May 3 2000
From The Space Library
The "Love Bug" computer virus infected the computer system of NASA, along with those of the Pentagon, the CIA, Microsoft Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and other major business and government offices. Considered one of the most damaging and costly computer viruses in history, "Love Bug" spread primarily through e-mail messages, corrupting files on millions of computers. Four of NASA's 10 space centers suffered from the attack, causing both Johnson Space Center (JSC) and Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to shut down e-mail and other communication between computers.
News reached the United States that space debris had crashed to the ground near Johannesburg, South Africa, prompting NASA to respond. Several metal balls had fallen from the sky, leaving 8-inch (20-centimeter) dents in the ground. NASA scientists clarified that the debris probably came from a Delta rocket launched in 1996. Chief Scientist for Orbital Debris Nicholas L. Johnson explained that manufactured objects sent into space plummet back to Earth nearly every day, landing mostly in the ocean. Johnson also stated that NASA would compensate anyone hurt by the falling debris, remarking that no such injuries had occurred in more than 40 years.
NASA successfully launched the GOES-1 satellite aboard an Atlas 2A rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The new weather satellite would provide the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with detailed readings on severe weather systems affecting the United States. NASA deemed the GOES-1 satellite a top priority because of the declining returns of the aging GOES-8 satellite. NASA had delayed the US$220 million satellite project because of engine problems, causing anxiety to weather forecasters who depended on the satellites to track the powerful hurricanes that affected the United States in 1999. As Director of the National Weather Service's Southern Region, William Proenza explained, "It is vitally important that we have continuity of data or we may be finding ourselves impaired in our ability of forecasting." NASA had kept the May 2000 launch of the GOES-1 on track, despite some calls to postpone it so that NASA could launch Shuttle Atlantis on an urgent repair mission to the International Space Station (ISS). However, NASA officials had determined that the risk of inadequate weather forecasting was too great to take a chance on delaying the launch.
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