Apr 11 1994
From The Space Library
Astronaut Tom Jones on Space Shuttle Endeavour answered questions about radar mapping and the Earth's ozone layer from students at his former school in Stemmers Run, Maryland. Among the areas Endeavour radar was mapping were traces of ancient rivers beneath the Sahara Desert. Other areas being targeted for mapping were the Andes and the East Australian Current as well as fires in China south of the Yellow River and flooding in the Midwest. Astronauts assured C-SPAN television questioners that the mapping radar was strictly for scientific not military purposes. At the halfway point of the mission, NASA said Endeavour already had collected 95 percent of the data it was to gather. The astronauts were divided into two shifts of three persons each in order to work round the clock monitoring radar performance, taking pictures of the Earth, and recording observations on tape. An air pollution monitor aboard Endeavour found surprisingly high levels of carbon monoxide in the Northern Hemisphere, according to NASA. NASA scientists on the ground were delighted with the quality of pictures and other data beamed by radar.
As part of their preparations for returning to Earth on April 19, the astronauts test-fired their steering jets and wiggled their flaps on April 17. On April 18, Endeavour took radar pictures of 19,300 square miles of north China from 140 miles up in space. Meanwhile, according to the official Xinhua News Agency, Chinese remote-sensing aircraft at 3.7 miles up used radar and a mobile microwave scatter meter and Surveyors on the ground also joined in. The astronauts then began to stow away equipment and turn off radars in preparation for landing. Because of adverse weather conditions April 19, Endeavour was unable to land until April 20 and was diverted to Edwards Air Force Base, California. (UP, Apr 11/94; Reuters, Apr 11/94; B Sun, Apr 12/94; USA Today, Apr 12/94; Fla. Today, Apr 12/94; 0 Sen Star, Apr 12/94; H Chron, Apr 12/94; AP, Apr 12/94; UP, Apr 12/94; W Post, Apr 13/94; H Chron, Apr 13/94; H Post, Apr 13/94; USA Today, Apr 14/94; Fla Today, Apr 14/94; Reuters, Apr 14/94; UP, Apr 14/94; USA Today, Apr 15/94; H Chron, Apr 15/94; AP, Apr 15/94; C Trib, Apr 16/94; W Times, Apr 16/94; UP, Apr 16/94; AP, Apr 16/94; W Times, Apr 17/94; UP, Apr 17/94; P Inq, Apr 18/94; CSM, Apr 18/94; USA Today, Apr 18/94; AP, Apr 18/94; UP, Apr 18/94; Reuters, Apr 18/94; USA Today, Apr 19/94; AP, Apr 19/94; Reuters, Apr 19/94; H Post, Apr 20/94; H Chron, Apr 20/94; AP, Apr 20/94; UP, Apr 20/94; Reuters, Apr 20/94; NY Times, Apr 21/94; W Post, Apr 21/94; W Times, Apr 21/94; USA Today, Apr 21/94; B Sun, Apr 21/94; C Trib, Apr 21/94; AP, Apr 21/94)
Although NASA as yet lacked congressional approval for a proposed $2 billion wind tunnel complex for testing commercial aircraft, California's congressional delegation lobbied NASA's Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to have the wind tunnel built in California at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field. Goldin refused to discuss the subject. Virginia also expressed interest in being a site for the wind tunnels, according to Representative Robert C. Scott. (LA Times, Apr 12/94; SF Chron, Apr 12/94; San Jose Mercury News, Apr 12/94; LA Times, Apr 12/94; Daily Press, Apr 20/94)
Harry Holloway, Associate Administrator for NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications, stressed that both the Spacelab and Mir were critical elements in NASA's orbital research program. During the next three years, NASA was scheduled to fly four Spacelab missions and five of the scheduled 10 Shuttle flights to Mir were to use the long Spacelab module to conduct priority research in fluid physics and combustion. (SP News, Apr 11-17/94)
Arthur F. Obenschain, project manager for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, had overseen construction of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) weather space-craft. He reported that all previous major technical problems had been overcome and that the first of the GOES was scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on April 13. Launched on schedule, GOES was predicted to provide more accurate tracking of hurricanes and other storms than did previous weather spacecraft. (NY Tunes, Apr 12/94; Fla Today, Apr 12/94; H Chron, Apr 12/94; AP, Apr 13/94; USA Today, Apr 14/94; W Post, Apr 14/94; NY Times, Apr 14/94; Plain Dealer, Apr 14/94)
As part of the administration's efforts to gain congressional support for NASA's International Space Station project, NASA was considering removal of the Russian Salyut Functional Cargo Block (FCB) vehicle from the redesigned configuration. If the FCB were removed, which some key members of Congress wanted in order to reduce dependence upon Russia, NASA might replace it with Lockheed's Bus-1. Following the March International Space Station System Design Review, international partners and White House advisers, including members of the presidential panel reviewed the Station redesign and, in general, seemed favorably disposed to the Station. The panel was headed by Charles Vest, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (Av Wk, Apr 11/94)
NASA in a cooperative agreement notice called on third parties to develop public-use applications of its remote sensing databases in order to make use of the reams of Earth and space science data collected to date. Paul Hunter, Program Manager for NASA's Information Infrastructure Technology Applications program, said NASA planned to grant about 8 to 10 large awards of $500,000 to $1.5 million per year, and eight to 20 smaller awards of about $100,000 to $300,000. (Federal Computer Week, Apr 11/94)
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