[What happened to Jan 18, you say? I never got that one, and I've given up on waiting for it. Should it appear, I will summarize it.]
This is AW&ST's annual "laurels" issue. Top slot for space goes to the COBE folks at Goddard and elsewhere; runner-up is the Endeavour crew for the Intelsat rescue.
Chinese authorities claim a "minor explosion" in the Optus B2 satellite caused its loss in December, saying that the Long March's performance was "positively spotless". [The finger has recently pointed at a shroud failure.]
Shuttle managers reject a proposal to add an experimental EVA to the Atlantis mission in April, citing possible undesired effects on Spacehab experiments from the usual lowering of cabin pressure. The EVA people are expected to respond with a plan that leaves the cabin pressure alone, at the cost of more prebreathing time.
Goldin orders major studies on NASA's future launch needs. The three major options under study are:
NASA does not think any of these approaches will meet all of the NASA and DoD needs in the next few decades, but which one is chosen will affect how the gaps are filled. The three groups will report in May.
Meanwhile, NASA is still developing ASRM, reportedly on schedule. And Draculauncher is rising from the dead yet again, as the USAF prepares specs for son-of-son-of-ALS, this one dubbed Spacelifter.
January Endeavour mission successfully deploys another TDRS, has some problems with the Diffuse X-Ray Spectrometer secondary payload, and does the first overtly experimental EVA since Gemini. Harbaugh and Runco run a successful series of tests on moving large objects and moving into and out of foot restraints, spending an hour afterward recording responses to a detailed set of questions; the EVA was cut a bit short because it started late and its secondary-objective status required that it stay out of the way of later experiments. A bad odor on the middeck, first blamed on the new toilet, turned out to be a trash bin. The experimental shutdown and restart of a fuel cell was successful.
[That's it; a light news week.]
All work is one man's work. | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology - Kipling | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry