henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (12/06/90)
Tests of the shuttle drag chute, using the NASA B-52, underway at Edwards. Taiwan abandons plans to build its own satellite launcher, mostly because of US refusal to permit transfer of crucial technology (on the grounds, officially, that it could be used for missiles). Taiwan still plans to build its own satellites. Picture of the latest Ariane launch, carrying a pair of US commercial comsats. This is the fifth Ariane launch of the year, despite the hiatus after the February failure. Richard Malow, staff chief of the House subcommittee that handles NASA, warns NASA that the best it can expect is 8-10% annual budget growth over the next five years. That's better than most of the other agencies, but it is not enough for another orbiter, EOS, Fred, ALS, NASP, Moon/Mars, etc. NASA needs to bring its budget planning back into reality, he says. His comment on the space station: "The problem is the de-scoping has never matched the budget envelope". SDI gets deep cuts in the House/Senate budget compromise, plus partitioning of funds into five categories to limit SDIO's obsession with near-term Phase One deployment plans. Money for tactical missile defense, on the other hand, actually rose. Prediction is that the White House will accept this budget because of concessions elsewhere. H/S budget gives the USAF $600M for the Milstar strategic comsat, on the condition that the program shift firmly away from its preoccupation with strategic nuclear warfare. White House expresses willingness to make major changes to space station if the Augustine committee recommends them. Widespread feeling that major redesign is coming: the station is too costly, not useful enough, and too tied to the shuttle. There is some sentiment that it would be better to redesign for launch on a new heavy booster. White House has not yet decided whether to seek FY92 money for another shuttle orbiter (after Endeavour). Quayle announces that planning is underway to send a US astronaut on a Soyuz flight to Mir, and a Soviet cosmonaut on a US shuttle flight. No specific timetable yet. House/Senate conference trims NASA budget somewhat. Overall, NASA got a 13.6% increase -- most unusual -- but the space station was cut quite noticeably and Moon/Mars was zeroed completely. The station lifeboat was eliminated, as was the OMV. CRAF and Cassini were left alone. As predicted, Congress is decidedly angry about SDIO's proposal to slash long-term funding for projects like the free-electron laser in favor of more money for Brilliant Pebbles (which is now being touted as a key component of a system to defend against accidental or third-world attacks). Atlantis's secret military payload reported to be an imaging spysat with Gulf coverage as a high priority. Launch set for late evening Nov 10-11, a time that puts both transatlantic-abort sites in darkness [!]. Atlantis rolled out Oct 13, after being moved back to the VAB temporarily due to bad weather. A tanking test to check on hydrogen leaks is imminent. Columbia with Astro-1 moves to pad 39B Oct 15, after another crushed seal was found and tentatively blamed for the hydrogen leaks. A hydrogen tanking test has been set for Oct 29. Launch is hoped for before the end of December. [As everyone knows, this time something actually went well, and Columbia is up.] Pictures of Ulysses atop its IUS, outbound from Discovery's cargo bay. That taken care of, the crew ran some other experiments, notably a membrane-growth experiment for Battelle and monitoring of 16 lab rats being used in drug research by Genentech. The Battelle experiment was a striking success, with the resulting membranes of unusually high quality; Battelle's industrial partners are most interested. Details of the Genetech experiment are confidential, but the general idea is that exposing rats to free fall might be a useful way of evaluating drugs for use against bone and muscle deterioration. -- "The average pointer, statistically, |Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology points somewhere in X." -Hugh Redelmeier| henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry