Mar 22 1991
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (1MB PDF)
Major General Jeremiah Pearson III appeared before the House Armed Services research and defense subcommittee to testify on behalf of the value of the V-22 Osprey. He said the plane would have been valuable in the Persian Gulf War in facilitating POW rescues. (W Times, Mar 22/97)
Physicists at Los Alamos National Laboratory discovered that huge parts of the sun's magnetic field break away and are propelled into space by the constantly blowing solar wind. This explains how the Sun's magnetic field remains in balance while new magnetic field lines are formed, according to Los Alamos physicist John Phillips. (W Times, Mar 22/91)
Smithsonian officials scaled back plans for a National Museum of Air and Space annex from $325 million to $162 million. The site must be within one hour's drive of Washington and would be used largely to store airplanes. In other testimony, officials said the Space Shuttle Enterprise would not be leased to a Japanese television network. (W Post, Mar 22/91)
The Carnegie Institution of Washington assembled a group of leading scientists to honor the memory of Vannevar Bush, responsible for the creation of the National Science Foundation. The scientists deplored lagging U.S. investment in materials, equipment, and research related to science and the fierce competition among corporations and research groups that led to secrecy. James S. Langer of the Institute for Theoretical Physics of the University of California called for "a less adversarial" National Science Foundation to restore more of a sense of inquiry and adventure to scientific research. (NY Times, Mar 22/91)
A pressurized laboratory to be used on Space Shuttle Columbia's late May mission was damaged when a technician removed a latch and the module tilted, making a slight tear in the module's insulating thermal blanket. NASA spokesman Mitch Varnes said damage appeared minor and should not delay the mission. (AP, Mar 22/91)
UPI stated that Columbia's launch in late May would be delayed five to 11 days by work to realign the spaceship's twin boosters. (UPI, Mar 22/91)
An independent government panel, the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, praised NASA for grounding the Space Shuttle fleet in 1990 to fix fuel leaks and not sacrificing flight safety to meet a demanding launch schedule. (UPI, Mar 22/91)
Hughes Communications Galaxy is suing NASA because it refused to launch Hughes' satellites from the Space Shuttle after the Challenger accident. Edward Frankle, NASA general counsel, said the contract foresaw that Hughes might not get the service for which it signed up. (B Sun, Mar 23/91; AP, Mar 25/91; W Times, Mar 26/91; W Post, Mar 26/91; P Inq, Mar 26/91; AP, Mar 26/91)
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