Oct 20 1991
From The Space Library
NASA scientists connected with the Hubble Space Telescope correction project were quoted with reference to the amount of work to be done. The Hubble science team, subject to top-level NASA approval, was to build a second generation Wide Field/Planetary Camera (WFPC) with only four instead of eight of the powerful electronic light detectors known as charge-coupled devices (CCDs). The proposed change took account of tight money and time pressures but meant that the photographic operation might take 10 to 20 percent longer, according to Ed Weiler, NASA's chief Hubble scientist. The extent of repairs to be made would be decided by the end of 1991 but probably would involve Shuttle astronauts making three or four spacewalks of at least six hours each. (W Post, Oct 20/91; NY Times, Oct 23/91; USA Today, Oct 23/91)
Douglas Birch authored a feature article on the Hubble Telescope, its findings, and its limitations because of the flawed main mirror. Reportedly, the Hubble repair mission is to occur in November or December 1993.
Astronomers were also concerned about the telescope's age in terms of its effectiveness. Much of Birch's article centered on an interview with Douglas Duncan, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute on the campus of Johns Hopkins University, who used the Hubble telescope spectrograph data extensively. (B Sun Magazine, Oct 20/91)
The Washington Times carried an article on Baikonur, the rocket workers' town in the Soviet Union founded by the military in 1955, the same year as the Cosmodrome. No permanent residents were registered in Baikonur, known as Leninsk, but the city had 100,000 inhabitants crammed into a 4.5 square mile area. Tables of Soviet "space firsts" and "space endurance records" were included. Another article in the same issue described Soviet efforts to sell or rent space gear, including parts of the orbiting Mir Space Station, to ease the financial situation of the space program.
A further article discussed China's space program, described as making "steady and substantial progress." Data varied concerning the cost of China's space efforts. According to the Far Eastern Economic Review, in May 1988 the annual cost was "about $1.5 billion." Jiao Yong, a vice policy director with the Chinese Ministry of Aerospace Industry, told the Hong Kong Standard in May 1991 that China spent less than $100 billion on aerospace over the previous 35 years. United States officials, however, estimated that China spent more than $100 million per year on its commercial space industry alone. Commercial launch services included launching of communications satellites for other countries, such as Australia. In addition, according to Interavia Space Markets, a publication of the Jane's Information Group, China and Russia were the only countries offering recoverable satellites for microgravity experiments. China operated three major launching sites: Jiuquan Satellite Launching Center in northwest Gansu Province, Xichang Satellite Launching Center in south-west Sichuan Province, and Taiyuan Launching Center near the capital of Shanxi Province. (W Times, Oct 20/91)
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