Space News for June 21, 1999

FUSE Readied for Launch

Next week will finally bring the launch of NASA’s Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) spacecraft on a Boeing Delta II rocket. FUSE will search the universe for hydrogen and deuterium, and hopefully answer a few questions about the Big Bang.

BBC News

Oldest Known Galaxy Found

Thanks to the 400-inch Keck Observatory in Hawaii, astronomers have found the farthest known galaxy – over 11 billion light years away, and thought to contain an enormous black hole. It’s expected that even further objects will be discovered by the newly completed, and more powerful, Gemini telescopes.

CNN Space

QuikScat Weather Satellite Launched

Launched from Vandenberg Air Force base on a Titan II rocket, NASA’s QuikScat weather satellite is on its way to a final altitude of 800 kilometers above the Earth. The purpose of the satellite is to map ocean wind speed and direction.

Space Chronicle

Space Online
SpaceViews

Budget Cuts Could Affect Future NASA Missions

NASA’s 2000 budget could be cut by up to $1 billion, potentially putting two missions in jeopardy. Space Technology 4 (ST4) “Champollion” and the Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander would be abandoned if the proposed budget cuts are approved by the House of Congress.

SpaceViews