Feb 6 1991
From The Space Library
Soviet Space Station Salyut 7 was expected to fall today. Unexpectedly high solar activity in recent years had increased atmospheric drag on the station and speeded its orbital decay. (NY Times, Feb 6/91; USA Today, Feb 6/91; UPI, Feb 6/91)
NASA announced it would be a major participant in the multi-agency High Performance Computing and Communication (HPCC) to begin in FY 1992. NASA had the lead role in coordinating interagency software and algorithm research and development. In this connection, NASA would buy advanced test beds from industry and use test beds developed by the Department of Defense to evaluate and build initial applications. NASA would also develop software to solve major computational challenges involved with robotic design and control. NASA centers would be equipped with the latest network communications to support the National Research and Education Network and NASA would expand the HPCC research program of NASA-funded research institutes and through NASA grants to universities.
Another NASA project was Remote Experimentation and Exploration (REE), designed to develop a prototype high performance computing system to support future space missions. Such autonomous systems would be needed, for example, in explorations of Mars because of the distance from earth. (NASA Release 91-20)
NASA Administrator Richard H. Truly announced the selection of 26 Space Grant Consortia as a result of Phase II competition. Recipients receive four-year, $150,000-per-year grants to initiate new programs. States receiving such grants were Alaska, Delaware, District of Columbia, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. Twelve states with limited aerospace activity would receive similar grants to enhance aerospace research and infrastructure. They were Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, South Carolina, and West Virginia. Both grants require partial matching nonfederal funds and would be used in part to sponsor fellowship programs for under-graduate and graduate students. (NASA Release 91-19)
NASA announced it had modified its Space Shuttle contract with Rockwell International Corporation's Space Division at an additional cost of $27.6 million. The modification entailed the design, fabrication, testing, and installation of main propulsion system 14-inch disconnects into orbiter umbilicals in order to increase flight safety. Two other companies were involved in the work: Parker Hannifin and Martin Marietta. (NASA Release C91-g)
NASA announced its award of a $191 million, five-year contract to Krug Life Sciences, Houston, for medical operations and research support services. The work, covering the period March 1, 1991 through February 29, 1996, was to be done at Johnson Space Center, Houston. (NASA Release C91-4)
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