Jul 8 1991
From The Space Library
PR Newswire reported that engineers from McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Company would meet with representatives of NASA and its international partners from July 8 to 25 to review changes to the basic design of Space Station Freedom. Discussion is to center on Work Package 2 dealing with such factors as the propulsion assembly, resource node design, external thermal control, data management, communication and tracking, extravehicular systems and guidance, and navigation and control systems. (PR Newswire, Jul 8/91)
According to a space publication, NASA's cost estimate for its Advanced Solid Rocket Motor (ASRM) program had increased to about $3 billion, and NASA formally announced that the main ASRM goal was to aid the construction of the Space Station. The ASRM was intended to launch an extra 8,000 pounds of Space Station equipment on each Shuttle flight carrying Space Station hardware. (SP News, Jul 8-14/91)
The Space Propulsion newsletter commented on the report of the Stanford University professors who, together with Soviet aerospace engineers, projected that at a cost of $60 billion (about one-eighth NASA's estimate) a joint venture using the Soviet Energia heavy-lift rocket could land humans on Mars by 2012. In contrast, the Stafford Synthesis Group estimated 2014 as the earliest date to reach Mars, using lunar bases established in the interim. Some civilian space experts found flaws in the Stanford study. In line with comments on the Stanford report, the New York Times featured a lengthy article on the designer of the Energia rockets, currently visiting New York and seeking a U.S. buyer for the rocket. (SP News, Jul 8-14/91; NY Times, Jul 9/91)
NASA announced that spacecraft Ulysses had fired two small thrusters to set the final course for its early February 1992 rendezvous with Jupiter. Many of Ulysses' science experiments were expected to yield new data about Jupiter's magnetic field and particle environment. (NASA Release 91-106; AP, Jul 8/91; P Inq, Jul 9/91; W Post, Jul 9/91; USA Today, Jul 9/91; W Times, Jul 9/91)
NASA announced it would resume active space physics experiments by conducting several chemical releases in July and August with the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite. Barium vapor releases in the Caribbean area were involved. (NASA Release 91-107)
The New Republic carried a seven-page article entitled "The Case Against NASA" by Gregg Easterbrook, contributing editor of Newsweek and the Atlantic. The author asserted that NASA needed to be "truly reformed" and outlined under 25 headings, ranging from "Boosters" to "What Is To Be Done?," the failures he perceived in NASA, together with some suggestions for improvement. (New Republic, Jul 8/91)
The Washington Post carried an article about the difficulties SPACEHAB Inc. was having commercially. NASA said there was a need for its product: a 10-foot-long pressurized module that fits in the cargo area of the Space Shuttle, expanding the cramped living and storage quarters. Problems arose, however, over NASA's ability to cancel contracts unilaterally (which might occur if Congress in its annual appropriations cut NASA's funds) and Congress's ability to cut funds for SPACEHAB in spite of any commitments NASA made to it. The lengthy article reviews the history of SPACEHAB and its operations. (W Post, Jul 8/91)
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