May 22 1995
From The Space Library
Today is the first of three dates that Earth will be able to view the rings of Saturn on edge in about 15 years. Thirteen of Saturn's 18 moons were discovered during past ring crossings. The other two dates in this trio will be August 10, 1995 and February 11, 1996. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory will use these opportunities to fine tune the mission of the Cassini spacecraft]] to be launched in 1997 for an examination of Saturn beginning in the year 2004. (NASA Releases 95-72 & 118; W Post, May 3/95; C Trib, Apr 28/95; AV Wk, Apr 24/95)
The Hubble Space Telescope provided surprising findings about two extremely faint explosive white dwarfs, VW Hydri and U Geminorum, that have been known for about 30 years. Evidence shows that they are far cooler and spin much more slowly than expected. (NASA Release 95-75)
NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin announced the Agency would cut 28,000 Civil Service positions, restructure each of its 10 centers, and turn over the operation of the Space Shuttle to a private industry. (NY Times, May 22/95; W Post, May 22/95)
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