Jan 8 1985
From The Space Library
NASA announced it had agreed with the U.S. Air Force to delay the first Space Shuttle launch from Vandenberg AFB, originally scheduled for October 15, 1985, until no earlier than January 29, 1986.
NASA and Air Force officials had conducted in December 1984 an extensive review of Vandenberg Space Shuttle launch-facility readiness, the Department of Defense (DOD) payload, and impact of the orbiter Challenger tile problems on the Space Shuttle program schedule. They had decided to delay launch to maintain the current Space Shuttle manifest and to insure adequate margin in development of the DOD payload for the initial Vandenberg launch.
NASA and the Air Force agreed that the orbiter Discovery would be delivered to Vandenberg in early September 1985 instead of May; NASA would use Discovery for two flights from KSC in mid-1985 to accommodate the impact of tile problems on the schedule and would deliver other Space Shuttle flight hardware (filament-wound cases and external tank) as soon as possible to Vandenberg to provide maximum schedule flexibility for the earliest launch.
The Air Force had corrected problems with pipe welds and cleanliness at the Vandenberg launch site and was conducting ground systems tests with the orbiter Enterprise in preparation for initial checkout. NASA had delivered an external tank and solid-fuel rocket booster skirt ahead of schedule.
NASA was completing the remainder of the 1985 Space Shuttle manifest with commercial and DOD payloads and would release a manifest covering August 1985 through 1989 in the near future.
In reporting the delay, the Washington Post noted that Vandenberg was the only base from which Space Shuttles could fly into north-south orbits crossing the poles, an orbit ideal for surveillance and other earth-watching spacecraft because they could fly over the entire globe once every 18 days. (NASA Release 85-4; W Post, Jan 9/85, A9)
NASA announced it signed with the University of Arizona, Tucson, a memorandum of understanding to study, plan, and, if approved by Congress, develop an orbiting astrometric telescope facility, which would be mounted in the mid-1990s on the planned space station, to detect and study planetary systems around other stars. Astrometric telescopes measured with extraordinary precision positions of stars and other celestial objects.
Eugene Levy, director of the University's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, and David Black, head of Ames Research Center's (ARC) Space Sciences Division, would be project principal scientists. Black described the effort as "the beginning of a new scientific discipline. The results of the search, whether positive or negative, will profoundly alter our view of the universe." The gravitational pull of planets orbiting a star causes it to wobble as seen against the sky. By measuring this wobble, an astrometric telescope could determine the presence of planets and perhaps determine the properties of such a planetary system. Although ground-based telescopes use the wobble-measuring technique to measure properties of double stars in orbit around one another, an astrometric telescope could measure the disturbance in a star's motion caused by objects as small as planets. Until researchers find other planetary systems, they cannot fully test theoretical models used to explain the origin of our solar system or the formation of stars. The joint project would be coordinated with development of photometric and spectroscopic techniques and theoretical modeling of planetary system formation.
ARC would clarify final telescope design and manner of mounting on the space station as well as oversee telescope and instrument construction and mounting. The University would establish operating facilities on the ground and coordinate continuing scientific investigations that would extend more than a decade.
The project would include a core program of planet detection and study, and guest investigators could use the telescope for astrometric studies of other important celestial objects. Initial study and definition work would begin shortly; ultimate implementation would require Congressional approval and funding. (NASA Release 85-3; ARC Release 85-01; ARC Astrogram, Jan. 17/85, 1; A/D, Jan 17/85, 95)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
