Mission Rules

Mission Rules were developed and used for manned spaceflight programs (e.g.,
Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, ASTP). I am aware of these "rules" being
used on different occasions that actually shortened the planned mission:

Friendship 7, John Glenn's mission limited to 3 orbits - after landing
bag/heat shield light
Gemini 8, usage of RCS to stop violent roll - "end of mission" - begin
procedures for reentry (south China Sea)

Were the standard "mission rules" that were common for a specific program
(but not specific mission tasks) ever published?

g. beat

In article osDad.160752$wV.122785@attbi_s54,
G.Beat wrote:
Mission Rules were developed and used for manned spaceflight programs (e.g.,
Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, ASTP). I am aware of these "rules" being
used on different occasions that actually shortened the planned mission:
Friendship 7, John Glenn's mission limited to 3 orbits - after landing
bag/heat shield light

No, Glenn's flight was always planned as three orbits (as was
Carpenter's). That was the nominal mission for Mercury, as designed.
Schirra's six-orbit flight required small design changes; Cooper's
22-orbit flight required serious changes and some people didn't consider
it to be really a Mercury flight at all.

Gemini 8, usage of RCS to stop violent roll - "end of mission" - begin
procedures for reentry (south China Sea)

Correct. Because there was a known problem with thruster valves not
always reseating perfectly, any use of the reentry thruster system was to
be followed by reentry as soon as practical, to ensure that thruster fuel
was available for attitude control during retrofire.

Don't forget Apollo 13.

And more obscurely, Apollo 16's plans for two days of orbital science
operations after LM ascent were cut short by the SPS gimbal problem, which
was decreed to require minimizing both stay time and SPS firings.

Were the standard "mission rules" that were common for a specific program
(but not specific mission tasks) ever published?

They weren't secret, but as far as I know, they were published only
incidentally as part of larger documents, and even then those may have
been summaries only.
--
"Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend." | Henry Spencer
-- George Herbert |

"Henry Spencer" wrote in message
...
In article osDad.160752$wV.122785@attbi_s54,
G.Beat wrote:
Mission Rules were developed and used for manned spaceflight programs
(e.g.,
Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, ASTP). I am aware of these "rules" being
used on different occasions that actually shortened the planned mission:
Friendship 7, John Glenn's mission limited to 3 orbits - after landing
bag/heat shield light

No, Glenn's flight was always planned as three orbits (as was
Carpenter's). That was the nominal mission for Mercury, as designed.
Schirra's six-orbit flight required small design changes; Cooper's
22-orbit flight required serious changes and some people didn't consider
it to be really a Mercury flight at all.

Gemini 8, usage of RCS to stop violent roll - "end of mission" - begin
procedures for reentry (south China Sea)

Correct. Because there was a known problem with thruster valves not
always reseating perfectly, any use of the reentry thruster system was to
be followed by reentry as soon as practical, to ensure that thruster fuel
was available for attitude control during retrofire.

Don't forget Apollo 13.

And more obscurely, Apollo 16's plans for two days of orbital science
operations after LM ascent were cut short by the SPS gimbal problem, which
was decreed to require minimizing both stay time and SPS firings.

Were the standard "mission rules" that were common for a specific program
(but not specific mission tasks) ever published?

They weren't secret, but as far as I know, they were published only
incidentally as part of larger documents, and even then those may have
been summaries only.
--

Henry -

Thanks !

The usage for smaller satellites (in HEO orbit - that will not decay in less
than one year), may require the development of "Mission Rules" for
deorbiting -- based upon the current FCC proposal to change the rule for
such US launched satellites.

Greg

97.207 Space Station
...
(g) The license grantee of each space station must make two written
pre-space station notifications to the International Bureau, FCC,
Washington, DC 20554. Each notification must be in accord with the
provisions of Articles 11 and 13 of the Radio Regulations.

(1) The first notification is required no less than 27 months prior
to initiating space station transmissions and must specify the information
required by Appendix 4, and Resolution No. 642 of the Radio Regulations.

(2) The second notification is required no less than 5 months prior to
initiating space station transmissions and must specify the information
required by Appendix 3 and Resolution No. 642 of the Radio Regulations.
----

I wrote:
Were the standard "mission rules" that were common for a specific program
(but not specific mission tasks) ever published?

They weren't secret, but as far as I know, they were published only
incidentally as part of larger documents, and even then those may have
been summaries only.

Addendum: As an example of such, the Apollo 8 volume of Apogee Books's
"NASA Mission Reports" series includes a "Go/No-Go List" for the major
phases of that mission.
--
"Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend." | Henry Spencer
-- George Herbert |

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 15:09:20 GMT, (Henry Spencer)
wrote:

Cooper's 22-orbit flight required serious changes and some people didn't consider
it to be really a Mercury flight at all.

....IIRC, some NASA documents even refer to it under a different
mission designator than MA-9 or MA-9a as I've seen it listed.
Something similar to what MA-10 would have been had Al gotten his
three-day flight after all.

OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr

In article bFSfd.13301$HA.7937@attbi_s01, w9gb wrote:
The usage for smaller satellites (in HEO orbit - that will not decay in less
than one year), may require the development of "Mission Rules" for
deorbiting -- based upon the current FCC proposal to change the rule for
such US launched satellites.

The FCC has gotten increasingly concerned about space debris, and is
increasingly requiring licensees to take all reasonable measures to
mitigate it.
--
"Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend." | Henry Spencer
-- George Herbert |

OM om@our_blessed_lady_mary_of_the_holy_NASA_researc h_facility.org
wrote:

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 15:09:20 GMT, (Henry Spencer)
wrote:

Cooper's 22-orbit flight required serious changes and some people didn't
consider it to be really a Mercury flight at all.

...IIRC, some NASA documents even refer to it under a different
mission designator than MA-9 or MA-9a as I've seen it listed.

MODM. Manned (or sometimes Mercury) One Day Mission.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL

"G.Beat" wrote in message news:osDad.160752$wV.122785@attbi_s54...

Were the standard "mission rules" that were common for a specific program
(but not specific mission tasks) ever published?

g. beat

You can find generic shuttle mission rules, as well as some specific to STS-107, at

http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/foia/index.html

wb.

You can find generic shuttle mission rules, as well as some specific to
STS-107, at

http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/foia/index.html

wb.

Yep the safety board had to add another one.

ALWAYS HOLD DAILY SAFETY REVIEW MEETINGS DURING ACTUAL FLIGHT OPERATIONS!

NASA managers didnt bother during columbia
..
..
End the dangerous wasteful shuttle now before it kills any more astronauts....

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 15:03:26 GMT, (Henry Spencer)
wrote:

In article bFSfd.13301$HA.7937@attbi_s01, w9gb wrote:
The usage for smaller satellites (in HEO orbit - that will not decay in less
than one year), may require the development of "Mission Rules" for
deorbiting -- based upon the current FCC proposal to change the rule for
such US launched satellites.

The FCC has gotten increasingly concerned about space debris, and is
increasingly requiring licensees to take all reasonable measures to
mitigate it.

How many geosynchronous satellites are there in orbit? I know that
they launch satellites in advance of need and "store" them in orbit
and that old satellites are supposed to be able to de-orbit themselves
before going completely dead, but haven't always been. I guess I
should ask how many there are in orbit and how many are active.

Come to think of it, how many geosynchronous satellites have there
been all together?

Mary

--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer