Jan 6 1986
From The Space Library
NASA renamed two planetary missions scheduled for flight in 1988 and 1990. The mission to map the planet Venus, previously known as Venus Radar Mapper and scheduled for launch from the Space Shuttle in April 1988 and arrival at Venus in July 1989, was renamed Magellan, The Magellan spacecraft, attached to a Centaur-G upper stage, would map the entire surface of the planet Venus for the first time, using a synthetic-aperture radar instrument. The spacecraft would orbit the planet about once every three hours, coming as close as 250 kilometers from the surface.
The mission to map the planet Mars, previously known as the Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter and scheduled for launch from the Space Shuttle in August 1990 and arrival at Mars in August 1999, was renamed Mars Observer. The Observer spacecraft, adapted from an existing production-line type of Earth-orbital spacecraft to reduce costs, would map the planet Mars to determine the global elemental and mineralogical character of its surface and to investigate the Martian climate, both present and past. The Magellan and Mars Observer projects were managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications. (NASA Release 86-1)
NASA announced that the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope and the launch of the first Earth Observation Mission have been switched. Under the new schedule, the Space Telescope would be launched on October 27, 1986, and the Earth Observation Mission would lift off on August 18, 1986. The change was made to provide additional time for delivery of the Space Telescope from the West Coast to Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The Space Telescope would be deployed into orbit from Space Shuttle Atlantis. It was expected to see 7 times farther and 10 times more clearly than any telescope on Earth. (NASA Release 86-2)
USA Today reported that 40-year-old Karen Kofoed, a reporter for the Camden Courier-Post, was the first journalist to apply to be part of a crew aboard a Space Shuttle into space. As of January 6, only 20 of the 4000 reporters who requested applications had submitted the completed forms, which were due by January 15. The contest for the first journalist in space was administered for NASA by the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina. (USA Today, Jan 6/86)
A number of American space scientists expressed disappointment because no U.S. spacecraft would fly by Halley’s Comet as it swings by Earth for the first time since 1910 and for the thirtieth time since 240 B.C. The scientists ascribed U.S. failure to have a mission to the comet to a "combination of over expectations, missed signals, poor planning, a streak of bad luck, and politics and infighting in the science community" In the meantime, the European Space Agency's spacecraft Giotto, the Soviet Union's twin Vega spacecraft, and two Japanese spacecraft would each probe Halley’s Comet. Particularly galling to American space scientists was the knowledge that none of these spacecraft could carry out their mission with-out U.S. help, as each was guided by the U.S. Deep Space Network to reach the comet. The most sophisticated mission would be by the spacecraft Giotto. After a 60,000 mile voyage through Halley's "dusty tail," it would pass "with-in 300 miles of the coma, which with the nucleus forms the comet's head." The twin Soviet spacecraft were launched in December 1984 into a Venus orbit, from which they landed probes on the planet and used that planet's gravity to fly toward Halley’s Comet. One craft was expected to stay about 6,000 miles from the nucleus, while the other would move closer. Japan's spacecraft would come only within 120,000 miles of Halley’s Comet. (W Post, Jan 6/86)
For the third time in 19 days, launching of the Space Shuttle Columbia was again scrubbed. This time a malfunction with Columbia's computer control failed to close an oxygen valve. Engineers were successful in closing the valve under manual control, but the additional time it was open resulted in 1,500 gallons to 3,000 gallons of oxygen entering the fuel lines to the main engine, lowering temperatures to an unacceptable level. With 15 flights slated for 1886, another attempt was immediately planned for January 7.
The chief goal of the mission was to carry a $50 million communications satellite, Satcom, for RCA. When an RCA engineer announced that 8:47 p.m. was the cut off point for a launch that would later deliver the satellite at an optimum time, the mission was canceled. Scheduled to ride into space with NASA's astronauts and engineers was Florida's Democratic Congressman Bill Nelson, chairman of the House subcommittee on space science and applications that oversees NASA's budget. (NY Times, Jan 7/86; W Post, Jan 7/86; P Inq, Jan 7/86; C Trib, Jan 7/86; W Times, Jan 7/86; B Sun, Jan 7/86)
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