Conference 7.286::space

From: [email protected] (Mark Johnson)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: A Commercial Launch
Date: 28 Oct 87 16:47:36 GMT
Organization: NCR Corporation, Wichita, Kansas
 
    In article <[email protected]> [email protected] (Robert C.
Pilz) writes: 

>A private company, E-Prime Aerospace Inc., expects to launch a payload
>for the Air Force some time in November.  E-Prime is a launch services
>company located in Titusville Florida.  This will be their first rocket.
>This will be the first commercial launch from Cape Canaveral.  The
>rocket will be called LOFT-1.  I do not know what kind of rocket it
>is yet, but it is manufactured or tested near Huntsville Ala. (Maybe
 
    The LOFT-1 vehicle is being built up by several different groups:

	- Univ. of Alabama/Huntsville Aero Engineering
	- An amateur radio group with 10 channels of assorted telemetry 
          relaying acceleration, velocity, altitude, and other flight
          parameters using the 28, 146, and 420 MHz amateur bands
	- North Coast Rocketry, a supplier of parts to 'advanced rocketry'
	  users (outgrowth of high power model rockets in the last 5 years)
	  They are building the flight vehicle itself.
	- Vulcan Systems, Inc., a supplier of solid rocket motors located in
 	  Colorado Springs, will be supplying the motor, which will have 
	  a thrust of 5000 nt (just over 1000 lb) for 5 seconds.
	- A high school in the suburban Atlanta area is providing a small
	  biological experiment.
 
    The LOFT-1 vehicle will be approximately twelve feet long, six
inches in diameter, weigh eighty-five pounds at takeoff, and is
expected to reach approximately seventeen thousand feet.  The vehicle
will be recovered by two large parachutes, and will be aimed to splash
down in the Atlantic Ocean. 
 
    I know this sounds small - it is.  Nonetheless, it is the first
attempt at flying a civilian vehicle at the Canaveral Air Force
Station, and all the coordination efforts by the various groups are
just as extensive as if they were launching something much bigger.  To
wit, the launch was originally scheduled for October 15, but the AF
did not get its end of the paperwork completed, thus the delay into
November. 
 
    If anyone wants it, I can supply exact telemetry frequencies and
other exact data about the vehicle.  I have a copy of their press
release. 
 
    My source for all information is reliable as it is the builder of
the biological experiment package.  All components have been ground
tested as of October 10, and a duplicate flight vehicle was
successfully flown in Colorado in late September. 
 
    I will be glad to email text info or snailmail copies of the other
info to anyone interested.  Send email requests to address below: 

Mark Johnson ([email protected])
NCR Engineering & Manufacturing-Wichita, KS  phone: (316)688-8189    
email:...!rutgers!hplabs!hp-sdd!ncr-sd!ncrwic!encad!mjohnson 
US snailnet: 3718 N. Rock Rd., Wichita, KS 67226

    if anyone can get a hold of Mark please post the telemetry
    decode and freq information and proposed time of launch
    
    thanks
    

    I will try and get it, possibly direct from the people at North
    Coast Rocketry. I doubt it will be receivable from around here.
    
    gary

    With the lower freq, it is very possible that there will be
    and Band opeining , they may even time the launch such that
    the TLM could be relayed by RS10 etc  at 3 - 4 miles the
    line of sight will still have a good coverage, and if they
    design it right it could have a good glide ratio and travel
    many 100's of miles
    
    jb
    

From: [email protected] (Mark Johnson)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: LOFT-1 Private Launch Detailed Information (LONG - 160+ lines)
Date: 3 Nov 87 18:48:02 GMT
Organization: NCR Corporation, Wichita, Kansas
 
    I have had considerable trouble with bounced email messages on
requests for additional information on the LOFT-1 launch scheduled to
fly at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station about Nov. 15, thus for those
whose mail has been undeliverable, I am posting the whole works. 
 
