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STARLAB |
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The 7-day Starlab Spacelab mission was scheduled for a May 1992 launch (the STS-50 Spacelab slot), but was cancelled in September 1990. Two NASA-astronauts and two military Payload Specialists ("Manned Spaceflight Engineers") would test several laser-systems for the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO). Highlight of the mission would be the acquisition, tracking and 'pointing' of six Starbird rockets, launched from Cape Canaveral and Wake Island, with a red 'marker' laser.
The optical path of the laser (outgoing) and the WCE (incoming) would run through a viewport in the aft end cone of the Spacelab module to a horizontally mounted, fixed 80-centimeter telescope and would be targeted by a 1.50 meter steerable Ball Aerospace 'beamwalk' mirror. The Payload Experiment Package (PEP) on the pallet, next to the telescope and the mirror, included a green illuminator laser to track the Starbird vehicles, laser electronics and two deployable, spherical Space Test Objects. The STO's (called "Starlets") were used for allignment of the marker- and the illuminating laser before engaging the Starbird rockets and for multiple object tracking experiments. The Starlab mission would also participate in a passive laser-experiment called Short Wave Adaptive Technology (SWAT). This experiment involved a mirror at the Air Force Maui Optical Station (AMOS), Hawaii, and employed three laser beams, two that originated from equipment at AMOS pointed at Starlab, and one from Starlab pointed at AMOS. The purpose of the SWAT experiment was to determine corrections to laser beams that were being distorted when traveling through the earth's atmosphere. THE PATCH The Starlab patch shows the red marker beam leaving the beamwalk mirror in the payload bay of the orbiter. It 'hits' the scoreboard on the Starbird missile, acquired by its exhaust plume. We have no idea what the five stars on the patch stand for, maybe the comet (with three trails) stands for the 3-men flight crew, with the four stars standing for the Starlab-crew. The scene is surrounded by the names of the major participants: the U.S. Air Force, NASA, the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, U.S. Army Strategic Defense Command, Lockheed Missile & Space Corporation (Sunnyvale, CA.) and Kaman Aerospace (Colorado Springs). This patch is hard to find. In fact, we had never seen it offered until we found our copy. It was included in a small collection that originated from a native of Colorado Springs. It was probably handed out to an employee at Kaman or the Air Force Satellite Control Network around 1987. MISSION HISTORY Air Force Program 513, first known as "SDI Starlab", was conceived in 1985. Around that time, a workforce of about one-hundred people at Kaman Aerospace in Colorado Springs began working on the Wavefront Control Experiment under a $ 40 million contract. Peak employment for the project probably lay around 1987, when Kaman opened an Electro-Optics Development Center in Tucson, Arizona, to support the program. By that time, the project was known as "Starlab". SWAT-activities at the AMOS site began in 1986 as well, when MIT Lincoln Labs started building "a large frame dye laser to characterize the atmospheric effects on laser beam propagation." The mission first appeared on the Space Shuttle Manifest of March 1, 1986. Listed as mission STS-72A, with a launch date of January 1988, the "SDI Spacelab" was to be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, using a polar orbit. With Shuttle operations halted by the Challenger accident, the mission (now STS-34) slipped to June 1989 and then March 1990 (STS-38). Since the Vandenberg launch capability was lost as a result of the Challenger accident, the polar orbit was changed to a 33.4 degree inclination flight, launched from the Kennedy Space Center. Flight support was moved to Cape Canaveral in September 1987. With completion of the Starbird launch site not expected before december 1989, the Starlab mission was rescheduled to fly on STS-41 early 1988, with a launch date of June 1990 and later September 1990. However, the Starlab mission was moved back further: on the January 1989 Launch Manifest, it was planned for the November 1990/STS-42 Spacelab slot. In June, this was taken up by the IML-1 Spacelab mission and Starlab was rescheduled for STS-48, with a launch in August 1991. It was next moved to STS-49, with a launch date of September 1991. In March 1990, with other Air Force Projects such as the Teal Ruby-satellite already cancelled, launch was moved further back to January 1992. In August 1990, the mission was scheduled for May 1992 (STS-50). In late September, Starlab was cancelled altogether to protect funding for the Briliant Pebbles system. The Spacelab slot was taken by the United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML)-1. On September 1, 1990, the four payload specialists associated with the mission resigned from the program. In the mean time, some of the laser experiments were peformed with the unmanned LACE spacecraft, even involving the launch of one of the original Starbird vehicles in December 1990. THE CREW The Starlab mission would be flown by a crew of seven astronauts. Four military Payload Specialists were assigned to the Starlab project in July 1987. They were: Craig A. Puz, Maureen C. LaComb, Dennis L. Boesen and Kenneth P. Bechis. Puz and LaComb, both US Airforce Captains, were selected as the primary Payload Specialists, Boesen and Bechis - more scientifically oriented - acted as their back ups. Puz and LaComb were injured in a car crash in Boston in June 1988. One year later, Puz was medically disqualified and he was replaced by Boesen. The five NASA crewmembers had not yet been assigned to the mission when it was cancelled in September 1990, but would probably have been commanded by Dan Brandenstein, John Creighton, Loren Shriver or Dick Richards.     