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."