    Here is a detailed rundown on the LOFT-1 flight vehicle:
 
LOFT-1 (Launch Operations Flight Test - 1) Santa Maria
 
Length			144" overall
Fin to fin span		 42"
Diameter		  6"
Takeoff weight		 85 lb
 
Performance estimates
Projected Altitude	17000 ft
Coast to Apogee		   15 sec 
Burnout Velocity     Mach 1.9
Flight time		  420 sec
Downrange impact distance 1.5 miles
 
Vulcan Systems N5000-25 Motor specifications:
Burn time		  4.9 sec
Average thrust		 5000 Nt 
Total Impulse		25000 N-sec
Propellant		Vulcan "Smokey Sam" HTPB/Ammonium Perchlorate composite
			(produces copious quantities of BLACK smoke)
 
    The remaining portion of this note is excerpted from a press
release from the University of Alabama/Huntsville, which is handling
payload integration for E-Prime Aerospace.  The memo was issued by J.
Wayne McCain, 7/17/87 
 
    The payload for the E-Prime Aerospace LOFT-1 will consist of a
sealed, cylindrically shapec compartment containing experiments from
three sources- University of Alabama/Huntsville, QSI Corporation of
Logan, Utah, and the Air Force Astronautics Laboratory, Edwards AFB,
California.  Individual experiments will be integrated and tested at
UAH by Industrial and Systems Engineering department volunteers under
the guidance of Dr. Jack Walker. 
 
    UAH will also construct and assemble the overall payload section.
UAH components will consist of three radio telemetry beacons to
provide real time flight data, recovery aids consisting of strobe
lights, and flotation/dye marker devices.  The primary onboard vehicle
power supply will be a group of 13.5 VDC, 4 AH, Nickel-Cadmium
batteries.  Data to be relayed will include vehicle velocity, altitude,
outside air temperature, inside temperature, battery voltage, and
battery current.  Velocity and altitude will be displayed real time and
other data will be recorded on multitrack tape for later study. 
 
    QSI Corporation will provide a self contained, sealed experiment
module, including power supply. This module will weigh 40% or less of
the total payload capacity.  The unit is being adapted from a
critical-cargo monitoring system being developed by QSI to measure and
record the acceleration and temperature environment of sensitive
aerospace items during rail, truck, or air transportation. 
Accelerations along 3 axes and temperature in two payload compartments
will be measured and recorded in solid-state RAM memory from liftoff
to touchdown.  A printout of reduced data will be provided at some
time after recovery. 
 
    The Air Force payload, tentatively to be provided by the newly
formed Air Force Astronautics Laboratory (AFAL), has not been totally
defined (this as of 7/17/87-msj), but will most likely consist of
small samples from ongoing advanced research with general propulsion
or specific defense applications.  Several such programs are underway.
The Air Force payload has been allocated two pounds of the payload
capacity 
 
    (End excerpt from press release.  Following paragraphs extracted
from a letter, dated 7/29/87, J.W. McCain to D. Babulski, reprinted
with permission of the recipient) 
 
    ...a space has been reserved for the Brookwood High School
Advanced Biology Experiment on the E-Prime Aerospace LOFT-1 flight to
be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. 

    The ABE has been allotted a 2.5 pound, 5.900 inch diameter x 5.0
inch long cylindrical space in the payload section.  It must be self
contained and require no power interfacing.  It must be sealed and
watertight to at least one atmosphere.  In addition, ABE should be
capable of withstanding at least 20 g's and its module should have a
crush strength of at least 200 pounds. 
 
    A mass-simulator drop test will be conducted in late August
(measure descent rate from 10,000 feet) and a full up telemetry drop
test will be conducted in mid September.  For the September test, a
high-fidelity mockup of the ABE will be required. 
 
