Nov 26 1986
From The Space Library
NASA selected the Inertial Upper Stage (INERTIAL UPPER STAGE), a launch vehicle that fits in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle, to carry three probes for planetary missions. Despite earlier plans for alternative launch vehicles following cancellation of the Shuttle/Centaur Upper Stage and the Challenger accident, NASA felt an urgent need to reestablish its planetary program. The probes scheduled for launch in 1989 and 1990 included the Galileo, a joint mission with Germany that would circle Jupiter and measure electromagnetic fields and plasma particles; the Magellan, which would orbit and map Venus using radar;; and the Ulysses, a joint mission with the European Space Agency designed to orbit and study the poles of the sun. These three were the first missions for orbit around bodies other than Earth that would employ the INERTIAL UPPER STAGE.
The INERTIAL UPPER STAGE boosters were manufactured by Boeing to launch three scientific missions. They were to have launched the General Dynamics hydrogen-fueled Centaur rockets, but the highly volatile boosters, thought possibly unsafe for human space flight, were grounded after the Challenger accident. Because of its less powerful rocket, the Galileo needed to slingshot Venus in order to reach Jupiter, as opposed to flying directly to the planet. The added time for the mission was expected to run $50 million. (NASA Release 86-161; NY Times, Nov 27/86)
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