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Australia to fly Payload Specialist on Space Shuttle
potassium aluminium sulphate), as constituents in the surface materials in the area. These minerals are indicators of past hydrothermal activity and were probably formed at this site when volcanic rocks were subjected to hot circulating acid waters and changed to clays, alunite and secondary quartz. Areas containing these minerals are high priority exploration sites for gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc deposits. The surface minerals identified in the experiment are similar to those found in other large hydrothermal areas in the western United States. The three-mile diameter site is located in the mountainous central Baja California desert between Rosario on the Pacific side of the peninsula, and Bahia de 10s Angeles on the Gulf of California side. As there are no roads in the region, helicopters provided by the Mexican government were used to reach the desolate site. No known prospecting has been conducted in the area. Dr. G. P. Salas, the director of the Consejo Recurses Minerales and leader of the Mexican team said that follow-up geophysical and geochemical measurements would be made to determine the ore potential for the area. From the Shuttle’s payload bay, the instrument sampled individual areas 100 m (330 ft) in diameter over a total distance of approximately 80 000 km (50 000 miles). The experiment identified minerals by their reflectances in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. In sampling four continents, the instrument identified limestone (a carbonate-bearing rock), the clays kaolinite and possibly montmorillonite from orbit. The results represent the first time minerals other than limo&e (a common group of iron-bearing minerals) have been identified by a spacecraft sensor. The experiment was developed for NASA’s Office of Space Science and Applications.
3.13. AUSTRALIA TO FLY PAYLOAD SPECIALIST ON SPACE SHUlTLE”o’ Australian Acting Prime Minister, J. D. Anthony, announced plans to fly an Australian payload specialist on the Space Shuttle. The Australian payload specialist will fly on one of two 1985 Shuttle flights on which space has been reserved for the launch of communications satellites by AUSSAT Pty, Ltd, operator of Australia’s national satellite system. Australia’s announcement came in response to an offer made recently by NASA Administrator James M. Beggs. The offer was based on NASA’s newly enhanced policy which expands opportunities for sponsors of payloads on the Space Shuttle to fly their own personnel. Australia is the first country formally to announce the intention to take advantage of this opportunity. Under the revised policy, major payload sponsors will have the opportunity to nominate payload specialists to accompany their payloads into space on the Shuttle. Training and flight of these payload specialists will normally (“‘NASA
70
News Release No. 82-192 of 22 December
1982.
be on a reimbursable basis, although other arrangements may be negotiated in the case of co-operative flight projects involving the Space Shuttle. The Australian Department of Science and Technology will be responsible for the selection of the astronauts and other arrangements, in association with AUSSAT. The department is also responsible for the operation of Australian telecommunications systems using satellites. The two Australian satellites will be used for direct television broadcast, voice, data and public telephone services to continental Australia and off-shore territories. The satellites will be built by the Hughes Aircraft Co., Los Angeles, Calif.
3.14. HIGHLIGHTS
OF NASA’S 1992 ACTIVITIES””
This was the year the Space Shuttle, the reusable Space Transportation System, became operational as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration scored another perfect launch record in 1982. The STS3 and STS4 missions in March and June 1982 wound up the series of four development flights to complete the shakedown of the Shuttle orbiter and booster systems. The successful STSJ flight in November 1982, in which two commercial communications satellites were launched into orbit, marked the first operational use of the Shuttle. The Shuttle impacts virtually all of the programme areas of NASA, mainly through experiments flown on each of the missions. Superior pictures of earth are being transmitted from new instruments aboard Landsat 4, the latest generation of earth remote sensing satellites launched in July 1982. In addition to the three Shuttle missions, there were 11 successful launches, mainly commercial and international communications satellites, by the agency. This is the sixth perfect launch record in the agency’s 24-year history. Office of Space Flight Three successful Space Shuttle flights, including the first commercial mission, highlighted the year for NASA’s Office of Space Flight. STS-5 deployed two commercial communication satellites during its flight. STS-4 completed the fourmission Orbital Flight Test (OFT) series with a near flawless mission and STS-3 successfully used the Remote Manipulator System. In addition, a successful Flight Readiness Firing with orbiter Challenger was conducted on 18 December at Kennedy Space Center. Challenger is scheduled to fly its first mission in late January 1983. Despite the cancellation of an extra-vehicular activity on STS-5, launched on 11 November, the mission was considered a resounding success as the crew deployed Satellite Business System’s SBS3 and Telesat Canada’s Anik C-3 into low earth parking orbit over the Pacific Ocean. After deployment from the ““NASA
News Release No. 82-194 of 23 December 1982.
