corp ) involved a M ercury-l ike conf igura t ionThe program concept established for the study phase assumed six Thor-Delta fl ights,or the equivalent payload capabil i ty with other lau nch vehicles The space vehicle sys temwas to be capable of accom mod ating biological specimens for periods of 3 to 30 da ys ina n earth orbit with sub sequ ent recovery Three classes of exper iments to be consideredas representative pay loads were.

1. Combined effects of weightlessness and radiation on simple forms of life, such as cells,bacteria , plants , and very small animals2. Effec ts of weightlessness on a small sub hum an primate3. Effects of weightlessness on the biological rhythms a nd cellular processes of p l an t sand small anima lsE X PE R I M E N T S E L E C T I O N AND DEFINITIONM a n y experiments f irst considered for Biosatell i te f l ight resulted f rom solicitations to ex-perimenters by the staf f of the former Headqua r ters Office of Life Sciences ProgramAnn ounc emen ts had been circulated in the pub lic press, through pres entation s to researchins ti tut ions , and in profess ional communicat ions media Com mittees appointed by thisoffice reviewed these propos als and approved certain of them ( in 1960, 1961) for fund ingwithin the frame work of three program s space biology, exobiology, and space fl ightSupporting research and technology (SR& T) money w as ma de ava ilable then for earlyspace biology experiment developmentWith the acceptance of a Biosa tell ite program by the adminis trator in Febru ary 1962,the organization f or i ts supp ort wa s established Und er the auspices of the Office of SpaceScience (OSS) and its Space Biosciences Program Office, Am es Research Center (ARC)w a s designated th e exper imen t a nd spacecraf t mana gem ent center for the Biosatell i teproject. The Space Sciences Steering Co mm ittee wa s set up within ap pro xim ate ly thesame time period, this committee was a recomm ending and reviewing body of leadingscientists established in accordance w ith Execu tive Order 11007 to advise NA SA on ob-jectives a nd priorities of space programs A nd later, a Space Biology Subcommittee tothe Steering C om mittee w as formed u nde r the aegis of the Office of Space Science, com-posed of authorities of various disciplines within th e biological sciences c om mu nity Themany experiments originating from the first informal solicitation, some of which werealready fu nd ed , were now , being in late 1962, categorized according to certain cri teria byth e subcommittee Some 170 proposals were considered and categorized a s candidatesfor Biosatelli te consideration Exp erim ent categories were defined a s follows

- t


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ments

Category IWell-conceived a nd sc ien t i f i c a l ly sound inves t iga t ions per t inen t to the goal s of thesc ienti f ic program and the object ives of the p a r t i c u l a r m i s s i o n, a nd o f f e r ed by a com-pe ten t inves t iga to r f rom a n in s t i tu t ion capable o f s up p l y i n g the neces sary suppor t toensure that sat i s fac tory f l ight h a r d w a r e can be delivered o n t ime a nd t h a t th e d a t a ca nbe proper ly reduced , ana lyzed , in te rp re ted , a nd p ub l i s hed in a reasonable t ime a f te r asucces s fu l l aun ch Inves t iga t ions in Category I a re recomm ended fo r imm edia te f l ightand can be displaced only by a n o t h e r Category I inves t iga t ionCatetory IIWell-conceived a nd sc ien t i f i c a l ly sound inves t iga t ions tha t a re r ec o mmen d ed fo r f l ight ,but at a lower p r io r i ty than Category ICategory IIfScienti f ical ly sound invest igat ions that require fur ther development of the associatedexp e r i men t a l ap p a r a tu s Catego r y I I I inves t iga t ions should be f un d ed fo r d ev e l o p men tand may be reconsidered a t a l a te r t imeCategory IVProposed inves t iga t ions tha t a re rejected for the par t i cu lar mis s ion under cons idera t ionIn 1963, SR&T grants were let to suppor t cer ta in of these exper iments fo r f u r the r s t ud yI t was dur ing th i s ear ly phase o f Biosa te l l i te f u n d in g t h a t the ARC s t a f f , Biosa te lh te p ro jec t ,f irst became involved w i th the d ev e l o p m en t an d d e f i n i t i o n o f man y c a n d i d a t e exp e r i m en t s ,20 of which u l t i ma t e l y were approved for f l ight By the end of 1963, vi r tua l ly all the

proposers ha d been a t l eas t in te rv iewed fo r d e f i n i ti v e exp e r i m en t i n fo r ma t i o n , and a g r e a tm a n y ha d visited AR C t o d emo n s t r a t e the s tage of d ev e l o p men t o f the i r par t i cu lar exper i -This period saw the i n v o l v emen t o f ARC biologis ts a nd engineer s in b r e a d b o a r d m g a ndapp l ied ex per im enta t ion In -house eng ineer ing and b io log ica l feas ib i l i ty da ta were ga inedf rom exper iments proposed fo r such diverse organisms a s c o c k r o ac he s p l d n an a , d a p h n i a ,chicken eggs, frog eggs, sea urchin eggs , bread mold , bac ter i a , mice , s a l amander s , wheatseedlings , t i ssue cu l ture s (chick a nd hum an ) , yea s t, a l g ae , p a r am ec i a , a nd amo ebae A fewof these, through ear ly f u n d in g , ha d already progressed to at leas t th e br ead bo a r d s t age (e g ,hum an t i s s ue c u l tu r e exp e r i men t , p a r amec i um ex p e r i m en t ) , o th er s w er e mo d u l a r i z ed a n dtested in-house for packag ing feas ib i l i ty purposes (e.g , d a p h n i a , frog egg , a lgae exper iments )

Some o f these exper iments were recommended fo r f u r t h e r or in i t i a l fund ing to the bread-board s tage, us ing a s guidel ines the s ubc o mmi t t ee c a t ego r i z a t i o n sPre l iminary e ng ineer ing spec i f i ca t ions were wr i t ten by ARC engineer s fo r e x p e r i m e n t su n d e r cons idera t ion a n d up d a t ed w i th c o n t i n u i n g s tud y As n ew proposals were categor izedby the s ubc o mmi t t ee , th e list w a s con t inual ly reevalua ted wi th Biosa te l l i te p ro jec t r ecom-m e n d a t i o n sIn December 1963, panel s were ' fo rmed under th e sponsorship of the A m e r i c a n I n s t i t u t eof Biological Sciences (AIBS) and met in W a s h i n g t o n , D C , to r e c o m m e n d th e exp e r i men t sbest su i ted for inc lus ion in the three missions of Biosa te l l i te T he panel au thor i t i es repre-sented four ma jo r a reas r ad ia t ion b io logy, phys io logy, p l an t b iology, a nd b i o r hy thms Al s opresent in an adv i so ry capac i ty were cer ta in NASA Headquar te r s a nd ARC Biosatel l i tepersonnel. I t was through th e recommendat ions o f these panels to the A I B S a nd thence to


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A SA Headquar te r s tha t th e experim ents were selected for the Biosa tellite mission. (Ex-periments are l is ted in Ap pen dix A )T he lengths of the separate missions were determined by the experiment requirementsa nd engineer ing /spacecra f t ca pabi l i ty The three-day battery-powered f l ight with th e simplerbott led-air gas-management system w a s preferred to in i t i a te th e series and establish confidencein basic spacecraft featuresWith selection of flight experiments , efforts were redoubled in defining interface require-ments , e f for t s t h a t culm ina ted in the first ma jor exper iment requi rements document , Docu-men t B -l , dated July 1964SPACECRAFT CONTRACTOR SELECTIONFor the purpose of s tudies a nd proposals , three experimental payloads were described whoserequirements were to be satisfied I t was desired tha t th e spacecraft systems be flexible andadaptable to accommodate these a nd fu tu r e pay load r equ i r ement s O n M a r c h 2 , 1963, aReques t for Proposa l was sub mit ted to indu s t ry for a s tudy of eng ineer ing aspects of theBiosatelli te project Respo nding comp anies were Ben dix , Aero nutrom c ( F o rd ) , Genera lDy nami c s /As t r onau t i c s , Genera l Elect r ic Co mp an y, Lockheed M issi les and Space C om pa ny,McDonne l l Aircra f t Corpora t ion, and Nor throp Corpora t ionEach proposer w a s given expe r iment r equ i r ement s in the form of speci f ica t ions a ndengineer ing restr ict ions def ined a s well a s possible by the exper imenter This i n fo rma t ionw a s later better defined in engineering terms in the B-l d o c u m e n t of July 1964Following a n evalua t ion period f rom M a r c h 25 to Apr i l 5 , 1963, assessments were pre-sented to the adm inis t ra tor Stud y contrac ts were awa rded to each of the fol lowing com-panies '1. Genera l Elect r ic Com pan y, Reentry Sys tems Dep ar tm ent , Philade lphia , Pa .2. Lockheed M issiles and Space Co mp an y, Sun ny va le, Cali f3. Northrop Corpora t ion, Hawthorne , CalifThe s tudy cont rac tors were to subm i t ad d i t io n a l i n fo rma t ion cons t i tu ti ng a proposal for afol lowon hardware contract for the Biosatel l i te project (Phase I I )The Technica l Eva lua t ion Com mit tee , June 14 to J u n e 30, 1963, considered a ll threecontractors acceptable, from a technica l s tand point They were ra ted in the fol lowing order(1) General Electric w a j > highest, based on its general excellence in most areas, (2) Lockheedw as second, based on its genera l ly good approa ch to the spacecra f t requi rements , it s powersystem required redesign, and (3) N o r t h r o p w a s ra ted be low the other tw o because itsdesign contained more complicated a nd poten t ia l ly unre l i able subsys tems, th e N o r t h r o pproposa l also indicated lack of experience in some areas

