Jan 8 1993
From The Space Library
A Utah State University group sponsored by NASA's National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program Office was scheduled to launch a high-altitude research balloon on January 11 to measure ozone distribution and wind parameters in the Earth's stratosphere. The balloon, which was to fly across the Gulf of Mexico to Florida, was the eleventh launched by this team and the first of 24-hours duration.
Throughout the balloon's flight, teams of amateur radio operators in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida were to receive information from the balloon's gondola; this information was to be relayed by high-frequency radio to the Utah State University team. Other flights of an longer duration were scheduled to be launched from Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central America. (NASA Release 93-8)
NASA announced that it would soon begin tests using a modified Convair 990 commercial jet airliner to expand the operational landing capabilities of the Space Shuttle system. The Convair has been undergoing modifications for two years in preparation for tests that would help Johnson Space Center researchers better understand the operational capabilities of the Shuttle system. (Desert Wings, Jan 8/93)
A General Accounting Office (GAO) report charged that NASA was very resistant to change. Some of the GAO's criticisms, including poor budgeting, contract management, and organizational culture, had also been identified as problem areas by a White House scientific panel. (NY Times, Jan 8/93; USA Today, Jan 8/93)
A report released by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin said that NASA must improve its ability to transfer technology to business. The report included eight recommendations for changing NASA's culture to facilitate technology transfer.
The report noted that NASA's efforts were quite good in areas where technology transfer was the primary mission activity. These areas included aeronautics, the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program, and the Centers for Commercial Development of Space.
NASA created the Office of Advanced Concepts and Technology last November to better meet the needs of industry, academia, and NASA communities. Ensuring the rapid transfer of technology into the commercial sector is one of the new office's major functions. (NASA Release 93-009)
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