[That's right, this issue is two weeks in one, and actually more like three, because the Dec 27 issue is AW&ST's annual all-photos issue -- which, as in previous years, was actually pretty drab -- and hence I won't be summarizing it. Next summary will be for Jan 3.]
US Army successfully demonstrates control of a robot aircraft via satellite.
China reserves payload space on the shuttle, eight mid-deck lockers.
ESA, NASDA/ISIS, and CSA accept the US proposal to let Russia into the space-station program... but not without some hints that other aspects of the program should be reconsidered too, e.g. use of Ariane 5 for launches. Formal paperwork for Russian entry into the program is underway.
To everyone's amazement, the Hubble repair mission went virtually perfectly. Everything got done on schedule, with only the most minor glitches. Work is now underway on refocussing and testing the optics.
Gyro replacement went fine on spacewalk 1, except that the astronauts had difficulty closing the access doors. The issue was postponed until after the fuse replacement, at which time persistent work and a bit of brute force got them closed.
One of Hubble's solar arrays furled up only with difficulty, and the other one -- kinked quite noticeably (which had been suspected, but the extent of the problem surprised people) -- refused to furl at all. This situation had shown up in training, hence the quick decision to jettison it, which was done first thing in spacewalk 2. (The array's orbital lifetime should be only a year or two.) Otherwise spacewalk 2's solar-array replacement went fine, with minor hassles because Thornton's suit receiver could hear Akers but not the shuttle.
Spacewalk 3 installed WFPC2, and then proceeded to install two new magnetometers, at which point there was an unpleasant surprise. The magnetometers weren't built for in-orbit replacement, so the plan was to just bolt the new ones over top of the old ones, abandoning the old ones in place. Unfortunately, it turned out that the old magnetometers' housings were crumbling, and worries about contaminating Hubble came to the fore, especially since the magnetometers are up near the open end. The new ones were installed, and Goddard started figuring out what to do about the old ones.
Spacewalk 4 installed Costar (with, again, some trouble in getting access doors closed afterward) and the computer coprocessor. At the tail end of this one, Akers peeled some multi-layer insulation off old hardware, and took it inside. (Also on this walk, Akers took the US record for total spacewalk time away from Eugene Cernan, who's had it for 21 years.)
Just before spacewalk 5, a very small OMS burn was done to supply a little bit of a reboost for Hubble, raising its perigee 3nmi. A problem with the new computer also surfaced. The spacewalk crew had some trouble installing the new solar-array drive electronics -- at one point losing a screw, which Musgrave (on the arm) went after and caught -- and had to manually deploy one of the solar arrays when it refused to deploy on command. The crew then installed the power-supply-bypass kit in the GHRS instrument, by which time it was established that the computer problem was in fact a communications problem not requiring repair action. Finally, the spacewalk crew rode the arm up to the magnetometers again, and enclosed the old ones in improvised covers made from the multi-layer insulation and secured on with cable ties.
Hubble release was imminent at time of publication.
DirecTV prepares for Ariane launch (Dec 17) of the first small-dish TV broadcast satellite aimed at North America. The system will use two satellites (the second to fly on Ariane in summer) and digital compression. A third satellite has been ordered as a spare, and might be launched if approval can be had. (The satellites have 16 transponders each and the FCC limit is 32 per direct-broadcast orbital slot -- the two satellites are in essentially the same slot, 0.4deg apart -- but their transponders can be ganged up two per channel for more power, which would permit the third bird without exceeding the limit.)
Rockwell is using LLNL's Sharp gas gun to fire scramjet test vehicles at Mach 8 (soon to reach Mach 10) at sea level. Mach 8 at sea level is actually a rather good approximation, after scaling effects, to many of the operating conditions of a real scramjet at high altitude. The tests only last a few milliseconds each, and the "scramshell" is destroyed by the impact at the end, but the runs are cheap ($10k each) and various complications of wind tunnels are avoided. The initial test series is basically just meant to determine whether the technique works. With three flights so far, the basic scramshell design has been debugged and the instrumentation works; it is not yet definitely established that the scramjet engine is producing the intended thrust, but three more flights are planned.
Columbus is not dead yet, but it is more or less on hold while earlier ESA participation in the space station is sorted out.
Arianespace prepares for the last 1993 Ariane launch, with ten launches set for 1994. [The best-laid plans...]
Editorial urging Clinton to help continue the process of sorting NASA out by filling the deputy-administrator position. Goldin needs someone to keep an eye on his underlings while he sorts out policy [the traditional split of responsibilities; the job went unfilled under Truly because he wasn't willing to delegate any real authority].