May 7 1993
From The Space Library
The W Times reported that a joint U.S.-German experimental fighter jet had completed a revolutionary rapid turn in flight. The aircraft slowed from a speed of about 300 miles an hour and reversed direction in only nine seconds using a tight, looping turn. According to the Pentagon, the turn was far beyond the aerodynamic capability of any conventional fixed-wing aircraft. The test flight took place at Edwards Air Force Base, California. (W Times, May 7/93)
The European Space Agency (ESA) announced that it had picked two Germans, a Spaniard, and a Swede for its first joint missions with Russian astronauts to the Mir-1 Space Station in 1994 and 1995. The ESA had reserved one slot each for the two flights. A decision on which two men would participate would be made in the weeks before the flight. (RTw, May 7/93)
At a news conference during the annual Naval Aviation Symposium, astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, Alan B. Shepard, Neil A. Armstrong, and James A. Lovell spoke of the importance of continued exploration of the Moon. Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon, said, "We are going to go. It's man's intuitive spirit to go back and go on to Mars." (AP, May 7/93)
The media reported that the Space Shuttle Columbia landed May 6 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, after low clouds at Cape Canaveral, Florida, forced it to divert to California.
NASA called the Columbia's return "a significant milestone" because shuttles have now spent a total of more than a year in orbit since the first one was launched in 1981. However, John Pike, a space analyst for the Federation of American Scientists, said he wondered if the Shuttle flight was worth what it cost. There are "good reasons for flying in space, but science isn't one of them," Mr. Pike said. (APn, May 5/93; USA Today, May 7/93; W Times, May 7/93; N Sun, May 7/93; LA Times, May 7/93; NY Times, May 7/93; W Post, May 7/93)
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