The space shuttle Columbia ended a 16-day mission Saturday, March 9, landing at the Kennedy Space Center one day after shuttle managers waived a flight rule requiring an immediate landing after one of several redundant landing systems failed.
The rule was invoked when one of four systems that control key landing systems such as brakes, wing flaps, and rudders. Although the other three computers than can control these systems continued to work fine, shuttle regulations required a landing as soon as possible, which would have been on Friday.
When weather in Florida prevented a landing, shuttle managers decided to save money by waiving the flight rule rather than have the shuttle land at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Landing in California and ferrying the orbiter back to Florida atop a special 747 would have cost an addition $1 million or more.
"That flight rule has been around a long, long time and it's probably one of the most conservative flight rules we have," mission operations director Lee Briscoe explained. "We looked at what we had today and we said, 'The orbiter is safe. It's got redundancy.'"
The landing brought an end to a mission that will be best known for the loss of the Italian-American tethered satellite, despite the successful completion of a number of microgravity experiments also carried on the shuttle. The satellite and its 20-km (12-mi) tether are still in orbit but are expected to burn up within the next week.
[ Return to Table of Contents ] [ Go To SpaceViews Forum ]
The last section of a Chinese reconnaissance satellite reenetered the Earth's atmosphere late Monday night over the South Atlantic Ocean, far away from any land masses or inhabited areas.
The two-ton spacecraft was launched from China in October 1993. It was designed to return images to earth in a special capsule, but failed when the spacecraft's retrorockets spun it out of control, leaving the spacecraft in an erratically-decaying orbit.
Military outposts in several countries, including the U. S. Space Command, tracked the satellite, but due to the erratic nature of its orbit were unable to provide a an accurate reentry time up to Monday. The best estimate was provided by the Japanese Science and Technology Agency, who predicted reentry at 10:30pm EST Monday, a half-hour earlier than the actual time.
The half-hour made a big difference in predicting the reentry point, however, as Japanese officials predicted reentry over the North Pacific Ocean, south of Alaska.
Since the spacecraft was designed to survive reentry, there were concerns by many that the spacecraft could land on a populated area, causing considerable damage. However, since reentry took place over an empty region of ocean, no one was threatened by the body. Space Command officials were unable to determine if the spacecraft had in fact survived its fiery plunge into the Earth's atmosphere.
[ Return to Table of Contents ] [ Go To SpaceViews Forum ]
Former space shuttle director Bryan O'Connor criticized plans to move control of the shuttle program from NASA Headquarters to the Johnson Space Center, fearing the change could jeopardize shuttle safety.
In an article in the March 7 issue of the Los Angeles Times, O'Connor said that the reorganization of the management of the shuttle, along with other cuts in the program, make another Challenger-style accident more likely.
"It is a safety-related issue," O'Connor said. "We ran it this way for 10 years without a mishap and I didn't see any reason we should go back to the way we operated in the pre-Challenger days."
Under the plan, Johnson Space Center in Houston would have control over shuttle programs at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. O'Connor felt that this structure would encourage dangerous rivalries between the centers.
O'Connor resigned from NASA last month with little warning and no explanation. Some analysts believed he left in protest of the planned reorganization efforts.
[ Return to Table of Contents ] [ Go To SpaceViews Forum ]
Yuri Gagarin's historic first manned spaceflight in 1961 nearly ended in disaster, according to a set of 35-year-old notes by Gargarin's commander that are on the auction block.
According to the notes by Colonel Yevgeny Karpov, the Vostok 1 spacecraft started spinning out of control when two parts of the vehicle failed to separate as planned before reentry. Instead of taking ten seconds to separate, ten minutes passed before the two components separated and the reentry capsule, with Gagarin aboard, made a safe descent to Earth.
"Malfunction!!!", "Don't panic!" and "Emergency situation" are the words that appear in Karpov's notes. The account appears to correspond with a secret report filed by Gagarin after the flight, which was printed in 1991 in the Russian newspaper Rabochaya Tribuna.
Analysts and historians agree that has the world known about Gagarin's problems, the space race would have slowed down considerably. "If something like this had been known, it might have played into the hands of the doubters," John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, said in an interview in the New York Times.
The notes, currently on display at Sotheby's in New York, will be auctioned off on Saturday, March 16, as part of a space memorabilia auction that includes a Vostok capsule similar to Gagarin's.
[ Return to Table of Contents ] [ Go To SpaceViews Forum ]
NASA has released a research announcement for a revised X-34 program after the original program fell apart when partner company Rockwell International abandoned the project.
The new version of the X-34 calls for the development of one or more "small technology demonstrator vehicles" that will be ready for flight tests in 1998, according to the announcement. The vehicle will be used as a testbed for technologies useful for reusable launch vehicles and, unlike the original X-34, will not be required to have any commercial applications.
This revision comes after Rockwell International announced last month that it was pulling out of the original X-34 project. Rockwell was working with Orbital Sciences Corporation to develop a small, air-launched reusable launch vehicle that could deliver small satellites into low-Earth orbit.
