Location
Holiday Inn, Manatee Room B
Start Date
30-4-1997 1:00 PM
Description
The International Space Station (ISS) Program initiated a Launch Package/Stage (LP/S) Phase 1 Program in late 1993. The Launch Package/Stage (LP/S) Phase 1 Program was developed to evaluate, in the space environment, certain hardware, software, operational procedures, and models directly relevant to the design and development of the ISS. The individual projects were selected based on several factors. One of the most important was the potential for reducing or eliminating identified potential risks associated with the assembly and EVA supported maintenance. Of addition importance was proving methods for monitoring crew health, confirming models used for the station design, and testing prototype hardware. Hence the term, Risk Mitigation Experiments or RMEs. Numerous candidates were studied, and a subset were approved for fast track development and manifesting on specific Shuttle flights, which were to be devoted primarily to performing the defined experiments, in many cases while docked to the Russian Mir space station. Midway through the program, the results of the RMEs are already proving to be of significant benefit. Important design enhancements and operational issues created by the zero-g environment and long-term operations that could be resolved early-on were identified to reduce costs and improve the operational efficiency of the ISS in Phase 2/3. Typical results include the deployment and verification of the docking module, the data and analysis confirming the contamination produced by the existing Mir space station environment is not as concentrated as predicted, confirmation of a capability for attitude data exchange between the Space Shuttle and Mir, and development and proof of a structural analysis tool using photography rather than more costly mounted sensors.
Paper Session II-B - International Space Station Phase I Risk Mitigation Experimental Process Enhanced the Phase 2/3 Development
Holiday Inn, Manatee Room B
The International Space Station (ISS) Program initiated a Launch Package/Stage (LP/S) Phase 1 Program in late 1993. The Launch Package/Stage (LP/S) Phase 1 Program was developed to evaluate, in the space environment, certain hardware, software, operational procedures, and models directly relevant to the design and development of the ISS. The individual projects were selected based on several factors. One of the most important was the potential for reducing or eliminating identified potential risks associated with the assembly and EVA supported maintenance. Of addition importance was proving methods for monitoring crew health, confirming models used for the station design, and testing prototype hardware. Hence the term, Risk Mitigation Experiments or RMEs. Numerous candidates were studied, and a subset were approved for fast track development and manifesting on specific Shuttle flights, which were to be devoted primarily to performing the defined experiments, in many cases while docked to the Russian Mir space station. Midway through the program, the results of the RMEs are already proving to be of significant benefit. Important design enhancements and operational issues created by the zero-g environment and long-term operations that could be resolved early-on were identified to reduce costs and improve the operational efficiency of the ISS in Phase 2/3. Typical results include the deployment and verification of the docking module, the data and analysis confirming the contamination produced by the existing Mir space station environment is not as concentrated as predicted, confirmation of a capability for attitude data exchange between the Space Shuttle and Mir, and development and proof of a structural analysis tool using photography rather than more costly mounted sensors.
