Apr 3 1991
From The Space Library
Daniel S. Greenberg, editor of Science and Government Report, a Washington newsletter, questioned the redesigned Space Station and expenditures to date on the Station, citing the views of the Space Studies Board of the National Academy of Sciences. (P Inq, Apr 3/91)
The Pentagon was developing secretly a nuclear-powered rocket for boosting heavy military payloads into space as part of the Strategic Defense Initiative, known as "star wars." The program was disclosed by the Federation of American Scientists and was confirmed by government documents obtained by the New York Times. NASA reportedly was evaluating the program quietly. The Federation opposed the program because of the risk of radiation release. (B Sun, Apr 3/91; W Post, Apr 3/91; UPI, Apr 3/91; WSJ, Apr 3/91; W Times, Apr 4/91)
Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore announced that for financial reasons it was ending its participation in the Magellan Telescope project in Las Campanas, Chile as of June 30. It cited an inability to raise the $15 million, which was its project share. The role of the Astronomy Department at Johns Hopkins was enhanced through its space participation. The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope was successfully flown aboard the Space Shuttle and Johns Hopkins contains on campus the Space Telescope Science Institute, NASA's center for astronomy programs with the Hubble Space Telescope. (B Sun, Apr 3/91)
Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that the atmospheric lifetime of methane, a key "greenhouse gas," is about 25 percent longer than previously thought. The gas is short-lived compared to other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons so reductions in methane would ease the greenhouse effect. (UPI, Apr 3/91)
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