Page 18/The Battalion/Friday, April 29, 1983
Student marketeers
heading into space
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Three
young men who looked into
private investment in space
while they were students at
the Harvard Business School
two years ago have formed a
company to develop a com
mercial upper stage rocket for
the space shuttle.
Their Orbital Systems
Corp. signed a cooperative
agreement with the National
Aeronautics and Space Admi
nistration April 18.
NASA will provide technic
al monitoring and advice and
the corporation will proceed
with the rocket development,
expected to cost about $30
million, at no cost to tax
payers.
A similar endeavor led to
the manufacture of a smaller
rocket stage that successfully
pushed two communications
satellites into orbit last
November after being carried
into space by the shuttle Col
umbia.
But the maker of those
rockets is the McDonnell
Douglas Corp., an aerospace
giant that has built rockets
and spacecraft since the
1950s.
The Orbital Systems Corp.
has eight people on the
payroll. It was formed last
year by David W. Thompson,
29, Scott L. Webster, 30, and
Bruce W. Ferguson, 28.
Their plan, Webster said, is
to serve as “fund-raisers and
marketeers” for commercial
ventures in space operations
while contracting out the
actual systems development
work to aerospace companies
with proven technical know
how.
Orbital Systems Corp.
signed a preliminary agree
ment in January with the Mar
tin Marietta Corp. Martin is to
design and build the stages
and Orbital Systems will fi
nance and direct their de
velopment and sell them for
between $16 million and $20
million each.
The rockets are designed
to propel relatively large satel
lites, weighing between 2,800
pounds to 6,800 pounds at
their final station, from the
low orbit where they are left
by space shuttles to an elliptic
al orbit reaching 22,300 miles
high.
Smaller rockets in the satel
lites themselves will then be
fired to propel them into the
circular 22,300-mile-high
path where a satellite’s orbital
speed matches Earth’s rota
tion and the spacecraft re
mains over one point.
Thompson said his rocket
stage, called the transfer orbit
stage, will fill a gap in the abil
ity of NASA’s space transpor
tation system to push large
satellites toward the stationary
orbits or beyond.
Corpus deepening channel
Project may revive port
United Press International
CORPUS CHRISTI — The
Port of Corpus Christi will begin
this spring to deepen its ship
channel — a project long de
layed by environmental objec
tions — in the hope of becoming
one of the busiest ports in the
country.
The port is already second
only to Houston among Texas
ports and will be the deepest
anywhere on the Gulf coast
when the dredging project is
completed in about six years.
The deepening project was
opposed by environmentalists
and commercial Fishermen who
did not want the gooey dredge
material dumped in the warm,
shallow waters of Nueces Bay, a
prime spawning ground for
shrimp.
The U.S. Army Corps of En
gineers finally abandoned that
plan in December and agreed to
put the dredge on lancl at the
port.
The channel, now 40 feet
deep, will be dredged to 45 feet
along a 10'/a mile stretch from
the Gulf of Mexico to the inner
most turning basin, said Port Di
rector Harry Plomarity.
That will make way for the
largest oil tankers at a port
where oil already accounts for
80 percent of the imports, he
said.
The dredging is a key in a lar
ger plan to attract more business
at the port, Plomarity said.
With oil imports down 44 per
cent, tonnage at the port has
dropped from a high of 61 mil
lion tons in 1978 to 43 million in
1982.
“When we saw the imports de
clining, the port commissioners
decided to take a look at our
marketing strategy,” Plomarity
said.
Now they are trying to diver
sify the cargo brought the port
by attracting more dry bulk and
grain. A public grain elevator
that exploded last year should
be back in operation by July, he
said.
\ The new kinds of cargo would
require more longshoremen,
providing jobs in Corpus
Christi, Plomarity said. About
38 percent of the city’s jobs are
already related to the port, rank
ing in importance witn the milit
ary and tourism, he said.
Plomarity is hoping to appeal
to shippers who are tired of con
gestion at the Port of Houston.
The port commissioners can
compete with lower wharfage
and docking charges, but they
are fighting railroad rates that
have become higher to the re
mote coastal city since derej
lion, he said.
Plomarity is also wodin^
San Antonio Mayor Heim!
neros on a plan to useCit
(Christi as a port of entryfoi!
Antonio cargo. San Ant
could then serve as a
tion center for six Sunbeliu
and northern Mexico, ht
Contracts will probal
awarded in May to build
around the2,000-acresite4
nated as a dumpareafot
dredge, said Joe Traban,
of the engineeringandplat
division at the GatfatooG
Corps of Kngineers.
* MIKE’S *
DISCOUNT LIQUOR
Surviving Liberty ship
* 7 £ • KORBEL ROUGE $/| 99 £
serves as war memorial t California Sparkling Burgandy
United Press International
SAN FRANCISCO — The
last of the Liberty ships that
formed America’s “Bridge to
Victory” in World War II has
been turned into a national
memorial by a crew'of volun
teers, many of them veteran sea
man who dodged torpedoes and
bombs on harrowing wartime
runs.
