America’s gateway to the universe. Leading the world in preparing and launching missions to Earth and beyond.

July 20, 2001

John F. Kennedy Space Center

Spaceport Newshttp://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/snews/snewstoc.htm

Vol. 40, No. 15

Pages 4-5 – Spaceport Newsgoes inside SRB refurbishment.

Page 3 – Summer fellowsresearch KSC history.

Page 6 – USA leases hangarfor ground support equipment.

Page 2 – NASA Test DirectorJim McKnight’s retirement andJuly Employees of the Month.

(See MEIT-II, Page 8)

Page 7 – Web-based NASArecruitment system coming.

Inside

Second phase of Station testing complete

Genesis to sample solar windNASA’S next robotic space

explorer is ready to do a littlesunbathing on a mission to catch awisp of raw material from theluminous celestial body aroundwhich the Earth and other planetsrevolve.

The Genesis launch, set forlaunch July 30 at 12:36 p.m. fromCape Canaveral Air Force Station,is designed to collect tiny pieces ofthe Sun and return them to Earth.

The mission is expected tocapture about 10 to 20 microgramsof the solar wind, which is made upof invisible charged particlesexpelled by the Sun.

The particles, about the weightof a few grains of salt, will bereturned to Earth with a spectacular

mid-air helicopter capture.Scientists will preserve this

treasured smidgen of the Sun in aspecial laboratory for study.

The researchers hope to answerfundamental questions about theexact composition of our star andthe birth of our solar system.

In October 2001, Genesis willarrive at a place in space welloutside Earth’s atmosphere andmagnetic environment that willallow it to gather pristine samplesof the solar wind. Sample collectionwill conclude in April 2004.

Genesis will be the first missionto return a sample of extraterrestrialmaterial collected beyond the orbitof the Moon.

In September 2004, the solarsamples will be returned in adramatic mid-air helicopter captureof the Genesis return capsule as itparachutes toward the ground.

A worker in the Payload HazardousServicing Facility at KennedySpace Center installs an S-bandmedium gain antenna on Genesis.

Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility High Bay help conduct MEIT-II tests of Station software andhardware. Information from the testing is fed to the MEIT Control Room to be analyzed.

In the year 2006, construction ofthe International Space Station isscheduled to be complete.

Spanning the length of a footballfield, the one-million-pound master-piece will be operating at fullcapacity. Stargazers around theworld will watch as it gracefullyorbits the Earth.

Perhaps some of the mostpassionate viewers will be thosewho work in KSC’s Space StationProcessing Facility (SSPF).

It is in the SSPF High Bay wheremost of the critical components ofthe International Space Station arebeing electrically connected andthoroughly evaluated in a series ofprelaunch checks called Multi-Element Integrated Testing (MEIT). The MEIT project, which isconducted by NASA and TheBoeing Co. managers, engineersand technicians, has been methodi-cally broken down into threeseparate phases, each lasting

SPACEPORT NEWS July 20, 2001Page 2

Recognizing Our People

July Employeesof the Month

Jim McKnight retires from NTD post

NASA Employees of the Monthfor July are, pictured left to right,Denise Catone, Workforce andDiversity Management; ScottColloredo, Spaceport Engineeringand Technology; Henry Yu,Spaceport Services; JayEdelmann, Shuttle Processing;Cathy Parker, Safety, Health andIndependent Assessment; andGrace Bell, Chief FinancialOffice. Not shown are TimHoneycutt, ISS/Payloads Pro-cessing; Gina O’Shaughnessy,ELV and Payload CarriersPrograms; and Sherry Gasaway,Procurement Office.

Jim McKnight at his familar post in Firing Room 1 of the Launch Control Center. McKnight recentlyretired as a NASA Test Director. McKnight served 40 years in Federal service, beginning his careerwith the Air Force and then joining NASA in 1967.

NASA test director Jim McKnight has retiredafter 40 years of Federal Service.

“I can only feel that I have been blessed tohave been able to work with great individuals –and to have been involved with such greatprojects over the years,” McKnight said.

McKnight jointed the Air Force in 1957. Aftergraduating from Auburn University in 1967, hebegan working at Marshall Space Flight Centeras an engineer in an Apollo applications project.

He transferred to Kennedy Space Center in1968 to become a site utilization engineer andwas involved in the site activation of LaunchComplex 34 for the Apollo 7 mission.

