Jul 1 1992
From The Space Library
NASA announced the departure of Navy Capt. Daniel C. Brandenstein, chief of the Astronaut Office, Johnson Space Center, Houston, since 1986 and a veteran of four Space Shuttle missions, effective about October 1. Selected by NASA in 1978, Brandenstein first flew as a pilot aboard the Shuttle Challenger in 1978 and holds the record for time in space (789 hours) among Space Shuttle astronauts. (NASA Release 92-100)
Newly-released photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope showed that the "Whirlpool Galaxy" may have a black hole at its core and that the core of a powerful infrared radiating galaxy called AT 220 supports vigorous star birth and supernova star explosions. Astronomers suspect that Arp 220 is the product of an earlier collision of two "parent" galaxies. (CSM, Jul 1/92)
Cornell University astrophysicist Thomas Gold said in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" that there is probably more life inside the Earth than there is on its surface. This life would be in the form of bacteria and other microorganisms, and its overall volume probably surpasses that of all the plants and animals living on the planet's surface. NASA scientist Stephen Maran said that if Gold's ideas prove correct, "they will revolutionize scientific theories of geology and the evolution of life on Earth." Gold speculated that similar life forms may exist inside the Moon and other planets in our solar system. "The surface life on Earth, based on photosynthesis for its overall energy supply, may be just one strange branch of life. The deep, chemically supplied life, however, may be very common in the universe," Gold commented. (P Inq, Jul 1/92)
Scientists studying data from the Magellan radar-mapping satellite around Venus concluded that Venus is not a twin of the Earth. Magellan has produced images 10 times sharper than any seen before of more than 97 percent of the planet's surface. Magellan's images show Venus to be as geologically active as the Earth, but whereas Earth's crust is shaped by continuous recycling, Venus' surface appears to evolve by building crust vertically as lava flows out of volcanoes or meteorite craters. (CSM, Jul 1/92)
NASA chose Rockwell International's Palmdale plant in California to refit the seven-year-old Space Shuttle Atlantis, allowing the spacecraft to stay aloft longer and possibly enabling it to rendezvous with the Russian Space Station Mir. (LA Times, Jul 2/92)
The Kennedy Space Center awarded three indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts for its Personal Computer Acquisition contract program. The three winners were to provide a range of personal computers, peripherals, and software packages and would be required to compete against each other for NASA orders throughout the duration of the contract, an arrangement designed to provide NASA with the most up-to-date equipment at the lowest cost. (Federal Computer Week, July 13/92)
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