Apr 17 1993
From The Space Library
The Shuttle Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Center after a day's delay caused by stormy weather. Brewster Shaw, Deputy Space Shuttle Program Manager, pronounced the mission "very successful." The landing cleared the way for launch preparations for Shuttle Columbia's second launch attempt, scheduled for April 14, just seven days after the Discovery landing. This was shortest time between manned missions in the history of American space travel. Columbia's first launch attempt was aborted by an engine shutdown on March 22. Columbia was to carry scientific experiments sponsored by Germany. (RTW, Apr 17/93; AP, April 17/93; UPI, Apr 4/17; W Post, Apr 18/93; NY Times, Apr 18/93; P Inq, Apr 18/93; USA Today, Apr 18/93; Reuters, Apr 22/93)
Brian Marsden, director of the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams, an agency in Massachusetts that reports on discoveries in astronomy, announced that a big comet had broken into at least 20 chunks that were now orbiting Jupiter. Astronomers said the situation was reminiscent of the catastrophe that occurred 65 million years ago when the Earth was bombarded with debris from a heavenly body. It was that bombardment, they maintain, that destroyed the dinosaurs and many other species. Calculations show that the original comet probably broke up under the force of Jupiter's gravity last May when it apparently was within 659,000 miles of the planet. (NY Times, Apr 17/93, June 1/93)
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