From: yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA Daily News for 10/07/92 (Forwarded)
Apparently-To: sci-space-news@ames.arc.nasa.gov
Followup-To: sci.space
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 20:24:02 GMT

Daily                 News
Wednesday, October 7, 1992  24-hour audio service at 202/755-1788

 % Space flight management sets October 22 as STS-52 launch date for Columbia;
 % Administrator Goldin approves selection of two cosmonauts for 1993 shuttle
   flight;
 % Scientists to discuss recent Hubble & Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer results
   tomorrow;
 % 2,000 teachers will get an advance tour of new Space Center Houston
   tomorrow;
 % TDRS-F is mated to its Inertial Upper Stage, testing of pair to begin next
   week;
 % 119 microgravity scientists awarded Space Station Freedom research grants.

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

NASA space flight management yesterday set October 22 as the official
launch date for Columbia's STS-52 science and technology mission.  The
launch window opens on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 11:16 am EDT and extends
for the next two-and-a-half hours.  Columbia is scheduled to remain in
orbit for nine days with a planned end-of-mission landing at the
Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility.

Work on Launch Pad 39-B today includes the helium signature leak test
of Columbia's main propulsion system, including the three shuttle main
engines.  Tomorrow and Friday the launch pad will be cleared for the
loading of hypergolic fuels.  On Saturday technicians will conduct a
payload interface verification test of the Laser Geodynamics Satellite
and its upper stage.  The interface test for U.S. Microgravity
Payload-1 payload has already been successfully conducted.

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

NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin has approved the selection by the
Russian Space Agency of two cosmonauts who will train in the U.S. to
fly on a space shuttle mission in November 1993.  The cosmonauts,
Sergei Krikalev and Vladimir Titov, are both highly awarded veteran
space flyers.  Titov has logged more than a year in space with a total
of three space flights.  Krikalev has logged nearly a year-and-a-half
on two spaceflights, including one to the Mir space station.  Both
cosmonauts have been awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union,
both have received the Order of Lenin, and both have been honored by
the French government with the title L'Officier de la Legion
d'Honneur.

The two cosmonauts are expected to arrive at the Johnson Space Center
later this month to begin their training as shuttle mission
specialists.  One cosmonaut will be designated as prime crewmember for
the 1993 flight while the other will be designated as backup
crewmember.

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

NASA and university astronomers will present another in the Space
Astronomy Update series tomorrow, Oct. 8, at 1:00 pm EDT in the NASA
Headquarters auditorium.  The briefing, which will present a striking
Hubble Space Telescope picture of cosmic mirror images and an Extreme
Ultraviolet Explorer image of a powerful object two billion light years
from the Milky Way, will be shown live on NASA Select television.  The
Hubble observations provide new information on distant galaxies and on
the distribution of mysterious dark matter, whose nature remains
unknown.  The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer data provides new
information about objects visible in that wavelength of light.
Briefers will include Richard Ellis, University of Durham, U.K.; Bruce
Margon, University of Washington, Seattle; Daniel Weedman, Pennsylvania
State University, University Park; and Steve Maran, Goddard Space
Flight Center.  Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer principal scientist Stuart
Bowyer, University of California at Berkeley, will present his team's
findings via videotape.

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

Nearly 2,000 teachers will be touring through Johnson Space Center's
new visitor experience facility today.  The facility P Space Center
Houston P formally opens next Friday, October 16, at 11:00 am EDT.  The
center, which is on the JSC grounds and which has been under
construction for the past two years, will give visitors a first hand
look at a behind-the-scenes NASA-at-work.  Visitors can monitor
activities going on in the flight control rooms, watch astronauts in
training and through multi-media presentations participate in both the
history and future of space flight.

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

In preparation for next January's planned launch aboard Endeavour,
technicians at KSC earlier this week mated the Tracking and Data Relay
Satellite-F to its Inertial Upper Stage booster rocket.  TDRS-F is the
primary payload for Endeavour's STS-54 mission.  The interface
verification test of the TDRS and IUS will be conducted next week with
an end-to-end systems test scheduled for the week after.  The payload
is expected to be moved to the launch pad by Thanksgiving.

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

NASA yesterday awarded approximately $15 million in annual funding to
119 microgravity researchers working to develop the research potential
of the space station.  The grants represent a 70 percent increase in
the number of investigators working in the field of microgravity
research.  The selected scientists represent 60 universities, 8
corporate or private laboratories, 5 other government research
institutions and 4 NASA centers.  The selection was made by a peer
review panel from over 500 proposals submitted.

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.

Wednesday, October 7, 1992
Live  12:00 pm  NASA Today featuring reports on the upcoming STS-52 mission; a
                look at the two Cosmonauts selected by the Russian Space Agency
		to participate in a shuttle mission; a look at work being done
		at Howard University using NASA grants; a report on an award to 
                NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin for his efforts to enrich the
		agency's cultural diversity; a look at the Goddard Space Flight
		Center's community day; and, as usual, a look back at this day
		in NASA history.
      12:15 pm  Aeronautics & Space Report.
      12:30 pm  Orbital Mechanics.
       1:00 pm  Apollo 10 - Sorting Out the Unknown.
       1:30 pm  Flying Machines.
       2:00 pm  Launch Box program #2.
       2:30 pm  The Moon:  A Goal.
       3:00 pm  Total Quality Management program #41, part 
                  of the University of New Mexico series.
       4:00 pm  8:00 pm and 12:00 midnight programming repeats.

Thursday, October 8, 1992
Live   1:00 pm  Space Astronomy Update presenting new 
                Hubble Space Telescope and Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer 
                images and  featuring Richard Ellis, University of 
                Durham, U.K.; Bruce Margon, University of Washington, 
                Seattle; Daniel Weedman, Pennsylvania State University, 
                University Park; and Steve Maran, Goddard Space Flight 
                Center.  Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer principal scientist 
                Stuart Bowyer, University of California at Berkeley, will 
                present his team's findings via videotape.
       2:00 pm  Total Quality Management Colloquium with 
                Edward Stone, Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 
                on the topic of "Restructuring Cassini."
       4:00 pm  8:00 pm & 12:00 midnight 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.
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