Oct 12 1992
From The Space Library
Astronomers resumed the search for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) today with simultaneous commands to computers and radio telescopes at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and in the Mojave Desert of California. Although there have been previous limited projects, NASA officials, who are financing and directing the new project, said the planned 10-year, $100 million search would be the most comprehensive and ambitious one ever undertaken to search for signals of life beyond Earth's galaxy. Later, more radio telescopes around the world were to join the search, which NASA has renamed the High Resolution Microwave Survey. The latest SETI project was timed to begin on the 500th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of land in the Americas. (NY Times, Oct 6/92, Oct 13/92; W Post, Oct 5/92; LA Times, Oct 7/92; The Sun, Oct 8/92; Newsweek, Oct 12/92; AP, Oct 10/92, Oct 12/92; UPI, Oct 13/92; C Trib, Oct 10/92; P Inq, Oct 10/92; 13/92; NASA Release 92-160)
A group of NASA scientists sampling the air over southern Africa found massive pollution usually associated with the industrial centers of the Northern Hemisphere. Most of the pollution is caused by peasant farmers burning huge tracts of scrub brush to clear their land for planting. The group arrived in southern Africa in early October after studying a virtually identical problem in Brazil. Together, the pollution from the two regions was thought to be changing the atmosphere throughout the Southern Hemisphere. Some 180 scientists from 13 countries were involved in what was considered the most detailed atmospheric study ever made of the South Atlantic. (AP, Oct 12/92; Av Wk, Oct 12/92)
A Defense Science Board review of the National Aerospace Plane ruled against building the single-stage-to-orbit vehicle in the near future, citing persistent technology shortfalls. (Av Wk, Oct 12/92)
The U.S. National Research Council urged NASA to expand study of advanced subsonic aircraft in order to keep U.S. aerospace companies competitive in the face of growing advances made by foreign industry. A council report said NASA should focus on improving aircraft performance and operating efficiency and coordinate the work with industry and academia. (Av Wk, Oct 12/92; National Research Council News Report, Fall Report)
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