Hams in Space!

• •
The SAHEX STS-37
Mission
The 5 T5-37 Atlantis mission, currently
plan ned lor early April 1991, will launch the
Gamma Ray Observatory (G AO), the second
of NASA's great observatories (the first was
Hubble). Pilot Ken Cameron, a ham before
becoming a NASA astronaut in 1984, is extremely
enthusiastic about flying a SAREX experiment
aboard his flight. He encouraged his
fellow crew members 10 become hams, and all
five astronauts now have their tickets.
The crew for the mission will be Commander
SIeve Nagel, pilot Ken Cameron, and mission
specialists Jerry Ross,Jay Apt, and linda
GOdwin. During the five-day mission that the
crew will deploy GAO, Jay Apt and Jerry Ross
will perform an EVA (ExtraVehicular Activity,
or soacewauq to evaluate Crew Equipment
Translation Aids (CETA). These experimental
space station " scooters" were designed to
tra nsport the astronauts from one portion of
the structure to another, and to perform some
mid-deck ex periments, including SAREX. The
SARE X ST8-37 setup will use the same hardware
and frequencies as the STS-35 setup ,
with the addition of amateur television.
On ST8-37, live fast scan television (FSTV)
will be uplinked tram the ground on 70 cm .
SSTV transmissions and reception to and
from the shullie wilt also be performed. NASA
has been checking out a vari ety at portable
home cameras tor use aboard the shuttle. An
8mm Sony VCRlvideo camera will record the
results trom the mission's experiments. A
Panasontc VCR/mon itor, model PV-M429, will
be used lor slow and fast scan reception
aboa rd the sburue. The rcme model has been
pa inted and wrapped in copper loilto reduce
inflammabili ty and EMI.
Since the Mir contact wasn't successful on
the STS-35 mission, it will be a fairly important
priority tor STS-37. The crew's schedule may
even be rearranged to make it possible.
Pilot Ken Ca meron KB5AWP became an
astronaut in 1984. ST8-37 is his first sburne
mission. A lieutenant Colonel in the Marines,
he's clocked over 3,000 flying hours in 46
d ifferent types of aircraft. Since coming to
NASA, he has worked on a Tether Satellite
wh ich will be launched next year. He's also
worked on flight software testing, launch sUI>
port at the Kennedy Space Center, and, appropriate
for a ham, as CAPCOM (Capsule
Communicator) for the ST8-28 -29, ·30, -33,
and ·34 missions. Besides ham radio. he enjoys
flying, athletics, hunting, fishing, woodworking,
and reading.
Comm an der Steve Nagel N5RAW first
flew as a mission specialist on the ST8-51-G
mission in July 1985. Three satellit es and a
tree-llying platform were launched. He was
also a pilot on the German Spacelab 0 -1 mission,
5 1-A, in October 1985. Challenger's last
8 73 AmateurRadio Today · March,1991
Theall·ham crew of $T5-37: Seated(I to r)are Ken Cameron KB5AWP, Steve Nagel N5RAWand
Linda Godwin N5RAX. Standing (I to r) areJayApt N5QWL andJerry Ross KBSOHL.
mission, it carried a record eight people into
space. When he flie s as the commander of
STS-37, he will become the first person to
have flown aboard the shuttle in all three postnons.
Mission Specialist Jerry Ross (whO will be
getting a new callsign) flew on Atlantis 's second
mission , 61-B. in November 1985. The
crew deployed three communications satellites
and performed in-orbit drug manufacturing
experiments. But the highlight of the flight
was a spacewalk by Jerry and astronaut
Woody Spring. They buut two large, expenmental
tinkertcy- hke structures for evaluating
crew assembly procedures which may be
used to build NASA's permanent space etalion
in the future. Jerry's second mission was
the AI/amis STS·27 secret defense department
mission in December 1988 that deployed
a radar spy satellite. By coincidence,
Jerry closed the airlock hatch on the last U.S.
spacewalk back in 1985, and he will open it
back up on the next spacewalk, STS-37's
CETA experiment.
Mission Specialist Linda Godwin NSRAX
joined NASA in 1980 as a flight controller and
payloads officer for several shullie miss ions.
Before joining NASA, Dr. Godwin, a rated private
pilot, taught physics at the University of
Columbia in Missouri and received several
assistantships to conduct research in low temperature
solid state physics. Selected by
NASA in 1985, Dr. Godwin became an astronaut.
She has worked with flight software verification
, mission development, deployable
load s, and Spacelab payload integration.
STS-37 will be her first spaceflight.
Mi s sion Specialist Jay Apt NSQWL
worked tor NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratories
in Pasadena, California, from 1980-82 in
their Earth and Space Science Division as a
scientist tor the Pioneer Venus mission . In
1985, he became an astronaut. During his
early days as an astronaut. one of Dr. Apt's
jobs was to set up crew procedures for deploying
and repairing GRO. He was lucky enough
to get assigned to deploy G AO as his first
shultle assignment.
Compared to ea rlier shuttle ham experiments,
STS-37 mission activities are more
flexible. Since it isn't a Spacelab mission, the
crew will wake and sleep at the same time,
instead of working on diNerent shifts. With a
more relaxed schedule, the crew will have
more time to take in the view, and hOpefUlly,
more time to operate SAREX. With an all-ham
crew, It's possible that SAREX will be ooerated
almost co ntinuously in either voice or pack.
et mode.
Based on a preliminary flight plan with an
April 8, 1991 launch date at 14:14 GMT, the
Atlantis's orbital parameters will be:
Shuttle#
Element Set
Epoch
Incl ination
RMN
Ece
Arg Perigee
Mean Anomaly
Mean Motion
Decay Rate
Epoch Rev
TNX Philip Chien.B1
STS-37
JSC.OQ2
91 098.6250
28 .4632
240.1995
0 .0006984
279.283 1
332.4544
15.37981811
2.3 E.()4
1
See Philip's article " Hams in Space" in this
issue.