Sep 9 1992
From The Space Library
NASA scientists were baffled by a brownish discoloration, representing some kind of growth, on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) satellite. The LDEF was retrieved by a Space Shuttle in January 1990. Whatever the growth, it had formed in space and despite high ultraviolet radiation and the corrosive power of atomic oxygen. (W Times, Sept 9/92)
Rockwell International and a Russian company announced plans to collaborate on a system to enable the Space Shuttle Atlantis to dock with Russia's Mir Space Station. Rockwell said it had signed an agreement under which NPO Energia would develop hardware for the system and build some components. (AP, Sept 9/92)
The U.S. Senate rejected by a wide margin a move to cancel NASA's inter-national Space Station but forbade NASA from significantly changing the laboratory's design and schedule. If approved by the House of Representatives, the restriction would severely limit NASA's ability to overhaul key aspects of the program. (Space News, Sept 14-20/92)
Orbital Sciences Corporation announced that it had reached a key mile-stone in development of the Taurus launch vehicle with the successful integration and testing of a full-scale engineering vehicle at its Chandler, Arizona, facilities. Taurus was designed to place payloads of up to 3,000 lbs. in low Earth orbit or 950 lbs. in geostationary transfer orbit. It was part of a program to develop a new class of U.S. launch vehicles that could be integrated, checked out, and launched on short notice. (Av Wk, Sept 7/92)
Joint NASA/FAA tests in Denver and Orlando showed that advanced, predictive sensor systems could provide airline crews up to 30 seconds warning of wind shears during takeoff and landing phases of flight. Of three forward-looking sensors tested, the modified Doppler weather radar detected wind shear consistently and at longer ranges than light detection and ranging systems or infrared sensors. Wind shear caused more than 26 U.S. air carrier accidents between 1964 and 1985. (Av Wk, Sept 7/92)
NASA announced that five contractors had been selected to develop designs for two Earth Observing Systems spacecraft, EOS-PM and EOS Chemistry, scheduled for launch in 2000 and 2002, respectively. NASA planned to spend about $12 million on the five studies. (Av Wk, Sept 7/92)
Leaders of the world's space nations attending the World Space Congress in Washington, D.C., last week said that they lacked the money to go it alone in space, yet the will to cooperate internationally seemed also to be lacking. Two views about space exploration emerged among scientists. An optimistic view held that space exploration methods could be worthwhile projects at affordable prices. The pessimistic view held that space cost too much, lacked public support, and that ideas must be constrained. The Congress, the largest gathering of space experts ever convened, attracted more than 5,000 delegates from 70 nations and featured more than 2,700 technical papers. (Space News, Sept 7-13/92)
The Senate approved funding of $2.1 billion for continuation of the Space Station after defeating a proposal to close down the project because of its expense. The Senate vote, together with House approval in July, assured continued funding and congressional support for the Space Station. (W Post, Sept 10/92; LA Times, Sept 10/92; WSJ, Sept 10/92; AP, Sept 10/92)
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