    (End excerpt from private communication.  Begin excerpt from
Brookwood H.S. Advanced Biology Experiment project proposal, jointly
drafted by D.J. Babulski and Debbie Roberts of Brookwood High School) 
 
    The hypothesis for the experiment is:
 
    "Seeds in the class Angiospermae, subclass Monocotyledonae,
families Gramineae and Amaryllis and subclass Dicotyledoneae, families
Cruciferae and Leguminosae, when exposed to high energy solar
radiation in the Mid-Troposphere, at an altitude of three miles, will
exhibit a greater incidence of genetic defect or sterility as opposed
to seeds of the same Class, subclass, and families held in a control
group at ground level". 
 
    After the payload section is recovered, the experimental canister
and the payload section will be separated.  In a controlled
environment, but the control and flight experiment canisters will be
opened and the seeds removed. Each seed will be assigned a numerical
code.  Seeds will then be distributed to students in a double blind
format.  The students will plant and nurture seeds to plant maturity,
taking daily observations of germination, growth rate, abnormalities,
etc.  When all plant data has been accumulated, each of the Advanced
Placement Biology students will evaluate the data, and write a report
of experimental results. 
 
    Additional Data:  Transponder frequencies and telemetry data
measurements (all 3 beacons are multiplexed) 
 
			Beacon #1	Beacon #2	Beacon #3
Frequency, MHz		27.355		145.550		425.250
Input power, watts	 5.0		  5.0		  5.0
Modulation type		 AM		  FM		  AM
Bandwidty, kHz		 5.0		 11.0		  5.0
Antenna type		1/4 wave	1/2 wave	1/4 wave
			base-load	stub		stub
 
Data measurements
 
Beacon #	Measurement	Samples/sec	Units
1		Vehicle Alt.	     5		feet
1		Vehicle velocity     5		ft/sec
2		Outside temp	     5          deg F
2		Inside temp	     5          deg F
2		Battery voltage      5		VDC
2		Battery current	     5		mA
3		First motion         cont. 	discrete signal
3		Separation           cont.      discrete signal
3		Impact		     cont.      discrete signal
3               Salt water detection cont.	discrete signal
 
(end excerpts)
 
    Other Notes:
 
    The drop tests were conducted as planned during September, with
the full-up mockup being dropped from an airplane and allowed to fall
into a lake from 10,000 feet altitude.  As far as I'm aware, all drop
tests were successful.  A flight test with a duplicate vehicle was
performed in Colorado about Oct. 5, it was a roaring success,
according to reports. 
 
    The point of all this exercise isn't flying the vehicle-that's
done often enough by research groups and high-budget rocketry
enthusiasts.  The point is that it's being done on an Air Force
facility, by a private company's launch crew, in a coordinated manner!
 
    For those interested in seeing what the thing looks like, e-mail
me a postal address and I will ship out a copy of the drawings I have.

Mark Johnson ([email protected])
NCR Engineering & Manufacturing-Wichita, KS  phone: (316)688-8189    
email:...!rutgers!hplabs!hp-sdd!ncr-sd!ncrwic!encad!mjohnson 
US snailnet: 3718 N. Rock Rd., Wichita, KS 67226

    Plans for the launch are on hold, pending resolution of several
    issues between E Prime Aerospace and the USAF Space Command. Launch
    is now expected before the end of January 88.
    
    As for the problems... the USAF is requiring $10,000,000 (yes, $1E7)
    insurance coverage! They must be worried about a class action suit
    from the alligators.
    
    gary

From: [email protected] (Mark Johnson)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: LOFT-1 Flight delayed yet again.
Date: 20 Jan 88 13:34:25 GMT
Organization: NCR Corporation, Wichita, Kansas
 
    Most readers of sci.space may remember discussion of the LOFT-1
sounding test vehicle, which was to have flown from Cape Canaveral AFS
in November.  It has been delayed multiple times by the Air Force's
insistence on a $10 million insurance policy, and by the USAF's
refusal to schedule range time until it was available. 
 
    With the latest delays, the flight is now scheduled for early April
(was mid-October, was mid-November, was mid-February.).  Meanwhile,
the University of Alabama/Huntsville industrial engineers, North Coast
Rocketry, and the high school group will be flying an alternative
mission with a similar but slightly smaller bird.  This flight will
take place near Huntsville on/about April 9.  The Army's Huntsville
reservation will be utilized (presumably they allow such flights
without the huge insurance requirement the Air Force has). 

