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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 1997)
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W The Battalion ORLD Tuesday • September 9, Mir’s onboard computer breaks down Tuesda Russian and American space officials explain spacestations latest misha, MOSCOW (AP) —The Mir’s onboard comput er, which seems to have a mind of its own, broke down again Monday and forced the crew to shut down most of the space station’s equipment. Russian and American space officials down played the seriousness of the computer crash, the third aboard Mir since mid-July. The station was able to maintain its orientation toward the sun, and its power supplies were in much better shape than during the previous breakdowns. Ground controllers said they hoped to repair and restart the computer Tuesday. In the mean time, they said, the crew was in no danger. “Why do these malfunctions happen?” asked Vladimir Solovyov, the chief of Russia’s Mission Control. “Do you know why your car breaks down? ... It’s hard to say what the rea sons might be.” Space agency spokesman Valery Lyndin may have put it best: “The computer has become capricious again.” Capricious is as good a word as any to de scribe the Mir’s endless, and endlessly vexing, journey around the Earth for the past eight months or so. The space station, which has been aloft for 11 years, has spun from one mishap to the next — from a fire to oxygen sys tem breakdowns, from a collision with a cargo ship to the repeated computer breakdowns. Mir’s computer became unplugged on July 17 when a crew member accidentally discon nected a cable, then broke down again on Aug. 18 during docking of a cargo ship. In the latest fumble, the computer shut itself off about 11 a.m. Monday (3 a.m. EDT), and the crew responded by turning off most systems to economize on power, Lyndin said. The crew said Monday afternoon they had enough power for normal operations, but had “Why do these malfunctions happen? ...It’s hard to say what the reasons might be.” VLADIMIR SOLOVYOV CHIEF OF RUSSIAN MISSION CONTROL The Texas turned off all systems it didn’t immediately need, including the Elektron oxygen-generat ing system. The existing oxygen supply is good for several days, and there are also backup oxy gen canisters if needed. The space station’s gyroscopes, which keep the station pointed toward the sun, went down when the computer went off-line. However, cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov said the Mir was maintaining its proper position, the Interfax news agency reported. In the previous breakdowns, it took hours to bring the computer system back up and sever al days to fully restore all functions. There were indications that Mir mij bounce back quicker this time, spokesman Rob Navias, speaking fromtl Johnson Space Center in Houston, saidMt solar batteries were filled with juice Mondaj; contrast to the previous two breakdowns. He said he expected the Mir crew to rein the computer within a day, and replaceapi Then the crew will spin the gyroscopesbadi to resume automatic steering of the station! Solovyov, the Mission Control chief, saidj computer would be brought back up onTiiesdl] ights match “We have found (the problem),” he said. Tould domir will download the necessary information al]tocasteamth it to restore it to working order tomorrow, itill came up: It has been a trying week for the Mir’sciJ After the A which includes two newly arrived Russiant: Lidy Bobcats monauts and American astronaut Midi dthscoresof Foale. On Saturday, Eoaleand Mircomman: eCorbellisa Anatoly Solovyov spent six hours on a spat ut there was walk trying to find holes left in the skint “lam plea punctured module, but came up empty. i|'ehadareal The recent accidents have raised questitlf Tlae Aggies about safety aboard the Mir, which ,,*ieir win over: launched in 1986 with an expected lifespailtv'o games to r just five years. ‘ : i| lie recent sua Both the Russian and American space a^ijot seem to be cies insist it remains safe and provides invafs “I was imp able training for an international spacestacfair intensity whose first components are to be launckij TheAggies next year. logout and pi CompuServe sells out to America Onlin NEW YORK (AP) — America On line has struck a deal to acquire CompuServe’s 2.6 million users, creating a cyber-behemoth that would be the Internet onramp for 60 percent of Americans logging on from home. If approved by government reg ulators, the deal will allow America Online to swallow its closest com petitor and add to its base of nearly 9 million subscribers, already the biggest in the industry. Under the complex, three-way deal announced Monday, World Com, the nation’s fourth-largest long-distance telephone company, will buy money-losing CompuServe for $1.2 billion and then sell its on line business to AOL. For its part, WorldCom will be come a giant in its corner of the In ternet, getting the AOL division that provides Internet access mainly for large businesses. AOL will operate CompuServe as a separate business, and online subscribers may notice little differ ence, at least initially. AOL, which features more enter tainment services, such as games and chat lines, than CompuServe, said it doesn’t plan to change Com puServe’s online format, which is geared more toward business pro fessionals. Pricing will also stay separate, with