Dec 20 1993
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (1MB PDF)
NASA announced that scientists at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, had created the first geographically precise image of the Earth "breathing"-removing and releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The dynamic computer model shows monthly changes for carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as microbes decompose plant debris in the Earth's soil. (NASA Release 93-223; UPI, Dec 20/93)
A Washington Times editorial questioned the wisdom of the space partner-ship between Russia and the United States, finding significant problems with the agreement. First, should the Russian fascists come to power, the United States would have provided a hostile government with very detailed insights into the state of our advanced technologies. Second, the writer charged, the United States was being tricked into purchasing obsolete equipment for the joint station; third, Russia's space launch base, called Baikonur, was reported to be badly decayed; and, fourth, there were issues of crew safety-two fires were known to have taken place in similar modules of Russian Space Stations and the Russians had not provided complete details of these events.
An editorial in the Christian Science Monitor, on the other hand, praised the agreement with Russia, noting that it was clear that manned space flight must become truly international because of the high costs involved with space programs. (W Times, Dec 20/93)
NASA announced that it was phasing out support for six of the Centers for the Commercial Development of Space. The Centers losing funding were the Center for Advanced Materials, Battelle Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio; Center for Commercial Crystal Growth in Space, Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York; Center for Materials for Space Structures, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio; Center for Cell Research, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania; Center for Space Transportation and Applied Research, University of Tennessee, Tullahoma, Tennessee; and Space Automation and Robotics Center, Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. (NASA Release 93-225)
NASA announced that it had successfully boosted its Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory into a higher orbit around Earth, a move that would keep the 17-ton satellite from reentering the atmosphere. The reboost extended the mission life of the observatory by five years and prevented a reentry in which large parts from the spacecraft could have struck Earth, said officials at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, which managed the spacecraft. (NASA Release 93-224)
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