Mark Johnson ([email protected])
NCR Engineering & Manufacturing-Wichita, KS  phone: (316)688-8189    
email:...!rutgers!hplabs!hp-sdd!ncr-sd!ncrwic!encad!mjohnson 
US snailnet: 3718 N. Rock Rd., Wichita, KS 67226

Newsgroups: sci.space
Path: decwrl!hplabs!hp-sdd!ncr-sd!ncrlnk!ncrwic!encad!mjohnson
Subject: LOFT-1 flight is finally ON!
Posted: 26 Sep 88 21:23:46 GMT
Organization: NCR Corporation, Wichita, Kansas
 
    The E-Prime Aerospace/North Coast/Vulcan Systems/etc... LOFT-1
flight test, the first civilian flight of any kind to use the
Canaveral Air Force Station, has been scheduled for Oct. 13, 1988.
Many netreaders will recall my earlier postings concerning the payload
and vehicle to be used on this flight...I will not repost but will be
glad to email them to anyone who wants additional info. 
 
    I have no commercial connection of any kind with E-Prime, any
subcontractor, or any of the universities involved with the LOFT project. 

    Mark Johnson ([email protected])
    NCR Engineering & Manufacturing-Wichita, KS  phone: (316)636-8189    
    email:...!rutgers!hplabs!hp-sdd!ncr-sd!ncrwic!encad!mjohnson 
    US snailnet: 3718 N. Rock Rd., Wichita, KS 67226

Newsgroups: sci.space
Path: decwrl!hplabs!hp-sdd!ncr-sd!ncrlnk!ncrwic!mjohnson
Subject: LOFT-1 Finally firmly scheduled!
Posted: 10 Nov 88 14:04:35 GMT
Organization: NCR Corporation, Wichita, Kansas
 
    The flight of the Univ. of Alabama-Huntsville/E-Prime Aerospace
LOFT-1 sounding test from Canaveral Air Force Station has been
scheduled to take place on 16 November 1988 at 0730 EST, from LC 47 at
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.  Representatives of all 3 major
television news organizations will be present. I can only assume that
NASA Select will cover this flight also. 
 
    The Launch Operations Flight Test-1 (LOFT-1) has been delayed over
13 months by various government hitches. The vehicle is some 12 feet
long, six inches in diameter, and is the first non-government-owned
flight vehicle to be flown from Cape Canaveral AFS. It carries several
industrial test payloads and telemetry transmitters, and should reach
an estimated 17,000 feet. The vehicle is designed to be recovered.
Complete information has been posted to the net several times over the
past 6 months. 
 
    [The above information comes courtesy of David J. Babulski, who
will be serving as telemetry coordinator for the flight. I have no
official connection with the University of Alabama-Huntsville or
E-Prime Aerospace Corp.] 
 
Mark Johnson ([email protected])
NCR Engineering & Manufacturing-Wichita, KS   
email:...!rutgers!hplabs!hp-sdd!ncr-sd!ncrwic!mjohnson  phone: (316)688-8189 (W)
US snailnet: 3718 N. Rock Rd., Wichita, KS 67226

    The launch was shown on Channel 5 in Boston and on the CBS Evening
    News.  Verrry short segment on the local news but CBS had a story
    around the launch including several pictures of the launch, one
    of the rocket floating in the ocean (the chute failed...just like
    mine :-) ), interviews, etc.  A spokesman from American Rocket
    dismissed it as just another model rocket launch.  CBS played it
    as the first commercial launch from a government facility.
    
