Space Flyer Unit

 1995-011A

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The Space Flyer Unit was a free flying platform deployed by the expendable H-II launch vehicle and to be retrieved by the Shuttle. It was a precursor to NASDA's involvement in the ISSA project, and was a collaborative project with ISAS, MITI and NASA. 

The H-II was launched on 1995 Mar 11 and delivered SFU to orbit. SFU maneuvered to the 486 km mission orbit at 0549 UT on Mar 23. It was planned to be retrieved after 6 months but the Shuttle retrieval was delayed. It was recovered by Space Shuttle Endeavour in Jan 1996.

The SFU satellite was an octagonal bus, 4.7m in diameter and 2.8m high. Its mass at launch was 3486 kg including a fuel load of 759 kg hydrazine. After orbit insertion, two 2.4m wide solar arrays are deployed from the bus for a total span of 24.4m. The monopropellant hydrazine RCS and orbit change thruster system had twelve 23-N thrusters and twelve 3-N thrusters.

Capacity was 100 kg RCS and 650 kg for the OCT system.

One of the main experiments on SFU is the EFFU, which was a test flight of equipment for the JEM Exposed Facility on the Space Station.

The IRTS was an ISAS/NASA experiment in infrared astronomy. The 2D experiment used the miura-ori folding technique to compress a tension stabilized membrane for launch and then deploy it on orbit, creating a roughly 10m diamond shaped array. During retrieval, the solar arrays would not retract correctly and had to be jettisoned.

SFU
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1995 Mar 18	0801	Launch by H-II	TNSC
		T+1:16 SSB burnout 25 km 1.3 km/s
		T+1:30 SSB sep 36 km 1.6 km/s
		T+1:34 SRB burnout
		T+1:37 SRB sep 42 km 1.6 km/s
		T+3:39 Upper fairing sep 128 km 2.8 km/s
		T+5:47 MECO
		T+5:56 Stage 1 sep 222 km 5.3 km/s
		T+6:02 Stage 2 SES-1	-4400 x 250 ?
	0813	T+12:20 SECO-1
	0814	T+13:16 SFU separation
	0817	T+16:11 Lower fairing sep
	0826	T+25:03 SES-2
	0828	T+27:02 SECO-2
	0828	T+27:52 Stage 2 sep from GMS
			91.05 311 x 340 x 28.5
1995 Mar 19			91.23 320 x 349 x 28.5
1995 Mar 20			92.09 358 x 395 x 28.5
1995 Mar 21			92.15 365 x 394 x 28.5
1995 Mar 23		Operational orbit
1995 Mar 23			94.24 466 x 496 x 28.5
1995 Mar 29			94.24 467 x 494 x 28.5
		Begin Mission Operation Phase
1995 Mar 29		EPEX first burn
	1800	IRTS FPI on
	1815	IRTS sun shield extended
1995 Mar 29	2359	IRTS cover ejected
		IRTS survey begins
1995 Apr 24		IRTS survey ends
1995 Apr 24	0855	He tank venting
1995 Apr 26		Helium tank discharged
1995 Apr 26	0758	IRTS sun shield ejected
1995 May 26		2DHV deploy test
1995 Jul 4			94.21 466 x 493 x 28.5
1995 Jul 20		Residual EPEX hydrazine dumped
1995 Aug 3		2DHV locked
1995 Aug 23		EPEX hydrazine valves closed
1995 Sep		Post Mission Phase
1995 Oct 17		Begin OCT tests	94.18 464 x 492 x 28.5
		Orbit lower apogee
1995 Oct 19			94.02 461 x 480 x 28.5
1995 Dec 6			94.00 465 x 474 x 28.5
		Raise orbit
1995 Dec 7	0920		94.15 472 x 483 x 28.5
1995 Dec 18			94.15 471 x 483 x 28.5
		Raise orbit
1995 Dec 21	2052		94.33 481 x 491 x 28.5
		Lower orbit
1995 Dec 22	1102		94.08 470 x 478 x 28.4
1996 Jan 12			94.08 469 x 478 x 28.5
1996 Jan 13	0935	SFU panel 1 ejected
	0947	SFU panel 2 ejected
	1057	OV-105 RMS grapple SFU
	1139	RMS berth SFU
	1150?	RMS ungrapple SFU
1996 Jan 18	1530		94.08 469 x 478 x 28.5
1996 Jan 20	0742	Landed aboard OV-105

Excerpts from a Jem fanfiction I never quite got around to writing

 Jeri!

Lindsey,it's been too long!

It's Lin-Z now. Same pronunciation,different spelling. I'm a VJ for Music TV.