Puz, LaComb, Boesen and Bechis DETAILED MISSION DESCRIPTION The following mission description is based on the contribution of E. Zack, Progam Officer at the USAF Space Systems Division, to the Environmental Impact Analysis for the mission. Former President Reagan announced on March 23, 1983, that he was directing a "comprehensive and intensive effort to define a long term research and development program to begin to achieve our ultimate goal of eliminating the threat posed by strategic nuclear missiles." To implement this directive, the President created the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO), which was charted to oversee activities related to the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). The Starlab program was an SDI activity that consisted of a dedicated Space Shuttle mission having the objectives of demonstrating "proof of concepts" for several space based defense experiments and new concepts for performing strategic space experiments using the Space Shuttle/Spacelab capability. The Starlab program included a series of experiments that used Electro-optical and laser systems aboard the Space Shuttle and on the ground. These experiments were designed to: (1) demonstrate acquisition, tracking, and pointing (ATP) of laser systems; (2) collect plume and background information to narrow phenomenology uncertainties; (3) provide a basis for making an informed decision on the design of a weapon ATP system. Starlab included experiments that used laser beams propagated by equipment from the orbiter and to and from the ground. The laser experiments involved: (a) calibration of the Electro-optical systems, using two objects deployed from the orbiter (Space Test Objects) and scoreboards at ground calibration sites on Antique and Ascension Island; (b) ATP activities associated with Starbird test vehicle launches from Wake Island and Cape Canaveral, Florida; (c) participation in Short Wave Adaptive Technology (SWAT) experiments at the Air Force Maui Optical Station (AMOS), Hawaii; (d) the Kaman/Lockheed Missiles & Space Corporation (LMSC) Wavefront Control Experiment (WCE). In addition to these laser experiments, background data on the composition of visible and other spectral radiation from planets and stars would be collected during the Starlab mission to assist in calibrating the Electro-optical systems. Under a Memorandum of Agreement between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and DOD (1989), NASA would provide launch services for the Space Shuttle and overall Starlab mission coordination and support. SDIO was the DOD sponsor for the Starlab program and the U.S. Air Force (USAF) was responsible for developing the Starlab payload and conducting the experiments. The U.S. Army Strategic Defense Command (USASDC) was responsible for the ground launch vehicles (i.e., Project Starbird) associated with Starlab. Starlab operations: The proposed action would use the Space Shuttle to conduct and complete SDI experiments within a scheduled 7- day mission in the second quarter of 1992. These experiments would use Spacelab hardware located in the obiter bay to interact with ground sites, missiles in flight, and space test objects (STOs) deployed from the orbiter. The experiments were primarily designed to demonstrate the feasibility of using space based, Electro-optical and laser systems for the acquisition, subsequent tracking, and marking of missiles from space. Some of the proposed experiments used the Electro-optical system in a passive fashion, while others used it in a mix of active and passive modes. A passive experiment used the Electro-optical system camera to capture images with available light. An active segment of an experiment uses lasers to provide the necessary illumination [e.g.,acquiring and tracking a ground launched Starbird vehicle and its plume]. Approximately 20 separate events or engagements were scheduled for Starlab as part of six experiments. Ground sites included Wake Island, Cape Canaveral, and the Hawaiian Island of Maui, as well as Antigua and Ascension Island. General Description of the Starlab The major components of the payload included the Spacelab module and the Spacelab pallet. The module contained the optical bench that housed the marker laser and associated electronics. The marker laser would be used to mark experimental objects once they had been identified and were being tracked. The Spacelab module and pallet were Electro-optically linked and would function in a coordinated fashion during the experiments, with the marker beam traveling through the optical viewpoint into the Spacelab pallet. Major elements contained within the Spacelab pallet were the illuminator laser; a 31.5-in. (80-cm) telescope; ultraviolet, acquisition video, and infrared cameras; a 5-ft (1.5-m) pointing mirror; and two Space Test Objects. The Spacelab pallet would be open to space. The marker laser beam passed through the optical viewpoint, was routed through the telescope, and was subsequently reflected by the pointing mirror to its destination. All other optical beams and images were reflected by the pointing mirror. The cameras were used for initial acquisition and during the passive portions of experiments to assist in identifying experimental test objects under a variety of conditions. The illuminator laser would be used in active mode to illuminate and track experimental objects. The retroreflector, located on the forward bulkhead, would return a laser beam originating at AMOS to its source as part of the SWAT experiment. The STOs, which were 18.5-in. (47-cm) diameter spheres, would be deployed. The two types of lasers that would be transmitted from the orbiter were the "marker" (red) and "illuminator" (green) lasers. A back up to the illuminator laser would be provided. The SWAT uplink (green) laser was located at AMOS. Ground Operations  The Starlab mission - launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida - was to follow a 175 nautical mile, 33.4 degree inclination orbit. Ground operations included: (1) experiment command, control, and configuration; (2) experiment performance assessment; (3) data analyses; (4) dedicated planning. Operations during the mission would be controlled from and coordinated with the NASA Marshall Space Flight facility at Huntsville, Alabama. Ground control facilities would be located at Cape Canaveral and Wake Island for the Starbird engagements and at Maui for the SWAT experiments. These control facilities would be in continuos communication with NASA throughout the 7-day mission. Additional discussion of ground operations is provided in the following descriptions of individual experiments. Starlab Experiments The experiments and engagements included in the proposed action could be grouped for discussion as passive and active experiments. Passive experiments do not involve lasers and are used to gather background data and calibrate equipment. Active experiments use lasers include the Space Test Objects/Rapid Retargeting experiment, the Ground Calibration engagements, the Starbird engagement, and the SWAT experiment. Passive experiments Several experiments were designed to collect data and/or calibrate Starlab equipment without using lasers. Star calibrations were required to update the Starlab gyros and to calibrate the electro-optical system. Gyro updates were performed initially and prior to each experiment that required accurate pointing. Observations of planets were used to provide extended sources for the Kaman/Lockheed Wavefront Control Experiment. Earth background experiments were designed to obtain data by passively scanning the earth's surface and collecting ultraviolet and infrared radiation data. Plume phenomenology experiments were designed to use Starlab's ultraviolet and infrared sensors to collect data on the characteristics and physical behavior of plumes from Starbird vehicles launched from Cape Canaveral and Wake Island. Space Test Objects and Retargeting Experiments  Two Space Test Objects would be deployed from the Shuttle. Two small STOs were to be deployed from the orbiter and used in several experiments. The STOs weighed approximately 150lbs (68kg). They had diffuse white coatings to enhance passive observation and return of the tracking illuminator laser beams directed at them. Retroreflectors on the STOs returned the marker laser beam back to the Spacelab. A single STO was to be used for boresighting the illuminator laser to the marker laser. Scoring accuracy on the STOs could be evaluated during the experiments. In a separate experiment, two STOs were used to demonstrate the capability of rapid changing from tracking one object to acquiring and tracking a second. Ground Calibration Engagements Ground calibration sites would be established so that the orbiting Starlab could calibrate its optical control system in flight prior to subsequent Starbird engagements involving the launching of vehicles from Cape Canaveral and Wake Island. The two ground calibration sites that were selected were on Antigua and Ascension Island. Starbird engagements The USASDC had prepared sites at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida and at Wake Island in the North Pacific (near the Marshall Islands) for launching Starbird vehicles. Six Starbirds were available for Starlab engagements, and a seventh would be used for a developmental launch from CCAFS to test the target vehicle prior to the Starlab mission. At each site, a maximum of three vehicles would be launched on a ballistic trajectory to Allow the Starlab to acquire and track the Starbird plume and hardbody (the body of the launch vehicle) through series of events in the flight. The Starbird launch sites were located at Peacock Point on Wake Island and Launch Complex 20 at CCAFS. The facilities and operations at the two Starbird launch sites were essentially identical. Each site contained two launch pads, approximately 25ft2 (2.3 m2) with 50-x-80ft (15- x 24-m) work aprons, a launch equipment building, a payload assembly