Loral Supplies New Space Shuttle Software To Help Shuttle Dock With Space Station Mir

Business Wire, May 31, 1995

HOUSTON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 31, 1995--Loral Space Information Systems, a division of Loral Corporation (NYSE:LOR), is supplying new computer software to the space shuttle Atlantis that will enable it to dock with the space station Mir at the end of June. During the Mir docking flight scheduled for June 22, Loral- developed rendezvous software will be used to bring the shuttle Atlantis to within 2,000 feet of the space station. After reaching this distance, the astronauts will fly the Atlantis manually until the shuttle's orbiter docking adapter is touching Mir. Enhancements in this section of the flight software, added because of the quick reaction time required to complete the docking, then will automatically activate a series of reaction control system jets, small thrusters that position the shuttle, to firmly connect the two spacecraft.

The June 22 Atlantis mission actually will be the second flight for the new software. The software, known as Operational Increment-24 flight software, will debut on the shuttle Discovery in early June. Loral Space Information Systems produced the software under contract to NASA's Johnson Space Center Engineering Directorate.

The new flight software provides added capabilities to the shuttle astronauts from launch to landing during all shuttle missions. The improvements will assist with docking, facilitate moving large payloads needed to build the International Space Station alpha, and provide more efficient control of the shuttle orbiter while it is on-orbit.

To prepare for assembling the International Space Station, the computer programs will allow the orbiter's remote manipulator system, or robotic arm, to manage heavy payloads more accurately and to maintain a more precise position with a large object. A new display also will be available to show the position of the arm to the astronauts.

The software's new on-orbit capabilities, available on all future space shuttle missions, will improve the method used to calculate reaction control system jet firings. The software also contains an upgrade to provide more accurate predictions of overall motion when the orbiter is connected to a massive object like Mir. This new control system is needed in order to maneuver large objects, like the docked shuttle/Mir combination or the later stages of the Alpha assembly. In addition to managing large objects on-orbit, the new software will also help to control a shuttle with a heavy payload in the unlikely event of a return to launch site abort. The improved ascent abort capability would be used to manage the shuttle after all three main engines are shut down, but before the large external tank is jettisonned.

Loral Space Information Systems designs and manufactures command and control systems for manned space flight at the Johnson Space Center; provides advanced digital voice systems, head-up displays for the shuttle training aircraft, neural net processors, as well as safety, reliability and quality assurance engineering for spacecraft systems.

Loral Corporation, headquartered in New York City, is a high- technology company that primarily concentrates in defense electronics, communications, space and systems integration.

CONTACT: Joseph Tedino

(703) 416-5540

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Andrew Klausman

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