Aug 20 2007
From The Space Library
Aeronautical engineer Jerome B. Hammack, who was one of the seven inventors of NASA’s Mercury capsule and had been instrumental in creating the recovery team to retrieve Mercury astronauts from the ocean, died of cancer at the age of 85. After playing a key role in the Mercury program, NASA’s first human space program, Hammack had carried out similar duties in the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and Shuttle projects. In 1958 Hammack had joined National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), NASA’s predecessor organization, and, in the early 1960s, he had been one of the 35-member group that came to Houston to establish the institution that became NASA’s JSC.
Lynwood Abram, “Hammack, Helped [Design] Vehicles for Space Program,” Houston Chronicle, 24 August 2007.
NASA announced the selection of Benham Constructors LLC of Oklahoma City for a contract valued at US$54.1 million to design, build, and commission vibration and acoustic test capabilities in support of the development of the Orion CEV. The contract stipulated that Benham Constructors build the test capability, including a mechanical-vibration test facility, a reverberant-acoustic test facility, and a high-speed-data-acquisition system in the SPF at Plum Brook Station, in Sandusky, Ohio, which NASA’s GRC operates. The contract covered a performance period of 18 months, with an additional six months of technical support. Environmental tests conducted in the facilities would demonstrate Orion’s hardware, ensuring that it met NASA’s specified requirements in simulated launch, orbit, and reentry conditions. NASA also intended the new test capability to support testing in NASA’s Constellation Program, which was developing spacecraft and other systems to support exploration missions to the Moon, Mars, and other destinations in Earth’s solar system.
NASA, “NASA Selects Vibration Test Capability Contractor,” contract release C07-37, 20 August 2007, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/aug/HQ_C07037_Plum_Brook_Contract.html (accessed 14 June 2010); Cleveland Plain Dealer (OH), “NASA Glenn Gets Role in New Spacecraft Design,” 21 August 2007.
NASA’s Voyagers celebrated 30 years of flight. The two spacecraft continued to travel toward interstellar space and to return data, marking an unprecedented, historic accomplishment. Voyager 2 had launched on 20 August 1977, and Voyager 1 had followed shortly after on 5 September 1977. The original mission plan had sent the two craft to Saturn and Jupiter. However, NASA had extended the two Voyagers’ tours beyond the initial four years, because of their achievements and because a rare planetary alignment had allowed them to travel to Uranus and Neptune. Following the completion of the extended mission, NASA had sent the Voyagers to explore the outer heliosphere. In December 2004, Voyager 1 had begun crossing the so-called heliosheath. Located approximately 8.7 billion miles (14 billion kilometers) from the Sun, the heliosheath is the region where the solar wind slows as it crashes into the thin gas that fills the space between stars. NASA expected Voyager 2 to reach this boundary later in 2007, placing both Voyagers on their final leg toward interstellar space. At the 30th anniversary of the spacecraft, Voyager 1, located approximately 9.7 billion miles (15.5 billion kilometers) from the Sun, was the farthest human-made object from Earth. Voyager 2 was approximately 7.8 billion miles (12.5 billion kilometers) from Earth. Each craft was traveling approximately 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) per day. NASA’s Deep Space Network required 14 hours for its communications to reach Voyager 1 and 12 hours to reach Voyager 2.
NASA, “Pioneering NASA Spacecraft Mark Thirty Years of Flight,” news release 07-205, 20 August 2007, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/aug/HQ_07205_Voyager_30th.html (accessed 14 June 2010).
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