September 1, 1997

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HEADLINE NEWS

Second Rock Type Sampled at Rover Landing Site

PASADENA, CALIF. Recent rock measurements on the surface of Mars have supported what was a surprising finding early in the Pathfinder mission and have set off discussions among scientists over what appears to be a second type of rock at the spacecraft’s landing site in an ancient flood plain.

By BRUCE A. SMITH5 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Mir External Eva Prepared as Partial Power Restored

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER Electrical power has begun flowing again from the solar arrays on the damaged Spektr module into the overall Mir space station, indicating the Aug. 22 internal extravehicular activity by two Mir cosmonauts to reconnect power was successful.

By CRAIG COVAULT4 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Lmlv-1 Gives Good Delivery to Orbit

LOS ANGELES The Lockheed Martin Launch Vehicle’s successful second flight goes a long way to restore the rocket’s reputation, tarnished by multiple failures on its first flight in August, 1995. The LMLV performed a nearly flawless job of placing the NASA/TRW Lewis satellite into its initial orbit, and does not appear to be involved with subsequent Lewis problems, which started three days later (see p. 31).

By MICHAEL A. DORNHEIM4 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Trw Scrambles to Save Satellite

WASHINGTON NASA faced the first serious crisis involving one of its “faster-better-cheaper” spacecraft when the Lewis remote-sensing demonstration satellite went into a spin and lost power two days after it was orbited on a Lockheed Martin Launch Vehicle.

By JOSEPH C. ANSELMO4 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Titan Motor Fixes Speed Nro Launches

Cape Canaveral The U.S. Air Force Titan 4 program and its contractors are recovering rapidly from a serious generic problem discovered in the thrust vector control systems (TVC) of Chemical Systems Div. solid rocket motors used on Titan 4A launch vehicles.

By Craig Covault3 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Ace Delta Sets Record Pace Despite ‘fishing Boat’ Delay

Cape Canaveral Boeing Delta 2 lifts off from Cape Canaveral Aug. 25 carrying the NASA Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) on a mission to study the chemical makeup of particles from the Sun and other sources in the galaxy. During launch a small NASA television camera mounted on the exterior of the Delta’s first stage provided real-time images of the climbout, separation of nine solid boosters and the first stage falling back to Earth.

HEADLINE NEWS

Altus Reaches 43,500 Ft.

Los Angeles The General Atomics Altus 2 drone climbed to 43,500 ft. in recent tests of high-altitude performance and handling while carrying a 300-lb. simulated payload. The 55-ft.-span drone is sponsored by the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, Calif., and its Altus 1 sister ship was built for NASA Dryden’s Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program.

August 251997

September 81997

September 1, 1997

September 1, 1997

Nro Radar, Sigint Launches Readied

By CRAIG COVAULT6 min