Mar 13 1997
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As the public anticipation of the appearance of Comet Hale-Bopp heightened, NASA announced that NASA-supported researchers would use its vast resources including spacecraft and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST)--to study the comet. Scientists hoped that studying Hale-Bopp would lead to a greater general understanding of comets. Because comets are composed of loosely packed dirt and ice, experts consider them the best-preserved remnants of the early solar system. NASA disclosed that the Wallops Flight Facility would launch four rockets using ultraviolet wavelengths, to study Comet Hale-Bopp. In addition, the Ulysses spacecraft, the joint project of NASA and the ESA, which was already in orbit at the time, would chart the effects of solar-wind conditions on comets. However, scientists also disclosed that the close proximity of Hale-Bopp to the Sun posed a danger to HST's sensitive detectors; therefore, they had determined to wait until a few months after the comet's approach to Earth before tracking it with the telescope. JPL planned to host a public event, called Comet Chasers: On the Trail of a Comet, to bring scholars and the public together to discuss the significance of Comet Hale--Bopp.
New support emerged for NASA scientists' claim that a meteorite discovered in August 1996 held fossil evidence of primitive Martian life. In an article in Science, a group of researchers from California Institute of Technology and McGill University used magnetic studies to demonstrate that the findings on the meteorite were not, as some critics had contended, the result of a high-temperature environment that would have made life impossible. "What we are able to show from the magnetic studies is that these things [the fossil remnant that had excited the interest of Johnson Space Center geologists] couldn't have been heated even to the boiling point of water." Although the scientists did not explicitly support NASA's earlier claim that the remnant provided evidence for bacterial life, the team's discovery opened the intriguing possibility that remnants of primitive life could migrate from one planet to another.
NASA announced that, through its Small Business Innovative Research program, researchers had successfully used recycled plastic milk bottles to create a more effective, lightweight insulation for clothing and blankets. The material had the same honeycomb structure as that of the metal heat barriers used in spacecraft. According to the principal investigator, Steven D. Miller of S. D. Miller and Associates, "The blankets are better than wool or fleece because they are non-allergenic, and they dry five times faster. The new material is also four times warmer than wool in cold and damp conditions." The research team hypothesized that agencies such as the Red Cross, or other emergency medical personnel, eventually would be able to use the new material to warm patients more quickly. After developing the product for space and commercial uses, NASA planned to allow Miller's company to pursue further commercialization opportunities without NASA funding.
NASA announced the establishment of a National Microgravity Center, formed in conjunction with Case Western Reserve University and the Universities Space Research Association. NASA selected Lewis Research Center (LERC) in Cleveland, Ohio, to lead its research efforts in the project. Plans for the nation's first center dedicated exclusively to microgravity research focused on five areas: 1) research and technology development; 2) science program outreach and development; 3) scientific support; 4) technology transfer to industry; and 5) public education initiatives. NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin announced the endeavor, stating, "The National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and Combustion represents a commitment to our goal to strengthen the partnership between NASA and our nation's research community in universities and industry so that together we can increase the scientific and economic payoffs from NASA's Microgravity Science Program." NASA selected Simon Ostrach, a distinguished professor of engineering at Case Western University, as Director of the National Microgravity Center. As Director, Ostrach would be responsible for managing the Center's staff of more than 30 people and for shaping an agenda of research that would take advantage of opportunities aboard the ISS.
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