From: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke)
Subject: NASA Daily News for 11/19/92
Followup-To: sci.space
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4   
Reply-To: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 06:11:46 GMT

Daily                 News
Thursday, November 19, 1992  24-hour audio service at 202/755-1788

 % Work on Discovery for STS-53 goes on; Flight Readiness 
                 Review underway; 
 % Hubble briefing this afternoon to feature 1st photo of 
                 Black Hole accretion disk;
 % Advanced Communications Satellite Workshop closes 
                 later today;
 % NASA selects Lockheed for $1.9 billion Kennedy Space 
                 Center support contract.;

Technicians at Kennedy Space Center are troubleshooting 
an auxiliary power unit fuel pump on Discovery as they 
move towards closing out the orbiter and its solid rocket 
booster-external tank components in preparation for 
December's STS-53 launch for the Department of Defense.  
The Office of Space Flight formal Flight Readiness Review 
for the mission is underway at KSC today.  The fuel pump 
inlet pressure was found to be higher than acceptable in 
a recent hot-fire test of Discovery's three hydraulic 
auxiliary power units.  Management has a "fly-as-is"
option which is under assessment.  Should the auxiliary 
power unit require replacement, there is contingency time 
in the processing schedule on Saturday during which the 
changeout could occur.

In other STS-53 activity, the DOD payload is being 
installed in Discovery's payload bay today and the 
payload and orbiter team will perform the orbiter-payload 
interface verification test between the two tomorrow.  
The mission is presently scheduled for launch the first 
week of December.  STS-53 is a 7-day mission and will be 
the last scheduled major military flight on a shuttle.  
At the conclusion of today's readiness review, Space 
Flight management will issue an official launch date for 
the mission.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Today at 1:00 pm EST in the NASA Headquarters auditorium, 
Dr. Walter Jaffee, Leiden Observatory in The Netherlands, 
and other astronomers, will present the first image taken
of a giant dust disk surrounding a suspected black hole.  
The image, acquired by the Hubble Space Telescope, 
clearly shows the saucer-like disk around the galaxy NGC 
4261 and is the first visual view of the phenomenon of 
galactic accretion long linked with black holes but 
previously never seen.  This galaxy was selected for 
observation because it is one of the dozen brightest 
galaxies in the nearby Virgo Cluster P a mere 45 million 
light-years from Earth.  In addition to Dr. Jaffee, NASA 
astronomer Steve Maran, University of Washington 
astronomy professor Bruce Margon and Pennsylvania State 
University astronomy professor Daniel Weedman will 
discuss the significance of this new Hubble finding.  The 
briefing will be shown live on NASA Select television.  
Also featured will be a video animation of the disk 
fueling the black hole.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The NASA co-sponsored conference on the Advanced 
Communications Technology Satellite will conclude this
afternoon at the Sheraton Washington Hotel.  Other 
conference co-hosts are Comsat Laboratories, the Harris 
Corporation, and MITRE Corp.  The satellite is scheduled 
for launch aboard a shuttle flight in mid-1993.  The 
conference is featuring representatives from Rockwell 
International, Motorola, the National Telecommunications 
and Information Administration, the U.S. Army Space 
Command, and Georgetown University.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

NASA yesterday selected Lockheed Space Operations 
Company, Titusville, Florida, for final negotiations for 
the Base Operations Contract at the Kennedy Space Center.  
The approximate value of the cost-plus- incentive/award 
fee contract is $1.9 billion for an initial period of 
four years.  The contract covers three additional 
two-year options for a total contract potential of 10 
years.  In addition to supporting NASA activities at 
Kennedy, the contract calls for Lockheed to support other 
NASA contractors and tenants at the space center and also
at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events 
on NASA Select TV.  Note that all events and times may 
change without notice, and that all times listed are 
Eastern.  Live indicates a program is transmitted live.

Thursday, November 19, 1992
Live   12:00 pm  NASA Today news program, today 
                 featuring a report on yet another harvest from the 
                 Kennedy Space Center's closed-loop life support system P 
                 the Controlled Ecological Life Support System; a possible 
                 new advance in paints which may help consumers but which 
                 was developed for use on the launch pads in Florida; a 
                 look at the Hubble Space Telescopes most recent 
                 discovery, that of the accretion disk surrounding a black 
                 hole; a visit to Arecibo in Puerto Rico to explore its 
                 role in the NASA High Resolution Microwave Survey, which 
                 got underway this past October 12; and as usual a look
                 back at this date in NASA history.
  12:15 pm  Aeronautics & Space Report.
  12:30 pm  Flying Machines.
Live  1:00 pm  Space Astronomy Update program on recent 
                 discoveries by the Hubble Space Telescope of an accretion 
                 disk surrounding a nearby galaxy.
  2:00 pm  Starfinder program #12.
  2:30 pm  Life in the Universe.
  3:00 pm  Total Quality Management program #70 from 
                 the University of New Mexico series.
  4:00 pm  8:00 pm and 12:00 midnight P NASA Today 
                 and subsequent programming repeats.

This report is filed daily at noon, Monday through 
Friday.  It is a service of NASA's Office of Public 
Affairs.  The editor is Charles Redmond, 202/453-8425 or
CREDMOND on NASAmail.  NASA Select TV is carried on GE
Satcom F2R, transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees West
Longitude, transponder frequency is 3960 MegaHertz, audio
subcarrier is 6.8 MHz, polarization is vertical.
     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | Learn to recognize the
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | inconsequential, then 
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | ignore it.

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