Jul 6 1992
From The Space Library
The Space Shuttle Columbia and its crew set a record for the longest Space Shuttle flight on the 11th day of a laboratory research mission. Columbia passed the previous Shuttle endurance record of 10 days, 21 hours, and one minute set in 1990 by another Shuttle Columbia crew. (W Times, Jul 7/92; The Sun, Jul 7/92; W Post, Jul 7/92; AP Jul 7/92; UPI Jul 76/92; USA Today, Jul 7/92)
Scientists 'announced that dust and chemicals from last year's eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippine Islands had cooled the Earth by blocking incoming sunlight. The planet's average temperature dipped about one degree between the June 16, 1991, eruption and May of this year because a layer of sulfuric acid droplets released by the volcano had reduced the total amount of solar energy reaching the Earth's surface. The scientists said the cooling should last about five years. (W Times, Jul 7/92; AP, Jul 7/92)
Engineers from Stanford University announced that they had teamed up with Russian space exploration experts to define an international manned mission to Mars that would cost about $70 billion, a relative bargain compared with NASA's estimates of a U. S.-only mission. Significant contributions from the European Space Agency and Japan were also included in the plan, which envisioned sending six astronauts to Mars for a 500-day visit in 2009. The plan relied on readily available space technology and would not require major new appropriations from Congress. (Av Wk, Jul 67/92)
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