A video jockey?

Exactly. I host my own show,"Music Morning with Lin-Z Pearce".

I've seen you on billboards.

I hope you don't go around telling people I'm your favorite cousin!

Who,me? I'm more modest than that,Lin-Z! Why'd you come down to Fairfield,anyway?

To meet Danny and Rebecca,of course! Kimber promised me I'd be Danny's future godmother. Her friend Emily is Rebecca’s.

Yes,she and Emily Novak are good friends,and she’s a good influence.

————

Stripping off her clothes,Shana Elmsford sank into her bath with a grimace that faded as her shoulder pain left her. Sewing was a harder task than most people believed it to be,and it could be pure hell on the shoulders and fingers if you weren't careful. Shana wanted to be a fashion designer someday. To that end she'd taken all the shop classes Norwalk High had on offer,and by the time she graduated in June 1981 she could confidently say she knew a fair bit about the subject. She moved from the shop classes she’d taken in high school to the larger playing field that was Fairfield University,where she put her business skills to good use getting a BBA like Jerrica was getting at NYU.

———-

At the same time that Jerrica and Jacqui were having their little talk,Kimber was lying on her bed,reading a Sweet Dreams teen romance novel as evening wore on. Danny and Rebecca were in their cribs sleeping,Kimber having given them some warm milk earlier. She'd lulled them to sleep by reading them The Hobbit,it being one of her favorite books when she was little.

The novel she was reading tonight was A Song for Us,about a girl named Anna whose crush Rick was in a band. Anna herself happened to be musically talented and the book's cover model strongly resembled Roxy which was rather a nice touch. For all I know,she's a fictional version of her!,Kimber thought as she flipped the pages.

Kimber let the fan in the corner blow air around her as she relaxed. She was completely naked,which was the way she usually slept.

—————

At Norman,Oklahoma,the news was so.......meh. Who cared that the first Mars crew had returned safely to Earth? There'd be others to come. Roxy ordered pancakes,Jacqui French toast,both of them coffee.
"I'm really glad I could do this,Mrs Benton. Like,I really needed to unwind!"
"Please,Roxy,for the hundredth time,you can call me Jackie. I'm your second mother,aren't I?"
Roxy goggled a little bit.
"You know Emmett and I adopted you when you were just two."
"Of course I do. Jerrica told me when we were in junior high. But why me and not some other girl?"
"Your father,Francis Pellegrini,was an old college friend of Emmett's,and he was there when Francis and your mother were married. Aja and Shana we adopted because they were local girls,and Raya we adopted from her family in the Kingdom of Haiti,but we already had a connection to you personally." Jacqui's eyes were moist,and when she looked at Roxy she could see tears in the corners of her eyes.
"Thanks,Jackie,thanks so much. I....I love you."
"Me too", Jacqui said as she stood over the table and hugged Roxy. "I want you to know that I think you and Aja and Shana and Raya,you four are as much Benton as Jeri and Kimber are. No matter whether by blood or adoption,family is family."

————-

1986-12-09 14:19:52

JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS PLAN '87 TOUR

They're at it again,folks! Jem and the Holograms are planning a big tour in 1987,says entertainment columnist Lindsey "Lin-Z" Pearce,28. The tour will span America and Canada.

"The Holograms (my favorite band) have a big year ahead of them! Their "Open My Heart" tour,set to begin in early April,coincides with the planned release of their second album, "Truly Outrageous". 
We can also expect a little surprise something-something this spring - what it is,I'm not saying! But watch this space,all you Jematics!"

The tour will cover 17 cities and should last about seven weeks. The band consists of lead singer Jerrica "Jem" Benton (24),vocalist and keytarist Kimber Benton (20),bassist Aja Leith (21),rhythm guitarist Shana Elmsford (23),vocalist Carmen "Raya" Alonzo (22),and drummer Roxanne Pellegrini (23).

——————

The wedding will be at St Martin's Church in Fairfield,which I believe is the traditional church of the Benton family,going back more than a century. Her mother Jacqui is today's matron of honor,then her bridesmaids are her sister Jerrica,Aja Leith,Shana Elmsford,Carmen Alonzo,Roxanne Pellegrini,and Mary Phillips of the Misfits.

What about her twin children,Danny and Rebecca?

According to Jerrica they will be the ring bearer and flower girl. Rather appropriate roles for them,given that it's their mom who's getting married today.

Her arm looped through Rio's,Kimber started down the aisle. Danny and Rebecca bore the rings and flowers. Stormer was not far behind,then Jerrica,Jacqui,Aja,Shana,Raya,and Roxy.

