spacetoday.net: News briefs: October 10

Posted: Thu, Oct 11, 2001, 10:48 AM ET (1448 GMT)
Russian rocketry pioneer Vasili Mishin died in Moscow Wednesday at the age of 84. A key aide to Sergei Korolev, Mishin took over the Soviet Union's N-1 rocket program after Korolev died in 1966. Mishin was unable to get the N-1, the USSR's answer to the Saturn 5, working and was ousted from his position in 1974. He later wrote the first detailed account of the N-1 program... Satellite communications company Intelsat announced Wednesday that it was laying off 100 employees, about 11 percent of its staff, from its corporate headquarters in Washington, DC. A company spokesperson said that the layoffs were part of a "trimming and retooling" effort and that some portions of the company, such as sales and marketing, would continue to grow... Two space-related measures have been taken to commemorate those killed in the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center last month. Three newly-discovered asteroids have been named Compassion, Solidarity, and Magnanimity, in recognition of the attacks. A committee of the International Astronomical Union accepted those names after turning down an earlier proposal to name asteroids after each person killed, a measure considered unwieldy. Meanwhile, the payload of the next shuttle flight will include 6,000 American flags to be distributed to the families of all who were killed in the attacks. NASA administrator Dan Goldin called this effort "Flags for Heroes and Families" in an interview with the Washington Post.