Rockwell abandoned the project when it felt unsure that the spiraling costs of the program could be kept in check. The program had earlier been suspended when NASA, Rockwell, and OSC could not agree on the type of rocket engine to be used on the vehicle.
[ Return to Table of Contents ] [ Go To SpaceViews Forum ]
Orbital Sciences Corporationcelebrated the first successful launch of its Pegasus XL launch vehicle when it placed an Air Force satellite into orbit Friday evening.
The Air Force's Radiation Experiment II (REX II) was launched at 8:45pm EST Friday evening. The Pegasus XL was dropped from OSC's L-1011 carrier aircraft, flying 11,800 meters (39,000 feet) above the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. The rocket fired and successfully placed the satellite into a 710-km (450-mi) polar orbit.
This was the first successful Pegasus XL launch in three attempts. The last launch, last summer, ended with the mid-air destruction of the rocket and its payload. After the explosion, OSC conducted an internal review of the launcher, recommending nearly 90 engineering and procedural changes in the launch system.
OSC is planning up to seven Pegasus launches in 1996. The satellites to be launched include NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer (FAST), and Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) as well as the Miniature Sensor Technology Integration (MSTI) satellite for BMDO.
[ Return to Table of Contents ] [ Go To SpaceViews Forum ]
NASA is studying why several O-rings in the shuttle's solid rocket boosters (SRBs) were damaged by hot exhaust gases when Columbia launched on February 22.
Two "wiper" O-rings at the base of each booster were damaged during launch, according to NASA officials. These O-rings are used during assembly to keep glue away from the primary O-rings, and are not designed to keep exhaust gases from escaping the booster. The damage was discovered during a routine check of the boosters after they were recovered.
Because the damaged O-rings are not required to seal during launch, "I can say the safety of the flight was not compromised," NASA spokesperson June Malone said.
Wiper O-rings have been damaged on nine previous flights, the latest being Columbia's last mission in October 1995. Unlike the previous incidents, though, on this launch the O-rings were singed by the hot gases in two places, instead of just one.
"Because this is the first time we have seen this, it will be analyzed in excruciating detail," Malone said.
[ Return to Table of Contents ] [ Go To SpaceViews Forum ]
Republican presidential candidates Pat Buchanan and Alan Keyes announced their support for NASA at a candidates' debate in Dallas March 7, while Steve Forbes gave the space agency a more lukewarm endorsement.
"I love the space program," Buchanan said during the debate. According to the Boston Globe, Buchanan voiced his support for more manned space projects.
"I think the space program is a good thing," Keyes said, adding that he supported "space exploration, not expansion of the bureaucratic universe."
Forbes, however, was less supportive of NASA, stating that while he approved of basic research opportunities for NASA, he was not in favor of "gigantic projects." Forbes, however, announced this week he would be dropping out of the presidential campaign.
Bob Dole, the Republican front-runner and likely nominee, did not attend the debate. He was campaigning in Florida at the time.
The statements by the candidates were among the first public statements about NASA and space exploration uttered during the campaign. NASA's small budget and the lack of any controversial issues has kept space out of the electoral limelight to date.
[ Return to Table of Contents ] [ Go To SpaceViews Forum ]
Morris Jones, a 24-year-old magazine editor who ran for the Australian Senate on a pro-space platform, fell short in his election bid March 2 by picking up 500 votes in the state of New South Wales.
Jones positioned himself as the only pro-space and technology candidate in Australia's national elections, running on a campaign platform calling for the development of satellite and launcher projects within Australia, and the creation of a new launch facility in Australia.
"I must admit that I am quite pleased that that my modest campaign generated this level of interest," said Jones, who ran as an independent. "I have been highly encouraged by the results of my first campaign, and there is a high probability that I shall run again."
The March 2 election saw the end of 13 years of Labor Party rule in Australia, as a coalition led by the Liberal Party took power. Jones believes the Coalition "seems poised to provide a generally superior level of attention to science, technology, and space than the Labor Party," although he cautioned that "I shall not cheer the government until I see some solid evidence of their attitude."
[ Return to Table of Contents ] [ Go To SpaceViews Forum ]
Argentina may join forces with Lockheed Martin to provide a southern hemisphere launch facility and other resources for the X-33 reusable launch vehicle, according to a report by the Argentine Defense Ministry.
The report stated that Argentina could possibly provide a "southern hemisphere launch site, satellite-tracking station, communications services, and scientific and technological participation."
Ministry officials will make their decision after hearing a presentation by a Lockheed Martin team this month.
Besides Lockheed Martin, a team composed of McDonnell Douglas and Boeing Corporations, and another composed by Rockwell, Northrop, and Grumman Corporations, are also proposing for the X-33. Neither team has expressed an interest in cooperating with Argentina or another nation.
