May 26 1992
From The Space Library
NASA announced that Laurie A. Broedling had been appointed as Associate Administrator for Continuous Improvement. She would report directly to the Administrator and serve as NASA's primary facilitator of Total Quality Management. "This appointment is an important step in bringing a world-class TQM program to NASA," Administrator Daniel S. Goldin said. (NASA Release 92-72)
NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin announced that his agency had started an intense examination of itself and its programs aimed at setting goals for the Nation's civilian space program and controlling costs in the future. Goldin said he had named two teams to undertake an agency wide analysis of what NASA should be doing and what it could do within the constraints of a limited budget. The self-analysis was organized, Goldin said, after he examined the NASA budgets for the coming years and realized that the agency was committed to programs that could not be funded in an era of tight Federal spending. (AP, May 26/92)
Scientists now believe that all the visible stars and galaxies account for less than one percent of the mass of the universe, with the rest being some kind of invisible, or dark matter. Finding the "stuff' of this hidden mass could alter theories of particle physics and would be a major step in understanding the structure and evolution of the universe. It might also enable cosmologists to predict whether the universe is destined to continue expanding forever or eventually to collapse of its own gravity. If dark matter does exist, and most of it turns out to be unlike the ordinary atoms of stars and people, the philosophical implications would be profound and humbling. Dr. Bernard Sadoulet, a physicist at the University of California and a leader of the search for dark matter, said: "It will be the ultimate Copernican revolution. Not only would we not be at the center of the universe as we know it, but we wouldn't even made up of the same stuff as most of the universe." (NY Times, May 26/92)
After hearing complaints from employees across the nation, NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin unexpectedly announced he was changing the Agency's logo. Goldin killed the despised "worm," which displayed "NASA" in high-tech red lettering, and restored the insignia affectionately known as the "meatball." The meatball, which served the agency from 1959 to 1975, consists of the agency's name surrounding a starry blue background, a red wing shape and the flight path of a spaceship. It was worn by astronauts on Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. (W Post, May 26/92)
NASA launched a rocket from Puerto Rico's north coast at 7:55 p.m. EDT to study radio waves in the ionosphere. The launch, originally set for May 18 but delayed due to bad weather, was the first time NASA had launched from the Caribbean island since 1967. (USA Today, May 26/92; AP, May 26/92)
A team of scientists using two satellites in orbit announced they had solved the puzzle of a mysterious source of high-energy gamma rays, located in the direction of the constellation Gemini and known as Geminga. According to a report in the journal Nature, the gamma rays were flowing from a spinning 300,000 year old neutron star or pulsar. Scientists do not understand why Geminga favors gamma rays over other wavelengths. Two other bright sources of gamma rays already known to he pulsars, buried within the Crab and Vela supernova remnants, emit radiation in x-ray, radio, and optical wavelengths. (W Post, May 26/92; P Inq, May 22/92)
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