Sep 30 1996
From The Space Library
Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) at Edwards Air Force Base in California commemorated its 50th anniversary with a celebration called Discovery Through Flight Research. The Center got its start when five aeronautical engineers from Langley Research Center arrived to explore flight beyond the speed of sound, in preparation for the X-1 tests, featuring pilot Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager at the controls. Researchers at DFRC contributed to a wide variety of aeronautical achievements, including breaking the sound barrier and helping launch the Space Shuttle program. At the age of 50, DFRC employed 900 government and civilian contractor employees.
With the push of a button at GSFC, NASA discontinued use of the international ultraviolet explorer satellite, which had been in orbit since 1978. When NASA sent a signal to the satellite to empty its fuel, the satellite effectively went to sleep, spinning off into space. Although NASA had originally designed the satellite to spend only three years in space, scientists continued to use it to gather data far beyond the spacecraft's anticipated lifespan. NASA ended control of the satellite to save between US$1 and US$2 million annually in operating costs. GSFC had operated the satellite as part of a three-way agreement with the European Space Agency and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council of the United Kingdom. More than 2,000 researchers from around the world had made observations from the satellite, research that had directly led to the publication of more than 3,200 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
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