Viking corrects
its own troubles
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) The two Viking probes to Mars
have been marked by mechanical difficulties that have
threatened the success of their missions, but the program's
space mechanics 228 million miles away have had little
trouble fixing the pioblems.
They aren't so pessimistic as to belieVe that everything will
p r o wrong. But, just in case, they filled a 3-inch-thick book with
ountless scenarios of things going wrong aboard Viking
and how to fix them.
It was this book that the engineers opened last week when
the Viking 2 orbiter wandered out of position, breaking radio
contact between Earth and the Viking Lander during its
descent to Mars.
Without making a service call, the engineers eventually
,traced the problem to a short circuit that blew a fuse in the
power supply to the gyroscopes that hold the orbiter steady in
space. As a result, the craft wobbled and its high-gain radio
antenna swung away from its target—Earth.
Similar long-distance diagnosis has been necessary several
times to fix, crucial experiments or running gear aboard
Viking. ,
.. In every case but one a Marsquake measuring
6ismometer on Viking 1 that never moved into working
position after landing remote repairs were successful.
The book of contingency plans is crucial in these situations,
said Ron Ploszaj, chief of • the Orbiter Performance and
Analysis Group.
He figures that analysts apent the equivalent of two or three
man-years dreaming up the possible breakdowns. Many of
4hem are culled from the reports of failures on past space
missions.
Another key strategy is recreating the breakdown, using a
spare lander and orbiter at Jet PropulsiOn Laboratory,, the
mission control headquarters. Planned repairs are tested on'
these earthbound Vikings to make sure they'll work.
Using these strategies, the engineers have so far been able
to:
V-- Solve a buildup of pressure aboard Viking 1 caused by a
Woman has unlucky evening
A woman was arrested late
Wednesday night and
,barged with prostitution.
'State College police
received a complaint and took
the woman into custody at
11:30 p.m. in front of a local
motel. She was arraigned
before Philipsburg Distr,ict
Magistrate Shoff. She . was
thken to the Centre County
jail when she was unable to
post bail.
Harry Benjamin, of 121
Porter Hall, was arraigned
1
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Tuesday before State College
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aggravated assault,
harassMent and minors law
violation charges.
Police log
Benjamin and another male
juvenile were apprehended
late Saturday night and cited
for beer possession north .of
Hibbs Hall when Benjamin
allegedly assaulted a
___e
helium leak. -
- Free the Viking 1 lander's jammed mechanical digging
arm When it was stuck because a small locking pin failed to
fall out after landing.
Pep up a weak signal from a radio transmitter on the
lander.
One of the potentially most serious troubles was the com
munitions blackout that struck the landing craft last
Friday, seconds after the landing craft separated from its
mother orbiter ship and headed for Mars.
"The first thing we noticed was that one of the solar panels
that generate electricity was putting out too much power,"
Ploszaj said. "Then we saw a decrease in current in the power
supply that feeds the gyroscopes. Then there was an
oscillation back-and-forth movement of the spacecraft ...
those three measurements confirmed we had a problem."
By this time only a few minutes had elapsed, but the
engineers knew what was wrong. A gyroscope unit had failed
and Viking was drifting.
,' After the fuse blew, the computer sensed the problem and
switched on a standby gyro unit and the electronics that power
it. It was too late, however, to keep the orbiter from rolling out
of position a device .on the orbiter called a star tracker,
which locks onto a pirticular star for a reference point, had
lost the star Vega.'
At this point a weak signal was still coming from the orbiter,
but nothing from the Lander, which was descending towards
Mars. The radio blackout_ did not affect the computerized
landing procedure. But since the orbiter has to relay radio
transmissions between the lander and earth, the lander's
messages weren't getting through.
The engineering analysis experts gathered in a locked
conference room in the control center, said Ploszaj, and
decided to wait until after the lander touched down before
trying to re-orient the orbiter. During its plunge, the lender
was sending out a lot of important data that was now going to
be lost in space. Or was it? Among the plans in the book of
possible problems was a command that was immediately sent
to the Viking orbiter, telling it to turn on its tape recorder.