McKnight worked as a flight crew systemsengineer through all the Apollo missions andthe first of the Skylab flights. He then worked inthe unmanned launch vehicle program. In thelate 1970s, he became a ground facility supporttest manager for the emerging Shuttle programbefore becoming a NASA test director.

“He has been a tremendous asset to theNASA Test Director team by filling a criticalneed working second shift for the last 15 years,”said Conrad Nagel, chief of the Shuttle Process-ing Office. “He is going to be greatly missed byour organization.”

SPACEPORT NEWSJuly 20, 2001 Page 3

Summer fellows research KSC history3,2,1…Liftoff: A History of

Kennedy Space Center is theworking title for a proposed newhistory of KSC rolling out of theKSC History Project this summer.

The launch directors are authorsDr. Henry C. Dethloff, professoremeritus of history from TexasA&M University in CollegeStation, Texas, and Dr. Lee Snaples,Jr., professor of history at TarrantCounty College in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Dethloff has written more than 25books, including Suddenly,Tomorrow Came…A History ofJohnson Space Center, and is co-author of a history of the Voyagerprogram which is nearing publica-tion. He and Snaples workedtogether before coming to KSC andco-authored an unpublished mono-graph on Langley’s Transonic

Dynamics Tunnel.Accomplishing their mission to

complete a chapter outline, briefnarrative overview, and a workingbibliography for the book beforethis summer is over has been madepossible by the NASA/ASEESummer Faculty Fellowship pro-gram.

The summer fellows are alsopreparing brief monographs on thehistory of KSC and safety at theCenter.

“The historical resources andopportunities available here at KSCare simply incredible. It may takehistorians another forty years tofully understand what has hap-pened at KSC over the last fortyyears and the impact it has had onAmerican society or even theworld,” Snaples said.

Dr. C. Shannon Roberts, theassociate director of ExternalRelations and Business Develop-ment, oversees the KSC HistoryProject. Roberts noted that inaddition to producing a book-length history of KSC, another ofthe project’s primary initiatives is toaudiotape and videotape oralhistory interviews with prominentKSC managers.

“The people being interviewedplayed crucial roles in the earlyspace program, and it is vital thatwe record their remembrances,”said Roberts. “The oral historyproject reminds us that our peopleare the foundation of the spaceprogram.”

Dr. Roger D. Launius, NASA’schief historian in Washington, D.C.,recently spent a week at KSC

supporting the initiative to recordthe oral history interviews.

Among those interviewed werespace program pioneers ForrestMcCartney, Dick Smith, GeorgePage, Lee Solid, Bob Sieck, HughHarris, Bobby Bruckner, Al Parrish,Terry Greenfield, Gene Thomas andIke Rigell.

Present and former employees ofKSC who are just now learningabout the project will also be ableto participate through a biographi-cal database, which is beingdeveloped by Dynacs EngineeringCo. Inc.

The biographical database will beaccessible via the Internet from theKSC history Web page later thisyear and will allow users to fill outand submit a form with their workhistory and contact information.

Summer faculty fellows research Kennedy Space Center history. KSC Library Archives staff members show the fellows some of the archival materialavailable for their work. From left to right are Dr. Henry Dethloff, summer fellow; Elaine Liston, KSC archivist; Barbara Green, KSC archives assistant;and Dr. Lee Snaples, summer fellow.

Page 4 SPACEPORT NEWS July 20, 2001

Inside SRB r

Barry Voight, senior mechanicaltechnician, performs a fit check of SRBholddown hardware.

Technician JayBonadio trimscork bond lines onan aft skirt.

USA techniciansprepare to applycloseout insulationto aft skirt boosterseparation motors.

Troy Taylor installls foam blocks over struts. Thefoam protects the main SRB parachutes fromdamage during deployment.

Page 5SPACEPORT NEWSJuly 20, 2001

Some of the most intricate procedures inthe refurbishment and recycling of theShuttle’s Solid Rocket Booster (SRB)components take place in the manufacturingarea of the Solid Rocket Booster Assemblyand Refurbishment Facility (ARF) atKennedy Space Center.

Within the complex at Schwartz andContractor Roads, the SRBs’ aft and forwardskirts, frustums, recovery systems, electron-ics and instrumentation components, andelements of the thrust vector control systemare assembled and tested.

A team of United Space Alliance (USA)workers well-versed in specific assemblyprocedures painstakingly assemble and testhundreds of components.

