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Edition 14 - 6 April 1999
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# Boeing rocket launch delayed #

6 April 1999

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) -- Safety concerns Monday forced
Boeing Co. to delay the planned launch of its new Delta 3 commercial
booster, the first since the rocket blew up on its maiden flight last
August. 

The countdown was halted at T-minus-4 minutes because the wind could
have blown debris or toxic vapors into populated areas around Cape
Canaveral in the event of a launch accident, Boeing officials said. 

"We are scrubbed for the night," launch commentator Greg High said. 

The $230-million satellite delivery mission was rescheduled for
liftoff Tuesday at 9:13 p.m. EST (0113 GMT). 

A successful mission will boost Boeing's effort to capture a larger
portion of the lucrative satellite launch market, currently dominated
by the French-led European Ariane launcher. 

"We all believe that we have done everything possible to assure what
happened in August will not occur again," said Rich Murphy, Boeing's
mission director. "We have checked, and double checked, and triple
checked everything we can." 

The first flight of the Delta 3, an upgraded version of the company's
Delta 2 rocket, ended in disaster on Aug. 28, 1998, when the launcher
exploded just over a minute into flight. 

Engineers blamed the problem on a control system that overreacted to
normal vibrations during the liftoff. A change in the system's
operating rules should solve the problem, Boeing officials said. 

Another launch mishap would have a severe impact on the Delta program,
Boeing officials admit. The company has 17 launch contracts for the
Delta 3 rocket. 

The launch will send into orbit the Orion 3 telecommunications
satellite, built by Hughes Space and Communications Co for Loral Space
and Communications Ltd. 

Orion 3 will provide television, Internet and other communications
links for the Asia-Pacific region, covering an area from India to
Hawaii. 

Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9904/06/delta.launch.reut/index.html


# Cargo ship docks smoothly with Mir #

5 April 1999

MOSCOW (AP) -- A cargo ship docked smoothly with Russia's Mir space
station on Sunday, bringing with it 5,364 pounds of food, water, fuel
and equipment for scientific experiments, Russian news agencies
reported. 

The Progress cargo ship had blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome
in Kazakhstan on Friday. 

Live newts to be used in experiments were among supplies delivered to
the space station, Interfax agency said. 

Mir's current three-member crew could be its last. If outside
investors cannot be found to foot the 13-year-old station's $250
million yearly costs, the cash-strapped government will discard it in
August. 

Russia's space chief has said private investors have come forward, but
the United States still wants the government to dedicate its attention
to the International Space Station. 

The 16-nation project has been delayed by Russia's inability to build
key components on time. 

Russian Viktor Afanassiev and Frenchman Jean-Pierre Haignere have been
aboard the craft for 44 days, while Russian Sergei Avdeyev has spent
234 consecutive days in space. 

Copyright 1999   The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9904/05/russia.mir.ap/index.html


# NASA set to launch Earth-watching satellite  #

1 April 1999

GREENBELT, Maryland (CNN) -- New high-resolution images of Earth from
space will soon be available when NASA launches the Landsat 7
Earth-observing satellite on April 15. 

Landsat 7 will be the third in a series of land-surface observation
satellites that have revolutionized the science of environmental
monitoring from space over the past 26 years. 

The purpose of the Landsat program is to monitor land surface changes.
Over the years, Landsat images have been used to study a wide range of
processes, such as urban sprawl, deforestation, agricultural land use
trends, glaciation, and volcanic activity. 

The principal instrument aboard Landsat 7, called the Enhanced
Thematic Mapper Plus, measures radiation reflected or emitted by the
Earth. 
     
Data generated by the satellite will be used to compile a library of
sun-lit, cloud-free images of the Earth's landmass. 

Each day, Landsat 7 will capture and archive 250 high resolution
"scenes" that will be available to scientists for research and also
available for sale to the public at cost. 

"We feel that the Landsat 7 spacecraft will dramatically enhance the
use of remotely sensed data in our daily lives," said Landsat 7
project scientist Darrel Williams in a statement. 

Landsat 7 is scheduled for launch aboard a Delta 2 rocket from
Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. 

The Landsat program is a joint project between NASA and the U.S.
Geological Survey. 

http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9904/01/landsat/index.html

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