Oct 21 1991
From The Space Library
A discussion of the robot explorer Magellan's probe of Venus during its 16 months and more than 3,000 orbits, mapping more than 90 percent of the surface, appeared in the Washington Post. Lead scientist Stephen Saunders of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, which manages the mission, was quoted as saying that scientists were looking for "active plate tectonics" such as "continental drifts" which occur on Earth. To date, no such discoveries have occurred. (W Post, Oct 21/91)
NASA announced November 13 as the launch date for Consort 4, a commercial suborbital rocket carrying nine microgravity experiments. The experiments were to be launched from the Naval Ordnance Missile Test Station at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, with material from the University of Alabama in Huntsville's Consortium for Materials Development in Space. (NASA Release 91-173)
A trade publication reported that NASA Administrator Richard H. Truly had asked Vice President Dan Quayle to signal strong support to Congress for the X-30 National Aerospace Plane (NASP) program. NASA feared a major cut in funding of the NASP would significantly delay the program. (Av Wk, Oct 21 /91)
The same publication discussed the way in which Michael Griffin, described as "NASA's new moon/Mars czar," was shaking up NASA's space exploration initiative. Reportedly, Griffin wanted to move fast on launching a "relatively inexpensive, high-visibility space mission," such as sending an unmanned spacecraft to scout for a permanent base on the moon. (Av Wk, Oct 21/91)
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