**Note: Events are listed in reverse chronological order (most recent first)

VORTEX Payload De-Integration from STS-88:
January 20-21, 1999, Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia

VORTEX Team members Sven Bilen, Dan Kocevski, and John Korsakas made the journey to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility to pick up VORTEX.  Dan and John drove the 11 hour trip in a U of M minivan, just for the 4 hour de-integration, and drove 11 hours back to Ann Arbor!   At Wallops, NASA technicians helped to remove VORTEX from it's flight canister, and the team proceeded to connect up the ground support equipment to see if VORTEX's computer contained any data.  The initial impressions were positive - all of the mechanical components were in their final positions.  The computer program puts them into these final positions only after running to completion. The team had trouble getting the computer to boot; most of the time it would crash during the RAM check, but it did get to the DOS prompt a couple times, only to crash within a few more seconds.  They were able to see that the computer did contain some sort of data.  They decided to pack up and go back to Michigan, and try fixing the computer back home. 

Back in Ann Arbor, Sven connected one of VORTEX's hard drives to another computer, and was able to download 100 experiments full of data!  The team is currently analyzing the data and will post some results on the web page soon.

Our pictures from De-Integration

VORTEX Launched on STS-88
December 4, 1998, 3:35:34am EST, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

VORTEX team members and guests took a trip to Kennedy Space Center from December 1-4, 1998 to see the launch of Endeavour on mission STS-88 carrying VORTEX to space for a second time.  The launch was originally scheduled for December 3, 1998 at about 3:56am EST, but was scrubbed and rescheduled for December 4th.  STS-88 is also carrying the first node of the International Space Station, named Unity.   The crew will also begin construction of the station by connecting Unity to the Zarya module, a component launched into orbit by Russia on November 20th.

Our Pictures of the STS-88 Launch

Additional Links:

• NASA's STS-88 Shuttle Countdown Online
• NASA's STS-88 Image Archive
• NASA Human Spaceflight - International Space Station Progress

VORTEX Payload Integration for STS-88
August 24-26, 1998, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

John Korsakas, Avik Basu, Stuart Feldman, and Erica Pendergrass left for Florida on Saturday, August 22, 1998 in a jam-packed Plymouth Voyager to deliver VORTEX to NASA for payload integration.  They were met in Florida by Sven Bilen, Project Manager, and Luis Bernal, Faculty advisor, who flew down.  From Monday the 24th to Wednesday the 26th, VORTEX was inspected by NASA officials, buttoned-up, and placed in the flight canister.  About a week later, the canister was installed in the payload bay of Endeavour, to await the launch of STS-88 in December.  The VORTEX members were also able to tour the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) and see Endeavour up-close, go through the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), and climb around on Launch Pad 39-A.  As an added treat, the group also saw the maiden flight of a Boeing Delta 3 rocket.  About a minute and a half into the rocket's flight - it exploded!  The team returned to Ann Arbor early on the 28th.

Our Pictures of the STS-88 Integration

VORTEX Payload De-Integration from STS-89
February, 1998, Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland

Approximately one month after VORTEX returned to Earth from STS-89, team members John Korsakas and Avik Basu, and Faculty Advisor Luis Bernal traveled to Goddard for the payload "de-integration".  After visiting Washington D.C., the team removed VORTEX from its flight canister.  Much to their dismay, the computer contained no data, since it was never able to boot due to a NASA technical error during the mission.   VORTEX was granted a reflight, aboard STS-88, the mission to begin construction of the International Space Station.

Pictures coming soon!

VORTEX Flies on STS-89
January 22, 1998, 9:48:15pm - January 31, 1998, 5:35:09pm EST, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

VORTEX members and guests traveled to Kennedy Space Center in Florida to watch the launch of Endeavour on STS-89.

Pictures coming soon!

Additional Links:

• NASA's STS-89 Shuttle Countdown Online
• NASA's STS-89 Image Archive

VORTEX Payload Integration for STS-89
September 29, 1997 - October 2, 1997, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Sven Bilen, Amber Tweatt, John Korsakas, Avik Basu, Dan Kocevski and VORTEX left early on the morning of September 28th in a 15-passenger van packed full of equipment.  21 hours later they arrived in Florida and met up with Luis Bernal (who flew) to begin payload integration at Kennedy Space Center on Monday morning.  The team spent almost every waking hour from Monday to Thursday finishing up VORTEX and getting it ready for flight.  The integration took place in the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF), where the team got to see the first nodes of the International Space Station.   They did also manage to see Columbia in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF), tour the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), climb to the top of Launch Pad 39-A.   After finally closing up VORTEX inside the flight canister on Thursday, the team packed up and drove back to Ann Arbor to catch up on some sleep.  A couple weeks later, VORTEX was installed into Endeavour's payload bay to await the launch of STS-89 in January of 1998.

Pictures coming soon!

VORTEX Test Flight Aboard the KC-135
April 7-15, 1997, Johnson Space Center and Ellington Field, Texas

VORTEX team members Amber Tweatt, D.J. Kroeger, and John Korsakas took part in the first NASA Reduced Gravity Flight Opportunities Program in Houston, Texas.  24 schools from around the country submitted proposals and won the chance to fly experiments aboard NASA's KC-135 aircraft.  The airplane flies in parabolic arcs, creating about 30 seconds of weightlessness for the experiments and passengers during every parabola. The team members drove a minivan down to Houston from April 5th to 6th, and spent that week preparing VORTEX for its flight and going through physiological training.  D.J. and John flew 40 parabolas on Monday, April 14th, and Amber and John flew another 40 parabolas on Tuesday, and returned to Ann Arbor on Wednesday for final exams.

Pictures coming soon!

Additional Links:

• 1997 Reduced Flight Opportunities Program (when VORTEX flew)
• 1998 Reduced Flight Opportunities Program
• Flying a Microgravity Experiment on the KC-135 - by UM-SEDS members
• Microgravity Pipeflow Induced Through Asymmetrical Oscillation - the UofM project from the 1998 program
• Liquid Droplet Radiator Experiment - a UofM project for the 1999 program
• Single Walled Carbon Nanotube Production Experiment - a UofM project for the 1999 program