The General Electr ic Company was selected as the successful contractor in Ju ly 1963,a nd Cont rac t NAS2-1900 w a s a w a r d e d by let ter contract on A u g u s t 21, 1963.


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3. MISSION REQUIREMENTS AND CONSTRAINTS

The early basis for development of the project is out l ined in this section These r equ i r emen t swere generally m et except for subsequent cancel l a t ion of the biorhythm and general biologymission and the delet ion of a sea urchin experimentEXPERIMENT OBJECTIVESRadiation ExperimentsThe seven radiat ion experiments f lown m Biosatelli te I I were designed to determine whetherradiat ion produces the same effects in organisms exposed in the weightless s tate as in thoseexposed on earth A n onboard source of g a m m a r a d i a t io n w a s used dur ing the f l ight

T he biological mater ial from each exper iment w a s divided into four groups, each ex-posed to one of the fo l lowing envi ronments1 Aboard Biosate l l i te HGroup A R a d i a t i o n a nd weight les snessGroup B Weight les sness but no r ad i a t i on2 In ear th control capsuleGroup C Rad i a t i on and IgGroup D Ig but no radiat ion

Provis ions were ma de in the ca psule for an essential ly radia t ion-free area for the controlexper iments and for o ther nonrad ia t ion exper im ents such as the frog egg and pepper p l a n texpe rimen ts Figure 3 1 shows the three main sect ions of the capsule The fo rw ar d sect ioncontains th e source and packages to be i r r ad ia ted A tungsten backscat ter shield separatesthis section from the spacecraf t equipment sect ion The third sect ion contains the controlexperiments , for which pla nne d radiat ion exp osures were not to exceed 1 r /da ySeveral factors were considered in selecting a radiat ion source. I t was des i r ab le toi rradiate a l l the packa ges at the same t ime, using a single source Hence, a ga mm a em i t terwa s selected If the cap sule were lost, a short half-l i fe would reduce danger o f exposure toanyone who might f ind i t At the same t ime, however , the half- l i fe had to be long enought ha t source strength would not change apprec iab ly dur ing the 3 days of the f l ight T he radio-isotope f inal ly chosen was strontium-85, which is a gamma emi t ter that g ives off a s ingle ra yof 0 513-M ev energy and has a half-l i fe of 64 day s

The source consisted of r ad ioac t ive s t ront ium ni t r a te powder conta ined m a s tainlesssteel capsule. A radiat ion source holder w as required to shield th e rad iat ion source beforea nd a f t e r th e exposure period and to shield the control experimental packages in the aftsections of the Biosa tel l i te capsu le Wh en th e source w as retracted, the in tens i ty at thesurface of the holder was not to exceed 4 0 mr /h rThe op t i mum exposur es for the tes t organisms ranged from 300 r for Tradescantiato 6000 r for one of the Neurospora samples Each package w as placed at an appropr i a te


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Backscattershield

Experimentalpackages

HeatshieldSourceholder

Source

Nuclearemulsionpackage

Experimentalpackages

Figure 3.1 Biosatellite three-day capsuledistance from the source to ensure correct exposure in a nominal 65-hr exposure t ime duringflight T he source w a s designed as an ef fec t ive "point" source so t h a t th e spec i mens cou l dbe arranged according to inver se square re l a t ions h ips , th i s ar r a ngem ent is shown in Fig.3.2T he objectives of i nd i v i dua l exper i m en t s exposed to the weightless s tate alone and toweightlessness in combinat ion wi th r ad ia t ion a re outl ined below T he fo r mal exper i men ttitles are given m Ap pen dix A

Habrobracon (Parasitic Wasp) The Habrobracon exper iment w as designed to surveymature sperm and all the di f tere nt s tages of oogenesis for muta t i ona l e f f ect s , p a r t i cu l a r l ydominant lethal i ty , recess ive lethal a nd visible muta t i on f r equenc ie s , a nd i nh er i t ed pa r t i a ls ter il ity A dd it ion al da ta were col lected on survival , life span , a nd biochemical a nd behaviora ldifferences of the anima l s themselvesTnbuhum ( b l u u r Beetle) Soma t ic wing develop men t , germ cell s , and p up a l period ofthe f lour beetle, Tnbohum confusum, were s tudiedDrosophila (Vinegar Gna t ) In a d u l t Drosophila a nd l a rva , wel l -know n genet ic ef fec t swere studied, inc lud ing recessive l e tha l mu tatio ns , vis ible m uta t io ns at speci f ic loci , loss of

dom inant genetic mark ers f rom the Y chromosome tran sloc at io ns , cross ing over in the m ale ,and nondi s junc t ionDrosophila Larva Radiat ion effects on gross morta l i ty and cytological studies ofchromosome aber ra t ions in somat ic cel l s were qua nt i t a ted in Drosophila larvaTradescantia (Spiderwort Plant ) T he purpose of the Trades,cantia experiment was todetermine th e ef fec t s of weightlessness and r ad ia t ion on the f r equency of spon t aneous a ndradiat ion-induced chromosome aberrat ions a nd spontaneous mu tat io ns Spec i f ic end points

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Figure 3.2 Top view of packages arranged around radiationsource. Neurospora bracket removed.included color changes a nd s tun t ing in s tam en hairs , pollen abortion, m icrospore dea th,dis turbed spindle fu ncti on, and tota l chromosom e abnorm ali t ies .

Neurospora (Bread Mold). The Neurospora e xpe r im e n t w a s designed to uti l ize a two-component he te rokaryon, ob ta ined by fus ing tw o di f f e ren t haploid s tra ins , each with i ts owngenetic markers. T he e f fec t of weightlessness on the f r e que ncy of radia tion-induced recessivele tha l muta t ions a t two specif ic loci in the ad-3region wa s to be de te rmined. T he m u t a t i o n swere resolved into point mutations a nd chromosome de le t ions . In addition, overal l survivalcurves for the conid ia a s a func t i on of dose, a s measured in f l ight and on earth, were to becompared .Lysogenic Bacteria. This exper iment employed s t ra ins of Salmonella typh imur iumand E. coli. I nduc t ion of lysogeny had been shown to be extremely sensi t ive to e nv i ronm e n-ta l fac tor s , in c lud ing rad ia t ion a nd vibra t ion . T he purpose of the e xpe r im e n t was t o de te rminethe e f fec ts o f we igh t le s sness on lysogeny , a s de te rm ined by free phage product ion , and on

bacteria l growth.General Biology ExperimentsThe genera l b io logy exper im ents were des igned to meas ure the e f fec t s of we igh t le s sness onspec imens wi th grav i ty sens i t iv i ty . Formal exp er im ent t i t le s a re given in A pp end ix A. Theseexperiments were placed in the aft section of the capsule and shie lded from the radia tion

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Isource. The experimental materials included frog eggs, amoebae , wheat seedlings, andpepper plants

Frog Eggs The objective of the frog eg g (Rana pipiens) experiment was to answerth e quest ion Does weightlessness af fect th e ability of the fertilized frog egg to divide,differentiate , and develop normally9 Under normal conditions the egg, shortly after fertili-za t ion, ro ta tes unt i l it s vegetal pole is lowermost. However, if the egg is prevented fromrotating and maintained in a position with it s vegetal pole up permost, th e format ion oftwin-headed monsters, a s well a s other abnoimali t ies , may be induced

Echin oherm (Sea Urch in) Eggs (Later Deleted) A sea urchin eg g experiment was plannedto accompany th e frog egg exper iment The end points to be stud ied included cell division andnorma l grow th Since, in contras t to the frog eggs, sea urchin eggs are considered grav ity insensi-tive, they wo uld act as controls fo r the frog eggs If an identica l effect were foun d in both systems,it would be assumed to be caused by some factor other than w eightlessness associated with th e flightIn addition, the sea urchin eggs were to be fertilized and fixed in flight to determine if weightless-ness interfered with the process of fert il ization i tself , indep enden t of division and grow thAm oeba Tw o experiments on Biosatel l i te I I involved the mu ltmuclea te am oeba,Pelomyxa carolmensis The first was concerned w ith nuclea r and cell division Althoug h thisorganism appears to be ind epen den t of gravity on the earth, i t does require a gravitat iona lforce to attach i t to a substrate for locomotion and feeding While the am oeba is feeding,there is considerable protoplasmic movement that may be independent of gravity fieldsDuring mitos is and cell division, however, there is relatively little mo tion Thus , since the cellis large and has relat ively large nuclei , weightlessness could be exp ected to al ter the ma nn erand ra te of reproduction The end points here were th e cell-division rate and synchrony ofnuclear divisionThe second amoeba exper iment w as intended to study digestion, growth, a nd locomotionduring weightlessness The mechan isms involved in feeding and locom otion are s imilar I thad been f ound tha t protop lasmic s treaming and normal inges t ion of paramecia could resum ealmost imm edia te ly a f te r centnfug a t ion I t was not kn ow n whether th is would occur whenacceleration was followed by a period of weightlessnessa condition under which there wouldbe an almost to ta l elimination of convective forces Variat ions in the num ber, distr ib ution,and morphology of pinoc ytic vesicles, food v acuoles, meto cho nd na , n uclei , and co ntrac tualvacuoles w ere to be used to determine abnorma l or disrup ted cel lular fun ction s Changeswere to be recorded postf l ight by photomicrography and electron microscopyWheat Seedling (Three Experiments) The growth physiology of wheat seedlings inspace was determined by measur ing th e lengths of the coleoptile, primary root , and la teralroots as a fun ction of growth t ime In ad dit ion , the orientation ang les of the organs weredetermined from postf l ight photographsWheat seedling morphogenesis and histochemical determ ination s were ma de M orpholo-

gical measurements included coleoptile length and tota l roo t length Histochemical deter-mina tions included the d istr ibution of DNA , phospholipids, s tarch grains, peroxidase,glucose-6-phosphatase, and acid phosp hatas eA third experiment with w heat seedlings related th e expected geotropic response to bio-chemical changes throug hout the length of the shoot Key enzy mes associated with some ofthe pathwa ys of intermediary metabo lism and energetics were examined from tissues grown10


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m space, grown on a hor izonta l c lmos ta t , a nd grown in the sta t iona l erect pos i t ion Tissueslices were analyzed for s ix enzy mes , d ry weigh ts , p ro te in contents , oxygen consumpt ion ,C O 2 evolution, a nd e th y l ene p r oduc t i onSepara te analyses a l so were ma de of the endosper ms of the whea t seedlings A m m o acidcompos i t ions , glucose, sucrose, starch, andnitrogen were measuredPepper Plant During th e f l ight th e angle between th e petioles and the mam stem of

the pepper plan ts wa s photog raphed every 10 mm It wa s hypothes ized that exposing thep lan t s to weightlessness would produce effects s imilar to those f ound on the c l m o s t a t i e thehmmal angle of the lef t woul d be increased In add i t i on , a s t u d y w a s made of the mob i l i za t i onof carbohydrates a n d ammo ac i d s wi t h i n the pla nt sys temBiorhythms and General Biology Experiments (Not Flown)Three exp erime nts were proposed and approv ed f or the or igina l ly scheduled 21-d ay mis s io nDeemed compa t ib le in terms of exp er ime nt requ i rem ents and pa y load subsys tem, these we redesigned to s tudy the ef tec t of sub gr av i ty on mammal body compos i t ion a nd b i o r h y t h m s , ahigher-plant life cycle, a nd gr owth a nd deve l opmen t of human t i ssue cel lsexper iment , involving the us e of eigh t female ad ul t whi te r a t s , w a s des igned to in-vest igate th e e f f ec t s on body compos i t ion of a 3-week res idence a t near Og I t was h y po th e-sized t h a t the absence of the Ig envi ronment would effect ively decrease normal workload a ndlead to a genera l a t r op h y of the muscolosk eleta l sys tem Accordingly , musc le mass , l ean ver suswhole body weight , a nd skeleta l com pon ents were to be determined pos t f l igh t Carcas ses wereto be fur ther com pa r tme nta l i zed to ascer ta in organ weigh ts , f l u i d content , skin mass , etcConcur rent ly , a comves t i ga to r was to s t u d y a possible effect of Og on b i o r h y th ms of r a t sas measured by deep body tem pera ture , gross m o t o r ac t iv i ty , and feeding These f u n c t i o n sare normal ly ci rcadian in na tur e, occurr ing over a 24-hr cycle Of special s ig nif ica nce to a bio-rhythm exp erim ent is exposure to the weightless s ta te du rin g a 90-mm orbi tal per iod Im-planted te lemeter s were to t r ansm i t temp era ture and gross ac t iv i ty to an onboard spacecraf tdata-handl ing system, while feeding was to be measured by the f requency of ac tua t ion s o f al iquid feeding/n ipple ar r an gem ent A cont ro l led , norm al ly ent ra in ing , l igh t cyc le a s wel l a scons t an t l ight conditions were to be ut i l i zed to determ ine re l a t ive b iorhythm shi f t t imes ( t im erequired fo r body rhythm responses to ch anges in the l ight cycle) a n d f ree run nin g period(body rhy thm measured und er cons ta n t condi t ions )Arabidops is , a p l an t capab l e of under go i ng much ot its l i f e cyc le wi t h in 21 day s , was theplant o f choice in s tudying morphogenes i s , f lower bud form at io n , and pol len ma tura t ionunder condi t ions of Og Gravi ty compensat ion by c lmos ta t ro ta t ion ( s low hor izonta l i c ta t ion)ha s been shown in gr ound-b ased exper i men t s to produce a di sor iented growth of n o r m a l l ygeotropic plan t s Fur ther exper iments revealed othe r depar tures f rom normal i ty poss ib lyoccurmg at Og through var ious sens i t ive per iods of a l i f e cycleFive plants were to be f lown and s tudied by t ime-l apse c inema tography for n u t a t i o n a lmovem ent, growth rate , an d pa t tern of deve lopm ent Physiological , ana tomica l , an d cyto-logical examinations were made af ter recoveryTissue cel l cul tures were to be used in an experiment on growth and development ot acontrol led human cel l l ine a t Og Time- lapse c inematography was to record growth duringf l igh t as wel l as mi tochondncal mo vem ent , p inocytos i s , mi tos i s , migra t ion pa t terns o f mtra-cellular inclusions, and n u c l e a r a nd cytoplasmic dynamics The cell culture of choice

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I(human liver or respiratory cells) was to be implemented in dupl ica te for main tenance andphotography in the spacecraf t and compared later w ith ground-based controls .Primate FlightThe objectives of NA SA 's Biosa te ll i te II I primate f l ight were to determine physiologicaleffects of earth orbit on a subhuman pr ima te, to provide insight into possible hazards tomanned space f light, and , pe rhaps more imp or t an t ly , to provide insight in to basic physiologicalphenomena . Only one subject , a Macaque nemestnna , w a s f lown The several exp erimentersshared this one animal for their individuals s tudies

