Mar 26 1991
From The Space Library
Several prominent scientists said NASA's revised plans skimped on research equipment, such as a large centrifuge, to study the debilitating effects of weightlessness adequately. Life science research is minimized in the new program. (NY Times, Mar 26/91)
Lieutenant General Donald Cromer, commander of the Air Force Systems Command Space Systems Division, told a Space Expo '91 audience that the next generation of rockets would lift payloads into near-Earth orbit for $300 a pound instead of the $3,600 per pound it now costs a Titan IV launch vehicle. Cromer worked with NASA to develop an advanced launch system (ALS). The goal was to develop engines ready for testing in 1995-96 with a first flight by 1999-2000. (AP, Mar 26/91)
NASA broke ground at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a $56.2 million facility to prepare pieces of Space Station Freedom. (AP, Mar 26/91; USA Today, Mar 27/91; W Times, Mar 27/91; UPI, Mar 27/91; CSM, Mar 28/91)
Two Soviet cosmonauts who were running low on food and water left Space Station Mir in their Soyuz TM-11 capsule and flew to the port of their astrophysics lab, Kvant. Their cargo ship, Progress M-7, had failed twice to dock with Kvant. They linked their capsule with the port when the balky antenna was located. Another attempt will be made to attach Progress to Mir. (AP, Mar 26/91; W Times, Mar 27/91)
Marshall Space Flight Center Director Jack Lee told the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce that the news media were to blame for NASA's bad image during the preceding year. In discussing Marshall's economic impact on the area, Lee cited increases in its budget, which had risen from $1.8 billion in 1983 to a requested $3.6 billion in fiscal 1992. Of this amount, an estimated $1.08 billion would be spent in Alabama. Moreover, Marshall civil service and contractor employees represented about 12 percent of the total Huntsville population. (Hntsv Tms, Mar 26/91)
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