Ohio State U researchers investigating using GPS antennas mounted on bulldozer blades to guide unmanned earth-moving vehicles.
Stu Roosa, Command Module Pilot for Apollo 14, dies 12 Dec at 61.
GAO report, requested by space-station critics, complains that NASA's plans to fund science efforts to use the space station are "unrealistic".
"Forum" article by John Egan, head of a space-business consulting firm. He argues that debates about programs are missing the point: the government has not defined its role in space. "...the purpose of management is to ensure that the herd is generally headed West. The idea then is to define West..." He argues that the government's most important mission is greatly reducing launch costs. "[As a result of military involvement]... a culture has developed in the aerospace industry that is not conducive to low-cost solutions to any space problem. Practical engineering solutions can be developed to many of the problems associated with the high cost of space activity... [but] the space community appears unwilling or unable to make progress in this area. I believe this is either because change from the status quo could be very costly to specific companies or agencies, or the industry... is unwilling to move away from tried and true methods and undertake innovative solutions -- in other words, experiment and risk possible failure..."
Photos of Svobodnyy-18, the Siberian missile base being proposed as a new Russian military launch facility. Military sources say it is planned to be the launch base for Khrunichev's new Angara booster. Whether the government will fund it is unclear, given that problems with Kazakhstan over Baikonur seem largely resolved.
NASA selects the IBM Thinkpad 755C as the new standard portable computer for use aboard the shuttle. Tests of radiation resistance are nearly done. One flew experimentally on the Hubble repair mission. The machine's removable 540MB disk drives are considered particularly useful, since they provide a way to send really large volumes of data up with the crew.
Ariane inquiry concludes that partial clogging of the LOX line to the gas generator of the third-stage engine is the most probable cause of the 1 Dec failure; the source of the clogging material is unknown. A leak in the LOX line is also possible, but considered much less likely. A new filter will be added, and efforts will be made to minimize opening of plumbing after assembly and to improve flushing procedures to clear contaminants that do get in.
UARS data appear to conclusively resolve the question of whether CFCs are causing ozone depletion: they are. Measurements of both CFCs and hydrogen fluoride -- a CFC breakdown product that has no natural sources -- in the stratosphere indicate that 5/6 of all chlorine in the stratosphere is the result of CFC breakdown.
Lockheed (for NASA) finishes shipment of new solar arrays for Mir to Russia. RSC Energia will integrate them into Russian frames and mechanisms, and then ship them back to the US for launch to Mir aboard Atlantis in autumn.
There is a difference between | Henry Spencer cynicism and skepticism. | henry@zoo.toronto.edu