Hamilton Sundstrand manages
GCTC Hydrolab Operations

Located at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in Star City, Russia, is the Hydrolab, a water immersion facility similar to NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL). Two years ago, the Office of ExtraVehicular Activities (EVA) at the NASA Johnson Space Center, gave Hamilton Sundstrand the task of integrating two NASA space suits, known as Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMU), in the Star City facility. The integration was successfully completed in May 1999. Now, Hamilton Sundstrand has been tasked to manage the NASA EVA operations at the Hydrolab. The operations include crew-training events where astronauts and cosmonauts are trained how to assemble components of the International Space Station (ISS), along with training the GCTC Hydrolab personnel in the use and maintenance of the NASA EMU hardware. The operations management duties for these tasks have been assigned to Mr. Marc Ciupitu.
Each crew-training event requires careful planning and cooperation from a number of organizations in the United States and Russia. Pulling all of these groups together can be a real challenging task in itself. Many items are discussed on a weekly basis with the responsible parties on both sides of the ocean. In preparation for the crew training Mr. Ciupitu coordinates the transfer of EVA hardware between the US and Russia, monitors the GCTC facility readiness, monitors training requirements and schedules, and performs hardware replacements and upgrades to the NASA EMU hardware. By doing so, he ensures that the NASA EMU hardware is in top working order in time for the crew training events. During training events, Mr. Ciupitu provides engineering and technical expertise and if issues arise, assists in resolving the problem. Upcoming EVA training events that will be supported at the Hydrolab include Shuttle flight STS-106 (2A.2b), and ISS-1 and ISS-2 which are the first two astronaut duration stays aboard the ISS.
In addition to the training events, Mr. Ciupitu is involved with planning and coordinating Hydrolab hardware upgrades to facility systems that are antiquated. Currently he is planning and coordinating the modernization of the Hydrolab hyperbaric chamber. Also in development is a plan to track and provide controlled storage for all the NASA EVA hardware that resides at GCTC.
This project is a prime example of the rewards Hamilton Sundstrand reaps for providing high quality work for our NASA customer. This task is expected to grow this year because of the outstanding effort put forth from the early stages and maintaining that high level of performance throughout the duration of NASA's involvement with EVA training at GCTC.

AstroNotes, Houston, Texas, USA, March, 2000.

© 2000 AstroNotes.