Vibration, out-gas, and acoustic tests performed on the Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell (GFFC) instrument are reported. The slope of the 59 experiments to be performed by GFFC is outlined. Spacelab 3 crew training on the operation of the GFFC instrument is mentioned

Leslie, F.

Welsh 

NASA Technical Reports Server

T i t l e :  GFFC Exper iment  P r o g r e s s  
Research  I n v e s t i g a t o r :  Fred L e s l i e  
NASA/MSFC 
Mail Code ED42 
Marsha l l  Space  F l i g h t  C e n t e r ,  A L  35812 
Tel : 205/453-2047 
The G F F C  i n s t r u m e n t  was d e l i v e r e d  t o  MSFC on A u g u s t  4 ,  1983,  and 
moved t o  t h e  c l e a n  room, where t h e  e l e c t r o n i c  c o n n e c t i o n s  were 
made and t h e  i n s t r u m e n t  was powered u p .  S e v e r a l  problems were 
a p p a r e n t  upon a t t e m p t i n g  t o  e x e c u t e  a s c e n a r i o  f o r  t h e  f i r s t  
t ime .  The c o n t r o l  pane l  i n d i c a t e d  an o i l  l e a k  and swi t ched  t o  
t he  s t a n d b y  mode. The UV c o v e r  was removed t o  i n s p e c t  t h e  l e a k  
d e t e c t i o n  sys tem l o c a t e d  on t h e  o i l  b e l l o w s .  Repeated 
measurements  showed no o i l  l e a k  was o c c u r r i n g ,  b u t  t h e  s w i t c h  had 
been i n c o r r e c t l y  p o s i t i o n e d .  The l e a k  d e t e c t i o n  sys tem was 
t e m p o r a r i l y  o v e r r i d d e n  i n  o r d e r  t o  o p e r a t e  t h e  i n s t r u m e n t .  A f t e r  
t h e  UV c o v e r  was r e p l a c e d ,  t h e  i n s t r u m e n t  was charged  w i t h  G N 2 .  
By t h e  nex t  day most o f  i t  had l e a k e d  o u t .  An i n s p e c t i o n  showed 
t h e  l e a k  was o c c u r r i n g  th rough  two e l e c t r i c a l  c o n n e c t o r s .  The 
c o n n e c t o r s  were r e p o t t e d  w i t h  a more a p p r o p r i a t e  compound. 
In m i d - A u g u s t  t h e  GFFC was moved t o  t h e  v i b r a t i o n  f a c i l i t y  where 
i t  was t e s t e d  t o  f l i g h t  l e v e l s  o n  a l l  t h r e e  a x e s .  T h i s  was t h e  
t h i r d  v i b r a t i o n  t e s t .  The f i r s t  one s e v e r a l  y e a r s  ago was no t  
s u c c e s s f u l l y  pas sed  because  a f r a c t u r e  i n  t h e  d a t a  a n n o t a t i o n  
hous ing  o c c u r r e d .  The second t e s t  was s u c c e s s f u l  However, 
s u b s e q u e n t  r e d e s i g n  i n v a l i d a t e d  t h i s  t e s t ,  and a t h i r d  v i b r a t i o n  
t e s t  was r e q u i r e d .  Af te rward  t h e  i n s t r u m e n t  was r e t u r n e d  t o  t h e  
c l e a n  room, and t h e  t u r n t a b l e  was removed i n  o r d e r  t o  r e p l a c e  t h e  
s i l i c o n  o i l .  The o i l  had i n a d e q u a t e  photochromic  dye d i s s o l v e d  
i n  i t ,  and t h e  t r a c e r  d o t s  had a s h o r t  l i f e t i m e .  
The S p a c e l a b  3 crew r e c e i v e d  t r a i n i n g  o n  t h e  o p e r a t i o n  o f  t h e  
G F F C  i n s t r u m e n t .  The crew i n c l u d e d  payload  s p e c i a l i s t s  Mary 
Helen J o h n s t o n ,  Eugene T r i n h ,  Lodewijk van den Berg ,  a n d  T a y l o r  
Wang a s  well a s  m i s s i o n  s p e c i a l i s t s  Norm Thagard and Don L i n d ,  
and p i l o t  Fred Gregory.  The t r a i n i n g  s e s s i o n s  were conducted  by 
Fred L e s l i e  a n d  George F i c h t l  who b r i e f e d  the  crew o n  t h e  s c i e n c e  
i s s u e s  a d d r e s s e d  by t h e  expe r imen t  a n d  gave a d e s c r i p t i o n  o f  t h e  
hardware .  The n e x t  d a y ,  t h e  crew assembled  i n  t h e  c l e a n  room and 
o p e r a t e d  t h e  i n s t r u m e n t .  T r a i n i n g  was a l s o  performed a t  KSC 
d u r i n g  t h e  Level IV Mission Sequence T e s t .  A d d i t i o n a l  t r a i n i n g  
w i l l  be conducted  w i t h  a G F F C  s i m u l a t o r  a t  MSFC's Payload Crew 
T r a i  n i  n g  Compl ex .  
17 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19840026762 2020-03-22T11:02:32+00:00Z
During October, the G F F C  instrument success fu l ly  completed the 
o u t - g a s  t e s t  a n d  acous t ic  t e s t  a t  MSFC, completing the 
ins t rument ' s  f l i g h t  q u a l i f i c a t i o n .  The f i n a l  ground science 
t e s t s  were conducted a n d  the observat ions were reviewed w i t h  P I  
P r o f .  J o h n  Hart. The r e s u l t s  o f  these t e s t s  were used t o  
f i n a l i z e  the f l i g h t  experiments t o  be conducted on -o rb i t .  The 
scenar ios  were loaded in to  G F F C ' s  memory, a n d  some were r u n  on 
the gr>ound. 
The GFFC i s  programmed f o r  5 9  experiments t o t a l i n g  more t h a n  2 0 0  
hours. Twenty experiments a r e  r e l a t ed  t o  t h e  dynamics of t h e  
s o l a r  atmosphere. In general these  a re  charac te r ized  by a 
r o t a t i n g  h o t  isothermal inner  sphere a n d  a r e l a t i v e l y  cool 
isothermal outer  sphere.  Fourteen experiments model the Jovian 
atmosphere having an  uns tab le  r ad ia l  temperature g rad ien t  a s  well 
as  a l a t i t u d i n a l  temperature grad ien t .  S t r a t i f i e d  spin-up i n  a 
hemispherical s h e l l  comprises 10  experiments. This i s  a more 
basic  experiment in f l u i d  dynamics which examines the time- 
dependent motion o f  a f l u i d  i n i t i a l l y  a t  r e s t  reac t ing  t o  the  
sudden s t a r t  o f  r o t a t i o n  o f  i t s  con ta ine r .  The process i s  
f u r t h e r  c o m p l i c a t e d  by imposing a r a d i a l l y  s t a b l e  temperature 
grad ien t  w h i c h  suppresses r ad ia l  m o t i o n .  Nine general 
experiments examine the  onset o f  convection fo r  var ious Rayleigh 
a n d  Taylor numbers. For a p a r t i c u l a r  r o t a t i o n  r a t e  a n d  rad ia l  
temperature g r a d i e n t ,  the  Rayleigh number wi l l  be gradual ly  
increased by increas ing  the e f f e c t i v e  g rav i ty  u n t i l  t h e  
i n i t i a t i o n  o f  convection begins.  F ina l ly ,  s ix  experiments a re  
r e l a t ed  t o  ocean c i r c u l a t i o n  i n  t h a t  the f l u i d  i s  s t a b l y -  
s t r a t i f i e d  i n  the r ad ia l  d i r e c t i o n s ,  a n d  the f l u i d  m o t i o n  i s  
driven by a l a t i t u d i n a l  temperature g rad ien t .  
Because o f  continued fa l se-a la rms  by the  o i l  leak de tec t ion  
system, the t u r n t a b l e  o f  the G F F C  was removed from the instrument 
housing a n d  a new de tec t ion  system was i n s t a l l e d  o n  the two 
access ib l e  expansion bellows. The t u r n t a b l e  was then r e i n s t a l l e d  
a n d  func t iona l ly  t e s t ed  with no problems. A helium leak t e s t  was 
t h e n  performed t o  t e s t  the instrument 's  a b i l i t y  t o  r e t a i n  gaseous 
n i t rogen .  The r e s u l t s  o f  t h i s  t e s t  showed no s i g n i f i c a n t  
1 ea kage. 
The G F F C  Pre-Ship Review was held on January 5 ,  1984. 
Representat ives  from each lab presented ma te r i a l s  summarizing 
t h e i r  d i s c i p l i n e ' s  eva lua t ion  o f  the G F F C  instrument .  There were 
no open items for  the experiment a n d  the  Review Board approved 
shipping the instrument t o  KSC. The G F F C  was shipped the next 
d a y .  A management dec is ion  was made n o t  t o  perform a n y  post-ship 
funct ional  t e s t s  o f  the instrument.  
18 
d 
E x p e r i m e n t  e m p h a s i s  now f o c u s e s  o n  S p a c e l a b  i n t e g r a t i o n  a n d  
m i s s i o n  p l a n n i n g .  A m e e t i n g  o f  t h e  I n v e s t i g a t o r ' s  W o r k i n g  G r o u p  
was h e l d  3 a n u a r y  1 8 - 2 0 .  GFFC P I  D r .  J o h n  H a r t  p r e s e n t e d  h i s  
p l a n s  f o r  P O C C  ( P a y l o a d  O p e r a t i o n s  C o n t r o l  C e n t e r )  o p e r a t i o n s  a n d  
c o n t i n g e n c y  p r o c e d u r e s .  D e t a i l s  o f  P O C C  t r a i n i n g  a n d  
f a m i l i a r i z a t i o n  w e r e  a l s o  d i s c u s s e d .  
D r .  F r p d  L e s l i e  t r a v e l l e d  t o  KSC t o  s u p p o r t  t h e  GFFC f u n c t i o n a l  
t e s t .  The i n s t r u m e n t  i s  i n s t a l l e d  i n  Rack 11 and  i s  m o u n t e d  on 
t h e  S p a c e l a b  f l o o r  a l o n g  w i t h  t h e  o t h e r  e x p e r i m e n t s .  The p u r p o s e  
o f  t h e  t e s t  i s  t o  v e r i f y  t h e  i n t e r f a c e s  b e t w e e n  t h e  S p a c e l a b  a n d  
t h e  i n d i v i d u a l  e x p e r i m e n t s .  Some p r o b l e m s  d i d  a r i s e .  The 
t u r n t a b l e  d i d  n o t  r o t a t e  i n i t i a l l y  a s  commanded. T r o u b l e s h o o t i n g  
t r a c e d  t h e  p r o b l e m  t o  some b r o k e n  w i r e s  i n  a c o n n e c t o r  b e h i n d  t h e  
e l e c t r o n i c s  b o x .  The c a b l e  was r e p a i r e d ,  a n d  t h e  t u r n t a b l e  
p e r f o r m e d  a s  commanded. A s e c o n d  p r o b l e m  was t h e  i n a b i l i t y  o f  
t h e  GFFC t i m e  c o d e  g e n e r a t o r  t o  r e m a i n  s y n c h r o n i z e d  w i t h  t h e  
O r b i t e r ' s  M a s t e r  T i m i n g  U n i t  a l t h o u g h  i t  w o u l d  do  so w i t h  a n  
i n d e p e n d e n t  s o u r c e .  R a t h e r  t h a n  t a k e  t h e  t i m e  a n d  r i s k  o f  
r e m o v i n g  t h e  e l e c t r o n i c s  b o x ,  i t  was d e c i d e d  t o  a l l o w  t h e  GFFC t o  
r u n  on i t e r n a l  t i m i n g  and  h a v e  a c rewman n o t e  t h e  M i s s i o n  E l a p s e d  
T i m e  o f  t h e  s t a r t  o f  e a c h  s c e n a r i o .  
A l s o  d u r i n g  M a r c h ,  t h e  S p a c e l a b  3 M i s s i o n  S e q u e n c e  T e s t  (MST) was 
c o m p l e t e d .  D r .  L e s l i e  p a r t i c i a p t e d  i n  t h e  o p e r a t i o n  o f  t h e  GFFC 
e x p e r i m e n t  d u r i n g  t h e  a p p r o p r i a t e  t i m e l i n e  r u n s .  B e c a u s e  o f  t i m e  
s i g n a l  s y n c h r o n i z a t i o n  p r o b l e m s ,  t h e  GFFC o p e r a t e d  o n  i t s  
i n t e r n a l  c l o c k  a l o n e ,  a n d  c r e w  p r o c e d u r e s  w e r e  r e v i s e d  t o  a l l o w  
c o r r e l a t i o n  b e t w e e n  t h e  i n t e r n a l  c l o c k  a n d  t h e  a c t u a l  M i s s i o n  
E l a p s e d  T i m e  C l o c k .  A l t h o u g h  no a n o m a l i e s  w e r e  n o t e d  u s i n g  t h i s  
m e t h o d ,  a F i e l d  E n g i n e e r i n g  Change (FEC) was r e q u e s t e d  t o  i n s u r e  
t h a t  t h e  GFFC w o u l d  n o t  p i c k  u p  s p u r i o u s  n o i s e .  The FEC d i r e c t e d  
a 75 ohms r e s i s t o r  t o  b e  p l a c e d  a c r o s s  t h e  t i m i n g  i n p u t  l i n e .  
T h i s  was a c c o m p l i s h e d  b e f o r e  t h e  end  o f  t h e  MST, a n d  a d d i t i o n a l  
r u n s  w e r e  made w i t h  t h e  GFFC. One I n t e r i m  P r o b l e m  R e p o r t  was 
f i l e d  a g a i n s t  t h e  e x p e r i m e n t .  T h i s  r e s u l t e d  when a m e a s u r e d  
s p h e r e  t e m p e r a t u r e  was 5OC l o w e r  t h a n  commanded. A s i m i l a r  
p r o b l e m  o c c u r r e d  d u r i n g  t e s t i n g  a t  MSFC and  was t r a c e d  t o  
i n a d e q u a t e  g r o u n d i n g .  A l l  t h e  g r o u n d i n g  m e a s u r e m e n t s  w e r e  
r e p e a t e d  a t  KSC and  w e r e  w i t h i n  t o l e r a n c e .  A l t h o u g h  t h i s  u n d e r -  
t e m p e r a t u r e  c o n d i t i o n  c o u l d  be  a r e s u l t  o f  o p e r a t i n g  t h e  
e x p e r i m e n t  i n  a l g  e n v i r o n m e n t ,  i t  i s  b e i n g  i n v e s t i g a t e d  f u r t h e r .  
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GFFC experiment progress

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