[ Return to Table of Contents ] [ Go To SpaceViews Forum ]
A commercial space business roundtable, cosponsored by House Science Committee Chairman Robert Walker and the National Space Society, brought together over one hundred entrepreneurs, economists, and politicians, including House Speaker Newt Gingrich, on March 5.
"What we seek to do with this roundtable is air ideas that will actually improve the business environment for investing in commercial space activities," Walker (R-PA), said at the beginning of the meeting. His comments were followed by talks by NASA administrator Dan Goldin and several member of Congress.
Most of the discussion during the roundtable focused on two bills currently in Congress: the Space Business Incentives Act (HR 1953) and the Omnibus Space Commercialization Act.
Gingrich, who arrived near the end of roundtable, spoke for ten minutes on issues discussed during the roundtable. Calling for a "major government focus to help reduce the cost of lift" in the near term, he mentioned the possibility of using prize money, such as the proposed X Prize, as a way to encourage developments in cheap launch systems.
[ Return to Table of Contents ] [ Go To SpaceViews Forum ]
NASA last week released new images of the surface of Pluto taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, showing a remarkable range of features that may be caused by topography or surface composition.
The images were taken in 1994 using Hubble's Faint Object Camera, and were analyzed by Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and Mark Buie of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. They used image reconstruction techniques to sharpen the detail on the images.
The images show a variety of bright and dark areas on the surface of Pluto, including a dark equatorial belt and bright polar caps. The images don't provide enough information to tell whether the bright and dark areas are due to differences in topography of the surface, different compositions of ice and rock, or some combination of both.
The images confirm earlier ground-based observations of Pluto taken in the late 1980s, when Pluto and its moon Charon passed in front of each other, allowing astronomers to selectively see parts of the surface at a time. Analysis of these "mutual events" by Buie and Dave Tholen of the University of Hawaii, and Eliot Young and Rick Binzel of MIT, provided maps of Pluto which correspond with the Hubble results.
[ Return to Table of Contents ] [ Go To SpaceViews Forum ]
Comet Hyakutake(1996 B2) continues to brighten and should make a memorable appearance in northern hemisphere skies later this month.
The comet, currently in the constellation of Libra, is approximately at magnitude 5 now. Current estimates place the comet's brightness as high as magnitude 0 or greater by the time of its closest approach to Earth, when it passes 16 million kilometers (10 million miles) from Earth on March 25.
The comet currently has a coma, or dust cloud, about 20-30 arcminutes wide, or about as large as the moon. The comet's coma may appear up to 60 arcminutes, or one degree, wide by the 25th.
While the comet may be visible to the naked eye even in light-polluted cities, the best viewing is expected to be in dark-sky sites away from city lights. At those sites the comet should be easily visible to the naked eye as it passes within a few degrees of Polaris, the pole star.
The comet will quickly race across the sky and will disappear behind the Sun by mid to late April. It will reappear sometime in May for observers in the southern hemisphere before fading from view in June.
[ Return to Table of Contents ] [ Go To SpaceViews Forum ]
China Admits Deaths from Launch Accident: Chinese officials admitted March 3rd that February's explosion of a Long March 3B rocket was worse than originally admitted. Officials announced that six people had been killed and 57 seriously injured in the blast. Eighty homes were also destroyed in the explosion. It was the first time the accident had been mentioned on state-run television and radio.
Ariane Launch: An Ariane 44LP booster launched an Intelsat communications satellite into orbit early March 14. The Loral-built Intelsat 707 satellite will provide telephone, television, and data transmission services for Europe, Africa, and North and South America. The satellite will partially compensate for the loss of its sibling satellite, Intelsat 708, which was destroyed when its Chinese booster crashed and exploded last month (see above). The launch was delayed twice due to problems with the Ariane booster.
Lawrence Tapped As NASA Russia Manager: Wendy Lawrence, who was originally planned to train for a backup role on an upcoming Mir mission, will instead take over as NASA's manager in Russia. The 36-year-old astronaut was removed from NASA's Mir plans last year shortly before she was to being training, when Russian officials confirmed the 160-cm (5-foot 3-inch) astronaut was too short to fit in the Russian Soyuz capsules that would be used in the event of an emergency evacuation. Lawrence takes over the managerial position from Charles Precourt, who will return to the U.S. to begin training for his role as commander of STS-84, the sixth Atlantis-Mir docking mission.
Ask An Astronaut: The National Space Society, in cooperation with the Space, Planetary, and Astronomical Cyber-Experience (SPACE), has launched "Ask An Astronaut", an online service that allows members of the public to ask questions to featured astronauts. The service, accessible over the World Wide Web and through America Online, features one astronaut a month -- the current one is Buzz Aldrin. Users have the option to e-mail a question for the astronaut, and at the end of the month the questions will be compiled and the most popular and interesting questions will be submitted to the astronaut, with the answers posted shortly thereafter. Ask An Astronaut can be accessed on the Web at the URL http://www.nss.org/askastro/.
[ Return to Table of Contents ] [ Go To SpaceViews Forum ]