Many years ago when I did work (sub-contractor) for NASA, one of my first assignments was the ASTRO-1 mission. This payload carried three major telescopes—HUT, UIT, and WUPPE—to do then new and novel ultra-violet astronomy. I have heard that first mission declared a total failure because everything didn’t work right, and I say bull. I have heard it called a complete success, and again I would say bull. I would call it a success, and an important one, because it did meet many of it’s scientific milestones despite a number of Spacelab and orbiter system problems.
In a short version, the systems that should have powered, pointed, and gotten things rolling didn’t work. The system was, however, robust enough that work-arounds could be found for most things. The workarounds, however, depended on the fact that three astronomers were onboard who could work with the ground to not merely point, but zero in extremely precisely to gather data. Slower than planned, but getting faster and better with practice, the crew was well on the way to completing all mission parameters when a recalcitrant toilet (actually, a frozen waste-water port that developed a sewage-cicle that blocked dumping the toilet and waste water tanks) ended the mission early.
One of those people who made things work was an astronomer and guest astronaut named Ron Parise. Ron and the others worked with the ground to aim, adjust for great precision, and then tweak more for the best possible data. The data they got was phenomenal, if limited. I will always wonder what they might have accomplished on that mission if not for the sewage-cicle.
This morning, I learned that Ron has entered the light after a struggle against cancer. He accomplished much more than just flying in space, and where he flies now I hope he has the answers he sought and much more besides. May the light shine down on those he leaves behind.
LW
