Xref: utzoo sci.space:6110 sci.space.shuttle:876
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!bellcore!faline!thumper!ulysses!andante!princeton!njin!rutgers!gatech!ncar!ames!mike
From: mike@ames.UUCP
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Solar Max
Message-ID: <11659@ames.arc.nasa.gov>
Date: 12 Jul 88 16:32:48 GMT
References: <1988Jun17.053132.5314@utzoo.uucp> <3361@phri.UUCP> <1988Jul10.003611.16575@utzoo.uucp> <1219@thumper.bellcore.com>
Reply-To: mike@ames.arc.nasa.gov.UUCP (Mike Smithwick)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Lines: 28

In article <1219@thumper.bellcore.com> karn@thumper.bellcore.com (Phil R. Karn) writes:
>Remember how George ("Pinky") Nelson grabbed one of the solar
>arrays in an attempt to stop the satellite from spinning? 

A interesting further note on this event. I know a woman at Lockheed who
was the chief Rockwell saftey officer on this mission. She produced the
procedures for the crew, and set at a console during the EVA. One of the
rules in BIG BLACK LETTERS was "DON'T GRAB THE ^&&%$& SOLAR PANELS WITH
YOUR HANDS!!!". The arrays had sharp edges on them and could have easily
sliced open a glove. So she passed on the the CapCom, "Don't let him touch
the panels!!". The Crippen comes on the air i think saying "Pinky, why don't
you grab the panels". Needless to say whe was weirded out by the whole thing.

Oh, by the way. The solar max mission was a demonstration flight among other
things. If we didn't have a real satillite to repair, surely a dummy would
have been flown to practice with. And wrt Phil's comment about the mission
costing more than a replacment satillite. I believe that the SMM cost around
$150 million. A replacement would likely cost more due to inflation and take
years to get on line, not to mention a dedicated shuttle mission just to
launch it. So with the experience gained, the time saved, I think it was
worth it. (not to mention the neato TV that was returned).


-- 
			   *** mike (starship janitor) smithwick ***
"Due to the Writer's Guild of Amierica strike, this signature is
 temporarily cancelled".
[disclaimer : nope, I don't work for NASA, I take full blame for my ideas]