Apr 4 1991
From The Space Library
Navy Commander Ken Reightler, a Marylander, is scheduled to fly on September 19 on the Shuttle Discovery. A Naval Academy graduate and a test pilot, Reightler will be a pilot on the five-day mission that will deploy the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite. (B Sun, Apr 4/91)
NASA's goal was to deploy two Space Shuttle missions during April: Atlantis on April 5 and Discovery on April 25. The last two-launch month was January 1986. In addition to launching the Gamma Ray Observatory, the Atlantis flight would feature a spacewalk by Jerry Ross and Jay Apt. (NY Times, Apr 4/91; UPI, Apr 4/91; LA Times, Apr 4/91; B Sun, Apr 5/91; W Post, Apr 5/91; NY Times, Apr 5/91; W Times, Apr 5/91; USA Today, Apr 5/91; UPI, Apr 5/91; AP, Apr 5/91)
Magellan project manager Tony Spear at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, announced that the spacecraft had completed its objective for the primary phase of the Venus mission more than one month before the end of the first 243-day mapping cycle. Magellan mapped 70 percent of the planet by April 3, and will have mapped 84 per-cent by May 15. The mission was to be extended to allow Magellan to map the remaining 14 percent, including the south pole. Toward the latter part of its mission it will also acquire gravity data. Magellan's findings, as described in Science magazine, indicated Venus was volcanic and geologically active. (NASA Release 91-49; AP, Apr 4/91; UPI, Apr 4/91; AP, Apr 5/91; NASA Release 91-53)
NASA announced that its newest Space Shuttle, Endeavour, would be rolled out April 25 at a ceremony at Rockwell International's Space Division Facility, Palmdale, California. (NASA Editor's Note N-91-25)
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