Nov 19 1992
From The Space Library
Walter Jaffe of the Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands said that the Hubble Space Telescope had captured the most detailed view yet of an immense caldron of heat, violence, and energy surrounding what might be called a "black hole," a celestial object 10 million times more massive than the Sun. Astronomers said the photograph provided powerful support for the theory of "black holes" by showing several of the features predicted to surround them. The galaxy belongs to the Virgo Cluster of galaxies about 45 million light-years from Earth. (W Times, Nov 20/92; USA Today, Nov 20/92; NY Times, Nov 20/92; W Post, Nov 20/92; P Inq, Nov 20/92; LA Times, Nov 20/92; AP, Nov 20/92; UPI, Nov 20/92;)
NASA set a December 2 launch date for the year's eighth and last Shuttle flight, a military mission, designated STS-53. Five astronauts, all military men, will release a classified satellite, thought to be a Lacrosse radar-imaging satellite from the Shuttle Discovery. Crew members are David Walker, commander; Robert Cabana, co-pilot; James Voss, Guion Bluford, and Michael Richard Clifford. (W Times, Nov 20/92; UPI, Nov 19/92; UPI, Nov 30/92)
A panel of experts recommended that the Air Force assume sole responsibility for developing a new all-purpose national launch system called the "Spacelifter" by the end of the decade. NASA's fleet of Shuttles would be phased out at the earliest opportunity, having become too costly and fragile a system to dominate the space program much longer. The report did not call for a large, heavy-lift vehicle but focused instead on development of lower- cost, medium-size rockets that could satisfy virtually all known payload needs and be tailored to carry cargo or people. (W Post, Nov 19/92 and Nov 21/92; USA Today, Nov 20/92; NY Times, Nov 20/92; LA Times, Nov 20/92; P Inq, Nov 20/92 and Nov 22/92; AP, Nov 20/92; UPI, Nov 19/92)
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