May 28 1980
From The Space Library
The Wall Street Journal said that the Ariane rocket failure in its second test flight was a blow to western European development of a competitor for the U.S. Shuttle. ESA experts had not solved the mysterious engine shutdown that dropped the Ariane into the ocean after launch from Guyana [see May 23]. The difficulty seemed to be with the Ariane feature they valued most, the first-stage engine that had been fired 200 times on the ground and had worked flawlessly during test flights. The same engine had been highly reliable in the French rocket Diamant, now being phased out after years of successful use.
ESA and France (which paid 64% of Ariane expenses and had done much of the development) hoped to put Ariane into service in mid-1981, ahead of the Shuttle, which was able to orbit six times the weight of an Ariane payload and return to Earth for reuse. Shuttle problems had put NASA behind, but the Wall Street Journal said prolonged delay in Ariane development would have "serious consequences" for ESA. The Europeans had bid vigorously for launching assignments for Ariane because it would be available earlier as well as less expensive, but engine problems could undermine the claim. (WSJ, May 28/80,20)
NASA reported that scientists were beginning to identify major features on the surface of cloud-shrouded Venus on the basis of data returned by Pioneer and had met with the working group on planetary nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on a policy of naming the major features for goddesses from various cultures, with minor features named for other mythical females and smaller features for famous women no longer alive. The Washington Post said that women's groups such as the National Organization for Women (NOW) had immediately protested "a typically male response" of naming planetary features for myths instead of real women. Dr. Harold Masursky said the IAU at its Budapest meeting next week would consider names for Venus sites, most of the 30 submitted being those of actual women. (NASA Release 80-70; ARC Release 80-47; W Post, May 29/80, A-2)
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