Neurophysiological Func t ions This s tud y looked for evidence of space f light ef fectson higher nervous fun ct ions , inc luding focused a t te nt io n, di scr imina t ion, and recent mem ory.I t also sought data on sk il led per fo rma nce involving sensorimotor coordination based invisual and somat ic inpu ts Elect roencephalogram (EEC) , electrooculogram (EOG), a ndelectromyogram (EMG) results were to be correlated with each o ther a nd with addi t iona lphysiological parameters such a s electrocardiogram (EKG) and respiration.Cardiovascular Funct ions This study sought data on the effects of weightlessness onregional blood pressures and genera l ca rdiovasc ula r funct ion s through ana lyses of EK Gresults , respirat ion, a nd veno us, ar ter ial , and pulm on ary blood pressures Some investigatorshad pos tu la ted tha t b lood di s t r ibu t ion, b lood f low, and blood pressures would be al teredfrom those seen under Ig condi t i onsMetabolic Func t ions Two exper im enters in th i s genera l a rea were concerned wi th theorb i ta l ana lyses of ca lc ium, crea t ine , and crea t imne to d e termine the ex tent of ca lc ium ex-cretion a nd mus cle a t rophy dur ing orbi ta l flight Pre- a nd pos t f l i gh t fluid c o m p a r t m e n t(plasma volume , a nd int ra - and e x t r a ce l lu l a r f luids) studies were also accom plished An otherexperimenter recorded pre- a nd post f l ight bone dens i tome t ry measu rement s a s a basis forevaluat ing poss ib le bone den s i ty changes resu l ting from weightlessnessAn other s tud y wa s the pre- and pos t f l ight eva lua t ion of tes t icu la r b iops ies and e jacula tes

for changes in histology of the test icu lar t issues, mo rpholog y an d viabil i ty of the spermatozoa ,and biochemical changes of seminal plasma that might result from extended periods ofweightlessnessSPACECRAFTT he Biosa tel l ite spacecraft (Fig 3 3) was conceived with two mam sections (1) an "adapter"sect ion, which remains in orbi t , and (2) a reentry vehicle (R /V) , ca rrying th e experimentcapsule, that separates with retrorocket a nd heat shield for reentry into the earth ' s a tmos-phere.The exper iments on the orbit ing spacecraft were supported with a n earth-type atmosphereat sea level pressure, power, data recording, t imer-programmed commands, a nd telemetry toth e ground stat ions For each mission, th e tempera ture was to be maintained within 10Franges and RH in the r ange of 40 to 70% The spacecra f t w as stabi l ized about th e threeorthogonal axes such that th e ma ximum acce le r a ti on to which a ny exper iment w a s subjectedwould be less than 10~ s g for 95% of the orbi ta l fl ight phase a nd would not exceed 10~ 4 g forth e remaining 5% except w hen a l igning for the deorbit maneuver The exper im ent capsule12


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Roll IR horizon scannerAttitude control jet

Separation switch

T/C battery inflightdisconnect feedlmeFreon/Nj tank spin system

Despm systemSpin system

Parachute assembly

Magnetometerboom

Antenna

AntennaT/M (reentry)Dye marker

Marmon clamp,

Pitch IT, horizonscanner antenna

Thermalblanket

3 attitudecontrol jets

Freon/Nj tankdespin systemFlashing light Despin system

Electricalconnections

Fluid disconnectsAntenna recovery beacon

Breech ring Ejection pistonFigure 3 .3 Biosatellitespacecraft configuration, (a) reentry heat shield, (b) capsule andparachute assembly, (c ) thrust cone assembly, and (d) ada pter assemblyw a s app r ox i mate l y 30 in in diameter and 30 in high with shape a nd center-of-gravi ty con-s tra ints for aerodyna mical ly s t ab le reent ry The to ta l weigh t of the recovered capsule,sus-pended f rom it s recovery parachute, w a s restricted to ab ou t 300 IbT he ada pter sec tion housed p ower suppl ies , te lecomm unicat ions , a t t i tude-cont ro l sys tem,programmers , s torage containers , a nd other equipment requi red dur ing orbi t but not forrecovery At the end of the orbi tal phase, the vehicle aligned i tself for the deorbi t phase,and the R/V separated from the ad ap ter , which rem ain ed in orbi t The R/V decelerated andreentered the ear th 's atmosphere over th e Pacific Ocean, deployed a par ach u te , and ac t i va t eda homing beacon The recovery capsule contained a ll exper im ental specimens and e q u i p m e n tnecessary for the inves t igator s ' work , p lus imm ediate ly re l a ted equipm ent such a s a tmos pher iccont rol , radiat ion source, feeder , a nd psychom otor panel La te access ibi li ty to the capsule 'sinterior prior to l aunch a nd ear ly access af te r delivery to the pos tf l ight labora tory w ererequired for biological specimens The exper iment capsule w a s f lown to t empor a r y NAS Alaborator ies at Ha wa ii for pro m pt retu rn of specimens to invest iga tors The scienti f ic investi-ga tors subse quent ly re turned thei r exper iments to their home laborator ies fo r m o re deta i leds tudy a nd analysesNASA 's re li ab i l ity and q ua l i ty as surance s tandards were appl ied to des ign , m an uf a c tu re ,test , and ha ndl ing of a l l flight h ar dwar e , inc luding hous ings and surgical impla nt s d i rec t lyassociated with exper iment spec imens

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4. SPACECRAFT DEVELOPMENT

At the conclusion of the Phase I design s tudy, a s tate-of- the-ar t spa cecraf t develop men t wascontemplated with a mi n i mum of special or new technology The most uncertain areas ofwork were the gas -managemen t a s s emb ly (GM A) to provide a two-gas atmosphere for thera ts and the m o n k e y , a nd accommoda t i ng th e i nadequa te l y def ined v i br a t ion en v i r onm en tof the Del ta launc h vehicle Also, exp erim ente rs ' equ ipm ent and their interfaces were onlyin early stages of d e f i n i t i o n , and i t could be foreseen that e lec t romag net ic in ter ference (EM I)protect ion of the primate's body implant ins trumentat ion would require careful designEngineering problems to be recognized with experience in developing Biosatelhte in-cluded electromag netic a nd tra ns ien t sensi t ivi t ies throu gh out the electr ical systems, theoriginal fuel cell 's in ab i l i ty to operate for 30 days, calciu m deposi t cha racter is t ics of u r i ne ,th e ext reme sen s i t iv i ty of some exper iments to mater ials , th e act ive mechanical cur iosi ty ota monkey , th e chal lenge of reliably dispensing food pellets for 30 days , and the u n c e r t a i n t yin infrared horizon sensingDefini t ion of the test program was one of the ini t ial e f for t s in the spacecraf t cont rac tTests were designed to qua l i f y every f un c t i o n for i ts operat ing environment, requir ing a pro-gram much more elaborate than original ly envi s ioned ma ny of the avai l ab le c o m p o n e n t swere qual i f ied only to lesser environments , and the compl ex i ty of sys tems a nd thei r opera t ingmodes had been underes t imatedRADIATION A N D G E N E R A L B I OL OGY ( T H R E E - D A Y ) S P A C E C R A F TThe overall exte rna l con figu ration of all Biosa telhte spacecraf ts is shown in Fig 3 1 In addi-t ion to external conf igurat ion a nd their separat ions , features common to al l three miss ionsa re1. The reentry ablative heat shield2 The shell structures of the reentry capsule ( including nose separat ion for access to itsinter ior) and the a d a p t e r3 The thrust cone containing deorbi t rocket and compressed-gas spin/despin system4 The programmer-operated separat ion subsystem5. The recovery subsystem operated by G switch and programmer6 The at t i tude-cont ro l subsys tem, inc luding its rate-control a nd deorbi t or ientat ion-cont rol modes o f operat ion7. Most of the telemetry, t racking, and command (TT&C) subsystemsStructureThe reentry vehicle (R/V) configurat ion w a s scaled up f rom a previously developed A irForce R/V The Bios atelhte capsule wa s ma de of alu min um varying in thickness f rom.080 in. at its nose to 035 in in its conical a f t region The hea t shield of phenol ic nylon and

