| Astronaut Mohri's Training Report (5) |
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In early October, NASA decided to launch STS-99 on January 13, 2000, four
months behind the original plan. In order to fully utilize this time period,
Commander Kregel and all other crew members are conducting hard training
to maintain and improve their skills.
AODA Operation Training
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| Astronaut Mohri receiving AODA operation training
from an instructor |
Astronaut Mohri received Attitude and Orbit Determination Avionics (AODA)
operation training on October 12. AODA is used to precisely maintain the
location of the outboard antenna, located at the end of the 60m mast and
to accurately record its slight movement. The recorded data will be utilized
for data analysis after the mission. A crew member controls the AODA from
the Space Shuttle Cabin by a laptop computer on which a special dedicated
program is installed.
HDTV Camera Training
An experiment using a High-Definition TV (HDTV) camera is being planned
for the STS-99 mission. HDTV will be used to take video of the Earth's
surface as a joint experiment between NASDA and NHK. The video will be
used for Earth observation conducted by Japanese researchers, with professor
Sakata of Tohkai University as the principal investigator. An HDTV camera
can provide us with extremely clear high-resolution video images that
can't be produced by regular TV cameras. The images are expected to open
new possibilities for Earth observation. On October 19, astronaut Mohri
received refresher training to maintain and improve his skills in HDTV
operation. He followed a check list and conducted camera assembly, adjustment,
setting, and procedures to be applied for abnormal cases. After he went
through all of the procedures, he took actual video pictures.
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Astronaut Mohri receiving HDTV operation
training
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Astronaut Mohri taking video images
by the HDTV
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The next training report will be issued in early December.
Last Updated : November 15,1999
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