Sep 16 1992
From The Space Library
Astronomers reported that they had recently detected a small faint object beyond Neptune and Pluto that could be the first direct evidence for the existence of the Kuiper belt, a broad belt of icy minor planets that is presumably the source of many short-period comets streaking in from the fringes of the solar system. Initial observations suggested that the object is about 120 miles in diameter, has a reddish glow, and is traveling in a 200-year orbit between 3.4 and 5.5 billion miles from the Sun. (NY Times, Sept 16/92; W Post, Sept 16/92; Time, Sept 28/92))
The U.S. Defense Department announced that it had no further plans to use the Space Shuttle for major payloads after launch of a classified military satellite during a Shuttle flight in November. The Pentagon, which once had planned to be a prime user of the Space Shuttles, was to be relegated to a minor and occasional Shuttle customer. In place of the Shuttles, the Pentagon planned to rely much more heavily on expendable launch vehicles for military payloads. (Space News, Sept 14-20/92)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
