Apr 30 1991
From The Space Library
The crew of Shuttle Discovery prepared for a 38-hour "space ballet" with a satellite that will study Discovery's exhaust plumes. With two recorders not working, the astronauts turned to other instruments. The satellite launch was delayed to allow the crew to complete as many observations as possible of Earth's aurora before the coolant for the telescope ran out. (B Sun, Apr 30/91; W Times, Apr 30/91; W Post, Apr 30/91; USA Today, Apr 30/91; LA Times, Apr 30/91; AP, 30 Apr 91; UPI, 30 Apr/91)
The Department of Energy requested $30 million to create a new space exploration program relating to civilian space activities. The new request brought the Energy Department's 1992 budget request for space exploration to $142 million, compared with NASA's $94 million. Some experts and officials saw the Energy Department's role in space as desirable, both to prevent NASA's monopoly and because the Department maintained active technology development programs whereas NASA allowed its technology research and development to wither as it struggled with existing programs. (W Post, Apr 30/91)
A proposal that $211 million be spent on the chance that gravity waves could be exploited to fathom black holes and other cosmic enigmas divided scientists and faced Congress with a quandary. Involved was possible Federal funding of two proposed gravity wave observatories, a joint project of the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. American supporters of the project, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), admitted there was no guarantee of success but believed its scientific potential was gigantic if it succeeded. (NY Times, Apr 30/91)
Charles A. Bowsher, comptroller general of the General Accounting Office, estimated that NASA had underestimated by $10 billion the construction cost of the Space Station because it did not include the costs of flying the Shuttle during Station construction, developing the crew lifeboat, conducting scientific projects, and installing certain equipment. NASA underestimated operations costs by $24 billion because it omitted Shuttle flight costs, salaries of ground-based personnel, the cost of research, and added electrical power. (AP, Apr 30/91)
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