Mar 29 1989
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(New page: The first commercial launch of a licensed private rocket was successfully carried out at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. A two-stage Starfire suborbital rocket built by Space Se...)
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The first commercial launch of a licensed private rocket was successfully carried out at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. A two-stage Starfire suborbital rocket built by Space Services, Inc. carried a canister of experiments on a 198-mile ballistic trajectory. The experiment canister, which carried several microgravity materials processing experiments, was retrieved intact at the conclusion of the 15-minute suborbital flight. Space Systems, Inc. had previously launched a test rocket carrying a dummy payload in 1982. (NY Times, Mar 30/89; W Post, Mar 30/89; WSJ, Mar 30/89; W Times, Mar 30/89; B Sun, Mar 30/89; P Inq, Mar 30/89; C Trib, Mar 30/89)
NASA scientists reported that a group of eight newly fertilized chicken embryos carried aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-28 had failed to hatch upon returning to Earth, raising questions about the viability of animal reproduction in zero gravity. A group of 16 eggs fertilized nine days before launch were all successfully hatched. Of a third group of eight eggs scheduled to hatch Saturday, only a few embryos remained viable. Discovery astronaut James Bagian speculated that the results may indicate that gravity plays a previously unknown critical role during the process of cell differentiation. Bagian suggested that, should the experiment demonstrate a relationship between gravity and embryogenesis, the results would have "great implications" for future long-duration space missions. (UPI, Mar 29/89; W Post, Mar 30/89; P Inq, Mar 30/89; NY Times, Mar 31/89)
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