Jan 13 1998
From The Space Library
Lunar Prospector settled into its orbit after three flawless engine burns. The five scientific instruments (magnetometer, electron reflectometer, gamma-ray spectrometer, neutron spectrometer, alpha particle spectrometer, and Doppler gravity experiment using an S-band antenna) began transmitting streams of data. The neutron spectrometer scanned the lunar surface for evidence of hydrogen; the gamma-ray spectrometer determined concentrations of elements such as uranium and iron; and the alpha-particle spectrometer searched for indications of volcanic and tectonic activity.
The contractor operating the Space Shuttle program, United Space Alliance (USA), announced that it would cut 500 jobs at KSC by 30 January, to reduce total workforce by 10 percent. The announcement raised concerns in Congress about Shuttle safety.
Florida state leaders began forming a task force to attract Lockheed Martin's VentureStar Reusable Launch Vehicle to the coast's spaceports. U.S. Representative David Weldon Jr. (R-FL) confirmed verbal commitments from the Spaceport Florida Authority and from Enterprise Florida to help fund the task force. The Florida VentureStar Capture Team, the proposed name for the task force, estimated that they needed between US$200,000 and US$1 million to carry out a successful bid for the VentureStar" business.
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