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Orbiting Frog Otolith - Press Kit
Orbiting Frog Otolith - Press Kit
TELS' W O 3-655!5
: WEDNESDAY A . M .
August 1 2 , 1 9 7 0
RELEASE N O : 70-132
ants
(PAGES)
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(/ 8/5/70
(NASA CR oiPrmx OR AD N U M B E R )
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August 1 2 , 197Q
RELEASE
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s p a c e c r a f t t o b e launched on a s i n g l e Scout v e h i c l e by
the N a t i o n a l Aeronautics and Space A d m i n i s t r a t i o n no
e a r l i e r t h a n Aug. 1 9 , f r o m t h e NASA Wallops S t a t i o n , Wallops
Island, Va.
A l s o on board t h e s o l i d - p r o p e l l a n t Scout w i l l be
t h e R a d i a t i o n Meteroid (RM) s p a c e c r a f t t o demonstrate and
e v a l u a t e improved i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n and t o gather near-Earth
data of s c i e n t i f i c i n t e r e s t .
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Through m i c r o e l e c t r o d e s s u r g i c a l l y implanted i n t h e
v e s t i b u l a r ( i n n e r e a r ) n e r v e s l e a d i n g from s e n s o r c e l l s i n
t h e o t o l i t h s o f t h e b u l l f r o g s , s c i e n t i s t s w i l l be able t o
s t u d y f o r t h e f i r s t time t h e e l e c t r i c a l response of t h e
o t o l i t h s e n s o r s d u r i n g hours o f w e i g h t l e s s n e s s .
i s a t t r i b u t e d t o t h e v e s t i b u l a r s y s t e m which i n t u r n i n f l u e n c e s
v i s i o n and b a l a n c e .
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The Frog O t o l i t h Experiment was developed and t e s t e d
a s s o c i a t e (under t h e a u s p i c e s of t h e N a t i o n a l Academy of
S c i e n c e s ) working a t t h e NASA A m e s Research Center, Mountain
V i e w , Calif. D r . G u a l t i e r o t t i i s t h e OF0 Program's p r i n c i p a l
i n v e s t i g a t o r and A m e s manages t h e experiment package.
The f l i g h t p r o j e c t i s p a r t of t h e v e s t i b u l a r r e s e a r c h
T h e OF0 and RM s p a c e c r a f t , b o t h 30 i n c h e s i n d i a m e t e r ,
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. .
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The RM spacecraft will remain attached to the Scout
fourth stage after separation from the OF0 spacecraft. Both
spacecraft will go into the same elliptical orbit with
orbital lifetimes of approximately 270 days.
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T h e measurement of dose, o r energy absorbed b y t h e
s y s t e m of t h i n f i l m c a p a c i t o r s t o o b t a i n t h e number of meteoroid
i m p a c t s , t h e i r d i r e c t i o n and speed. The data w i l l be of i n t e r e s t
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OF0 BACKGROUND AND MISSION OBJECTIVES
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The v e s t i b u l e ( F i g u r e 1) i s i n t h e i n n e r e a r . It h a s
t h r e e main parts:' t h e s e m i c i r c u l a r c a n a l s ( s u p e r i o r ,
p o s t e r i o r , and l a t e r a l ) which respond t o a n g u l a r a c c e l e r -
a t i o n ; t h e s a c c u l u s which responds mainly t o v i b r a t i o n ;
and t h e u t r i c u l u s which responds t o l i n e a r a c c e l e r a t i o n ,
t h e r e f o s e , t o g r a v i t y . Attached to t h e v e s t i b u l e , o p p o s i t e
t h e s e m i c i r c u l a r c a n a l s , i s t h e a u d i t o r y organ, t h e c o c h l e a ,
which l o o k s l i k e a conch s h e l l .
I n t h i s experiment, t h e u t r i c u l u s i s of p r i n c i p a l
i n t e r e s t s i n c e t h e main o b j e c t i v e i s to study t h e e f f e c t
of changes i n g r a v i t y .
The s e n s o r organ o f t h e u t r i c u l u s i s t h e macula. T h i s
organ c o n t a i n s s e v e r a l thousand s e n s o r c e l l s , o r u n i t s ,
( F i g u r e 2 ) o r i e n t e d i n d i f f e r e n t p l a n e s t o measure a c c e l e r -
ation i n a l l directions.
