Payload crew members' view of spacelab operations

Various operational aspects of the Spacelab 1 mission are reviewed by the four payload crew members. Two-shift operations, voice communication with ground investigators, joint participation in experiment activity, Spacelab performance, and recent advances are discussed.     

Atmospheric physics and Earth observations: sample performance of the grille spectrometer

The grille spectrometer observed the setting and rising sun 18 times during the Spacelab 1 mission. In addition to solar absorption lines, many of which had not been observed before, atmospheric spectral absorptions due to carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide were observed at heights tangent to the thermosphere (greater than 85 kilometers), and absorptions due to ozone, water, methane, and nitrous oxide were observed in the mesosphere (greater than 50 kilometers). The strongly coupled molecules NO-NO(2) and HC1-HF were observed as pairs in the stratosphere. Methane is presented as an example of the instrumental operations because of the characteristic aspect of the Q branch of its v(3) band.     

Atmospheric physics and Earth observations: atmospheric spectral imaging

An array of imaging spectrometers flown on the Spacelab 1 mission was capable of providing spectra of the atmospheric emissions over a broad wavelength range from 300 to 12,700 angstroms and acquiring each complete spectrum nearly simultaneously. The instrument was used to make observations on the day side and night side of the earth, looking down in the nadir direction, radially away from the earth, and in various limb-scanning modes. Observations were made looking at various angles to the vehicle velocity vector and during thruster firings and water dumps as well as at times when such events were inhibited. As a result of the mission a data base has been acquired that is valuable for studies of both the upper atmosphere and the shuttle-Spacelab vehicle environment.     

Life sciences: microorganisms in the space environment

Preliminary results of the Spacelab 1 experiment on the response of Bacillus subtilis spores to conditions of free space are presented. Exposure to the vacuum of space on the Spacelab pallet reduced viability counts about 50 percent and increased mutation frequencies by a factor of about 10. Interpretation of apparent differences in the photobiological and photochemical data between flight and ground simulation experiments will require more statistical analyses and data from actual fluence measurements.     

Life sciences: radiobiological advanced biostack experiment

The radiobiological properties of the heavy ions of cosmic radiation were investigated on Spacelab 1 by use of biostacks, monolayers of biological test organisms sandwiched between thin foils of different types of nuclear track detectors. Biostacks were exposed to cosmic radiation at several locations with different shielding environments in the module and on the pallet. Evaluations of the physical and biological components of the experiment to date indicate that in general they survived the spaceflight in good condition. Dosimetric data are presented for the different shielding environments.     

Mars surface diversity as revealed by the OMEGA/Mars Express observations

The Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces, et l'Activité (OMEGA) investigation, on board the European Space Agency Mars Express mission, is mapping the surface composition of Mars at a 0.3- to 5-kilometer resolution by means of visible-near-infrared hyperspectral reflectance imagery. The data acquired during the first 9 months of the mission already reveal a diverse and complex surface mineralogy, offering key insights into the evolution of Mars. OMEGA has identified and mapped mafic iron-bearing silicates of both the northern and southern crust, localized concentrations of hydrated phyllosilicates and sulfates but no carbonates, and ices and frosts with a water-ice composition of the north polar perennial cap, as for the south cap, covered by a thin carbon dioxide-ice veneer.     

Materials: tribology experiment in zero gravity

A tribology experiment in zero gravity was performed during the orbital flight of Spacelab 1 to study the motion of liquid lubricants over solid surfaces. The absence of a significant gravitational force facilitates studies of the motion of liquid lubricants over solid surfaces as controlled by interfacial and capillary forces. Observations were made of phenomena associated with the liquid on one solid surface and also with the liquid between a pair of closely spaced surfaces. Typical photographic records obtained on Spacelab 1 are described.     

Corrections and clarifications

In the Research News article "Extreme ultraviolet satellites open new view of the sky" by Donald Goldsmith (14 Apr., p. 202), astronomer Stuart Bowyer was incorrectly identified as the director of the University of California, Berkeley's Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Astronomy. Bowyer was the founding director of the center and was succeeded by Roger Malina, who became acting director in 1994 and is now director. Malina is, with Bowyer, a principal investigator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's EUVE (Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer) mission.     

Materials: marangoni convection in space microgravity environments

Thermally induced surface-driven convection (thermal Marangoni convection) was investigated in the Spacelab 1 microgravity environment. The configuration studied is related to the floating-zone technique used for crystal growth.     

Deep Impact observations by OSIRIS onboard the Rosetta spacecraft

The OSIRIS cameras (optical, spectroscopic, and infrared remote imaging system) onboard the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft observed comet 9P/Tempel 1 for 17 days continuously around the time of NASA's Deep Impact mission. The cyanide-to-water production ratio was slightly enhanced in the impact cloud, compared with that of normal comet activity. Dust particles were flowing outward in the coma at >160 meters per second, accelerated by the gas. The slope of the brightness increase showed a dip about 200 seconds after the impact. Dust Afrho values before and long after the impact confirm the slight decrease of cometary activity. The dust-to-water mass ratio was much larger than 1.     