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fiber glass varied in th ickness f rom 72 in at its nose to 22 m. at its skirt, and was coveredwith a coating designed for passive therm al control Be twee n the capsule and heat shield,foam insu lation was bonde d to the capsule m thicknesses varying from 1 /4 to 1 /2 in. A newdevelopm ent in both heat shield and capsule was the inclusion of a quick-locking separat ionof both of their nose segments for latest possible instal la t ion of biological payloads into th eR/V before launch.Figure 4 1 is an exploded view of the internal arrangement of the forward capsule. Itwas essential that the center of gravity be located far enough forward for aerodynamic sta-bility dur ing reentry T he radiation backscatter shield, of .050-m tungs ten bonded be tween008-in alu m inu m sheets , carr ied th e 35-lb radiation source holder and was bolted into th enose cap du r ing f inal prelau nch ass embly Irradiated experim ents were arranged on the for-ward side of the shield ass embly Forw ard and a f t racks behind th e backscatter shield carriedequipm ents and noni r radia ted exper iments , respect ive ly Packag ing of the exper iments wi th-in the confines of the capsule , combined wi th th e necessity for keeping weight toward it snose, wa s the most ch al leng ing aspect o f s tructu ral con figura tion m the three-day Biosatel-hte spacecraft .The ad apter she l l compr i sed a cyl indr ica l a lu min um skin .020 m th ick wi th mo un t ingrings at each end, lighter interm edia te rings, and long itudina l s t i f fene rs. A conical fru stru mw as a t t a ched to the fo rwa rd end to provide a transi t ion for a t t a c h m e n t to the smaller-diameterR/V. By fa r the most ma ss ive s ing le com ponen t m oun ted wi th in i t was the ma in ba t te rypow er sup ply for the three-day mission, weighing ap pro xim ately 128 Ib The thrust cone(T/C), also an up ra ted version of a previou sly developed system, carr ied the retroro cket,spin/despm assembly, a nd separa t ion subsys tem.Tota l weight of the Biosatelhte three-day spacecraft was 955 Ib: 116 Ib for the heatshield, 321 Ib for the recovery capsule and its pa r achu te sy s tem, 94 Ib for the thrust coneassembly, and 424 Ib for the adapter a ssembly.Some of the tests specif ica l ly related to s tructura l conf iguration included a reentryshield temperature cycling test , a combined reentry temperature and pressure test on reducedheat-shield th ickness , v ibra t ion tes ts , a separation shock test ( in which th e spacecr a f t mocku pwas separa ted from a s imula ted rocket mass , both restrained on suspensions) and a waterdrop test. N o notewo r thy problem s resu ltedLife SupportThe sma ll s ize and relat ively passive na ture of plants , insects , and bacteria to be carr iedaboard Biosatel l i tes I and II necessi tated only a simp le passive a ir sup ply, which served fromthe m om ent of capsule c losure before l au nch unt i l reopening m the po s t f l ight l abora torywithout change of m o d e (m contras t wi th th e pr imate miss ion)Capsule pressure w a s main ta ined by an a i r storage bot t le conta ining a s tandard a tmos-pheric mixture of O 2 and N 2 , together with a s m a ll a m o u n t of CO 2 ( approx ima te ly 0 5%)A ir was supplied on d e m a n d by m e a n s of a pressure regulator and was controlled to a nomi-nal sea level pres sure of 14 7 psia A sma ll fan circu late d the air in the cap sule, and a silicagel canister control led the hu m idit y in the capsule betwee n the l imits of 40% and 70%. In-strum enta tion consisted of a current sensor for the fa n, a capsule pressure sensor, a capsuletemperature sensor, RH sensor, a O 2 partia l pressure sensor, and an air-storage pressure


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23 32

27

3(3)

3(4)

Irradiated experiments on forwardbulkhead radiation shield Spacecraft components on forwardraj*

Capsule forward cap 1 Neurospora, package 2, 3, 4, 52 Habrobracon, package 23 Habrobracon, package 3, 4, 54 Drosophila,adult, package 25 Drosophila, larvae, package 36 Tribohum, package 27 Tradescantia, package 38 Lysogenic bacteria, package 39 Lysogenic bacteria, package 410 Lysogenic bacteria, package 211 Radiationsource holder

Figure 4.1 Three-day capsule isometric e xplode d v ie w.

f f

Shielded and general biology expe rimentson aft bulkhead

3940414243444546474849505152

Tnbolium, package 1Habrobracon, package 1Drosophila, larvae, package 1Drosophila, adult, package 1Neurospora, package 1Tradescantia, package 1Lysogenic bacteria, package 1Wheat seedlingAmoebaCapsicum (pepper plant)Frog eggsDosimeterAccelerometerUltrasonic sensor121314151617181920212223 >2425

Signal dataA c c el erom eter "S CO AssemblyPayload programmerFlashing light controllerMulticoderCommutatorRecovery beaconProgrammer timerTransmitter telemetrySw itch assembly electricalRa diation controllerInverter power supplyHeater battery

26 Explosive-switch27 Power controller28 R ec overy battery29 Tape recorder30 Battery reentry31 Gas management32 Converter control33 Recovery programmer34 Connector bracket35 Detector vibration triaxial36 Vibration and acoustic noise analyzer37 Recovery events impedance match unit38 Latching relay


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sensor RH and O 2 part ial pressure sensors were m a i n l y for ver i f i ca t ion of c o n d i t i o n s a ndaddi t iona l qualif icat ion for the subsequent flight systemNumerous development tests were conducted to assure a sa t i s f ac to ry opera t ion of thegas-ma nagement system These includ ed bread boa rd tests , f u nc t i ona l tests , and an electro-magnet ic compa t ib i li ty ( EM C) tes t on the GM A and the env ironmenta l -con t ro l sys tem T heflight capsules were so t ight that no m easu rab le am o un t of air was lost in f l ight I or IIThermal ControlHeat loads inside the recovery capsule of the three-day Biosa te l l i te conf igur a t ion were verysmal l , requir ing in su la t ion and modera te e lectr ica l hea t aug men ta t io n to s t ay within spec i f i edt empera ture range dur ing o rbi ta l f l ight Eight s t rip hea ters were spaced a rou nd the ins ide otth e capsule skin These heaters were controlled by t h e r m o s t a t s a nd m a i n t a i n e d a cap su le a irtemperature between 65 and 7 5 F The capsu le w as therma l ly p ro tected by a co m p o s i t elayer of foam insu la t ion , cemented to the capsu le ex ter io r s ur f ace , fo l lowed by a m u l t i l a y e rblanket of a lum im zed m yla r In a d d i t i o n , th e p hen o l ic n y lo n and f iberglass heat sh ie ld wascovered with a su i t able thermal rad ia t ion coa t ing During reen t ry in to th e ea r t h ' s a t m o s -phere , the ablat ive heat shield a nd insulat ion protected the exp e r im en t cap su le f rom the et-fects of aerodynamic hea t ing , a nd dur ing parachute descen t through the co ld upper a tmos-phere, strip heaters in the capsu le main ta ined a t em p era t u re abo v e 50F Specia l coo l ingcoils within the capsule, supplied f rom a n externa l therm al con tro l u n i t (TCU ), p rov ided thetemperature control prior to l a u n c h , inc lud ing special cooling connected to the trog-egg ex-periment to suppress cell d ivision before fl ight Heaters were incorpora ted in the Tnboliumexperimen t packag e to sat isfy i t s special temper atur e en vir on me nt of 28 to 32CA passive system in the adapter held internal temperatures between 0 and 1 Q O F I tconsisted of a 28-layer a lum imzed myla r in su la t ion b lanket a t t ached to the vehicle sk inCutou t s in the b lan ke t to provide surfaces with the des i red thermal r ad i a t i o n coat ing a l loweddissipation of in ternal heat generated by compon en t s moun ted there in St r ip hea ters wi th ,thermostat controls were located on the orbital bat tery and on the inf rared scan n e r s to m a in -t a in th e required operat ing temperaturesA thermal-balance development test verified th e pred ic ted hea ter power req uir em en t sa nd insulat ion performance for var ious an t ic ipa ted o rbi t a l env io rn me ntsAttitude ControlBasic features of the at t i tude-control system had been used in prev ious space f l ight sys tems,although not in the Biosa te l li t e conf ig ura t ion Perhaps th e greatest i n n o v a t i o n was use of amagnetometer to a l ign the spacecra f t about i ts yaw ax is for deorbi t in varying c o n d i t i o n s ofgeomagnet ic field Dev e lo p m en t of the a t t i tude-con t ro l sys tem for the f i r s t three-day f l ightprogressed sat isfactori ly except for occas iona l t rans i t ions to an un d es i r ab le o p e ra t in g m o d eduring certain phases of sys tems tes t ing A s pred ic ted th is ina dequ ate ly exp la ined phenome-non was easily controlled during f l ight I However , anom al ies of grea ter impor tance in thedeorbi t a t t i tude mode were experienced in f l ight I (seeSection 8) and corrected beforeflight IIDesign objectives of the a t t i tude-con t ro l sys tem were to preven t acce lera t ive fo rces onthe biological specimens due to ro ta t ion of the spacecra f t about i ts axes, and to a l i g n thespacecraft for retrorocket firing to resu l t in reen t ry in a preselected recovery zone Thesecond of these objectives and the exper imenters ' requirement s to stay as f ar as possible

