Jul 27 1992
From The Space Library
A joint Russian-French crew blasted off on a 12-day mission aimed at keeping the aging Space Station Mir in orbit until 1996. The cosmonauts were slated to install a complex of stabilizing gyroscopes inside the Station and also to work in space to assemble an engine to make space navigation easier. (W Times, Jul 22/92; AP, Jul 21/92, Jul 27/92; UPI, Jul 27/92; The Sun, Jul 28/92; WSJ, Jul 28/92; W Post, Jul 28/92; NY Times, July 28/92; API, Jul 27/92; UPN, Jul 27/92)
NASA engineers decided to stop operating the radar aboard the Magellan Venus mapping probe until early September in an attempt to preserve the spacecraft's one fully operational transmitter until Magellan swings over one of the large regions of the planet that it has not mapped. Ground controllers had relied on Magellan's backup transmitter since January, but the backup unit had developed radio noise that interfered with its periodic transmissions of scientific data. (Space News, Jul 27-Aug 9/92)
Recent findings by the Very Large Array radio telescope in New Mexico confirmed that the so-called "Great Annihilator," a mysterious region close to the center of the Milky Way galaxy that spews out bursts of high-energy gamma rays, does seem to be a black hole, but it is much smaller than thought and it is, indeed, merely close to, not at the center of, the galaxy. It seems also to be powered by collisions between matter and antimatter. (Time, Jul 27/92)
NASA and air industry sources said recently that a decision to narrow the number of engine concepts for the U.S. high-speed civil transport would slip by about a year. Test facility startup delays and the failure of preliminary nozzle tests to allow early identification of a preferred noise suppression system were cited as the main reasons for the slip. Postponement of the decision was not expected to affect the pace of high-speed civil transport development or the program's long-term schedule, which could lead to an operable aircraft in 2005. (AV Wk, Jul 27/92)
Recent studies showed that the technology spinoffs from National Aerospace Plane (NASP) research and development had already had a positive impact on U.S. aerospace, automotive, medical, chemical, food processing, and energy industries. The studies predicted that the Gross National Product could expand by about $26 billion over the next 10-15 years as a result of productivity gains fostered by the program and that employment also could increase by an average of 40,000 jobs annually. In particular, the studies showed that NASP research could significantly benefit industries such as aerospace, motor vehicle, and emerging industries such as ceramics and high-speed civil transportation. (AV Wk, Jul 27/92)
Contractors were awaiting the award of the $3 billion Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) contract, which had been expected in early July. The proposal had been undergoing review and evaluation, and several suggestions for increasing the utility of the system for global environmental change research were offered in the opening of the initial report. In March 1992, NASA projected EOSDIS spend about $200 billion through the I990s. (Federal Computer Week, Jul 27/92)
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