That meant that the information being beamed by the
lander radio was caught on tape, where it could be played
back later to Earth. '
After working until exhaustion early Saturday morning, the
troubleshooters had, the situation well in hand. All that
remains in the recovery plan is to switch back from the
reserve gyro electroniCs unit to the main unit. That is to be
done this weekend. • ,
University police officer.
Stephen Vanwinkle, of RD
4, Bellefonte, yesterday told
University police his $BO
watch had been stolen from
the second floor men's room
in Willard Building.
Michael Sherman, a
graduate assistant in
vocational education,
yesterday reported to
University police the theft of
about $BO worth of books from
108 Rackley. ,
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Open Monday thru Saturday,ll a.m. to 11:30 p.m. phone: 234-4170 •
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Soviet pilot given refuge
LOS ANGELES (UN)
Secluded in the first class
section of a jumbo jet out of
sight of other passengers,
Soviet fighter pilot Viktor
Ivanovich Belenko arrived in
the United States last night to
begin a new life "of my own
free will." •
The Soviet pilot was
granted asylum in the United
States after he landed his top
secret MIG2S in Japan
Monday
The 29-year-old Belenko
will remain in the Los
Angeles area at least over
night, according to a
spokeswoman for Los
Angeles International Air
port, and there were no im-
Regional plan close to approval
The Comprehensive Plan is
moving closer to adoption in
the Centre Region with the
approval of the plan by Harris
Township, Regional Planning
Director Ron Short reported
last night at the Centre
Region Planning Commission
(CRPC) meeting. .
State College Municipality
will discuss the plan at the
Municipal Council meeting
Monday, College Township's
planning commission has
recommended approval to its
Des .'Ails
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,
mediate plans for him to
leave the city.
Following his 8:45 p.m.
EDT arrival aboard a North
west Orient 147, Belenko
was immediately whisked off
by a caravan of five cars led
by two cars with Department
of Defense markings.
Defense Department of
ficials huddled in a secret
meeting at the airport at 4
p.m., according to the airport
spokeswoman. A department
spokesman would give no
further details about the final
destination of Belenko.
lie departed Japan
yesterday aboard the jumbo
jet and had a two-hour
refueling stop in Honolulu
governing body, Half Moon
township's planners com
mission have recommended
the policies but not the maps
of the plan, and Patton and
Ferguson townships' plan
ning 'commissions are still
discussing it, Short said.
The Comprehensive Plan is
a detailed document of the
goals and policy guidelines
for the physical development
of the region. If adopted by
the municipalities, it will
gaelea
We H ave .,
HOagies
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•Turkey • $1.20
•Ham/Cheese $l.lO
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All Hoagies Include (At your request and at no extra charge)
lettuce • tomato • onions • hot peppers • mayo
horse radish • mustard • ketchup • and cosmos
The Daily Collegian Friday, September 10,1878-
before traveling on to Los
Angeles
In Honolulu, Chief customs
inspector Edward Gilbert
said Belenko was permitted
to remain inside the 797 after
the other passengers
disembarked for customs and
immigration clearances.
Belenko was wearing . a
broad-striped suit and dark
glasses when he boarded the
flight in Tokyo. Prior to his
departure he told Japanese
authorities he was coming to
the United States of his "own
free will" and repeatedly
refused appeals from Soviet
officials for a face-to-face
confrontation during which
they had hoped to convince
influence planning through
the year 2000.
In other business, CRPC
refused to act on an ap
plication of the University
Area Joint Authority (USJA)
for Public Works
Employment Funds to build a
maintenance building.
Short said the application
for the building, which would
cost about $500,000 and be built
totally with federal funds,
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him to return.
Still at Hakodate City in
northern Japan was
Belenko's M1G2.5 Foxbat
which he flew to Japan
Monday. Japanese diplomats
insisted the plane had not
been . touched by anyone since
it landed at the airport 500
miles north of Tokyo. But
American military sources in
Hawaii said "you can bet
your paycheck that we'll
know about everything
there is to know about that
plane before the Russians get
it back."
Another Hawaii source said
Belenko was believed to have
left a wife and family in
Russia.
should be approved because
the commission's approval
would aid in getting the funds.
Commission members
refused to approve the ap
plication without further
discussion until Short could
demonstrate how much
maintenance costs would be
for the building and show
whether townships served by
the UAJA would have in
creased sewer rates.
6-PAK
BOTTLE SHOP