21


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below th e rad ia t ion be l t demanded th e lowest practical fl ight alt i tude, therefore, one-half ofthe nominal 10~ 5 g accelerat ion allowed on the specimens w a s arbit rari ly al located f or space-craft rota t ion Five percent of orbital t ime could be used for man euvers p roducing 10"4gacceleration on specimens to slow ro ta t ion or to orient the spacecra f t Use of the H a w a i i a nrecovery area, combined with a n a l ready qual i f ied retrorocket producing 600-fps velocitychange from a 33 inclined West- to-East orbi t , dicta ted a l ignment for retrof ire m the FarPacific area Mission analysis w as later to disclose need for capabil i t ies of aligning with re -spect to geomagnet ic fields in the genera l a rea s t re tching f rom Au st ra l ia to J a p a nAllowable errors in pitch and yaw were 6 and 15 , respect ive ly In the ra te -con t ro lmode , ro ta t ion w as l imited to 0 1 per sec abo u t any axis Figure 4 2 is a block diagram ofthe at t i tude-control system, which includes a minor change for the la ter primate mission con-f igura t ion . The axes of the a t t i tude-con t ro l sys tem sensors , thrus to rs , a nd gyros were dis-placed 36 in the pitch plane t rom th e spacecraf t ' s axis of externa l symmetry On al l f l ights,this was to provide a pitch down of the re trorocket w h e n the R/V separa tesTo the extent possible, components were selected f rom previously qua l i f ied space f l i g h thardware . M ajor componen t s included p r imary a nd a l t e r n a t e sets of rate-sensing gyros, in -frared horizon scanners in pi tch a nd roll axes sensit ive in the 8n to 20M range , a nu l l sensingboom-mounted magnetometer wi th bias coil, a magnetometer p rogrammer by w h i c h a cur-rent selected by ground command could be induced in the ma gnetom eter bias coil , thea t t i tude-con t ro l p rogrammer con ta in ing the subsystem control logic, and the gaseous-nit rogenassembly wi th i ts e lect romechan ica l con t ro l le rO n in ject ion in to o rbi t , the Biosa te lh te w a s separa ted f rom the booster, and theat t i tude-control subsystem w a s automat ica l ly ac t iva ted to sense a nd con t ro l a ngu lar ra tesabo u t the three control axes The two rate-gyro packages operated in sequen t i a l r ed un d a n cyeither set of gyros , opera t ing through ampl i f ie rs in the a t t i t ud e - co n t ro l p ro g ram m er , co u lddrive the threshold detectois of the jet controller to con t ro l the pn eu m a t ic ass embly sole-noid valves, th us gen era t ing torqu es ab ou t each control ax is to m i n i m i z e vehicle ra tes Whencontro l o f vehic le a t t i tude w a s r equ i red in the d eo rb i t m o d e n ea r the end of f l ight , the errorsignals f rom the two IR hor izon sensors and the m a gn e t o m e t e r co u ld be acted on by the re-spect ive displacement amplif ier of the a t t i t ud e p ro g ram m er a nd m agn e t o m e t e r p ro g ram m era nd summed with th e amplif ied rate-gyro signals The pneumat ic assembly rece ives N 2 pro-pellant f rom th e t an kage subsys t em , a nd f i l ters , regulates pressure, a nd con t ro ls the f low ofpropellant a s required T he a t t i t ud e - co n t ro l p ro g ram m er r ece iv e s co m m a n d s , and has bui l t -in logic to sequence th e var ious modes of operat ion T he m agn e t o m e t e r p ro g ram m er re-ceives ind ica t ion o f required b ias f rom the comm and decoder , and g enera tes an appro pr ia tebias field at the magnetometer to assume proper ya w a t t i t u d eSelection of the var ious a t t i tude-con t ro l opera t ing mode sof f , rate s ensing, rate con-trol, a nd deorbi t a t t i tude c o n t r o l w as accomplished by g ro un d co m m an d s , as was the selec-tion of primary or ba cku p gyros , a nd a d j u s t m e n t of the m a g n c t o m e t e f s bias curren t Inaddit ion, a "gyro test" co m m an d ac t iv a t e s a t imed sequence of bias vo l t ages on the gyro out-puts, such that , in the rate-control mode, ef fect iveness of gyroscopes can be verif ied by thesystem's react ionA full-scale subsystem development test on a three-axis a ir bear ing permit ted checkoutof every aspect of subs ys tem opera t ion Purpose of these tests was to veri fy subsys tem de-sign and to predict orbita l oper at io ns Figure 4 3 is a ske t ch of the a i r -bear ing t ab le Essen-t ial elements of the a t t i tude-con t ro l sys tem were mounted on i t The s imula ted ear th in s ide


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Polarity of signal is oppto sign of error1 Axi s reference systemsboth right hand1 All sensors are alignecontrol axis3 Gyro signal polarity isobtaned by proper orieof the gyros m the veh4- Ptch IR sensor scan axthe same sense as the mpitch axis5- No zzl esare located wirespect to control axes6 Refers to logic


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Figure 4.3 Sketch of three-axis attitude-control air-bearing test.25


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he water-cooled "teepee" provided an infrared model for checking scanner performa nce andevaluating earth presence logic Later tests included subs ystem checkout af te r instal lation inth e spacecraft adapter, and operating verifications of individual sensory parameters a s a par tof the various spacecraft systems testsAn outline of operating anomalies for the attitude-control system is given in Section 8Intensive testing and rew ork of the system was underta ken a s part of the corrective effortthat delayed launch of Biosatelhte II Flight I I dem ons trated the success of these efforts,but i t is uncertain w hich of the several ad jus tmen t s was mos t effective in stabilizing the sys-tem in dayligh t. Because of such unce rtainty , an fm subcarner was added to the on-orbittelemetry l ink transmitting bolometer output signals and reference marker from the scanneron ground comma nd Course mag netometers a l so were added to the spacecraft Flight IIresults w ere excellent, p recluding analysis with these diagnostic aidsChanges made af ter f light I included1. Change of the earth presence threshold in the infrared scanner circuitry from 210to190K to account for the possibility of very cold clouds at high altitudes.2. Improvement of the earth presence logic to reduce it s sensitivity to small extraneoussignals and spacecraft motion.3. Electrical changes to reduce sensitivity to electromagnetic interference and to reduceth e possibility of a bias voltag e on the scanner output .4 . Improved isolation of the atti tude-control progra mm er f rom electromagnetic interference5. Improved mounting of the aluimmzed mylar thermal blank et around th e infrared scan-ners to prevent the pos sibil ity of a loosened seg ment obstructing fields of view.6. A latching relay wa s add ed to the deorbit-a tti tude-mod e com ma nd l ine to ma intainvoltage on it and avoid th e possibility of catastrophic transition of mode near the endof flight.