    						Mike

Date: 23 Apr 90 21:22:15 GMT
From: [email protected]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Launch date set for Consort 3 (Forwarded)
 
Barbara Selby
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                    April 23, 1990
(Phone:  202/453-2927)
 
Rick Mould
University of Alabama-Huntsville
(Phone:  205/895-6414)
 
Walter Pennino
Space Services, Inc., Houston
(Phone:  703/281-2495)
  
    RELEASE:  90-58
 
    LAUNCH DATE SET FOR CONSORT 3
  
      The launch of Consort 3, a commercial suborbital rocket carrying
12 microgravity experiments, has been set for May 17 at 10:40 a.m.
EDT, by the University of Alabama-Huntsville's (UAH) Consortium for
Materials Development in Space (CMDS), a NASA Center for the
Commercial Development of Space (CCDS). 
 
      Consort 3 will be launched from the Naval Ordnance Missile Test
Station facilities at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range
(WSMR), N.M., by Space Services, Inc., Houston, using its Starfire
rocket.  The rocket will carry the payload to an altitude of 200 miles
and will provide the experiments with 7 to 8 minutes of microgravity time. 
 
      The rocket and launch services are funded by a grant from NASA's
Office of Commercial Programs, Wash., D.C.  Commercial participants
provided most of the funding for the payload. 
 
      The Consort 3 mission will carry experiments from three other
NASA commercial development centers.  They include the Center for
Advanced Materials, Battelle Columbus Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio;
the Center for Cell Research, Penn State University, State College;
and the Center for Bioserve Space Technologies, University of
Colorado, Boulder. 
 
      The UAH CMDS and the Center for Advanced Materials will perform
materials science experiments, while the Penn State and Colorado
centers will conduct biotechnical experiments, each using the effects
of microgravity in their investigations. 
 
      This is the third commercial launch for the UAH CMDS and Space
Services.  Consort 1, carrying six microgravity experiments, was
successfully launched on March 29, 1989. 
 
      Consort 2, launched Nov. 15, 1989, was terminated 30 seconds
into the flight by the WSMR range flight safety personnel.  However,
the undamaged payload was recovered by parachute.  The Consort 3
experiment package is essentially the same payload as the aborted
Consort 2 mission. 
 
      An incident investigation board, chaired by Space Services,
Inc., determined that the Consort 2 flight anomaly was caused by a
mechanical failure in the MIDAS gyro platform that provides attitude
reference input into the S19 boost guidance system.  The loss of the
platform caused the vehicle to cone, which lead to high structural
loads and premature separation of the payload from the booster. 
 
      "Management and independent experts have carefully analyzed the
known and other potential failure modes," said Donald (Deke) Slayton,
President of Space Services.  "All possible corrective actions have
been taken." 
 
    NOTE TO EDITORS:
    
      While this event is not open to the general public, news media
representatives may attend.  Requests for accreditation to attend the
launch of Consort 3 should be submitted directly by May 10, 1990, to: 
 
      Debbie Bingham, PAO
      Building 122
      White Sands Missile Range, N.M.  88002-5057
 
      Phone:  505/678-1134
 
      Radio and television reporters planning live coverage directly
from the range are required to submit their transmission frequencies
to the WSMR Department of Defense Area Frequency Coordinator
(505/678-5417) for approval to transmit.  Requests must be received 
no later than May 7, 1990. 
 

From: [email protected] (Phillip Harbison)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Consort 3 Launch Successful
Date: 24 May 90 16:37:30 GMT
Organization: Xavax
 
    I meant to post this summary last week, but never found the time. 
I apologize for the substantial delay.  The following is a summary of
information carried in newspaper articles by The Huntsville Times, The
Huntsville News, and the AP wire.  As a proud alumnus of UAH, I just
had to post a plug. :-)  Go Chargers! 
 
    -- White Sands, New Mexico; Wednesday, May 16, 1990 --
 
    Consort 3 was successfully launched at 8:40 AM from the White
Sands Missile Range, to the cheers of about 100 spectators.  The
52-foot Starfire I rocket climbed to an altitude of 189.2 miles, then
coasted for about 7 minutes in microgravity.  The payload parachuted
safely to earth, landing about 54 miles north of the launch site.  Ten
of the 12 experiments were deemed successful. 
 
