Mar 28 1991
From The Space Library
A NASA scientist, in a commentary accompanying a paper published in the journal Nature, warned against interpreting the breaking apart of the Wordie Ice Shelf in the Antarctic as a foreshadowing of widespread melting of the polar ice cap. He maintained that this was a regional warming trend not observed elsewhere in Antarctica. (UPI, Mar 28/91)
An editorial criticized expenditures by Congress and the administration on Mission to Planet Earth with its environmental concerns, as opposed to spending larger sums on space exploration. (W Times, Mar 28/91)
An alert ground controller noticed that the Progress-7 cargo module was on a collision course with Soviet Space Station Mir and deflected the module. The two cosmonauts succeeded in docking the module and obtaining the food supplies. (AP, Mar 28/91; B Sun, Mar 29/91; W Post, Mar 29/91)
NASA stated that a computer glitch temporarily put the $1.5 billion Galileo Jupiter probe into an electronic state of hibernation. Galileo is in an elliptical orbit around the sun and was scheduled to orbit Jupiter for two years in 1995. The computer problem caused the spacecraft computers to order the "safing mode" but no damage was apparent. Engineers said Galileo should be back in full operation by the time of the next computer commands in late April. (UPI, Mar 28/91)
McDonnell Douglas Space Systems awarded Hercules Aerospace of Magna, Utah, a contract to continue production of graphite epoxy solid rocket motors (GEMS) for the Delta II expendable launch vehicle. (PR newswire, Mar 28/91)
Don Haley, spokesman for NASA's Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards Air Force Base, announced that Space Shuttle Atlantis, which was scheduled for launch on April 5, should land at Edwards April 10, weather permitting. NASA officials preferred the runway and dry lakebed at Edwards to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which was adjacent to a swamp. (Antelope Valley, Mar 28/91)
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