 

Kimber and Sean were now coming back up the aisle,Sean holding Rebecca’s hand and Kimber holding Danny's. When they had reached the head Jacqui tossed the bouquet - it landed in Shana's hands! Shana was getting all weepy,Roxy was holding her and laughing like a maniac,and it was all so much that Jerrica needed a break so she headed over to a bench. An old woman Jerrica thought she should remember sat down next to her.

"What a beautiful wedding that was,dear. That girl,Kimber - I can tell she's in love!"

"She's my younger sister", Jerrica replied. "Do I know you?"

"I'm Mrs Riddell,I used to live down the street from your family. My daughter Claire used to babysit you two."

Jerrica vaguely remembered Claire Riddell,a bottle blonde with a big smile and a bigger heart. "What happened to her?"

"She lives in Palm Beach now - she owns a restaurant with her husband Freddy."

Progress M-35

 1997-033A

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Launch mass was 7150 kg. The redocking of Progress M-35 on Aug 17 was cancelled when the on board computer shut down automatically after ground controllers loaded incorrect commands to it. A successful redocking on Aug 18 was carried out under manual control by Solov'yov when the automatic system cut out at the last minute due to Mir's loss of attitude control.

A first undocking attempt failed because the crew forgot to remove one of the clamps.

Progress M-35
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1997 Jul 5	0411:54	Launch by Soyuz-U	KB LC1
	0413:52	Blok BVGD sep T+1:58
	0416:41	Blok A sep T+4:47
	0420:43	Blok-I sep T+8:49
	0754:46	TCM-1 65.3s, 27m/s
	0841:59	TCM-2 54s, 22 m/s
1997 Jul 7	0559:24	Docked with Kvant (Kurs)
1997 Jul 8		Hatch open
1997 Aug 6	1146:45	Undocked from Kvant
	1149:39	sep burn
1997 Aug 17	1355	Docking cancelled
1997 Aug 17	1430:31	TCM 2m/s 6s
	1519:16	TCM 3m/s 6s
	1626:00	TCM 1m/s 3s
		Kurs shutdown at 20m
1997 Aug 18	1252:47	Docked with Kvant
1997 Oct 5		Failed to undock
1997 Oct 7	1203:49	Undocked
		Skeep at 10m
		Sep burn
	1641:00	Deorbit
	1723	Reentered over Pacific

August 12,2004

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics

OAO 2

  1968-110A

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The replacement satellite for OAO A1, called OAO A2, carried the WEP again, but the other experiments were replaced by the Smithsonian Observatory Telescope. Launched at 0640 on 1968 Dec 7 by an Atlas Centaur from Cape Kennedy, OAO II (Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2) entered a 100.2 min, 765 x 778 km x 35.0 deg orbit. The satellite was a success, making the first extensive ultraviolet observations of stars, and transmitted until 1973 Feb 14.

OAO 2
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1968 Dec 7	0840:09	Launch by Atlas Centaur AC-16	CKAFS LC36B
		T+2:33 BECO
		T+2:35 Booster sep
		T+3:17 Insulation panels
		T+3:54 SECO
		T+3:56 Atlas sep
	0844	T+4:07 Centaur 13D MES 1
		T+4:19 Fairing
		T+4:21 Yaw mvr begins
	0851:47	T+11:38 Centaur MECO
		T+11:49 Solar paddles deploy
		T+11:50? Balance weights jettisoned
	0852	T+12:29 Centaur sep
	0905	T+25:31 Centaur blowdown 49s
1969 Apr 12		Attitude control loss
1969 Apr 16		Attitude control recovered
1973 Feb 14		end of tx

Reference Books Bulletin, 2000-2001: A Compilation of Evaluations September 2000 Through August 2001

 https://welib.org/md5/7db2cc6213954598274cc28e58c0fadf

Vortex 9

 1979-086A

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A second mission was launched in 1979. At this point it is believed that the codename was VORTEX.

VORTEX 9
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1979 Oct 1	1122:01	Launch by Titan IIIC	CC LC40
		T+1:50 Stage 1 ignition
		T+2:02 SRM sep
		T+4:35 St 1 sep
	1126	T+4:45 Fairing sep
	1130	Stage 2 MECO
	1130	T+8:05 Stage 2 sep
	1145	First descending node
	1145?	Transtage burn 1
	1800?	Transtage burn 2
	1802?	MECO-2
	1805?	Transtage sep
1979 Oct			1445.5 30443 x 41497 x 7.5 (UN)
1980 Apr?			GEO 34E