Oct 3 1996
From The Space Library
China announced it would participate in an international collaborative space research project for the first time in its history. Chinese scientists planned to assist their colleagues from Russia and the United States in the future Discovery mission. Although China had no plans to send an astronaut on the Shuttle, Chinese aerospace engineers volunteered to construct the sophisticated magnets needed to build a magnetic spectrometer. The project was the first time the usually secretive Chinese space science program had opened itself to outside scrutiny.
NASA discovered the second of two misplaced hand tools left inside the propulsion system of the recently landed Shuttle Atlantis. Although the Shuttle had experienced no problems during its 10-day flight, NASA formed an investigative panel to determine who had left the tools inside the Shuttle's engine compartment after completing work. Inspectors had discovered the first missing tool inside the electronic control compartment of the Shuttle's reusable rocket booster when they retrieved the booster from the Atlantic Ocean shortly after the launch. Workers discovered the second tool during a routine postflight inspection of Atlantis's rocket engine compartment. Although the tools likely posed no threat to the safety of the Shuttle crew, a NASA representative said that, for safety reasons, NASA intended to find out how workers had made the error and, if possible, to identify the Shuttle contractor responsible.
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