On the upper p a r t o f t h e organ a number o f h a i r s p r o t r u d e
and a r e immersed i n a j e l l y - l i k e medium. Above t h e h a i r ,
suspended i n t h e j e l l y s u b s t a n c e , are s t o n e - l i k e c r y s t a l s
which a r e d e n s e r t h a n t h e j e l l y medium. These a r e t h e o t o l i t h
(from t h e Greek words - o t o meaning e a r and l i t h meaning s t o n e )
bodies.
The s t o n e s , grouped t o g e t h e r , a r e f r e e to move p a r a l l e l
to t h e s u r f a c e o f t h e macula, bending t h e h a i r s which p r o j e c t
fpom t h e o t o l i t h c e l l s .
The h a i r s a r e o f two t y p e s -- k i n o c i l i u m ( K C ) and
s t e r e o c i l i u m (ST). There i s only one k i n o c i l i u m p e r c e l l ,
b u t up t o 6 4 s t e r e o c i l i a .
When t h e o t o l i t h b o d i e s s h i f t , bending t h e s t e r e o c i l i a
toward t h e k i n o c i l i u m , t h e s e n s o r s a r e s t i m u l a t e d and i s s u e
e l e c t r i c a l i m p u l s e s . When s t e r e o c i l i a a r e bent i n t h e
o p p o s i t e d i r e c t i o n , t h e s e n s o r s are i n h i b i t e d and no s i g n a l
i s i s s u e d . (Figure 3 ) .
Nerves from t h e bottom of t h e s e n s o r c e l l s converge
i n t o a nerve f i b e r . The n e r v e f i b e r s r u n i n b u n d l e s , forming
one branch of t h e v e s t i b u l a r n e r v e . Through t h i s network,
i n f o r m a t i o n from t h e v e s t i b u l a r organs i s s e n t t o t h e medulla,
a p a r t of t h e b r a i n , f o r a n a l y s i s ,
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S i n c e t h e i n f o r m a t i o n i s c a r r i e d i n t h e form of
e l e c t r i c a l a c t i v i t y , it may be p i c k e d up b y m o n i t o r i n g t h e
n e r v e w i t h m i c r o e l e c t r o d e s small enough t o e s t a b l i s h c o n t a c t
w i t h o n l y one f i b e r . T h i s i s t h e t e c h n i q u e used w i t h t h e
frog o t o l i t h s i n the. OF0 e x p e r i m e n t -
The e l e c t r i c a l a c t i v i t y c a r r i e d a l o n g t h e n e r v e f i b e r
from t h e o t o l i t h c e l l s c o n s i s t s of p u l s e s of c u r r e n t . The
r e l e v a n t i n f o r m a t i o n i s t h e l e n g t h of $he i n t e r v a l between
t h e p u l s e s . T h e i r shape and amplitude ape u n i m p o ~ t a n t .
The o t o l i t h c e l l s a c t as a c c e l e r o m e t e r s , When the u n i t
i s a c t i v a t e d by i n c r e a s i n g a c c e l e s a t i o n , t h e f i s i n g rate
i n c r e a s e s and t h e i n t e r v a l between p u l s e s d e c r e a s e s When
t h e u n i t i s d e a c t i v a t e d by opposi'te movement of t h e otolith
b o d i e s , t h e s e n s o r i s suddenly b l o c k e d , and a pause i n pulse
firing results.
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OF0 SPACECRATT
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S i n c e t h e frogs a r e c o n t i n u a l l y shedding p i e c e s of s k i n
and o t h e r matter, i t i s n e c e s s a r y to provide a f i n e f i l t r a t i o n
m a t e r i a l around them to p r e v e n t f o u l i n g of t h e water
c i r c u l a t i o n s y s t e m . T h i s i s accomplished b y l i n i n g t h e
i n t e r i o r of t h e c e n t r i f u g e w i t h a double l a y e r p o l y u r e t h a n e
foam, water l e a v i n g t h e c e n t r i f u g e must first p a s s through
this filter.
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If a m a l f u n c t i o n o c c u r s i n t h e package d u r i n g t h e
p r e l a u n c h p r o c e s s i n g a c t i v i t i e s , t h e backup u n i t can b e
s u b s t i t u t e d f o r t h e prime FOEP. I f t h e backup u n i t i s
flown, t h e prime package w i l l be p r e p a r e d f o r use as a
ground c o n t r o l (comparison package) d u r i n g t h e f l i g h t .
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IN-FLIGHT OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES FOR OF0
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Each f i l m g r i d s e n s o r i s 4 s q u a r e linches w i t h
c o l l e c t i o n s c r e e n s on b o t h s i d e s o f t h e t h i n film.
