Apr 1 1992
From The Space Library
Virginia Governor L. Douglas Wilder was scheduled to dedicate on Sunday April 5, the new Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, Virginia. The $30 million facility, which was to serve as the new official visitor center for the NASA Langley Research Center, has a 300-seat IMAX theater and was to feature exhibits on the Viking Orbiter and Viking Lander, as well as numerous exhibits on the history of flight and space exploration. (W Post, Apr 1/92)
At the request of Congress, a NASA team researched the issue of killer asteroids and concluded that the odds of a major collision in the next century were "extremely small." But the team added that asteroid impacts posed "a significant hazard to life and property" and called for an international effort "to provide insurance for our planet against the ultimate catastrophe." The reporting team gave no cost estimates for the endeavor but said if construction began soon, a worldwide network of warning telescopes could be operational by 1997. (NY Times, Apr 1/92; W Times, Apr 1/92)
A technical consultant to the House Committee on Space, Science, and Technology, said that if the hypersonic National Aerospace Plane is built, it would be assembled in Palmdale, California. Scott Crossfield, a former test pilot, said President Bush, Vice President Quayle, and the National Space Council were strong supporters of the X-30. Crossfield said it would cost an estimated $5 billion to $12 billion for the pair of X-30s. (Antelope Valley Press, Apr 1/92)
NASA reported that the Agency would start supersonic flight tests of a new electronic control system that would improve the performance, reliability, and safety of high-speed military aircraft, future commercial supersonic transports, and the X-30 National Aerospace Plane. A NASA F-15 research aircraft was to begin supersonic testing at the Performance Seeking Control in April 1992 at NASA's Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, California. (NASA Release 92-44, Apr 1/92)
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