“Most people have no concept of thenumber of procedures necessary forrefurbishing and assembling the SRBs,” saidMichael Leppert, USA manager of assemblyoperations. “Although SRB recovery andrefurbishment is costly and time consuming,it’s still much more cost effective thanbuying new SRBs for each Shuttle launch.”

Among the procedures performed at themanufacturing area:

• The SRB’s thrust vector control system,its steering system, is rebuilt.

• SRB recovery parachutes, processedelsewhere, are integrated into the assembly.

• Thermal protection is applied to the aftand forward skirts and frustums.

The process includes the hand applica-tion of cork and robotic application of aspecial protective coating of ground cork,tiny glass beads and epoxy, which is thenpainted white.

• Ordnance is installed in variouslocations so that the SRBs may correctlydetach from the Shuttle during launch andSRB segments separate on their fall to theocean.

The manufacturing area is only one stopon the SRB’s journey back to the pad.

Among others: SRB segments aredisassembled and cleaned at Hangar AF atCape Canaveral Air Force Station after theirrecovery at sea.

Recovery parachutes are cleaned andrepaired in the Parachute RefurbishmentFacility in the Industrial Area.

SRB segments are reloaded with propel-lant by the manufacturer in Utah and returnto KSC via train. The reloaded segments arereceived in the Rotation/ProcessingBuilding and stored at two nearby SURGEbuildings until they are transferred to theVehicle Assembly Building for stacking.

“It takes experience, skill and a lot ofteamwork to process the SRBs,” said JamesCarleton, USA director of SRB elementmanufacturing operations. “The reward iswatching the SRBs we put back togetherlaunch successfully.”

“It takes experience,skill and a lot of team-work to process theSRBs. The reward iswatching the SRBs weput back togetherlaunch successfully.”James CarletonUSA director of SRB elementmanufacturing operations

efurbishment

Af left, Dale Taglilatelo, manager ofthrust vector control (TVC)operations, is pictured with TVCframes ready for installation in anaft skirt. Above right, seniorelectrical technician LawrenceTaylor visually inspects SRB cablesprior to installation. The ARF HighBay is pictured above, looking westto east. In the foreground is an aftskirt, forward skirts, pilot anddrogue parachutes. To the right aretwo nose caps. There are frustumsand aft skirts in the background.

Technicians connect an SRB aft skirt dolly to a tractor before it istransported.

SPACEPORT NEWS Page 6July 20, 2001

USA leases hangar from StateUnited Space Alliance (USA)

signed an agreement with Space-port Florida Authority (SFA) July 6to lease a hangar which wasdeveloped by the state as part of ajoint NASA/SFA Reusable LaunchVehicle Support Complex at theKennedy Space Center.

The agreement was signed in apublic ceremony at the hangar.

USA plans to use the state-developed 50,000 square-foothangar to store and maintain SpaceShuttle ground support equipment.

The recently completed facilitywas originally constructed toaccommodate proposed reusablelaunch vehicles (RLVs) such asNASA’s X-34 winged rocket andthe X-33.

“United Space Alliance islooking forward to putting thisnew facility into service in supportof the world’s only present RLV –the Space Shuttle,” said BillPickavance, USA vice presidentand deputy program manager.

“The hangar will enhance ourongoing operations with additionalspace to store and protect criticalground support equipment used forprocessing the Shuttles for flight.”

SFA and USA initiated discus-sions last year after RLV develop-

ment programs encounteredsignificant new technical andschedule challenges. Those eventscoincided with an aggressive SpaceShuttle launch schedule thatgenerated a need for additionalground support facilities.

“Spaceport Florida is proud tosupport the Space Shuttle pro-gram,” said Ed Gormel, SFA’sexecutive director. “By building ageneral use facility, the State is ableto adapt quickly to changingmarket forces while protecting thepublic investment and providingsupport to industry.”

Located adjacent to the SpaceShuttle Landing Facility, theReusable Launch Vehicle SupportComplex includes the hangar andtwo NASA-funded facilities.

Under the two-year leaseagreement, USA will assumeresponsibility for rent, hangaroperations and maintenance costs.

“This is another example of howthe federal government, NASA,and the State of Florida havepartnered with industry to supportour nation’s space programs andprotect our state’s high technologyjobs,” said Congressman DaveWeldon, R-Palm Bay, at the signingceremony.