AOL still charging $19.95 for unlimited access and Com puServe’s fees ranging as high as $27.95 a month. More immediately, some AOL users may have an easier time get ting online. AOL will get access to an additional 100,000 modems from WorldCom, helping it avoid the bot tlenecks that frustrated subscribers with busy signals earlier this year. Wall Street embraced the news. AOL stock was up $6.75 per share at $76.68 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. On the Nasdaq, WorldCom was up $2.31 1/4 to $33.91 1/4, while Com puServe was down 37 1/2 cents to $13.12 1/2. The agreement enables H&R Block, which owns 80 percent of CompuServe, to get out of a market that has caused frustrations for more than a year. CompuServe, based in Colum bus, Ohio, pioneered the online business in the 1980s but was over taken by America Online in the 1990s and hammered by cheaper providers of online service. It has been beset by financial losses, member defections and the cancellation of its fantily-orientl W( )W! service just seven months! ter it was started. WorldCom is giving stockwol about $1.2 billion to Il&RI based on Friday’s closing stoj price. It then plans to trade( puServe’s content and its2.6n consumer subscribers as well? $175 million to AOL. In exchange, WorldComwL AOL’s ANS Communications:! sion, which provides Interneift cess mainly for big businessfl l mi in s WuiUk i mi ,ili each UUNet Technologies inc.,onel the largest Internet servB 'V iana providers. I 1 ward Alarger AOL would bcinabe'B—S A&M position to compete wi th the lever cowei crosoft Network, the natichsthi-hallenge. S largest online service with2.3n^jgsoccer sij lion subscribers. ■ niTbd she is on eis on Texas. Voolsey, Stai jibuted four “We starte iomfortable” In game tv I tough mate foints to the I ng and came By Mar< St a. Albright faces toughest challenge with Arab-Israeli relatioEx WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing her toughest challenge as secretary of state, Madeleine Albright heads to the Middle East on Tuesday to try to re verse the dangerous skid in Arab-Israeli relations. The weeklong trip could be the Clinton admin istration’s last chance in a long while to ease the “crisis of confidence” that has stalemated negoti ations between Israel and the Palestinians amid a devastating swirl of terrorist attacks. The odds are long. But a senior State Depart ment official on Monday noted the alternatives to not trying: “More violence, more victims, lost hope and the extremists win.” Albright intends to take a tough line with Yass er Arafat, the Palestinian leader, but also with Is raeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Her message to Arafat: Step up arrests of sus pected terrorists, dismantle their groups, fulfill promises to enhance Israel’s security. Arafat has tried to maintain unity with radical el ements, even the Hamas guerrillas who say they were behind several bloody attacks on Israel. Still, Albright will press him to take tough actions, risky as they may be to Arafat himself. In the U.S. view the terrorism is aimed at the Pales tinian Authority as well as at Israel. Her message to Netanyahu: Concerns for Israel’s safety are no excuse to sidetrack indefinitely the commitments dovish Labor gov ernments made to the Palestinian Authority in the 1993 and 1995 Oslo accords for phased with drawals on the West Bank. Asked if this meant Albright was pushing the Arafat old formula of land for peace — that IsrawM 6 team, territory for peace accords — the State IM®*lity, she d ment official replied tersely: “Yes.” 1 ■| e 1< rna * e so i c Netanyahu has virtually ruled out givrsfii 1 wasn t anything else until the violence ends. j§y teamma Just before Albright met with President with on Monday before her departure, White lff ,1 8 time,” s spokesman Mike McCurry insisted hertrif .^ le a dn “not about pressuring the parties.” fiBived a lot It is Albright’s first trip to the region sir(|®PP on , en ts 1 suming control of the State Department r being th eight months ago, and she will touch all thelT iar bases: Israel, the West Bank, Syria, Egypt/p» Arabia, Jordan and possibly Lebanon. After four years as the U.S. ambassadortt United Nations, Albright is familiar with thereg issues. But as her spokesman, James R Hi cently said, she’s "a realist, not a magician.” Tired of Rec Center CROWDING? 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OROANrc: CHEMISTRY 101/'02 BXOLO&Y 113/114 PHYSXCS/MATH ACCT..QEOLOQY.PSYCHOLOQY.SOCIOLOQY TUTORXffGfGroup & Individual) LAB/STU9Y PACKETS IfOTCS/OLP TESTS Texas A&M University PRE LAW SOCIETY GENERAL MEETING Tuesday, September 9, 1997 MSC 206 7:00 PM FACULTY! STAFF! STUDENT LEADERS! Take the F.A.C.T. calling journi W- | m i n F.A.C.T. (First-time Aggie ContactTeam), is a program where faculty, staff, & student leaders tty to contact new / to welcome them to the University and ask how they are doing at A&M. F.A.C.T. will be conducted September 29- October 16, Mondays througli Thursdays only from 6:00 PM to 9:00PM. Please volunteer your time and energy to help our new Aggies feel at honf You should be able to find a sign-up brochure in your department. If not, f free to call Mosadi Porter at 845-5826. The sign-up deadlire is September^ Thank you in advance for your time and commitment. ^""lAggie Orientation iffSiLeader Program Department of Student StudentUfe Orientation