Jun 21 1993
From The Space Library
The International Astronomical Union in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said that an asteroid had come within 90,000 miles of Earth last month without being detected. This was the closest encounter ever recorded. The asteroid, named 1993 KA2, was discovered by asteroid hunter David Rabinowitz. (W Post, June 21/93; P Inq, June 21/93)
The Danish industry ministry announced that Denmark was scheduled to take part in a scientific satellite project in cooperation with NASA in 1995. The project involved the launch of a small Danish satellite into orbit to study Earth's magnetic field. (RTW, June 21/93)
In mid-June a new breed of spacecraft, the Delta Clipper Experimental (DC-X), was scheduled to be launched for a brief test. If things go according to plan, the craft would hover briefly 100 feet in the air, and then settle hack in its launching pad. The spacecraft, built by McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, was to take off vertically and land the same way. Some experts in the field suggested that the DC-X might mark the next phase of U.S. space exploration. (Business Week, June 21/93)
NASA announced that it and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) had selected a proposal from a consortium I55 of institutions to place the Center for Vestibular Research at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. The center would work on defining the contributions of the vestibular system to the control of balance, posture, and locomotion through ground-based and space-based studies. (NASA Release 93-111)
NASA announced that 40 college students had started a six-week Space Life Sciences Training Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The summer residence training program was for college students interested in life sciences, bioengineering, ecology, or related fields. (NASA Release 93-117)
Space Shuttle Endeavour blasted into space on June 21, after a one-day launch delay. The shuttle's mission was multipurpose, featuring experiments in the world's first commercial research laboratory, SPACEHAB; the retrieval of a European science satellite; and a spacewalk geared to preparing astronauts for the Hubble Space Telescope repair mission scheduled for December. (UPI, June 21/93; AP, June 21/93; RTW, June 21/93; USA Today, June 22/93; NY Times, June 22/93; W Post, June 22/93; LA Times, June 22/93; W Times, June 22/93; B Sun, June 22/93)
The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee voted June 9 to prevent NASA from moving approximately 90 Space Shuttle jobs from Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to Johnson Space Center in Houston. (Space News, June 21-27/93)
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