Jul 10 1992
From The Space Library
Writing in the Astrophysical Journal, two astronomers at the University of Hawaii discussed evidence of a monstrous black hole with the mass of a billion suns, 100 times more powerful than any apparent black hole previously detected. The suspected black hole at the center of NGC 3115, a galaxy 30 million light-years away, appears to be about half as large as our solar system. The discovery moves the concept of black holes further along from theoretical prediction to accepted reality. It also illuminates the nature of the mysterious, brilliant objects known as quasars. (LA Times, Jul 10/92; W Post, Jul 10/92; W Times, Jul 10/92)
The European Space Agency's Giotto space probe, which six years ago flew within 335 miles of Comet Halley, flew past Comet Grigg-Skjellerup. Although the probe's cameras were too badly damaged from the Halley fly-by to be used, Giotto's other instruments measured magnetic fields, dust impacts, electrically charged gases, and the chemical makeup of particles from a distance of 124 miles. (AP, Jul 7/92, Jul 11/92; P Inq, Jul 11/92)
A recent U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs oversight sub-committee report said that millions of dollars had been wasted in recent years because of poor auditing and contract management at 39 federally funded research and development centers. The report concluded that standard government accounting and auditing requirements were often "missing or ignored" at the privately owned but publicly funded research centers, which together received contracts worth more than $10 billion last year. Among the laboratories criticized was the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which received $1 billion in fiscal year 1990 funding from NASA. (W Post, Jul 10/92)
NASA officials scheduled the next Shuttle launch for July 31, three weeks after the Shuttle Columbia returned from its record-breaking two-week mission. Atlantis' seven-day flight was slated to troll an Italian satellite on a 12- mile-long tether and to launch Eureca, a European satellite, on a one-year mission. (AP, Jul 10/92, Jul 26/92; W Times, Jul 27/92; NY Times, Jul 28/92)
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