jordankatz@cdp.UUCP (03/11/89)
This is the National Space Society's Space Hotline for the week ending March 10, 1989. Early Fri. morning engineers began the 56 hour countdown to launch of the first space shuttle mission of the year. Countdown to liftoff of the Space Shuttle Discovery began at 12:01am EST, with a call to stations. Monday's liftoff is scheduled for 8:07am. The shuttle will deploy the $100 million Tracking Data Relay Satellite for NASA as well as perform numerous on board experiments. President Bush, in a one page report filed with congress on March 1, has outlined the composition and structure of the National Space Council. The council will have four key responsibilities which include: Overseeing national space policy implementation; Review and recommend policy modifications to the President; Address major space related policy issues between civil and military space issues; Foster cooperation, coordination, technology and information exchange between civil and military sectors to avoid duplication of effort. In addition the council will include 10 cabinet level officials with various jurisdictions related to space activities. These positions include the Nasa Administrator, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, the Chief of Staff to the President, the assistant of National Security Affairs, the director of the CIA, and secretaries of Defense, Commerce and Transportation. There has been mixed reaction to the composition and structure of the national space council on Capital Hill. Advocates of civil space say that the appointment of Mark Albrecht to the position of staff director will skew the council in favor of the military space program. Yet Rep. Bill Nelson said that the fact that Chief of Staff John Sununus' inclusion on the council in combination with Vice President Quayle's participation should create a better environment for space policy decision making. Sally Ride, America's first woman space traveler, in testimony to the the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee called on Congress to support Mission to Planet Earth. The program, which will utilize instruments on the future space station, polar orbiting platforms, and over 1,000 instruments deployed in the oceans and on land all over the world is estimated to cost between $20 to $30 billion dollars over the next 20 years. She stated that as well as understanding the earth system better, the ability to foresee drought, unusual rainfall patterns, and even detect concentration of fish will prove it has economic as well as scientific benefits. Landsats 4 & 5, which were scheduled to be shut off by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration due to lack of funding has been resusitated by Vice President Quayle. The $9.4 million required to keep the satellites running through FY'89 will come from the agencies that use the data. Quayle, the chairman of the National Space Council declined to say just how much was raised or by whom. Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center has asked for proposals from commercial launch providers to launch at least three satellites with the possibility of launching 12 more. In the proposal, the commercial launch servicer will provide the launch vehicle, facilities, personnel, and services associated with launching the missions into their required orbit. Proposals must be submitted by May 8. A meeting in London last week called for a total ban on the use of gasses which destroy the ozone layer by the end of the century. This position was supported by the Unites States and the European Economic Community, but was resisted by the USSR, China and India. The USSR could not accept the recently discovered notion that CFC's are destroying the ozone layer, and wanted better grounded data before moving ahead. China and India felt that they needed to use the gasses in their industry to catch up with the west and resent the west for using this crisis to hold back the economies of the developing world. This has been Jordan Katz reporting for the National Space Society's Space Hotline for the week ending March 10, 1989. We would like to invite everyone to call our Dial-a-Shuttle service during the upcoming Discovery mission. Hear the Astronauts and Ground Control 24 hours a day during the mission. Take part in the mission by calling 1-900-909-NASA (that's 1-900-909-NASA). Toll charges are 2.00 for the first minute and $.45 for each additional minute.