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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 14, 1987)
I jge GB The BattahonAVednesday, August 26, 1987 slASA pushes recovery program despite criticisi CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Eigh- months after the Challenger explo it!, a troubled NASA is at a crossroads, niggling still toward recovery from that saster, the agency is also striving to reas- t its leadership of the American space program. Once the proud embodiment of the na- m’s civilian space effort, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to- : iy lacks a bold vision of what it wants to hieve and is without a comprehensive na- mal policy to guide it. Critics and historians say the agency has en weakened by a reduced political com- itment, indifference in the White House, .nderfunding, debates over manned vs. unarmed flight, the priority of military pace projects and Pentagon assertion of pace leadership, the intrusion of other government agencies into space policy deci- ions, and lack of vigorous leadership. The result, says the American Institute uf Aeronautics and Astronautics, is that the Cnited States could become a second-class [lower in space, with the Soviet Union as- uming unchallenged leadership and the Europeans, Japanese and Chinese moving up fast. That could have economic, political and u ategic implications well into the 21st cen- !ury, according to a recent policy statement •y the AIAA, a respected organization of ptice scientists, engineers and business people. The explosion of the space shuttle Chal lenger Jan. 28, 1986, which killed its seven crew members, ripped away NASA’s aura of invincibility. The subsequent investiga tion spotlighted mismanagement, sloppi ness and other flaws within the agency. NASA has spent much of its time and money since the accident repairing those flaws, making sweeping management changes and correcting faults in the shuttle. The recovery program is nearing impor tant milestones that will be crucial in deter mining when shuttles will fly again. Offi cials recently slipped the target date for the First flight from Feb. 26 to June 2 next year. China Lake Naval Weapons Center, tractor rockets will be used to fire mannequins out of the side of an aircraft in a test of a possi ble shuttle escape system. Also, a study team headed by astronaut Sally Ride endorsed development of a moon base as the nation’s next manned space exploration goal after the space sta tion, using the technology developed on that project to ultimately send astronauts to Mars. The team also will recommend vigorous programs to study the Earth from space and to explore the planets with robot space craft. The shuttle Discovery, set to make that flight, was powered up electrically to begin the formal checkout for the mission. More detailed flight preparations will begin Sept. 8, with rollout to the launch pad set for March 7 and a static firing of its engines scheduled April 7. A key shuttle program test is planned for today when a solid fuel rocket motor will be fired at the Morton Thiokol plant in Brig ham City, Utah. It will be the first involving the new joint design featuring a capture latch and three O-ring seals, instead of two. The Challenger accident occurred because of a faulty joint design that allowed hot gases and flame to escape. Construction of a replacement shuttle for Challenger began in August at Rockwell International in Palmdale, Calif., and at the The report will go to NASA administra tor James C. Fletcher, who eventually is to formulate a space policy for submission to the White House. But because of budget pressures, Fletcher said recently, “For the near term, we’re not going to be able to start any large, expensive programs.” NASA already is planning its next big project, a permanently manned space sta tion, but it appears to be in trouble. Recent projections increased the cost from an orig inal $8 billion to $14 billion and forced offi cials to delay the start of the project from 1992 to 1994 and to split the construction into two phases, the second coming along years later. A panel of the National Re search Council estimated earlier this month that the two-stage station could cost as much as $32.8 billion. President Reagan two years ago strongly endorsed the space station, but that support could waver because of the costs in this time of huge deficits. The White House, occu pied with the Iran-contra affair and other concerns, has said little about space efforts for months, except for the space-based mis sile defense system known as Star Wars. Many detractors among space scientists feel the space station is a waste of money, that NASA’s selling it as a place for scien tific research and space manufacturing is not realistic. They would rather use that money to build unmanned probes like the Voyagers and Pioneers that have so success fully explored other planets and the solar system. 1 he U.S. planetary explorationpr»f is in worse shape now than whenthej was formed seven years ago, said comm chairman David Morrison. Morrison noted the Soviets, withai bitious Mars program, are rapidly asset themselves as leaders in planetaryexpl tion. Several expensive space science projects, including the Hubble Space Telescope, a Galileo mission tojupiter, a Magellan flight to Venus and a Mars Observer have been delayed several years by the Challenger ac cident. But these are projects whose plan ning began in the 1970s, and scientists com plain NASA is initiating no new major programs and is now spending about 25 percent less on science than it did in the last decade. The job of setting space policy rests a Reagan administration creation called Senior Interagency Group-Space, Space. It is composed of representatitf the departments of State, Treasun fense. Justice, Commerce and Transpe tion and the Office of Management. Budget, the CIA, the Joint Chiefs ofSt the Office of Science and Technology icy and NASA. The agency’s Solar System Exploration Committee last month recommended an ac celerated program that includes comet and asteroid flights, but questioned whether NASA would be able to carry out the rec ommendations. Critics, like Rep. Bill Nelson, D-Fla,,! tend SIG-Space often ^ets bogged do*; turf battles over conflicting interestso: members. NASA complains othermemj often meddle in affairs traditidnalli; erned by the space agency. Nelson, who heads the space scientt applications subcommittee and whot flew on a shuttle mission, placed a pmi in the 1987 NASA Authorization An; would have restored the National Aetot tics and Space Council, a policymak group that worked well in the earlyda)i the space program before it was disbar by President Richard Nixon in 1972. ~ ® o • • • Dorm Refrigerators • $39 oo m per semester * free delivery m Brazos Refrigerator Rental 846-8611 DECORATIVE CARPETS Room-sized remnants $ 95 and up Call 696-6929 or 764-RUGS Garage Sale Listings _ With Hap Locations Bulletin Board System want to Buy/Sell Lego Building Sets Toys-Games-Puzzles Baby Items Greeting Cards Vi Price Boohs. Magazines Records, CD'S 3 cent copies Consignments Welcome Inventory Changes Daily 1103 Anderson at Holleman 693-1687 B.J/S BUNCH Texas’ Best Testing Pizza* Opens In College Station. 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