Viewing page 53 of 119

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

[[image]]
[[caption]]

Example: 

1. If the KidSat camera is scheduled to take a picture 2 days, 3 hours, 5 minutes, and 15 seconds after launch, that would be at a time: 

02/03:05:15 MET

Example:
 
2. If the camera is scheduled to take a picture 17 hours, 26 minutes, 10 seconds after launch, that would be at: 

00/17:26:10 MET 

[[/caption]]

The Mission Elapsed Time will appear in this format on the KidSat web pages, and you will also use this format in submitting your photo requests to the KidSat Mission Control Gateway at UCSD. 

Note: you can convert MET to your own local time if (and only if) you know the time of the launch. 

How do the astronauts know who does what, when?

The astronauts have hundreds of things to do during a space shuttle flight. Their schedules are worked out in detail months before launch, and published in what is called a Flight Plan (it's the plan for the flight!). The Flight Plan is a detailed timeline; it tells each of the astronauts what to do, minute by minute, throughout the whole flight. The astronauts have copies of this Flight Plan on board the shuttle with them, and Mission Control has copies of the Flight Plan on the ground. KidSat will be included in the official Flight Plan for STS- 81. 

We will create a simplified version of the Flight Plan for our own use, that will show the major events of the flight and information relevant to KidSat. The KidSat Mission Control Gateway at UCSD will make this simplified timeline available to you on the web before and during the flight. 

07/10/96        

Page 3.14