    The launch was sponsored by the University of Alabama in
Huntsville's Consortium for Commercial Development in Space.  The
payload, consisting of 12 microgravity experiments, were the same
experiments that flew aboard Consort 2, launched in November 1989. 
That flight was terminated 30 seconds after launch, but the payload
survives. 
 
    The Starfire I rocket and launch services were provided by Space
Services, Inc. of Houston.  Deke Slayton, a former Mercury astronaut,
is the president and founder of SSI, which also launched the first
licensed commercial rocket in March 1989.  Slayton said SSI hopes to
launch 12 commercial rockets this year.  The cost of this launch was
about $2.5 million. 
 
    The wire stories gave no description of the successful experiments
except to mention that they were microgravity-related.  This comes as
no suprise, since UAH has a thriving microgravity program.  One of the
failed experiments was designed by Francis Wessling, the associate
director of the CCDS.  The experiment was testing whether polyurethane
insulation could be made stronger, lighter, or better in space that on
earth.  The chemicals in the experiment were supposed to form a foam
ball.  ``We didn't get a foam ball.  We just got a mix of shiny liquid
that sprayed all over the place'', Wessling said.  The other failed
experiment was a Materials Dis- persion Apparatus, a brick-like device
containing dozens of small vials.  The MDA was supposed to align the
vials to mix chemicals, but never moved during the flight. 
 
----
    Actually, I wonder why these experiments were considered failures.
Granted, the Wessling experiment failed to produce a foam ball, but
maybe what that tells us is that we can't make polyurethane is space.
That, in my opinion, is valuable knowledge. 
 
-- 
Live: Phil Harbison, Xavax, P.O. Box 7413, Huntsville, AL 35807
Uucp: [email protected]
Bell: 205-539-1672, 205-880-8951

Barbara Selby
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                       October 21, 1991

Rick Mould
University of Alabama-Huntsville

Mike Bryant
EER Systems, Vienna, Va.

Debbie Bingham
White Sands Missile Range, N.M.

RELEASE:  91-173

        The launch of Consort 4, a commercial suborbital rocket carrying
nine microgravity experiments, has been set for Nov. 13 at 10:45 a.m. EST
by the University of Alabama in Huntsville's Consortium for Materials
Development in Space (UAH CMDS).

        Using its Starfire rocket, EER Systems Corp., Space Services Div.,
Vienna, Va., will launch the Consort 4 payload from the Naval Ordnance
Missile Test Station at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.  The two-stage
solid fuel Starfire will carry the payload to an altitude of 200 miles and
provide the experiments with 7 to 8 minutes of microgravity.

        The rocket and launch services are funded by a grant from NASA's
Office of Commercial Programs, Washington, D.C.  The UAH CMDS, which
manages the Consort program, is one of 17 NASA Centers for the
Commercial Development of Space (CCDS).

        Experiments aboard Consort 4 will focus on the effects of
microgravity on various processes, materials and biomedical samples.  Two
other CCDSs -- Battelle Advanced Materials Center, Columbus, Ohio, and
the Center for Cell Research (CCR), Pennsylvania State University -- will
conduct experiments aboard Consort 4.  The UAH CMDS and Battelle
experiments will study the effects of low gravity environment on different
materials, while Penn State CCR will examine biological samples.

        In addition to the CCDS payloads, Thiokol Corp., Logan, Utah, will
conduct a materials science experiment using polyurethane foam;
Instrumentation Technology Associates, Inc., Exton, Pa., will study the
effects of microgravity on a variety of materials and biological samples in its
Materials Dispersion Apparatus Minilab; and Teledyne-Brown Engineering,
Huntsville, Ala., will fly a battery experiment.

        Consort 4 is the final launch in this series of Consort flights.  The
UAH CMDS currently is evaluating bids for a follow-on Consort program.

Barbara Selby
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                  August 17, 1992

Rick Mould
University of Alabama at Huntsville, Ala.

Mike Bryant
EER Systems, Vienna, Va.