Performance of the atti tude-con trol sys tem, sa tisfactory in fl ight I , was excellent inf l ights II a nd III.Electrical Power and DistributionT he electrical power a nd distribution (EP&D) subsystem provided primary electrical powerto the exper iments and to the spacecraf t subsystems dur ing prela unch countdow n, poweredflight, orbital fl ight, reentry, a nd recovery until retrieval. This subsystem includes circuitinterconnections (harnesses) for al l spacecraft subsystem components, for experiments (upto the negotiated interfaces), and for the distribution of power, signals, and commands Thesubsystem also provided power switching and certain timing signals I t was designed to meetthe EM C design specification prepa red for Biostaellite vehicles. Ap pro pria te test connectorswere incorporated for system s test, grou nd test, and prelaunch check and control .Figure 4.4 is a diagram of the EP& D subsystem It is arranged to show all ada pter com-ponents on the left side of the double vertical line, and T/C and R/V components to theright. A ll power w a s supplied by the 330-amp-hr orbital battery a t a nomina l 26 vdc. The26 v dc is routed via the power controller (adapter) to the inver ter/power supply (adap ter ) ,which retu rns several regula ted ac and dc voltages to the power controller The power con-troller then routes th e var ious voltages, includ ing 26 vdc,to various points in the adapter ,T/C, and R/V This on-orbit arrangement ends when the adapter separates from the T/C andR/V The deorbit subsystem in the T/C is powered by two deorbit batteries

s 26


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Figure 4.4 Three-day EP&D subsystem diagram


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Shortly before separation of the adapter and R/V, the R/V is switched to the 1 1-amp-hrreentry bat tery and the capsule heater bat te ry The recovery subsystem is powered by its6-amp-hr recovery batteriesA programmer t imer w as incorporated within this system to provide t iming signals forvarious components in the spacecraf t dur ing flight Signals were provided at 1-, 5-, and 10-min intervals, plus 1-, 12-, and 24-hr intervals Two programmed intervals were provided toturn off the reentry telemetry a n hour af ter separat ion, and to t u r n off the orbi tal telemetryt ransmit te r 10 mm after i t was act ivated in case the off command should failTests with th e EP&D system w ere relat ively trouble free, except for fa i lures of the m-verter power supply The adapter power supply was, however , sat i s factor i ly qual i f i ed wi th ou tinordina te development work before flight I Pe r fo r mance of the EP&D system wa s per fec tduring both f l ights I and II Op erat ions sub seq uen t to separat ion of the R/V indicated abili-ties of bo th primary bat ter ies to perform well beyond their design marginsGa s StorageFor the three-day spacecraft only storage of dry nitrogen for the at t i tude-cont ro l subsys temwas required. (Air for the recovery capsule and gas for spin and desp in are regarded as com-ponent s of other subs ystem s ) The high-pressure nitroge n storage ta nk carried 11 2 Ib at2600 psi The t ank w a s ins t rumented for pressure and temperature moni tor ing via the space-craft 's telemetry system In developing th e t ank for Biosatelhte, th e originally designedstainless-s teel tan k was replaced with a t i ta niu m uni t because of corrosion where s i l iconerubber on i ts mou nt ing s tr aps contac ted th e stainless steelT he ni trogen sup ply , a s des igned, w a s a d e q u a t e for al l f l ights In fac t , th e a t t i t ude-cont rol system proved so conservat ive that the ni trogen supply would have been suff ic ientfor a flight of several monthsTracking, Telemetry, and CommandThe GSFC space tracking a nd data-acqui s i t ion network f S T A D A N ) wa s des igna ted for or-bital f light operat ions of the Biosate lh te A t r acka b le r ad io beacon signal in the 1 3 6-mHzrange, a pcm telemetry signal at 136 mHz, and a com ma nd-rec eiving system in the 148-mHzrange were provided Designs were in accorda nce with GSFC's "Telemetry S t a n d a r d , PC MTelemetry" a nd "Command Standards , Tone Digita l C o m m a n d S t a n d a r d " Figure 4 5 is afunctional block diagram of the t r acking, te lemetry , a nd command (TT&C) sys temA n fm / fm te lemetry t r an smi t ter a nd data sys tem w a s inc luded in the recovery capsuleto t ransmit data related to separat ion , deorb i t , a nd recovery Designed fo r co m p a t ib i l i t y wi thD O D data-receiving systems, it s radio signal also serves a s a b ackup to the separate 240-mchoming beacon for the aerial recovery a nd search forces A n analog tape recorder with 1 00hr of storage capacity on seven-track !/2-m tape is also contained in the recovery capsule forpostfhght analysis of selected dataThe command subassembly consis ts of primary and backup receivers , (148 98 me),primary and backup decoders , a one word s torage programmer (OWSP) and a receiving-antenna assembly. The receiving an tenna assem bly consis ts of two 136- to 150-mc an t enna s ,a hybrid coupler, and an associated cable harness. The antenna sys tem is shared with th ete lemetry t ransmitter The command receivers select a nd demodul a t e th e com ma nd si gna l sThe detected a m modulat ion f rom both receivers is summed in b o t h decoders

29


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The command sec t ion has a capac i ty of 70 s epa r a t e commands A c o m m a n d consistsof equally spaced bursts of an am carrier signal A %-penod burst is used for word synchro-nization, Vi-penod burst for a b inary 1, and a Vi-penod burst for a b i n a r y 0 A c o m m a n dmessage conta ins an 8-bit address and an 8-bit comm and, which conta in spec if i c d i s t r ibut ions1 bits and 0 bits M essage checking in the decoder r e jec t s comm ands th a t do not sat i s fy thecommand-format speci f icat ion.The command decoders receive th e pul se-durat ion m odu lated 7 -kHz t one f r om one orboth command receivers The coded message is decoded and generates a 35-msec pulse onone of 70 comm and l ines Each decoder has a di f ferent addres s so that only one of the de-coders will respond to a given comm and message at one t imeAn ind icat ion that a r ea l - ti me comman d has been received by the c o m m a n d e x e c u t i n gdevice in the spacecraf t is telemetered to the ground s ta t ionThe OWSP inc luded in the TT&C subsys tem i s an adjus tab le t imer , set and s tar ted bycommands f rom the ground, that enab les command of the separat ion a nd deorbi t sequenceat a preselected ins tant of orbita l fl ight It is set by a sequence of binary numbers rcpre-sented by either of two c o m m a n d s , a series of 18 of w h i c h def ine a runout t ime to 1 / 1 0 secM axi m um p rogr ammab l e dur a t i on a f t e r "start" comm and i s 11A h i. Coun tdown s t a tu s o fth e O WS P is vis ible throug h th e te lemetered data

The on-orbit te lem etry data- t ransm iss ion sys tem incorporated a pr imary and a l t e r n a t etransmitter , selectable b y gr ound command They were f requency modul a t ed w i t h a split-phase pulse code a t 1792 bps Anal og and digi ta l data inpu ts were com mu tated in b o th th eadapter and recovery capsule and co mbined in to a form at conta in ing 256 words per f r a me ,s ix data b i t s , and one par i ty bit per word Data t r ans mi t ted wi th in th i s form at for t h r e e - d a yBiosatelhtes are charted in Fig 4 6A pr imary an d a l ternate t r acking beacon to f a c i l i t a te orb i ta l t r a jec tory m ea sure me nt bymtefe rrometry were selectable by gr ound command N o i n f o r m a t i o n w a s m o d u l a t e d on its100-mw signalThe reentry telemetry s ignal w a s modul a t ed by th ree low-f requency subcarner s (max-imum 5 4 kHz) car ry ing separat ion , deorb i t , a nd r ecovery sub sy s t em op er a t i ona l i n fo r ma t i o nSpin ra te of the spin-s tabi l izat ion sequence w a s measured by o b s er v in g a m p l i t u d e m o d u l a t i o non this carrierThe m ag netic tape recorder wa s an upg raded vers ion of tha t used in the Gem in i space-craft for b iomedical data Changes in its reel , base plate, a nd caps tan tens ion were made toimprove it s per formance dur ing v ibrat ion One of the recorder 's seven track s in Biosatel l i tew as devoted to recording a 30-segment commutator at one r evo l u t i on every 10 sec Thet ape recorder was operated for near ly the f u l l durat ion of the three-day f l ightsIn addi t ion to the r egu la r qua l i f i c a t i on and acceptance tes t s of the TT&C sub sy s t ems inth e spacecraf t factory, GSFC required a sy s tems comp a t i b i l i ty dem ons t r a t i on of a proto typesystem. A func t ional b readboaid of the complete sys tem w as t aken to GSFC and sat i s fac-torily tested The one serious problem, corrected by redes ign , was the ac t ivat ion of al l 70command outpu ts wi th a low s ignal l evel input w hen c omb ined wi th e lec t roma gne t ic noi seFlight I experience w ith this system w as genera l ly good How ever , as noted in Sect ion 8,there were three ins tances of apparent command ac tuat ions wi thout in i t i a t ion f rom th eground, and the accept/reject telemetered indicat ion w a s er ra t ic th rougho ut These ef fec t swere at tr ibuted to feedback of te lemetry t r ansmi t ter energy th rough the com ma nd r ece ive r sto the decoders , which occasionally recognized a va l id command pa t t e r n a nd f r e que n t ly31


