Jan 15 1993
From The Space Library
An x-ray spectrometer aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour malfunctioned while scanning the space between stars. Controllers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland were attempting to correct the problem. The spectrometer measures low-energy x-rays emitted from the space between stars. Using this device, scientists hoped to prove or disprove the theory that a bubble of hot gas in the Milky Way Galaxy was produced by a nearby exploding star. Meanwhile, Endeavour crew members conducted medical tests and started 28 biological tests; they also prepared for their elementary school class-room presentation called "Physics of Toys." (NY Times, Jan 15/93; AP, Jan 15/93)
According to Luke Dones, a visiting assistant research astronomer at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, the Earth's rotation rate may be caused by early collisions with rocks as large as Mars. Without the large impacts, the Earth would rotate only every 200 hours instead of the 24 hours it rotates today, said Dones. (NASA Release 93-012; AP, Jan 14/93; NY Times, Jan 19/93)
David L. Akin and a team at the University of Maryland's Space Systems Laboratory were working on developing a data base on how to operate robots in space. The process involved testing robots in a 50-feet-deep, $1.7 million Neutral Buoyancy Research Tank indoor pool. By testing the robots in the simulated weightlessness of the tank, scientists could team which would work best in outer space. The Space Systems Laboratory was funded by NASA. (B Sun, Jan 15/93)
Included in the promises Bill Clinton made during his presidential campaign were two relating to NASA. Clinton promised to create a civilian research agency to serve as a means of transferring new technologies into new products. He also promised to support construction of Space Station Freedom. (AP, Jan 15/93)
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