[Yes, this is out of sequence. I actually sent this one in several weeks ago, but on checking my records, I don't think it ever showed up in the group. Apologies if this is a duplicate for some or all of you.]
JPL will try increasing Galileo's spin rate March 11 as a last attempt at freeing the antenna. Nobody really expects this to work.
British Aerospace aborts plans to sell its space-systems subdivision, after both Matra and DASA decided the asking price was too high.
Aerospatiale and SEP are looking at a small launcher, but currently do not think the market is substantial enough to support another competitor.
Feb 2 Ariane launch slips badly, possibly to June, because Hughes has found problems with the payload.
SDIO will defer launcher selection for the Topaz 2 in-space test by about six months, pending results of a study on the reactor's effects on astronomy satellites [which might recommend a higher orbit].
National Reconnaissance Office is trying to cope with greatly expanded business as the more uncertain world picture has increased the demand for recon data. (Indeed, the official admission of NRO's existence supposedly was partly to make it easier for new users to deal with it.) Martin Faga, the director, admits that NRO has access to aircraft as well as satellites, saying that they have used SR-71 flights and that a hypothetical SR-71 followon "could be assigned to the NRO". He denied that SRO is operating or developing any highly-hypersonic vehicles like the fabled "Aurora".
O'Hare is testing the feasibility of using GPS to track ground vehicles and taxiing aircraft. Differential GPS is necessary for the required accuracy; the ACARS data-link system, designed for things like aircraft takeoff-time reporting, is being used to transmit the DGPS corrections. ACARS is unsuited for aircraft in the air because it is not designed to meet the tight real-time requirements of high-speed traffic, but for ground traffic it's working okay.
FAA advisory group will shortly be formed to recommend standards for aircraft data-link communication. There are several existing data-link systems, all of which are too specialized for general-purpose needs. ACARS is meant for low-priority traffic and can experience delays of several seconds when traffic is heavy. Mode S, a datalink piggybacked on air-traffic-control radar transponders, has much higher capacity but is available only when a ground radar antenna is pointed at the aircraft in question, which happens only every 3-4s near airports and every 10-12s at longer ranges. Inmarsat's satellite systems have limited capacity, are not usable in the polar regions, and are an expensive add-on for most existing aircraft. There is interest in the possibility of using modern data-link methods on the old aviation shortwave bands, which could overcome those bands' shortcomings for voice (congestion and irregular propagation). It is likely that the group will recommend more than one standard to meet different constraints; for example, airport-ground-vehicle systems do not need the performance of aircraft systems but must be cheap because of the great number of vehicles.
Russian Space Agency and the Russian Ministry of Defense are believed to be fighting over control of the Russian space program. General Ivanov, commander of the Military Space Force, charges that the RSA is strangling military space operations by denying them funding. Maj.Gen. Kalinichev, dep.cmdr., criticizes Kazakhstan's lack of support for the Tyuratam cosmodrome, saying that Kazakhstan is providing little or no funding at a time when Tyuratam badly needs facilities upgrades. Ivanov also says that the lack of tracking-ship support for comsat launches, due to cost cutting, greatly increases the risk of satellite loss. "The miser pays twice."
Meanwhile, Soyuz TM-16, launched Jan 24, was docked to the androgynous docking port, on the Kristall module, that will be used for the Mir shuttle mission in 1995. This was meant to be the Buran docking port; it has not been used before. The docking apparently was done manually rather than automatically.
Marshall is investigating a small but odd pressure rise in one SRB during the Jan 12 Endeavour launch. It lasted only three seconds and the thrust difference between the two SRBs was not enough to cause nozzle gimballing. The SRB casing shows no abnormalities.
Columbia Spacelab preparations slip slightly when a lubrication problem interferes with closing of the payload-bay doors. The other orbiters will be checked for similar problems.
General Dynamics seeks USAF funding for a single-engine Centaur, using a souped-up RL10 engine at 35klbs thrust to replace the pair of 16-21klb RL10s now used. The upgrade would cost about $105M, roughly half of it for the RL10 development. Lighter weight would improve performance slightly, and the simpler stage would be more reliable and cheaper and would need less checkout time.
Third Pegasus launch slips again, to Feb 8 at the earliest, after problems with the onboard computers and a scheduling clash with a Feb 2 Delta launch from the Cape. The tail-fin problems that caused the previous slip have been traced to improper adhesive bonding between shaft and actuator. OSC is anxious to get this one up, so they can demonstrate that Pegasus's teething troubles have been overcome and start working off its long backlog of launches.
All work is one man's work. | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology - Kipling | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry