Oct 7 1985
From The Space Library
NASA announced that it signed a 21-month agreement with Scott Science and Technology, Inc. (SST) to provide technical expertise to SST in the development of a commercial liquid-fuel upper stage for boosting Space Shuttle-deployed satellites to geosynchrous orbit.
SST, whose president was former astronaut David Scott, had worked for two years on developing the upper stage, called the Satellite Transfer Vehicle, which would be able to boost satellites ranging from 2,000 to 19,000 lb. On some missions, the stage would be recoverable.
Engineers at NASA's Johnson Space Center would monitor the stage's development and consult with SST staff on technical problems. SST would reimburse NASA for the use of any test facilities and the salaries and travel of JSC personnel working on the project. (NASA Release 85-143)
NASA announced that its associate administrator for space science and applications, Dr. Burton Edelson, in a speech today at the 36th Congress of the International Astronautical Federation in Stockholm warned his audience that the earth's environment as was presently known might be in jeopardy and called on the world's scientific community to accelerate its study of the planet. “Resources, once thought to be limitless, are slowly being depleted,” Edelson said. “Earth's atmosphere is changing, and some of its life forms are threatened. It is imperative that we, as scientists and engineers, take action now to maintain the quality of life on our planet and improve its biological productivity” Edelson cited the many accomplishments of planetary science since the beginning of spaceflight 28 years ago. “We have examined most of the planets in the solar system at close range and have performed systematic studies of our closest neighbors, Venus and Mars, through telescopes and more recently, through data and imagery received from planet-orbiting spacecraft,” he said. “We still lack synoptic, systematic, and temporal knowledge, predictive skills, and an understanding of the mechanisms underlying earth's global processes,” he pointed out.
Calling for an international study effort, Edelson said, “Our sophisticated spacecraft; new air, sea, and spaceborne sensors; and enormous computing capability will enable us to measure, monitor, model, and finally begin to understand the earth as a system. This mission to planet earth could unlock the secrets of life itself . . . and could well prove to be the most important ever undertaken by humankind.” Edelson called particular attention to the problems of water pollution in rivers, lakes, and streams; potential depletion of the ozone layer; growing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide; and a sharp increase in the levels of carbon monoxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. “Economic development over large portions of the earth have significantly changed the patterns of land and water use,” he said. “The results have been mixed-while in some cases the benefits have been significant-we have paid a substantial price. We must study the land and learn to use it properly.” To emphasize the importance of his proposal, Edelson said, “The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has reviewed the scientific merit of the global habitability concept andhas found it to be both sound and worthy. The Academy is now participating in the broader efforts of the International Council of Scientific Unions in a program called Global Change. NASA and several other government agencies, notably the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation, also will participate.” Edelson said he envisioned multifaceted investigations with oceanographers, meteorologists, biologists, and foresters studying the land, sea, atmosphere, and the air-sea and solar-terrestrial environments.
This is truly an international challenge,” he concluded, “involving many scientific disciplines. Everyone on earth has a stake in our success.” (NASA Release 85-142)
The Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission 51-j landed just after 10 a.m. today at Edwards Air Force Base, ending a four-day flight operated under secrecy rules imposed by the Department of Defense (DOD), the Washington Post reported. “Of course, I can't say anything about our mission,” said flight commander Karol Bobko, an Air Force colonel and one of five military men on the mission, “but I can say Atlantis performed superbly its first time in space. I've flown Challenger, Atlantis, and Discovery now, and I think that NASA really has quite a fleet of orbiters and that we have a great national asset here,” he added.
NASA ground operations manager Fritz Widick said Atlantis was in “excellent condition” at the end of the 1.7 million-mile flight, although engineers were inspecting an underside area of the left wing to see if tile-insulation damage might have exposed its aluminum mainframe to reentry heat. Such heat might have discolored a region along the portside engine pod under the Space Shuttle's tail.
Widick said Atlantis's brakes came through the 190 mph landing on the lake-bed with only “minor damage” to one of four brake assemblies on the main landing gear.
Bobko appeared to apply minimum braking after landing into a stiff headwind that brought Atlantis to a stop on the center line halfway down the 15,000-foot desert runway.
Fewer than a dozen reporters and about two dozen NASA employees were present for the landing, an event that usually drew hundreds of spectators, the NY Times reported. The military gave just 24 hours notice of when the mission would end and had barred members of the public from watching. (W Post, Oct 8/85, A3; NYT, Oct 8/85, C3)
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