Jan 24 2001
From The Space Library
The Russian Space Agency launched a cargo ship headed for the aging Mir space station. The mission’s aim was simple: to remove the 15-year-old space station from orbit safely, by propelling it into Earth’s atmosphere. To accomplish the task, Russia selected an unpiloted Progress M1-5 cargo ship, carrying enough fuel for its own journey and to fire Mir’s thrusters. A series of mechanical problems, including a fire and a collision with another cargo craft in 1997, combined with Russia’s shortage of funds for space endeavors, had led to the Russian government’s decision to end Mir’s successful run. With the launch of the Progress craft, some cosmonauts and Russian space officials protested the destruction of the last remaining symbol of the space heyday of the Soviet Union. Amateur astronomers aimed their telescopes toward the skies to glimpse Mir one last time as it orbited Earth. (Associated Press, “Cargo Ship Intended To Dump Mir Blasts Off Successfully,” 24 January 2001; Reuters, “Kazakhstan: Russia To Launch Ship To Bring Mir Era to End,” 17 January 2001; Agence France-Presse, “Russia Sets January 18 as Date for Mir’s Final Appointment in Space,” 4 January 2001; Michael Alicea, “See Mir in Flight~ Before It’s Gone,” Palm Beach Post (FL), 21 January 2001.)
DiversityBusiness.com named NASA one of the United States’ top 50 organizations for providing multicultural business opportunities. Sparked by the efforts of its Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, NASA had awarded more than US$2 billion in contracts to minority-owned and women-owned businesses during 2000. NASA joined companies such as Cisco Systems Inc., Microsoft Corporation, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. among those honored. NASA’s hiring of disadvantaged businesses had more than doubled during Administrator Daniel S. Goldin’s tenure. 8 NASA, “NASA Makes the A-Team for Multicultural Contract Awards,” news release 01-10, 24 January 2001.
Michael A. Chowdry, the founder and chairperson of Atlas Air Inc., and Jeff Cole, the aerospace editor for the Wall Street Journal, died in a plane crash, which occurred minutes after takeoff from the Front Range Airport in Watkins, Colorado. Chowdry had formed Atlas Air in 1992, to lease jumbo cargo jets and to provide flight crews to the airfreight industry. Since 1999, readers of the Wall Street Journal had known Cole for his detailed and insightful coverage of the defense and aerospace industries. After interviewing Chowdry, Cole had accepted his invitation to ride aboard a Czech fighter jet. Chowdry was piloting the jet when it crashed. 9 Wall Street Journal, “Crash Kills Atlas Air Chairman and Journal’s Aerospace Editor,” 25 January 2001.
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