The Spaceport Florida Authority hangar adjacent to the Space ShuttleLanding Facility has been leased by United Space Alliance. USA will usethe hangar to store and maintain Shuttle ground support equipment.

Shuttle risingLike a sun on a fast rise, SpaceShuttle Atlantis arcs into the still-black sky over the AtlanticOcean, casting a fiery glow on itsway. Atlantis lifted off fromLaunch Pad 39B on time at5:03:59 a.m. EDT. With a crew offive, it is heading on the 10thassembly flight to theInternational Space Station. Theprimary payload on the missionis the joint airlock module, whichthe crew will attach to the SpaceStation over the course of threespacewalks. The airlock willpermit crews onboard theStation to conduct spacewalkswithout the presence of theorbiter.

July 20, 2001 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 7

KSC Web site expands launch coverageThe Kennedy Space Center Web

site has expanded its launchcoverage to include downloadablevideo of launch-related activities.

KSC Web site visitors can nowview clips from NASA TV as wellas video exclusive to the web.

Web site managers experimentedwith the process during the launchof STS-100 and officially institutedit during the STS-104 launch. It willbe included as a permanent part ofKSC's online launch coverage.

Using downloadable video clipsrather than streaming video allowsKSC web developers to archive the

clips, so that future visitors to theWeb site can explore past footage.

The videos will be available inRealMedia format in three sizes for28.8K modems, 56K modems, andCable/broadband visitors.

Video coverage of each launchbegins with the closure of theShuttle's payload bay doors,typically a few days before launch.

On launch day, crew activitiescovered will include breakfast, suit-up, departure for the launch pad,entry into the Orbiter, and closureof the hatch.

Coverage will continue through

the final moments of the count-down, culminating with the launchof the Shuttle and the separation ofthe solid rocket boosters about twominutes into the flight.

Most of the video provided onthe KSC Web site is taken directlyfrom NASA TV. However, the KSCvideo team may also record eventsat the VIP viewing areas and insidethe Launch Control Center.

Animations and other footagewill be included when available.

"We're very pleased that we havethe ability to make these videosavailable to those who follow our

online coverage," said KSCInternet Services Manager DennisArmstrong. "We serve a globalaudience, and we're continuing toenhance the site for those whodepend on it as their source fortimely launch information."

KSC maintains the ShuttleCountdown Online, available athttp://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/shuttle/countdown/.

The site provides informationabout the current Shuttle mission.A real-time countdown clock isactivated at T-43 hours prior toscheduled launch time.

Web-based NASA recruitment plannedApplying for a NASA job can be

a challenging process.Job applicants must fill out

knowledges, skills and abilities(KSAs), resumes, and other formsto be considered for a vacancy.

Hiring managers sift throughthese materials to determine whichapplicants are eligible and qualified,a time-consuming routine that canresult in losing a potential em-ployee to another employer.

But NASA STARS (STaffing AndRecruitment System) promises toalleviate much of the pressure onapplicants as well as those in hiringpositions.

Part of the agencywide Inte-grated Financial ManagementProgram (IFMP), this web-basedresume management process willenable NASA to attract and retain aworld-class workforce.

The system uses a commercial,off-the-shelf software system calledResumix, which uses advancedtechnology and artificial intelli-gence to “read” resumes “incontext” and match skills inapplicants’ resumes to the require-ments of specific jobs.

Vacancy announcements on theNASA Jobs Web site, http://www.nasajobs.nasa.gov, will linkapplicants to the new NASASTARS Web site, http://nasastars.nasa.gov, which providesan array of tools to aid thoseapplying for NASA jobs:

• The Resume Guide containsdetailed information on how to

prepare and submit a properlyformatted resume, and how toapply for vacancy announcements

• The Resume Builder promotesconsistency among resume formatsand replaces multiple forms. Sub-mitted resumes will be stored in asecured database, enabling peopleto apply for multiple positions atdifferent locations with one resume.

• The Quick-Apply form willsubmit the stored resume for any

NASA Co-op student Juan Gordon checks out the NASA STARS Web site being developed to serve as an easy-access NASA recruitment tool.

position the applicant selects,eliminating the need to recreate theresume each time.

The technology behind NASASTARS will also allow selectingofficials to quickly access lists andresumes, reducing the time it takesto fill positions with the best-qualified applicants.