The s e n s o r and l o g i c are c o n s t r u c t e d such t h a t t h e
p e n e t r a t i o n i n e a c h p l a n e i s l o c a t e d w i t h i n one s q u a r e
i n c h for t r a j e c t o r y d e t e r m i n a t i o n . The t i m e o f f l i g h t
between s e n s o r arrays s e r v e s t h e p r i n c i p a l o b j e c t i v e o f
t h e i n s t r u m e n t . Nine v e l o c i t y measurements have b e e n
made on P i o n e e r s 8 and 9 .
The meteoroid experiment i n t h e RM s p a c e c r a f t r e p r e -
s e n t s an improvement i n p r o v i d i n g a l a r g e r area ( 6 4 s q u a r e
inches) f o r obtaining u s e f u l data,
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Monitoring and c o n t r o l of b o t h s p a c e c r a f t w i l l b e
b y Goddard Space F l i g h t C e n t e r Space Tracking and Data
A c q u i s i t i o n Network. The STADAN s t a t i o n s t h a t w i l l d i r e c t l y
s u p p o r t t h e OF0 mission are i n Johannesburg, South A f r i c a ;
T a n m a r i v e , Malagasy Republic; O r r o r a l , A u s t r a l i a ; S a n t i a g o ,
C h i l e ; Q u i t o , Ecuador; F o r t Myers, F l a . ; Kauai, H a w a i i ; and
Rosman, N . C .
Rosman w i l l be t h e primary OF0 s t a t i o n because t h e data
a c q u i r e d there can b e microwaved t o Goddard i n real-time, o r
n e a r real-time, f o r t h e data p r o c e s s i n g r e q u i r e d t o e f f e c t con-
t r o l of t h e experiment. The quick-look data a n a l y s i s w i l l be
performed a t Goddard by t h e p r i n c i p a l i n v e s t i g a t o r .
Both t h e OF0 and t h e RM s p a c e c r a f t w i l l have almost
simultaneous s t a t i o n p a s s e s d u r i n g t h e f i r s t f e w days a f t e r
l a u n c h . The O r b i t i n g Frog O t o l i t h has p r i o r i t y o v e r t h e
R a d i a t i o n Meteoroid S a t e l l i t e f o r t h e d u r a t i o n o f OFO's m i s s i o n ,
normally f i v e days.
The same STADAN s t a t i o n s s u p p o r t i n g OF0 w i l l be used f o r
RM d u r i n g i t s three-month planned l i f e t i m e .
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Scout B i s a f o u r - s t a g e s o l i d p r o p e l l a n t r o c k e t s y s t e m .
Scout No. S-174 and t h e two s p a c e c r a f t w i l l b e s e t on an
i n i t i a l launch azimuth of 88.994 degrees t o o b t a i n a p o s i g r a d e
o r b i t of 1 7 0 nm p e r i g e e and 320 nm apogee w i t h 37.7 degree
i n c l i n a t i o n and 93.5 minutes t o complete one r e v o l u t i o n .
The f o u r Scout motors, Algol 11, C a s t o r 11, Antares 11,
and A l t a i r 111, are i n t e r l o c k e d w i t h t r a n s i t i o n s e c t i o n s t h a t
c o n t a i n guidance, c o n t r o l , i g n i t i o n , and i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n
s y s t e m s , s e p a r a t i o n mechanics and t h e s p i n motors needed t o
s t a b i l i z e t h e f o u r t h s t a g e . C o n t r o l i s a c h i e v e d b y aerodynamic
s u r f a c e s , j e t vanes and hydrogen p e r o x i d e j e t s .
The launch v e h i c l e i s approximately 73 f e e t l o n g and weighs
about 40,000 pounds a t l i f t o f f .
The Scout program i s managed by N A S A ' s Langley Research
Center, Hampton, V a . The launch v e h i c l e i s b u i l t b y Ling-
Temco-Vought , I n c . , Dallas.
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LAUNCH SEQUENCE
Event Time ( s e c o n d s )
Liftoff
F i r s t Stage Burnout 76.7
Second S t a g e I g n i t i o n 81.0
T h i r d Stage I g n i t i o n 140.0
Spin-up 442 . O
T h i r d Stage S e p a r a t i o n 44307
Fourth S t a g e I g n i t i o n 449.0
Space c r a f t S e p a r a t i o n 528.6
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RM MISSION MANAGEMENT
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