building, a launch operation control center, and mobile ground support equipment. At Wake Island site, existing buildings were modernized to use for missile assembly, motor storage, and the launch control center. The Wake Island facilities included a mobile range tracking support system transported by air from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Construction of the Wake Island facilities involved a work force of approximately 60 persons. Limited site preparation work was required for the mobile equipment. Approximately 120 additional personnel were required at Wake Island during the pre-operational and operational phases of the Starbird engagements (a 90 to 120 day period). Modernization of the blockhouse and the payload assembly buildings at CCAFS and the construction of two launch pads at LC20 were completed. About 25 additional personnel would be added to the work force at CCAFS during the pre-operational and operational phases of the Starbird engagements and for thepreliminary development launch prior to the Starlab mission.   The Starbird Launch Vehicle The Starbird payload that was covered by a protective shroud was a "scoreboard" laser target that was used to collect data for evaluating the engagement. The launch vehicle consisted of four stages and measured approximately 57ft (17 m) in length. The total weight of the vehicle was about 8 tons (7250 kg). The first stage would fall in the ocean, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) from the launch site. For each engagement with Starlab, two Starbird vehicles would be readied for launch at each of the sites, but only one would actually be launched. The second Starbird would be launched in the event of a technical problem with the first vehicle. If it was not required on the first shuttle engagement, the second Starbird from each site would be launched during subsequent shuttle passes. Each Starbird would be launched at a predetermined time as the orbiter approached and the launch site came within the Starlab field of view. A high intensity (at least 3000 W/sr.) 6^0 x 10^0 beam aimed at a point on the horizon where the shuttle would appear was required to aid the crew in quickly locating the launch site. This light would be on for only 15 min and turned off when the flight computer, using the video tracker signal processors (VTSP), properly acquired the Starbird plume through the use of either the video camera during day launches or the infrared sensor during night launches. Once this check took place, the system would automatically transfer the image of the plume to the visible coarse tracker of the infrared sensor. Data from the coarse tracker would be fed to the VTSP to calculate a plume centered, which was to be used to control the large pointing mirror. Each Starbird engagement would last approximately 3.75 min. The next task for the Starlab would be to acquire and track the protective shroud (the hardbody) of the Starbird vehicle. The shroud position, relative to the plume, would be calculated by a computer using a predetermined plume centered-to- shroud distance and the range from the orbiter to the Starbird. The illuminator laser would then be pointed at the calculated position of the shroud and activated before burnout of the second stage of the Starbird. Tracking control would then be transferred from the plume imaging to the illuminated shroud once it had been imaged and acquired on the fine tracker camera. The shroud would then be rejected, exposing the scoreboard. The Starlab marker laser would next be pointed at the scoreboard, where detectors on the scoreboard received the signal and used it to determine the accuracy and stability of the marker aimpoint. Self-scoring of the accuracy and jitter of the laser aimpoint would be accomplished by a retroreflector located in the center of the scoreboard. The retroreflector would return some of the marker laser to a detector in the Starlab electro-optical system through the pointing mirror and telescope. Short Wave Adaptive Technology The orbiting Starlab would participate in a SWAT laser experiment developed at AMOS in Hawaii. The purpose of the SWAT experiment was to determine corrections to laser beams that were being distorted when traveling through the earth's atmosphere. This experiment involved a mirror at AMOS and employed three laser beams, two that originated from equipment at AMOS pointed at Starlab, and one from Starlab pointed at AMOS. Initially, a blue laser beam from AMOS would be pointed toward a reflector on Starlab. The reflected signal would be returned from AMOS and used to calculate the amount of distortion in the laser beam resulting from atmospheric influences. This information would be used to correct equipment settings. Next, a green laser would be directed at Starlab from AMOS. Starlab would acquire and track this green laser beam. The AMOS Facility has been used successfully for tests known as the Adaptive Control Experiment, which involved identical laser engagements with high-flying aircraft. |
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HARDWARE RE-USED |
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the Starlab telescope, as used in the Flare Genesis project (left) and the Wavefront Control Experiment (right) at Yerkes Observatory. |
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