Astronomy and solar physics: solar irradiance observations

The absolute radiometer on Spacelab 1 was used to obtain solar irradiance observations from space. A number of effects must be taken into account in the data reduction. A provisional value was obtained for the mean solar constant during the observation period (6 to 8 December 1983).     

Astronomy and Solar Physics: X-ray Gas Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment

The payload complement on Spacelab 1 included a spectrometer for observations of the brighter cosmic x-ray sources. The primary scientific objective was to study the detailed spectral features of cosmic x-ray sources and their associated temporal variations over a wide energy range from about 2 to 80 kiloelectron volts. The instrument, based on the gas scintillation proportional counter, had a geometrical area of some 180 square centimeters with an energy resolution of about 9 percent at 7 kiloelectron volts. The results presented here show new results from two galactic binary x-ray sources, Cygnus X-3 and Centaurus X-3, and from the Perseus cluster of galaxies. The excellent energy resolution of the instrument permits line features to be identified in these sources with unprecedented quality.     

What the Longest Exposures from the Hubble Space Telescope Will eveal

Detailed simulations are presented of the longest exposures on representative fields that will be obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as predictions for the numbers and types of objects that will be recorded with exposures of different durations. The Hubble Space Telescope will reveal the shapes, sizes, and content of faint, distant galaxies and could discover a new population of Galactic stars.     

Space plasma physics: space experiments with particle accelerators

Electron and plasma beams and neutral gas plumes were injected into the space environment by instruments on Spacelab 1, and various diagnostic measurements including television camera observations were performed. The results yield information on vehicle charging and neutralization, beam-plasma interactions, and ionization enhancement by neutral beam injection.     

Materials: unidirectional solidification of cast iron

The segregation of sulfur in liquid cast iron was studied under conditions of microgravity on Spacelab 1. A rod of cast iron containing carbon, silicon, sulfur, and phosphorus was unidirectionally solidified at four different rates. The influence of sulfur on the graphite structure and the stability of an aluminum oxide skin deposited on the surface of the specimen were investigated.     

Atmospheric Physics and Earth Observations: Observations of Lyman-agr Emissions of Hydrogen and Deuterium

A spectrophotometer was flown on Spacelab 1 to study various mechanisms of Lyman-alpha emission in the upper atmosphere. The use of absorption cells filled with H(2) and D(2) gases allowed us to discriminate a number of weak Lyman-alpha emissions heretofore masked by the strong H geocoronal emission due to resonance scattering of solar photons. Preliminary results are presented on three topics: the first optical detection of the deuterium Lyman-alpha emission at 110 kilometers, with an intensity of 330 rayleighs indicating an eddy diffusion coefficient of 1.3 x 10(6) square centimeters per second; auroral proton precipitations seen on both the night and the day side; and an emission located above 250 kilometers of altitude, interpreted as the result of charge exchange of magnetospheric protons with geocoronal atoms.     

Encounter with venus: an update

This report is an introduction to the accompanying collection of early results from the Pioneer Venus orbiter and multiprobe missions, which encountered Venus on 4 December and 9 December 1978, respectively. Initial results for the multiprobe mission and for the first 30 days of the orbiter mission were reported in the 23 February issue of Science. Additional mission features and updated mission parameters based on refined tracking data and trajectory computations are presented here. New scientific results for both missions are given in the subsequent reports which cover the first 130 days (or orbits) of the nominal 243-day orbiter mission.     

Astronomy and solar physics: very-wide-field ultraviolet sky survey

Very-wide-field photographs of the sky were taken on Spacelab 1 at 1650, 1930, and 2530 angstroms with a limiting magnitude of 9.3 at 1930 angstroms. A 1.2 by 2.4 kiloparsec ultraviolet extension of the Shapley wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud is seen in some of the photographs.     

Astronomy and solar physics: measurement of the solar spectral irradiance from 200 to 3000 nanometers

The solar spectrum experiment on Spacelab 1 measured 98 percent of the sun's total energy output. It improved the absolute accuracy of solar irradiance data, especially in the ultraviolet and infrared regions. In order to detect any variation in the spectrum on future shuttle flights, the data were obtained in a radiation scale that can be preserved with high precision over many years. The instrument performance and preliminary data reduction are described.     

Astronomers meet in phoenix, recount a stellar year

Despite a tightening of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's budget and the trouble with the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers were starry-eyed over their latest findings, presented at the major annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society, (AAS) January 3 to 7. New images and measurements of stars, galaxies, cosmic microwaves, and mysterious gamma rays, along with an exciting nova explosion, made it a bright year for those working with existing orbiting satellites and ground-based telescopes, though uncertain funding clouds the future.