yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (04/06/89)
Jeff Vincent
Headquarters, Washington, D.C. 2 p.m. EDT
April 5, 1989
N89-29
NOTE TO EDITORS:
OUTGOING NASA HEAD FOCUSES ON BUDGET, SPACE STATION ISSUES
In his final speech as NASA Administrator, Dr. James
C. Fletcher today called Space Station Freedom "a tempting
target" for budget-cutters and warned that significant reductions
in the program would have dire consequences for the nation's
future in space.
"It's time this fact is understood," Dr. Fletcher said at
the Fifth National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo.
"If cut significantly, Space Station Freedom will be cancelled
and we will deliver a clear message to our children and the rest
of the world: The United States intends to leave the business of
space exploration to others." The symposium is sponsored by the
U.S. Space Foundation.
Fletcher acknowledged he's been accused of "crying wolf"
about NASA budget cuts. But "when the wolf is at the door, as it
has been for the last three years," he said, "it's prudent to
sound an alarm."
Reflecting on his service as NASA administrator, Fletcher
said he would be "returning to private life with the deep
satisfaction of having participated in a truly extraordinary
reversal of our national fortunes." He was named to the position
-- his second appointment as head of NASA -- 4 months after the
Challenger accident.
"We have weathered severe setbacks. Chastened by the hard
lessons of crisis, we have recovered and returned to the task
ahead," he said. "Today, NASA is a strong and flexible
instrument of national policy, an instrument I confidently hand
over to my successor."