Laser firing
Maley, Paul D. (PMALEY@GP808.jsc.nasa.gov)
Thu, 23 May 1996 15:14:50 -0500
Rob Matson speculates on the interesting possibility of a water dump as
being the source. Checking the flight plan for this morning, there was a
water dump scheduled today but it terminated about 50 minutes prior to the
beam sighting. Having designed a Detailed Test Objective some years ago to
video tape the shape and size of water/waste dumps from the shuttle, the
description provided of the "beam" does not at all match the appearance of a
water/waste dump.
The PAMS Passive AerodynamicallyStabilized Magnetically Damped Satellite)
STU is a passive satellite containing no moving parts or electrical
components. It is an aluminum and brass cylinder 13.4 inches in diameter,
20.4 inches in length. Each end of the cylinder is equipped with an array of
fused silica, corner cube reflectors. The attitude measurement system
located on the orbiter will use a laser to illuminate the STU (satellite
test unit) and record the image returned by the retroreflectors. There is no
emission by the STU. There is a scheduled re-rendezvous with the STU on
Saturday.
Paul Maley
pmaley@gp808.jsc.nasa.gov