William Kinard: Shuttle Discovery experiments

William Kinard is a Senior Research Scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center. A NASA employee for nearly fifty years, Kinard conceived and managed several major projects and experiments that are credited with improving operations of NASA spacecraft. He joined the CNN.com chat room from Florida.

CNN: Thank you for joining us today, William Kinard, and welcome.

WILLIAM KINARD: Hello!

CNN: What type of experiments will be launched in the space shuttle Discovery?

KINARD: The experiments that we're launching this time are exposure experiments, to investigate the space effects on components and materials that are planned for future missions.

EXTRA INFORMATION Mission Guide: STS-105

CHAT PARTICIPANT: How long does it take to prepare the Shuttle for launch?

KINARD: The total cycle on it is a number of months, I'm really the wrong one to answer that. My expertise is the experiments on board.

RESOURCES Message Board: Space exploration

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Mr. Kinard: How have space experiment processes changed over time?

KINARD: The biggest change in the processes of conducting space experiments. The shuttle provides us two-way transportation, so we can retrieve the experiments from space, and do the tests back in the laboratory, to see the effects on the materials. ... as opposed to having to send the results back, and not have a first hand sighting of what's going on.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: How many people were involved in developing the experiments on this particular mission?

KINARD: It's a very large number. We have about 1500 different test specimens that are flying on the mission being launched today. These experiments are being provided from a number of laboratories all over the United States. There are several hundred investigators in total participating.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: The public rarely hears the results of these experiments. Why is that?

KINARD: I'm not sure that I know exactly, because we make the effort to try to get the information out. For example, we have a web site for this particular experiment, MISSE, where people can see the information in great detail. The web site is MISSE1.larc.nasa.gov

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Who do I contact if I want to suggest an experiment in space?

KINARD: You can contact any of the NASA centers that are located in the United States. If you just go on the web to the NASA homepage, you can get addresses of these centers.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: For what kinds of missions would the results of these experiments be of use?

KINARD: One of the missions will be the manned missions to Mars that are anticipated. The kind of things we're looking at are materials that provide radiation shielding that would be used on such a mission, we are investigating the stability and long-term survivability of the materials that would be used to construct the spacecraft, we're looking at paints, composites, various coatings, components that would be used in power systems, and so forth.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: The shuttle will be growing viruses. Are they a dangerous and what if they escape? Are they a danger to astronauts?

KINARD: None whatsoever. The biological specimens that are flying on MISSE are sealed with multiple seals inside containers. The other point is that the viruses that are being flown are viruses that present absolutely no hazard to the crew.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Can you provide specific products or advances that have been the direct result of space experimentation?

KINARD: I think the best services that you can look at are the communications services right now, the fact that satellites provide links for worldwide communication, the use of cell phones for communications between individuals involves satellite links. The extremely good weather forecasting that we get today is due to satellite observations, and the list is almost endless when we get into products, new materials that were developed in space activities: new electronics and new techniques in diagnostics and the medical field.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: How many missions like this one are necessary before a material is verified as useful for a future mission?

KINARD: This mission would be the end test that we would do on a material. The materials and components that we are flying have had extensive laboratory tests already conducted on them, and this test becomes the final verification, to see if in fact the materials and components behave as we expect.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Is NASA performing any experiments on the behalf of Pentagon?

KINARD: A number of hate experiments that we're flying here have applications to the Department of Defense, future missions that they would fly. But I might add, these same experiments also have applications in the civilian sector also.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Has an astronaut ever been exposed to an experiment that failed somehow?

KINARD: Most of the experiments that have failed in space have also produced useful results. We are very careful to insure that if the experiment doesn't go as planned that it presents no hazard to the crew. We've never had a situation where an astronaut has been endangered by an experiment that was performed.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Mr. Kinard: Do all the experiments going up in the shuttles stay at the space station or come back with the returning shuttle?

KINARD: The MISSE experiments will be taken out of the shuttle and mounted on the exterior of the space station and they'll remain exposed there for about 18 months before they're retrieved. When we return these first experiments, we'll take up a similar group of experiments, and leave them up for three years.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: How has safety improved for astronauts?

KINARD: The biggest factor is that many of these experiments are demonstrating that materials and components planned for use in future missions will in fact perform as expected, and thus eliminate potential failures, which could present hazards to the crew. A specific example is the fact that we're testing materials to shield the crew from the energetic radiation particles.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: What happens to experiments when a launch is postponed?

KINARD: The experiments would remain in the orbiter, and then go with the orbiter when the mission is rescheduled.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: What particular experiment do you like with this run?

KINARD: That's a very, very difficult thing to answer. I think the easiest way to answer it is that when we get them back, and see the results, then the results that we see that we least expected will be the most interesting thing that we look at.

CNN: Do you have any final thoughts to share with us?

KINARD: Well, I think the main thought is that these are the first exposure experiments to be performed on the space station. These types of experiments are relatively inexpensive, and with reduced budgets for space station operations, these types of experiments can take advantage of the station with low budgets.

CNN: Thank you for joining us

KINARD: Thank you. It's been my pleasure to talk with you. There were interesting and challenging questions. We look forward to getting these experiments back in about 18 months, and maybe we can talk about them then.

William Kinard joined the CNN.com chat room by telephone and CNN provided a typist. This is an edited transcript of the interview which took place on Thursday, August 9, 2001.