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N E U R O N - Neurolab Online Project UPDATE 24 - May 8, l998 PART 1: Teamwork's the key! TEAMWORK'S THE KEY!
I feel like I've over-exercised the "Wow!" word over the past month! Beyond watching the force it takes man to overcome the natural restraints of Earth's atmosphere to burst beyond the "possible," I have had the opportunity of observing something that I think is even more impressive: a cooperative effort involving very diverse people, each with his/her own agenda, role and responsibilities, interacting to bring a very complex mission together. We at NeurOn have been able to interact with a cross section of people including: project planners; people who designed, built, and loaded payload hardware for Neurolab; astronaut trainers and crew members themselves; animal care providers; people who manage facilities and equipment; scientists, their assistants and the people who process their data; and still others who saw to it that all of these players were able to work together as a well-oiled machine! That's worth a big WOW! There are some common threads that crop up and seem to be responsible for the success of an effort this huge. The journals I've included here express two of them well. One is the support of family members throughout the endeavor. I'd like to say a big "Thanks!" to these unsung heroes. The other real ingredient for success has been the teamwork. Take a look at project manager Brad Berch's note written to his team members on landing day expressing his appreciation for their efforts. Is it any wonder that people seemed to feel appreciated and a real part of the effort? It is with disappointment that I received word that Neurolab 2 will not be happening, at least in the near future, so I will very soon begin to pull the NeurOn together into what we call "evergreen" here at Quest. What I mean by that is, I will be making the web pages a bit less calendar-specific so that the information and lessons for classrooms can be useful at any time. The science content can always be solid and the team members' profiles can still inspire young people to consider careers in science, engineering and the multiple other roles our team members play, even though the individuals have gone on to other projects. Then some day, if Neurolab 2 does happen, what better place to get the background for that sequel to this effort! But we're not done yet! We still have a bilingual chat scheduled -- Spanish speakers, join us May 15 to chat with José Limardo who works at Johnson Space Center (see Calendar below). Also, register and join (all day if you like) our Countdown to Space Day chats on May 19 and 20. 'Til next week, Linda CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Please join us for the following bilingual chat:
->Friday, May 15 at 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time
José Limardo, Hardware Project Engineer
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/team/limardo.html
José is currently working on three experiments for the STS-90 Neurolab
mission. Born and educated in Puerto Rico, José is completely bilingual.
To see a complete list of bilingual chats featuring scientists and
engineers from other Sharing NASA projects:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/bilingual
Countdown to Space Day Chats
->Tuesday, May 19 at 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time:
Chris Barreras, Payloads Engineer
Chris most recently worked on rodent hardware that flew on STS-90.
Please read his bio at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/team/barreras.html
prior to joining the chat.
->Tuesday, May 19 at 11:00 a.m.-12:00 noon Pacific Daylight Time:
B.J. Navarro, Stowage Manager
B.J. most recently packed the STS-90 space shuttle with all the experiment
hardware. Read her bio at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/navarro.html
prior to joining the chat.
->Wednesday, May 20 at 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time:
Cecilia Wigley, System Safety, Reliability & Quality Assurance Lead
Cecilia is the system safety, reliability, and quality assurance lead.
Read her bio at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/team/wigley.html
prior to joining the chat.
To see a complete list of Countdown to Space Day chats featuring
scientists and engineers from other Sharing NASA projects:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/spaceday.html
All NeurOn chats are listed at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/chats
[Editor's note: Brad has been the Integrated Project Team Lead for Neurolab and managed a project team of 65-85 total members, consisting of engineers, scientists, trainers, technicians, etc. Below is a note written from Kennedy Space Center to his team back at Ames Research Center that may help to explain why this team operated at such a positive level.] STS-90 LANDING PICTURE PERFECT & GATORS ROAR! May 3, l998 To all, Just wanted to share with you some of the excitement, sights and sounds of today's landing of the STS-90 Neurolab Mission and to thank each of you for your hard work and dedication that has made this mission possible! Today's weather could not have been more perfect for a space shuttle landing. With miles of visibility, low humidity, and winds of less than five miles per hour, it was truly a perfect day. Many of us on the team met near the space shuttle runway and waited anxiously for the twin sonic booms to be heard that signify that the space shuttle is coming home. As we waited, a very large Florida alligator was seen basking in the sun and close to our viewing area. Then something uncanny occurred as the space shuttle broke the sound barrier and the sonic booms shook the area, our Gator friend arched his back and began loudly roaring back to this intruder that dared to wake or challenge him! As we watched, the space shuttle descended for a picture perfect landing and the alligator continued to arch his back, thrash his tail and growl at the Space Shuttle Columbia! This was definitely a landing day image and feeling of exuberance that we are not likely to forget! At present time, everything is going well with our destow operations with rodents and crickets returned to Hangar L, Toadfish back in the SSPF and CEBAS back in the O&C building. Some of our stowage hardware has been returned to our labs with more to come over the next 24-48 hours. While a good deal of work remains to be done, I wanted to send out a quick