Wednesday, January 29, 1986/The Battalion/Page 7
diver will push for position
&M seeking space-grant title
to Cay;
in 40| University News Service
s of the space shuttle Chal-
^ PEERjB tragedy came only moments
1 StirvivBexas A&M President Frank E.
tanioi: d« ver finished briefing the insti-
For jhoj,res Board of Regents regarding
to seek federal legislation to
„ |>lisli a series of “space-grant”
a ^ rsities.
u ^P^Bdiver said Sen. Lloyd Bent-
HB-Texas, has indicated he will
etiilgatmuce legislation during the cur
at nO-l Bssion of Congress to create a
Ik of universities with man-
ij,,,,. s t<> help the nation make the
HH^Beofits potential for scientific,
h Wa! inercial and defense endeavors
V-.
:p. Jim Wright, D-Texas, also is
supportive of the concept,
er said. “In fact, we have con
ic bipartisan support for the
VUNISn I > rant universit y concept,” he
ending to Vandiver’s presen-
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tation, board Chairman David G. El
ler expressed enthusiasm, saying the
concept “would allow Texas A&M to
utilize its technical skills in all facets
of today’s environment.”
When notified of the first U.S. in
flight space tragedy, Vandiver re
sponded, “We are shocked and
enormously saddened by the news of
the shuttle accident that took the
lives of everyone aboard, and we are
now even more determined to move
forward with this new concept for
greater cooperation and University
involvement in all phases of space-
related research.”
Upon learning of the tragedy, El
ler also expressed sympathy for the
families of the shuttle crew and said
the day’s “sad events should make
everyone concerned even more re
solved regarding all phases of space
travel and research.”
Vandiver compared the proposed
space-grant university concept to
that under which select universities
have helped develop the nation’s ag
ricultural and marine resources un
der land-grant and sea-grant man
dates.
A&M has had land-grant desig
nation for more than a century and
was one of the first four institutions
to receive sea-grant designation 15
years ago.
Oran Nicks, director of A&M’s
Space Research Center, was at
NASA headquarters in Washington
discussing the University’s involve
ment in space studies when an
nouncement was made of the shuttle
tragedy.
"It was a catastrophic event,”
Nicks said when contacted in Wash
ington. “There is nothing to be said
at this time. It was a catastrophic
event of some kind, and it will take
time to reconstruct the cause.”
A&M Officials said neither the
University nor the Texas Engi
neering Experiment Station, the
state’s engineering research agency
which is part of the A&M System, is
currently involved in any shuttle re
search but is working on plans for a
space station and artificial intelli
gence.
Involvement in operation of a
space station would be one of the key
elements of space-grant universities,
Vandiver said.
“We hope that Texas A&M will be
the first University so designated,
but we envision several institutions
being named at some point,” he ex
plained. A space-grant University
would be good investment for fed
eral research dollars because it could
generate state contributions and pri
vate and industrial money, Vandiver
said.
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Associated Press
. ftn . SPACE CENTER — Grieving
'• r tllics of the Challenger astro-
returned home Tuesday
to somber, secluded reun-
|vith friends and neighbors,
r Gulf Stream II jetliners
d family members back
Florida’s Kennedy Space
• to Houston’s Ellington
from which six astronauts
choolteacher Christa McAu-
ad left five days earlier,
jte Tuesday, NASA kept the
lies’ arrival secret and al-
only a few selected people
eet them. Others had to
behind a heavily-guarded
NASA refused to release
formation.
s planes landed about 10
(behind a hangar at the base,
from the glare of camera
and reporters’ questions.
SA security guards and
ton constables stood watch
I homes of the ill-fated crew.
Former astronaut: Redesign
of shuttle may be necessary
Associated Press
HOUSTON — Former astronaut
Alan Bean, who had the responsibil
ity of training space shuttle partici
pants in his last NASA job, said
Tuesday the cause of the explosion
that destroyed Challenger may re
quire design changes.
Bean said he never imagined that
one of the space shuttles would be
devastated by an explosion. But he
said the risks were inherent in a pro
ject on the leading edge of technol-
°gy-
“We are talking about a failure of
some fundamental part of the shut
tle,” Bean said. “It could be bad met-
alurgy, it could be overpressure of
some sort or plain old metal fa
tigue.”
A blast ripped apart the space
shuttle Challenger 74 seconds after
liftoff Tuesday from Cape Canave
ral, Fla. Schoolteacher Christa
McAuliffe and six NASA astronauts
were aboard the craft.
“I have to be honest. I never
thought this would happen. I knew
it was possible,” Bean said. “I never
imagined we would have a failure
like that. I imagined that one engine
could quit or two engines could <^uit
or the hydraulics might quit working
and you have to come home early. I
did not believe that this kind of fail
ure could occur.”
“I have to be honest. . . .1
did not believe that this
kind of failure could oc
cur. ”
— Former astronaut Alan
Bean.
Bean, who was chief of operations
and training, when he left the Na
tional Aeronautics and Space Ad
ministration, said he knew most of
the members of the ill-fated Chal
lenger’s crew.
“I got to know them all quite
well,” he said. “It is quite a shock af
ter seeing all those faces on tele
vision that you won’t see anymore.”
Bean said he was confident that
the cause of the explosion would be
found.
“I believe we will find out some
thing that was wrong, and it will re
quire some design changes to some
parts of the shuttle,” Bean said. “It
appears to be a design failure. I am
postulating that it was some failure
like that.”
He said that NASA has done ev
erything possible to prevent fatalities
in space missions.
“I think that you can never pre
vent tragedies in equipment that is
designed to go fast,” Bean said. “We
will never stop having car accidents,
truck accidents, bus accidents or
space accidents, because inherent
with speed and movement is the use
of energy.”
Bean said the American space
program will overcome the tragedy.
“It is bad and terrible but it is not
something that in the long run will
destroy us,” he said. “We knew it
might happen in the future. That is
no reason when it does to get dis
couraged, any more than we stop
driving when he we hear of an acci
dent in another car. We just get
more careful.”
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Associated Press
deaths of seven crew members aboard
lace shuttle Challenger plunged commu-
Iaround the Johnson Space Center into
aing, drew warnings from former astro-
jthat space travel is still far from routine
yoked grief from teachers who saw one of
bwn die.
er members of the United States’ space
ity agreed that the disaster should merely
Ihe shuttle program — not end it.
r Hugbii | r yb°dy knows it’s going to happen
’ lei or later, and you just hope it’s later,” said
yjjfl Id “Deke” Slayton, one of the seven origi-
*rcury astronauts selected in 1959.
finer astronaut Alan Bean, who trained
NOR v Ishuttle participants in his last job with the
ampa$j;|ial Aeronautics and Space Administra-
30‘i ftP laid, “I have to be honest. I never thought
9J, lould happen. I knew it was possible. I
SlPEElU i ima § ined we wou Id have a failure like
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project on the leading edge of technology and
he was confident the problem would be solved.
Hans Mark, deputy administrator of NASA
from 1981 to 1984, said, “What happened today
is what happened in all human explorations
when we stretch the fabric of what’s known. The
important thing to remember on this day is that
we should not stop. Obviously we have to find
out what happened, but the thrust to explore
has to be maintained.”
The tragedy threw the suburban Houston
area around Johnson Space Center into mourn
ing. Flags were dropped to half-staff and motor
ists turned on their headlights in honor of the
shuttle crew.
The most celebrated member of the space
shuttle crew — New Hampshire teacher Christa
McAuliffe -— was remembered Tuesday by fel
low educators.
Steve Warren, an Austin teacher who was one
of the state’s two finalists for the shuttle position,
was at his post in a ninth-grade English class
when he heard of the disaster.
“At this moment, I could have been dead,”
Warren said. But the tragedy would not dis
suade him from applying again, he said.
“That could’ve been any of us,” said Judy
Vaughn, a third-grade teacher at Deer Park El
ementary School. “I have felt so close to Christa.
She was doing this for all of us.”
Flags on state buildings were lowered to half-
staff Tuesday to honor the memory of the Chal
lenger’s crew.
Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Texas, said an investi
gation would take a back seat for the time being
to the grief of the families and friends of the six
astronauts and McAuliffe.
Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas said the crew
members would be remembered for more than
their dedication to the space program.
“As we go forward into space, we must always
remember that these brave men and women
routinely achieve the impossible and gladly face
enormous danger on America’s last frontier,”
Gramm said.
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