Apr 23 1991
From The Space Library
An editorial summarized the achievements of 10 years of Shuttle flights. (B Sun, Apr 23/91)
A British woman, Helen Sharman, was tentatively selected for the next international space flight with two Soviet cosmonauts to the Mir Space Station. (UPI, Apr 23/91)
NASA indicated that the Shuttle Atlantis had landed 200 yards short of its lakebed runway at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The reason was that astronauts were unaware of the wind shift, of which ground controllers did not inform them because they thought the information was not needed. Measures have been taken to prevent similar incidents in the future by installing more efficient brakes and a drag chute to help slow the aircraft after touchdown. (0 Sen Star, Apr 23/91)
Gerald Fishman, principal investigator of the Burst and Transient Source Experiment, said so far the experiment on the Gamma Ray Observatory was working as planned. (Birmingham Post-Herald, Apr 23/91)
The media, in a series of articles, anticipated the launching of Shuttle Discovery, discussed preparations for blast off, and outlined tasks to be performed. (NY Times, Apr 23/91; W Post, Apr 23/91; USA Today, Apr 23/91; CSM, Apr 23/91)
NASA was considering repairs costing at least $50 million to the Hubble Space Telescope. In addition to the telescope proper, the question was whether to compensate for flaws in three other instruments: two spectrographs and the faint-object camera. Such repairs would involve Costar (Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement) and cost $30 million to $40 million, while the telescope repair cost would be $14 million. To test the feasibility of performing such repairs, mock spacewalks inside a huge water tank at Marshall Space Flight Center would determine whether the work could be accomplished in the estimated 16 hours required. Despite the need for such repairs, Edward Weiler, NASA program scientist for the observatory, stressed the achievements the Hubble Telescope had made in revealing the universe. (NY Times, Apr 23/91; B Sun, Apr 23/91; Birmingham News, Apr 23/91; AP, Apr 23/91; UPI, Apr 23/91)
Hours before Space Shuttle Discovery was to blast off on its "Star Wars" mission, NASA canceled the launch because of the failure of an electrical sensor that measures pressure on an oxidizer turbopump on the engine. (AP, Apr 23/91; UPI, Apr 23/91; NY Times, Apr 24/91; W Post, Apr 24/91; W Times, Apr 24/91; USA Today, Apr 24/91; LA Times, Apr 24/91; C Trin, Apr 24/91; AP, Apr 24/91)
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