Jun 17 1994
From The Space Library
NASA announced that Space Shuttle Columbia was to conduct the second flight of the International Microgravity Laboratory-2. The flight would entail worldwide research into the behavior of materials and life in the weightless environment of Earth-orbit. Experiments were to include studies of subtle forces that affect microgravity and the reaction of living organisms to microgravity. Scientists from NASA, the European Space Agency, the French Space Agency, the German Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, and the National Space Development Agency of Japan cooperated in planning the experiments. (NASA Release 94-96)
NASA announced that astronaut Charles F. Bolden Jr. was leaving NASA after 14 years to return to the Marine Corps to serve as Deputy Commandant of Midshipmen at the Naval Academy. (NASA Release 94-97; W Times, Jun 19/94)
Guy Bluford, the first African American astronaut in space, served as master of ceremonies of a celebration the week of June 13, honoring the 30th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. The Tuskegee Airmen participated as NASA honored those known as the "Civil Rights Movement of the Armed Services of World War II." (Metro Herald, Jun 17/94; Washington Informer, Jun 23-29/94)
In a patent case, Hughes Aircraft Company won $114 million from the U.S. government (represented by the Defense Department and NASA) as opposed to the $4.8 billion it sought. At issue were royalties due under a patent developed by former Hughes engineer Donald D. Williams in 1959 for a single rocket nozzle for satellites. (NY Times, Jun 18/94; P Inq, Jun 19/94; W Times, Jun 19/94; WSJ, Jun 20/94)
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