Jun 21 1991
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (1MB PDF)
According to UPI, in a paper submitted to the journal Science, J. Fishman of NASA's Atmospheric Sciences Division and three other scientists, satellite monitoring data and ground-based pollution measurements indicated that air pollution from burning forests in tropical and subtropical Africa was wafting throughout the Southern Hemisphere, previously considered relatively clean compared to the heavily industrialized North. (UPI, Jun 21/91)
NASA Administrator Richard H. Truly announced the selection of Darleen A. Druyun as Assistant Administrator for the Office of Procurement. The highest ranking woman career executive in Air Force contracting, she served previously as Principal Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Contracting, Headquarters Air Force Systems Command, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. (NASA Release 91-94)
A Journal of Commerce editorial analyzed the factors relating to NASA and the Federal Communications Commission's licensing of a private communications consortium joint venture to develop a mobile satellite to provide clear voice communications in remote U.S. areas. In early 1991, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia challenged the FCC's authority to form the joint venture and license it, with the result that Congress cut NASA's proposed $56 million contribution to the project. The companies feel cheated and the editorial advised that NASA should not be involved. (Journal of Commerce, Jun 21/91)
According to AP, Space Shuttle Columbia returned home to Florida after a one-week trip from the West Coast. Reportedly, NASA would save $1 million, in addition to travel time, by landing a Shuttle in Florida. (AP, June 21/91)
The media reported engineers were studying a possible problem connected with a $100 million Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) to be launched by Shuttle Atlantis. The problem involved the motor that deployed a boom carrying a six-foot-wide antenna. The main TDRS antennas are folded for launch, but once the satellite is in orbit, the antenna booms rotate out-ward and the antennas open up like umbrellas. On June 24, NASA manager of the project Nicholas Chrissotimos, stated that the problem was resolved. (UPI, Jun 21/91; AP, Jun 22/91; C Trin, Jun 25/91)
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