thank you for your perseverance, dedication, and willingness to get the job done and to do it right! It has been a real pleasure working with all of you on this mission and I look forward to returning back to ARC on May 11. Have a great Neurolab Day! Sincerely, Brad [Editor's note: Chris has become one of our best know team members at NeurOn, because his strategic role with the RAHFs and his evaluation of our Great Habitat Debate. Chris will be moving soon to the International Space Station project, and we hope that he will be joining us soon on Quest's Space Team Online http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space ] REFLECTIONS BEFORE I CLOSE OUT May 4, l998 I am back now, and for those of you that have been following the STS-90 mission, you have seen we had our successes and challenges to overcome. My systems, the RAHFs, performed quite well, I thought, during the flight. We had some problems to overcome, and some questions still need to be answered. Allow me to pass on my own thoughts from prelaunch to landing. First, at ten days prior to launch other engineering members of my team and I were involved in performing the PAD IVT which involves checking out our experimental hardware power on status and interconnections from the Orbiter to the control rooms. We encountered some minor problems with the RAHF drinking water systems, but we were able to solve these without impacting the mission schedule. Solving these problems involved my going to the pad and seeing the Orbiter up close. That was exciting to say the least. If one is going to the pad, then one should not be afraid of heights, because walking along certain levels of the gantry can put one over 200 ft high. Thank God I can handle heights. The days immediately prior to launch were a blur since the hours I was keeping were long ones. Sometimes people would ask me how my room was, and my typical response was, "I don't know, I only sleep a few hours there; otherwise I am supporting the Launch team." I celebrated Easter Sunday by assisting in preparing our Rodent cages for flight, ...gotta follow a tight schedule you know. The actual loading of the rodents into the cages was interesting, and I felt really great that we were getting closer to what we had been working so hard for. Then I felt great pride with our team as we saw the cages being installed into the RAHFs at L-35 [launch minus 35] hours, which was early Wednesday morning, like 01:00 a.m. on April 15. While the installation of cages was in process, we had our RAHFs running, and we could see the performance data making sure the animals were in safe environments. As the time passed towards Launch we had to power the RAHFs down to low power mode at L-3 hours on Launch day. This process allows the orbiter to have access to all available power needed for launch and booster separation. Parallel to this low-power mode operation, the crew was leaving our building and being escorted to the orbiter. I was torn as to whether to see the crew off or witness the low power mode process. I decided to see the power change process since I felt I would be of more use in the monitoring room in case of problems. Myself, Lauren Fletcher, Bruce Yost, Linda Conrad, Angela Wray and others ended up near the VAB to observe the Launch. Using my binoculars I was able to do what I call "experience the Launch." Seeing Columbia break the chains of gravity and ascend into the heavens is really beyond description. Not only can one see and hear this display of power and energy, but one can also feel the Launch through the sound waves from the orbiter thrust. Once Columbia was out of sight, I proceeded to meet Lauren, Tom Stolarik, Stefan Rosner, Brad Berch, and others back in the O&C User room to witness spacelab activation and telemetry down linking. Seeing the Launch is always exciting, and followed with seeing the experiment hardware come to full power and performing that evening in microgravity gave me a feeling of pride and accomplishment. It was very exciting watching the astronauts entering spacelab and preparing for the neuroscience experiments. Seeing the anxious looks from not only the Ames team but also the members of NASDA [National Space Development Agency of Japan] and DARA [Deutsche Agentur fŸr Raumfahrt Angelegenheiten - the German Space Agency] was like seeing expectant parents awaiting the birth of new life. When we started receiving the telemetry indicating that our systems were operating was one day I will never forget. During these anxious moments in the User room I received a page from my wife. I was able to get to a phone, and she gave me a big "Congrats!" She had seen the launch on TV in California, and she wanted to know how the systems were doing. Hearing this from her really made my day and kind of choked me up. Throughout my entire aerospace career she has been my supporting force, my coach and my inspiration. Listening to her voice that night really gave me an extra boost. Once the RAHF systems were operational, I retired for the night, finally taking a breath and reflecting on what we had accomplished and what we still needed to do. The next day I flew back to California and proceeded to monitor and support the mission from the Ames Monitoring Area. Here, I was able to lend support to ARC [Ames Research Center] personnel that were at JSC [Johnson Space Center] in resolving any problems and replans. Listening to the crew discussions and problem solving was an experience which I feel extremely privileged to have been part of. We had our share of problems but we also have had many successes. Columbia is back now, and we are preparing questions for the crew debriefing. On top of these questions to the crew, there are questions that need to be answered by both our Engineering and Science community. But this is all part of the mission. Did we end up with more questions than when we started? Perhaps. But this is what exploring is all about. I believe it is our nature to explore and try to find the answers. Now that this mission is flown, I need to help close out a few RAHF issues while transferring over to the Space Station Biological Research Group. Many of us on the Neurolab team will also eventually transfer to the Space Station effort. Before I close out, I want to salute the leaders in our team, Bruce, Angela, Chris M., Brad, and Tony I. That's all until next time I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts with you ... CB
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