From: yee@atlas.arc.nasa.gov (Peter Yee)
Subject: NASA Daily News for 10/30/92 (Forwarded)
Apparently-To: sci-space-news@ames.arc.nasa.gov
Followup-To: sci.space
Originator: yee@atlas.arc.nasa.gov
Reply-To: yee@atlas.arc.nasa.gov (Peter Yee)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 07:02:56 GMT

Daily                 News
Friday, October 30, 1992  24-hour audio service at 202/755-1788

 % STS-52 mission exceeding science expectations, landing set for Sunday;
 % NASA and EPA sign agreement to cooperate on joint research projects;
 % Astronomers resolve mystery associated with extremely distant galaxy.

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

The STS-52 mission continues to progress well, with every experiment
meeting or exceeding the expectations of the science team.  The US
Microgravity Program scientists at Marshall Space Flight Center are
calling this mission outstanding.  USMP-1 mission scientist Sandor
Lehoczky said "the mission has been an unqualified success.  Results
obtained from these experiments are expected to make major
contributions to the fields of condensed matter physics and materials
science."

The MEPHISTO directional solidification furnace has been used for over
30 melt and solidification runs, nearly three times the mission
requirement.  The use of realtime data telemetered to the ground
science team has enhanced the use of the facility, allowing the furnace
team to take advantage of extra quiet periods in the shuttle's
microgravity environment.

The Lambda-point experiment team reports they also have obtained almost
300 percent of their planned very-high- resolution data on the
transition of superfluid helium to normal liquid helium.  The data will
be used to rigorously test a Nobel Prize-winning theory which attempts
to explain the dynamics of matter at phase transition points.  The
results of this analysis will have implications to a wide range of
problems in physics, including those associated with superconductivity
and the development of liquid crystals.

The team of mission specialist Lacy Veach and Canadian payload
specialist Steve MacLean completed the fourth in a series of
evaluations of the Canadian Space Agency's Space Vision System
yesterday.  The system, being developed for use aboard Space Station
Freedom, takes television views from cameras located on the robot arm's
elbow and wrist and converts them to a computer display system which
improves the ability of crewmembers using the arm to direct it and
grapple objects.  The on-orbit team reported having no trouble with the
system in any of the runs, including one which deliberately limited the
motion and reach of the robot arm.

The STS-52 crew will spend most of tomorrow preparing Columbia for its
planned reentry Sunday morning.  The crew will be stowing experiment
apparatus and putting the orbiter through a series of flight control
system tests to guarantee its optimum performance Sunday.  The planned
reentry maneuver presently is set to occur Sunday at 7:55 am EST, with
a landing at 9:04 am EST at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy
Space Center.

Present weather forecasts for Sunday call for scattered low and high
clouds with possible fog or rain showers within 30 miles of the landing
strip.  Weather forecasts for Monday are slightly better.  The STS-52
crew has three KSC landing opportunities on Sunday morning, the nominal
time at 9:04 am, and one earlier at 7:31 am and one later at 10:38 am.
Crew, orbiter and experiment systems are all in superb condition.

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

NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin and Environmental Protection Agency
Administrator William Reilly this morning signed a cooperative
agreement which pledges each agency to share information and facilities
and to work together to develop joint research projects.  Goldin said
the agreement "renews our commitment to safeguard the planet on which
we live and to employ NASA's technical expertise and experience to help
solve problems here on Earth."  Reilly said he looked "forward to
collaborating with NASA on environmental research and technology
development," and said the agreement would "bolster EPA's on-going
efforts to monitor the health of our natural resources and the
ecological systems that sustain us."

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

Jet Propulsion Laboratory astronomer Peter Eisenhardt and University of
California-Berkeley colleague Mark Dickinson report in the current
issue of Astrophysical Journal (Letters) that a distant radio galaxy
once thought to contain very old stars instead is probably a
protogalaxy filled with the youngest type of stars.  The galaxy,
B2J0902+34Plocated in the constellation Lynx, had been observed
previously in 1988 and analyzed to have stars which were much older
than the galaxy itselfP mystifying most astronomers.  The new
observations undertaken by Eisenhardt and Dickinson used improved
sensors at the Kitt Peak National Observatory and were analyzed with an
improved set of algorithms.  The new findings show the color of the
galaxy to be significantly bluer than the previous measurements, which
showed it to be red and therefore older.  Eisenhardt said the finding
"may be a protogalaxyPone of the holy grails of astronomy."

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

  
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.

Friday, October 30, 1992
       7:00 pm  Replay of Flight Day 9 activities.
Live   9:15 pm  Von Braun Exploration forum from Marshall Space Flight Center.

Saturday, October 31, 1992
Live  12:00 pm  Mission Status briefing from JSC.
       8:00 pm  Replay of Flight Day 10 activities.

Sunday, November 1, 1992
Live   7:55 am  Scheduled time for Columbia's deorbit maneuver.
Live   9:04 am  Scheduled time for Columbia's landing at Kennedy Space Center.
  
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.
Newsgroups: sci.space.news