August 16, 1993

August 16, 1993

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COVER STORY

AIR FORCE USES OPTICS TO TRACK SPACE OBJECTS

By BRUCE D. NORDWALL

HEADLINE NEWS

ARIANE-PROTON TEAM SEEKS INDIAN CONTRACTS

By JEFFREY M. LENOROVITZ

HEADLINE NEWS

MAGELLAN COMPLETES FIRST AEROBRAKING

By MICHAEL A. DORNHEIM

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6667
COVER STORY

AIR FORCE USES OPTICS TO TRACK SPACE OBJECTS

An Air Force surveillance site atop a 10,000-ft.-high Hawaiian volcano is a near-ideal location for identifying and tracking man-made objects orbiting the Earth and for testing lasers in the atmosphere

By BRUCE D. NORDWALL

2425
HEADLINE NEWS

ARIANE-PROTON TEAM SEEKS INDIAN CONTRACTS

Proposal to launch Indian satellites comes at a time of disarray in the U. S. expendable booster industry

By JEFFREY M. LENOROVITZ

2829
HEADLINE NEWS

MAGELLAN COMPLETES FIRST AEROBRAKING

By MICHAEL A. DORNHEIM

3031
HEADLINE NEWS

MARS OBSERVER TO ENTER ORBIT

LOS ANGELES The Mars Observer spacecraft is scheduled to enter orbit around Mars next week, capping an 11-month flight to the planet only weeks after it was placed into contingency mode because of a recurring problem with its star reference system.

By BRUCE A. SMITH

7677
HEADLINE NEWS

SKUNK WORKS DESIGN MAY CUT LAUNCH COSTS

U. S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. Researchers from Lockheed's Skunk Works have conceived a single-stage-to-orbit unmanned vehicle they contend could put payloads in space for $500 per pound, and perhaps much less, soon after 2000.

By DAVID A. FULGHUM

2627
HEADLINE NEWS

DISCOVERY LAUNCH SCRUB DISRUPTS SHUTTLE SCHEDULE

By JAMES T. MCKENNA

68b69
COVER STORY

OPTICS/LASER RESEARCH SEEKS TO IMPROVE IMAGES

MAUI, HAWAII Research conducted for the Air Force's Phillips Laboratory at the Amos facility is revealing ways to overcome some of the degrading effects of the atmosphere on ground-based imaging. Turbulence in the atmosphere is the main cause of the problem, according to a technical paper recently presented by researchers Capt. Andrew H. Suzuki and Capt. Mark VonBokern from Phillips Laboratory.

By BRUCE D. NORDWALL

7677
HEADLINE NEWS

LOCKHEED WINS IRIDIUM CONTRACT

WASHINGTON Lockheed will build 125 spacecraft buses for the Iridium low-Earth orbit mobile communications system under a contract with Motorola valued at more than $700 million. Lockheed Missiles & Space Co.'s selection as a key contractor for the $3.45-billion project had long been expected, but the details of the pact with Motorola's Satellite Communications Div. were not set and announced until last week.

By JAMES R. ASKER

7879
HEADLINE NEWS

SWEDEN SEEKS CAUSE OF GRIPEN CRASH

By CAROLE A. SHIFRIN

6868a
COVER STORY

RESEARCHERS FIND MAUI IDEAL FOR LASER TESTS

MAUI,HAWAII The work conducted at Mt. Haleakala is giving researchers exceptional opportunities for laser and telescope testing that is expected to benefit both astronomical and military applications of Earth-to-space and space-to-Earth lasers and surveillance systems.
August 91993 August 231993