Mar 14 1992
From The Space Library
It was reported that Vice President Dan Quayle's National Space Council had tightened its control over space activities by dividing NASA's responsibility for the U.S. Moon-Mars project among several government agencies. Quayle released a directive, approved by the president, that assigns "major roles" to the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy while establishing NASA as the principal agency. (Mercury News, Mar 14/92)
The new Space Shuttle Endeavour was hauled slowly to its seaside launching pad for work to ready the ship for an engine test firing in April and its maiden flight in early May. Mounted atop a powerful Apollo-era crawler-transporter, Endeavour began the 4 1/2 mile, six-hour trip to pad 39-B at 7:18 a.m. EST. Engineers spent the afternoon hooking up fuel lines and various mechanical, hydraulic and electrical systems. (UPI, Mar 14/92; AP, Mar 13/92; P Inq, Mar 14/92)
In an effort to reduce vibrations in helicopters, a team of engineers at the University of Maryland were developing "smart" rotor blades that measure aerodynamic stresses and change shape in flight to reduce them. The team also hoped to build rotor blades that can warn pilots when the blades are about to crack or fail. (B Sun, Mar 14/92)
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