Debbie Bingham
White Sands Missile Range, N.M.

RELEASE:  92-133

        The launch of Consort 5, a commercial suborbital rocket carrying nine
microgravity experiments, is set for 10:20 a.m. EDT, Sept. 10, by the
University of Alabama in Huntsville's Consortium for Materials Development in
Space (UAH CMDS).

        EER Systems, Va., will launch the Consort payload using its Starfire
rocket.  The Consort 5 flight will be conducted through the Naval Air Warfare
Center Weapons Division-White Sands Detachment at at White Sands Missile
Range (WSMR), N.M.  The two-stage solid fuel Starfire will carry the payload
to an altitude of 200 miles and provide the experiments with 7 to 8 minutes
of microgravity exposure or weightlessness.

        The rocket and launch services are funded by a grant from NASA's
Office of Commercial Programs, Washington, D.C.  The UAH CMDS, which
manages the Consort rocket program, is one of 17 NASA Centers for the
Commercial Development of Space (CCDS).

        The Consort 5 experiments will focus on the effects of microgravity on
various processes, materials and biomedical samples.  Three NASA CCDSs will
conduct experiments aboard Consort 5 -- the Center for Cell Research (CCR),
Pennylvania State University; the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and
Robotics (WCSAR), University of Wisconsin-Madison; and UAH CMDS.

        The Penn State CCR will examine various biological samples using its
BioModule.  The experiment will study the effects of microgravity on
mammalian cells, plant tissues, protein crystallization and amphibian tissue.

         The WCSAR will test a device that offers a promising and unique light
source for plant growing facilities in space.  The high output, light emitting
diodes experiment will be used to further develop this technology for a future
Space Shuttle experiment.

        The UAH CMDS and several industrial partners will conduct seven
experiments studying effects of the low gravity environment on different
materials.  The UAH CMDS, with Thiokol Corp., Logan, Utah, will conduct two
foam experiments.  The foam will be formed into specific shapes to study its
use as a building material and insulator in space.

        In another experiment, the UAH CMDS and Instrumentation
Technology Associates, Inc. (ITA), Exton, Pa., will study microgravity's effect
on different materials and biological samples using ITA's Materials Dispersion
Apparatus.

        Kennametal, Inc., Greensburg, Pa., and UAH CMDS, will use a high
temperature furnace in a liquid phase sintering experiment and will capture a
ceramic mix in a special hydraulic compacting device in a powdered
materials processing investigation.

        Space Hardware Optimization Technology, Floyd Knobs, Ind., and
Interfacial Dynamics Corp., Portland, Ore., will team with the UAH CMDS on
an organic separation experiment that focuses on improving purification
techniques for biotechnology materials.

        An electro-deposition experiment using nickel and cobalt will be
conducted by the UAH CMDS and McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co.,
Huntsville.  This research will assist in finding metals and alloys with
enhanced corrosion resistance, surface hardening and catalytical properties.

Barbara Selby
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                            September 4, 1992

Rick Mould
UAH CMDS

Mike Bryant
EER Systems

Debbie Bingham
WSMR

EDITORS NOTE:  N92-79


        The launch of Consort 5 from White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), N.M.,
has been reset for 8:30 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Sept. 10.

        Consort 5 is a commercial suborbital rocket flight sponsored by the
University of Alabama in Huntsville's Consortium for Materials Development in
Space (UAH CMDS).  EER Systems Corp., Vienna, Va., is providing the launch
vehicle and recovery services for the payload of nine materials science and
biotechnology experiments.  McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Division,
Huntsville, is handling the payload integration.  The UAH CMDS is a NASA
Center for the Commercial Development of Space.

        A playback of the Consort 5 launch will be broadcast on Thursday, Sept.
10 beginning at 12:45 p.m. EDT via satellite.  Live interviews can be scheduled
by calling Joel Lonergan at 205/895-6414 or after Sept. 8 at 505/678-1134.
Satellite coordinates are SBS 6, Transponder 9 Full, Frequency 11.921.