71
3.13. AUSTRALIA TO FLY PAYLOAD SPECIALIST ON SPACE SHUlTLE”o’ Australian Acting Prime Minister, J. D. Anthony, announced plans to fly an Australian payload specialist on the Space Shuttle. The Australian payload specialist will fly on one of two 1985 Shuttle flights on which space has been reserved for the launch of communications satellites by AUSSAT Pty, Ltd, operator of Australia’s national satellite system. Australia’s announcement came in response to an offer made recently by NASA Administrator James M. Beggs. The offer was based on NASA’s newly enhanced policy which expands opportunities for sponsors of payloads on the Space Shuttle to fly their own personnel. Australia is the first country formally to announce the intention to take advantage of this opportunity. Under the revised policy, major payload sponsors will have the opportunity to nominate payload specialists to accompany their payloads into space on the Shuttle. Training and flight of these payload specialists will normally (“‘NASA
70
News Release No. 82-192 of 22 December
1982.
be on a reimbursable basis, although other arrangements may be negotiated in the case of co-operative flight projects involving the Space Shuttle. The Australian Department of Science and Technology will be responsible for the selection of the astronauts and other arrangements, in association with AUSSAT. The department is also responsible for the operation of Australian telecommunications systems using satellites. The two Australian satellites will be used for direct television broadcast, voice, data and public telephone services to continental Australia and off-shore territories. The satellites will be built by the Hughes Aircraft Co., Los Angeles, Calif.
3.14. HIGHLIGHTS
OF NASA’S 1992 ACTIVITIES””
This was the year the Space Shuttle, the reusable Space Transportation System, became operational as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration scored another perfect launch record in 1982. The STS3 and STS4 missions in March and June 1982 wound up the series of four development flights to complete the shakedown of the Shuttle orbiter and booster systems. The successful STSJ flight in November 1982, in which two commercial communications satellites were launched into orbit, marked the first operational use of the Shuttle. The Shuttle impacts virtually all of the programme areas of NASA, mainly through experiments flown on each of the missions. Superior pictures of earth are being transmitted from new instruments aboard Landsat 4, the latest generation of earth remote sensing satellites launched in July 1982. In addition to the three Shuttle missions, there were 11 successful launches, mainly commercial and international communications satellites, by the agency. This is the sixth perfect launch record in the agency’s 24-year history. Office of Space Flight Three successful Space Shuttle flights, including the first commercial mission, highlighted the year for NASA’s Office of Space Flight. STS-5 deployed two commercial communication satellites during its flight. STS-4 completed the fourmission Orbital Flight Test (OFT) series with a near flawless mission and STS-3 successfully used the Remote Manipulator System. In addition, a successful Flight Readiness Firing with orbiter Challenger was conducted on 18 December at Kennedy Space Center. Challenger is scheduled to fly its first mission in late January 1983. Despite the cancellation of an extra-vehicular activity on STS-5, launched on 11 November, the mission was considered a resounding success as the crew deployed Satellite Business System’s SBS3 and Telesat Canada’s Anik C-3 into low earth parking orbit over the Pacific Ocean. After deployment from the ““NASA
News Release No. 82-194 of 23 December 1982.
71