[A light news week.]
Endeavour launch aborted at T-1.9s on 18 Aug, due to slightly high temperatures in one oxidizer pump. The temperature slightly exceeded the pre-launch limit, although it would have been well within the in-flight limit (which is set more generously because engine shutdowns then are more serious). Those three engines will be down for inspection and refurbishing for at least three weeks, and NASA is weighing the possibilities; Atlantis's engines could be borrowed, but that might cause other schedule problems farther down the line. The current launch schedule has little slack, all the more so because hurricane season is starting and NASA has to stay ready to batten down the hatches at KSC on short notice.
Shuttle managers say that past economies are coming home to roost after the last-minute scrub: the price for maintaining a capability to launch eight flights per year on a diminished budget is that when something goes wrong, there isn't enough slack to keep things on schedule. Some impact on 1995 flights, including the first Mir docking, is likely.
Clementine makes an unintended lunar flyby on 20 July and departs into solar orbit. The possibility had been recognized in advance, but poor sun angles and the resulting power shortage on the spacecraft interfered with maneuvering, and time ran out before its orbit could be changed enough. Clementine will have better sun angles later this year, and controllers will attempt to contact it then.
Los Alamos study of high-energy electrons in the Van Allen belts yields some surprises. Notably, the worst threat is not at the peak of the solar cycle, as formerly thought, but just before the solar minimum, like around now. Near solar minimum, the solar wind doesn't hit the peaks of a solar maximum, but the long-term average is higher because moderately-strong periods of solar wind last much longer. The study was based on results from instruments aboard GPS satellites and some classified missions.
H-2 pad abort 18 Aug; the main engines lit but the SRBs didn't, apparently due to problems with ground electronics. Next attempt no earlier than 23 Aug.
Inmarsat aircraft tests, in support of its forthcoming handheld-satellite- communication system, demonstrate automatic selection of the satellite giving the best-quality link from among several in sight.
Justice for groups that doesn't include justice | Henry Spencer for individuals is a mockery. | henry@zoo.toronto.edu