ATI Space Email Newsletter - 
In this issue of ATI Space News-the full newsletter and additional details
at http://www.ATIcourses.com/spacenews.htm  
� NASA Workforce Information Site
� Administrator Calls Cuts to NASA Budget 'Devastating'
� CBS Space News Web Site
� Chandra X-Ray Observatory
� 32 Globalstar Satellites In Space
� Design Errors Caused Wire Spacecraft Failure
� New Ati Space Training Schedule Posted On Internet
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NASA WORKFORCE INFORMATION SITE

NASA Workforce Information Site. This web site shows the composition and 
changes size of NASA's civil service workforce. Includes NASA workforce 
reduction statistics and the numbers still required at each center by FY 
2000. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/HR-Education/workforce/


ADMINISTRATOR CALLS CUTS TO NASA BUDGET 'DEVASTATING'

"The NASA team just launched Chandra, the world's most powerful space
telescope," NASA Administrator Dan Goldin said.  "Today, we will have to
turn it back on Washington to see what remains of the NASA budget."
Last night, a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee passed a funding
bill that cuts NASA's budget about 11 percent below the President's request
for Fiscal Year 2000.  

"Year after year, NASA is touted for doing more and more with smaller
budgets and held up as a model of good government," said Goldin.  "The NASA
employees get up every day to achieve what most think is impossible.  They
have risen to the challenge of smaller budgets.  And this is the reward the
NASA team gets?  Not only is this cut devastating to NASA's programs, it is
a knife in the heart of employee morale.

"It is a shame that in the same week that we are celebrating the legacy of
the space program-and we are building on it by sending the first woman to
command the Space Shuttle-we could be effectively smashing one of America's
crown jewels," Goldin said.  "NASA continues to deliver amazing scientific
discoveries and reach new heights of exploration.  To many Americans, NASA
is a cornerstone of our national pride.  But there is nothing to be proud of
in this budget.  

"Over the past five years, NASA has restructured the Agency, done more with
less, reduced government employees by one-third without forced layoffs, and
still significantly increased productivity.  Up until now, NASA has always
stepped up to the budgetary challenge.  This time the NASA team plans to
fight.  These cuts would gut space exploration.  They may force the closure
of one to three NASA centers, and significant layoffs would most certainly
follow," said Goldin.  

The Administrator noted other implications for the budget as well:

* For the past seven years, the NASA budget has declined and, because
of inflation, the Agency's buying power is already down by one-third.

* While the subcommittee's cuts total $1.325 billion, if these figures
are projected out five years, the cuts would total approximately $5.3
billion.  

* Over the past five years, NASA's streamlining efforts have saved the
taxpayer $35 billion.

"This cut destroys the technology base built by NASA," Goldin said. "Our
ability to further reduce costs and increase scientific productivity would
end.  NASA is one of only a few investments our nation makes to ensure a
bright future, a strong economy and the technology base to achieve it. As a
result of the cuts, we would be forced to eat our seed corn, and in the
long-term it would weaken America's technological and defense sectors.
Perhaps most sadly, we will lose the opportunity to inspire a future
generation of children."

"I won't feel better until every nickel is restored," said Goldin.   


CBS SPACE NEWS WEB SITE

CBS Space News is an excellent source of information
http://www.cbs.com/network/news/space/spacesites.html


CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY 

The Chandra X-Ray Observatory is well on its way to its five-year mission to 
give scientists around the world a better understanding of the structure and 
evolution of the universe. It will provide unprecedented X-ray images and 
spectra of violent, high-temperature events and objects. The crew of Space 
Shuttle mission STS-93, deployed Chandra from the orbiter Columbia on July 
23.. It is is designed to observe X-rays from high energy regions of the 
universe, such as hot gas in the remnants of exploded stars. This X-Ray 
facility was named the Chandra X-Ray Observatory in honor of the late 
Indian-American Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. "Chandra" also 
means "Moon" or "luminous" in Sanskrit. 

The Observatory has three major parts: (1) the X-ray telescope, whose
mirrors will focus X-rays from celestial objects; (2)the science instruments
which record the X-rays so that X-ray images can be produced and analyzed; 
and (3) the spacecraft, which provides the environment necessary for the 
telescope and the instruments to work.

The final three maneuvers are targeted for July 29, July 31 and August 2.
The next burn will raise the high point of the telescope's orbit to the
target altitude while the final two will raise the low point, or perigee.
Flight controllers at the Operations Control Center in Cambridge, Mass., are
now turning some of their attention to the Observatory's science instruments. 
The activation and checkout of Chandra's science equipment will take about 
three weeks. http://chandra.harvard.edu/about/top_ten.html

Chandra Top 10 Facts

10. Chandra will fly 200 times higher than Hubble - more than 1/3 of the way 
to the moon!

9. Chandra will be observing X-rays from clouds of gas so vast that it takes
light five million years to go from one side to the other! 

8. During maneuvers from one target to the next, Chandra slews more slowly 
than the minute hand on a clock. 

7. At 45 feet long, Chandra is the largest satellite the shuttle has ever
launched! 

6. If Colorado were as smooth as Chandra's mirrors, Pikes Peak would be less 
than one inch tall! 

5. Chandra's resolving power is equivalent to the ability to read a stop
sign at a distance of twelve miles. 

4. The electrical power required to operate the Chandra spacecraft and
instruments is 2 kilowatts.

3. The light from some of the quasars observed by Chandra will have been
traveling through space for ten billion years. 

2. STS-93, the space mission that deployed Chandra, is the first NASA
shuttle mission commanded by a woman. 

1. Chandra can observe x-rays from particles up to the last second before
they fall into a black hole!!!


32 GLOBALSTAR SATELLITES IN SPACE AFTER EIGHTH SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH

Globalstar announced the successful launch of an additional four 
low-earth-orbiting (LEO) satellites into space, bringing  the total number of 
Globalstar satellites that have been successfully launched to 32. 

These four satellites complete the minimum space segment configuration
required for service beginning in late-September. Twenty additional 
satellites will be launched through the  remainder of the year, increasing 
system capacity and coverage, and forming Globalstar's  final 48-satellite 
constellation with four spares. http://www.globalstar.com/

"Of the many milestones Globalstar has achieved over the last several
years, this one - the formation of our 32-satellite initial constellation - 
is perhaps the most significant ," said Bernard L. Schwartz, chairman and 
chief executive officer of Globalstar. "Further launches  will enhance our 
system, but for now we can move forward with confidence toward initiation
of service as scheduled this autumn." 

"Meanwhile, work on our ground infrastructure also continues to move
forward as planned," Mr. Schwartz added. "Testing of the system has been very 
successful, and our service provider partners are stepping up their plans for 
regional introduction of service."

The Globalstar satellites were separated in pairs from the upper stage
of the Delta II rocket at an altitude of 1370 kilometers (851 miles) above 
the Earth. Flight engineers at Globalstar's ground control center in San 
Jose, Calif., subsequently acquired the satellites using the six Globalstar 
telemetry command unit gateways located in Aussaguel, France; Yeoju, South 
Korea; Dubbo, Australia; Bosque Allegre, Argentina; Delareyville, South 
Africa; and Clifton, Texas. During the next two weeks, Globalstar engineering 
teams will raise these satellites to their operational altitude of 1,414 
kilometers (877 miles). Launches will continue through the end of the year, 
using a combination of Delta and Soyuz launch vehicles. 

The Globalstar system is designed to provide affordable satellite-based
digital voice services  to a broad range of subscribers and users. Globalstar 
will meet the needs of cellular users and global travelers who roam outside 
of cellular coverage areas, as well as residents of under-served markets who 
will use Globalstar's fixed-site phones to satisfy their needs for  basic 
telephony.

Globalstar, led by founding partner Loral Space & Communications, is a
partnership of the world's leading telecommunications service providers and 
equipment manufacturers, including Qualcomm Incorporated, AirTouch 
Communications, Alenia, China Telecom (HK), DACOM, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, 
Elsacom, TE.SA.M, Hyundai, Space Systems/Loral and
Vodafone. For more information, visit Globalstar's web site at 
www.globalstar.com.


INVESTIGATION FINDS DESIGN ERRORS CAUSED WIRE SPACECRAFT FAILURE

NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) failed because of an incorrectly 
designed electronics box that prematurely fired explosive devices, causing 
early ejection of the instrument's telescope cover, a NASA board has found. 
The WIRE Mishap Investigation Board found that the design of the instrument's 
electronics box did not take into account subtle, but known, start-up 
characteristics of one component within the box.  Electrical power created at 
the start-up of this component reached explosive devices, called 
pyrotechnics, meant to eject the telescope's cover later in the mission. The 
power reached the pyrotechnics within a fraction of a second after the box 
was turned on, and the cover was ejected. With the premature loss of the 
telescope's cover, the frozen hydrogen used to cool the telescope's sensitive 
infrared detectors was exposed to the Sun.

As the telescope warmed, the hydrogen converted into a gas and vented
entirely into space within 48 hours of launch.  Without the frozen hydrogen,
the instrument could not conduct its scientific mission.

"There was no component failure," said Darrell Branscome, chairman of the
eight-member WIRE Mishap Board and Deputy Associate Administrator
(Enterprise Development) for NASA's Office of Space Flight, Washington, DC. 
"This was simply a case of a design error that allowed power to get to the 
explosive charges before it should have. Unfortunately, the design was 
flawed." 

The report added that simulators and other support equipment used for design 
and verification tests lacked the fidelity required to detect this potential 
failure. 

"A significant contributing cause of the anomaly was the failure to
identify, understand, and correct the electronic design of the pyro
electronics box," the report said.  "Design errors in the circuitry, which
controlled pyro functions, were not identified. The pyro electronics box
design was not peer reviewed, and other system reviews conducted by the
instrument design team did not focus on the electronics box."
The team's report also included recommendations for future spacecraft
designers.  These include the use of independent, separate inhibiting
devices for pyrotechnics for mission-critical or irreversible events;
additional testing for anomalous start-up behavior; detailed, independent
reviews to assess the system design; and consideration of the design,
location and mounting of external vent hardware in the event of a worst-case 
venting scenario. 

The WIRE mission was the latest in a series of Small Explorers, a project
under the Explorers Program managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, 
Greenbelt, MD. Goddard also built the WIRE spacecraft.  The Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, managed development of the WIRE instrument, which 
was constructed by the Space Dynamics Laboratory at Utah State University, 
North Logan, Utah.


NEW ATI SPACE TRAINING SCHEDULE POSTED ON INTERNET

The new schedule of ATI space and satellite technical training has been 
posted on our web site. http://www.ATIcourses.com          

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