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signaled decoder a ctiva tion based on the noise. Bas ed on confirming b ench tests, the tele-etry transmitters were redesigned for improved stability and a 3-dbpad w as instal led at the'output of the backup t ransmit ter in case of repeated trouble (Signal strength ha d beenshown to have adequa te m argin in f light I ) Also incorporated were changes in oscillatorfrequencies to shift harmonically related outputs f rom the command receiver passband, anadded wavetrap between transmitter and antenna diplexer, a "lockout" command sequenceby which th e command decoder could be deactivated to other commands, improved a n-tenna connector mecha nical design, and improved test and inspection procedures.A n undetected change in ma nuf ac ture of comm and receivers was responsible for theserious difficulties with flight II Subsequent ly, GSFC produced a field testing system forindependent verification of the TT&C comp atibil i ty of the fl ight spacecraft befo re launch.SeparationT he separation s ubsystem consists of a programmed switching assembly and the electro-mechanical components t ha t produce mechanical and electrical disconnection of the R/Vfrom the adapter at the completion of orbital f light I t was initiated by command f rom th eOWSP set by ground command during the preceding 7 hr After launch, however, it is armedinitially by a barometric switch t h a t closes above 50,000 f t a l t i tude After the OWSP hasbeen started and has timed out, the 240-mHz telemetry s ystem is autom atically energizedand the recovery prog ram mer relays are reset for later operation Ab out S'/z mm later, thesepa ration, deorbit, and recovery subs ystem s are arm ed. Eleven seconds af ter tha t , elec-trical connections betwe en the ada pter and R/V are severed Tw o therm al batteries on theT/C are activated within the next second Electrical conn ections betw een the adap ter andT/C are separated, th e deorbit programmer is started, and separation springs a re released toeffect ab out 1-fps velocity betwe en the R/V and adap te r in the f inal 3 sec of the sequence.All of these events are confi rmed via the new ly energized fm telemetry system.For the three-day spacecraft , a fluid line disconnect permits circulation of coolingfluid to the recovery capsule f rom th e spacecraft's special umbilical until launch time Forthese flights this part of the separation system is fired 5 sec before launch

All of the sepaiation devices are pyrotechm cally opeiated Each separa tion func tionis equipped w ith two inde pen den t cartridges and firing squibs for reliability The linearactuators tha t release separation springs are designed to op erate w ithin 10 msec of eachother to avoid tipoff of the R/V before it is spin stabilized Four matched compressionsprings are usedDeorbitThe deorbit subsystem is mounted on the T/C at the back of the R/V When separated f romth e adapter , the R/V retrorocket is directed 36 downward f rom th e velocity vector and isin the plane of orbital flight T he deorbit programmer is initiated on separation The R/Vis spin stabil ized at app roxim ately 60 rpm by discharge of a mtrog enfreo n m ixture 2 secafter separa tion The retrorocket fires imm edia tely and persists for 10 sec impa rting approx-imately 600-fps change in velocity Despm is programm ed imm ediate ly a f ter retrorocket,and the T/C is separated f rom the R/V ending the deorbit sequence 1 Y z sec later.Like the separation subsystem, the deorbit subsystem is a scaled-up version of a pre-viously space-fl ight-quahfied subsystem Nevertheless, i t was the imm ediate cause of to ta lfailure of the Biosatellite I mission.32

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67A 110O RB I TB A T TC U R R E N T


131A 15 0S O U R C EH O L D ERS H U T T E RPOSITION

163A81O RB I TH EA T ERT EM PMON #1

195A1R O L LR A T EPRI M

227

MNORF R A M EID#t

4A 16 7T EM PP1037PKG #14

36

68A183T EM PP1079PKG #5

100MNORF R A M EID #2

132AI12+10VDCRE G01%

164A 15 2T EM P#2P 1017

196AS1R/VC A PSRELHUM

228

A71Nj S T O R A G EP R E S S U R E

5A207P1035F EEDOPV E R I F

37A 128PRO GT I M E RMOD 1MON #3

69A1066 VDCREG

3%

101A70N2S T O R A G ETANK

133AI0826VACREG2%~

165A82O RB I TH E A T E RT E M PMON #2

197A 14 8T A PER E C O R D E ROPER

229

A 16 2T EM P P 1035#5

6A1 68T EM PP1037PKG #5

38

70A 1 S 4T EM PP 1 1 2 3PKG#1

102A1 90T EM PP-1159PKG #1

134A 1 5 8T EM PP1020C H A M B E R#3

166A 1 5 3T EM P#3P1017

198A 1 7 1T EM PP1047C H A M B E RPR #2

230

A204P1035FIXING OPV E R I F

7A13PITCHIRS EN S O RC O A R S E

39A 129PRO GT I M ERMOD 1MON #4

71AlR O L LIRS EN S O RFNE

103A104+5VDCREG1%

135A12R O L LIRS EN S O RC O A R S E

167A83ORBITH EA T ERT EM PMON #3

199AIDPITCHIRS EN S O RFINE

231

A163TEMP P 1035C H A M B E R#14

8A 16 9T EM PP10 39PKG fr

40

72A 1 S 5T EM PP 1 1 2 3PKG #2

104A 19 1T EM PP115 9PKG fr2

136A 15 IT EM P#1P-1017

168A 15 4T EM P#4P 1017

200A 15 6T EM PP1020C H A M B E R#1

232

AS SA D A P TC O M PT EM PMON *19

41

73

105

137

169

201

233

A90C A P S U L ET EM PZONE #2

10

42

74

106

138

170

202

234

A86A D A P TT EM PMON #3

It

43

75

,i

107

139

171

2031

235

Figure 4.6 Three-day flight PCM ormat chart.

iA113- 5 V O C R E Gf . 1*

12i

44

76

1Ii1t'i

108

140

1721

204

236

A87A D A P TC O M "T EM PMON #3

13

45

77

109

141

173

205

237

A208P-103SFEEDNGOPV E R I F

14

46

78

110

142

-

174

206

238

A88ADAPTC O M PT EM PMON #14

15

47

79

111

143

175

207

239

A 212P1047FIXINGOPV E R I F

16

48

80 .112

144

176

208

240

A 122A C C EPT /R E J E C TC O M M A N DMON

17A 210P1035FEEDNGOPV E R I F

49A 211P1035P1047FIXINGOPVERIF

81A 10 7O R B I T A LBUSFINE

113DGITW O R D #1O W S P 1{ M S B )

145

177AB4ORBITH E A T E RT EM PMON#4209A100+28VDCREG3%

241

A52R/VC A PS UL ETOTALPRES S

18A 16 4T EM PP1037PKG #1

50

82A 18 6T EM PP1135PKG #

114DIGITW O R D #2O W S P 2

146A205P103SFIXINGOPVERIF

178A 115115 VACREG2%~

210A170T EM PP1039PKG #2

242

A109ORBITBATTVOLT

19A 15 5C A M E R AS H UT T ERPOSP-1020

51A10128VDCREG

3%

83A206P1035F EED I N GOPV E R I F

115DGITW O R D # 3O W S P 3ARME R R O R

147

179A202P1035FIXOPV E R I F

211A 111S G G RD

243

A SOR/VC A PS UL ET EM P

20A 17 9T EM PP1079PKG #1

52AS3R/VC A P S U L EP A R T I A L

84A 18 7T EM PP 1 1 3 5PKG #2

116DIGITW O R D #4M A G B I A S(M S B )

148A 17 4T EM PP10 4 7C H A M B E RPR #8

180A 116425VDCRE G025V

212AS SB L O W ERC U R R E N T

244

ASPI T C HR A T ES EC O N D

21A 28COARSEMAGNETOMETERA

53A102+10VDCRE G13%

85A 10 5+6VDCRE G13%

117DIGITW O R D #5MAG LSB)JCPYAWSIG

149A 121SEPS EN S O RMON

181A 20 1P1035FIXOPVERIF

213A65BAROSWITOHMONITOR

245

A160T EM PP1035C H A M B E R*15

22A 17 2T b M PP1047C H A M B E RPR #4

54A 18 0T EM PP 1079PKG #2

86A 18 8T EM PP 1135PKG #3

118DIGITW O R D #6ATTC O N T R O LS O L EN O I D S

150AE8R/VBATT#1VOLT

182A 114+5VDCREG1%

214A56AIRTANKPRES S

246

A9N2REGPRES S

23A29COARSEMAGNETOMETERB

55A 10 3 '10 VDCREG '

3%1

87 ,A2PTCHR A T E 'PR I

119A14M A GN ET O -M E T E RO U T P U T

151A26R

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