The SS Jeremiah O’Brien is
the last unaltered example of
the 2,751 cargo ships built be
tween 1941 and 1945 in 18 U.S
shipyards.
The veteran of the Norman
dy invasion was pulled out of
mothballs after 33 years in the
reserve fleet. Following exten
sive work, the 441-foot vessel
sailed out of nearby Vallejo
under its own power in 1979.
Today the O’Brien is open to
visitors and even takes cruises on
San Francisco Bay, including a
big one in May when the ship
sails out of the Golden Gate for
ceremonies honoring those who
died at sea.
“The ship’s about 95 percent
restored,” says John Paul, a re
tired merchant marine captain
who works aboard the O’Brien
as a boastswain.
“Among other things, we
have the barrels for 1 1 anti
aircraft guns but need other
parts for them,” said Paul, who
survived the U-boat sinking of
the Liberty ship Baton Rouge on
one of his many World War II
voyages.
It’s hard tO' know where to
begin in telling the story of the
squat ships dubbed “ugly duck
lings” by President Franklin D.
Roosevelt when he was shown
the first blueprints.
But if the story had to be sum
med up in one word it would be
“Murmansk,” the Soviet destina
tion for so many ships and men
that never came back.
The voyage was a gauntlet of
submarine and air attacks in
which 97 cargo ships went to the
bottom. The convoys which got
through delivered vital arma
ments including more than
22,000 planes and millions of
rifles.
“Some of these ships were
built in five days,” said Harry
Morgan, the O’Brien’s chief en
gineer who came under seven
air attacks while aboard Liber
ties on runs to Egypt. “If they
made one trip they paid for
themselves.”
The ships’ crews consisted of
merchant marine sailors and
Navy armed guard who manned
the anti-aircraft guns and three-
and five-inch guns at the bow
and stern. At battle stations, civi
lian sailors served as ammuni
tion handlers, passing shells to
the Navymen.
Men who sailed the Liberty
ships in the war often visit the
O’Brien.
Paul says some veterans are
surprised when they learn
there’s still a Liberty ship
around.
“Several guys who sailed on
Liberties found us just by
chance,” he said.
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(750 ml, Alcohol 12% by volume)
• JOHNNIE WALKER RED LABEL
$19"
• RON BOCOY $Q99
(80 proof Rum 1.75 liter)
Scotch Whiskey
(86.8 proof 1.75 liter)
• JACK DANIEL BLACK LABEL
(90% Sour Mash
Whiskey 1.75 liter)
POST OAK VILLAGE
$'
12
When it runs out
you won’t have to.
The exciting Pilot Ball Point. It’s got everything
going for it. Smoother writing. Soecially designed
finger ribbing for continual writing comfort.
Stainless steel point.Tungsten carbide ball. Per
fectly balanced. A choice of medium or fine
points. And best of all...you’ll never throw it oof.
Just slip in a 39c refill and you’re ready to write
again. So next time your old scratchy see-thru
pen runs out,
run out and get
a 69c Pilot Ball
Point pen... plus
a few refills.
//
G-i/t
III
Our penny beer special went over so big the first time,
Hoffbrau decided to bring it back. Purchase any great
tastin' Hoffbrau meal anytime, seven days a week, and
enjoy up to three beers for a penny each. That's a thirst
quenchin' deal that's hard to beat!
And, Hoffbrau's regular draft beer is now 50C whether you
purchase a meal or not.
Stop by and try our terrific lunch specials, offering a wide
variety of menu items to suit your taste.
LUNCH SPECIALS —
Fried Catfish $5.00
Chopped Sirloin $3.95
7 oz. Ribeye $5.75
Chicken Fried Steak $4.25
Shish-ka-bob $5.25
All served with our famous Salad, Fried Potatoes and Bread.
Lunch specials are served all day on Sunday.
10% discount to senior citizens. • Carry-outs available.
NOW
IS THE TIME
Summer and Fall Preleasing
is now in progress at THE most
sought after addresses in College Statioi
If you missed. . . Don’t Miss...
January — Nacho cookoff
with margaritas
February — Racquetball Tournament
Valentines couple drawing
March — Drawing for hot air balloon ride
Outdoor concert
Banquet facilities
available.
April — Superstars competition
Spring dance w/Carribean cruise fori |
drawing
May — Kegs by the pool
June — 2nd annual watermelon extravaganza
July — Games picnic
August — End of the summer celebration
September — Softball Tournament
November — Bonfire bash
December — Christmas parties & contests
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If you haven't tried
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|| Brownstone ] Airora Gar#
Monday - Saturday, 11 a.m.-lO p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-lO p.m.
317 South College in the Skaggs Center, 260-9172
693-4242
696-9771
693-6505