“NASA employees and thegeneral public will find the jobapplication process simpler and

less time-consuming,” said JimQuinn, personnel staffing specialistand KSC representative for theagency-wide Resume ManagementProcess Team. “Managers will loveit, too, because the process is fastand totally paperless. This is a win-win for everyone.”

NASA STARS is currentlyscheduled to roll out at KSC in mid-September, and is coming soon toall NASA centers.

Page 8 SPACEPORT NEWS July 20, 2001

John F. Kennedy Space Center

Managing editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bruce BuckinghamEditor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kathy Hagood

Editorial support provided by InDyne Inc. Writers Group.NASA at KSC is located on the Internet at http://www.ksc.nasa.gov

USGPO: 633-096/00061

Spaceport News

Spaceport News is an official publication of the Kennedy Space Center andis published on alternate Fridays by External Relations and BusinessDevelopment in the interest of KSC civil service and contractor employees. Contributions are welcome and should be submitted two weeks beforepublication to the Media Services Branch, XAE-1. E-mail submissions can besent to Katharine.Hagood-1@ksc.nasa.gov

MEIT-II ...(Continued from Page 1)

six months to a year. MEIT-I occurred last year, testing

various ISS flight componentsassociated with the U.S. Laboratory“Destiny” and the Canadianrobotic arm.

Last month, MEIT-II wrapped upafter four of five soon-to-be-launched ISS trusses were inte-grated with a large computer mock-up of the U.S. Lab.

When on orbit, each truss willsupport various ISS functions andprovide the backbone for the SpaceStation.

The team will resume MEIToperations in October on a fifth andfinal truss.

The MEIT-II team has alsorehearsed the Canadian Arm “walk-over,” which will take place in orbitonce the Mobile Base System isinstalled on mission STS-111 nextyear.

MEIT-III is scheduled to begin inMay 2003 and will integrate theU.S. Lab with Node 2 and theJapanese Experiment Module. After each of the Stationelements are connected andpowered up in the SSPF high bay,information gathered is sentupstairs to the MEIT Control Roomwhere it is dissected and analyzed.

NASA’s Dave Guibeau, acommand and data handler, is oneof those who looks at thedata. Guibeau said, “You just can’tsend the pieces up and hope it allworks. It is our job to find anysoftware problems developersdidn’t catch.”

While MEIT tests flight hardware– 32 hardware problems weredetected during MEIT-I – themajority of anomalies so far havebeen found in the flight software.

Guibeau recalls many late nightson the phone with engineers atJohnson Space Center and variousISS partnering countries.

“One of the hard parts wassifting through thick complexmanuals, some of which had to betranslated from foreign languages,”he said.

Scott Chandler, NASA’s MEITproject manager, realized the worth

of MEIT early on during initial full-scale dry runs. “MEIT has paid foritself immensely,” he said. “It hasdefinitely been well worth theeffort.”

The success of the Multi-Element Integrated Test is a resultof the hard work of hundreds ofemployees at KSC and JohnsonSpace Center and contributions ofour international partners.

“The International Space Stationis a work in progress,” Chandlernoted, “and the MEIT team isresponsible for making sure it allworks together.”

NASA’s Dave Guibeau, a command and data handler, looks at data from MEIT II prelaunch checks that has beensent to the MEIT Control Room. Multi-Element Integrated Testing (MEIT) of International Space Station elementsis conducted periodically. The tests are conducted on Station components in the Space Station ProcessingFacility High Bay to detect any software or hardware problems before the components are launched.

FSI courses offered on siteThe Florida Space Institute (FSI)

is offering engineering technologyat Kennedy Space Center.

The University of CentralFlorida’s engineering technologydepartment on the Cocoa campus ismoving to the Florida SpaceInstitute facilities at the Center forSpace Education next to the KSCVisitor Complex.

Courses in electronics, informa-tion, operations, and designengineering technology degreeprograms will be made available toKSC and Cape Canaveral Air Force

Station employees on site.FSI’s mission is to conduct

research, develop and transfertechnology, and provide service tothe scientific community and thepublic. In addition, FSI assists thescience and research communityfor access to infrastructure atNASA, the Air Force and theSpaceport Florida Authority at thespace center.

For more information on engi-neering technology courses,contact the FSI Academic Office at(321) 452-9834.

The InternationalSpace Station is awork in progress andthe MEIT team is re-sponsible for makingsure it all workstogether.

Scott ChandlerMEIT project manager