WMARTIN@OFFICE-8@sri-unix (11/17/82)
From: WMartin at Office-8 (Will Martin) A mixed bag of comments/queries: A recall hearing or reading about the JS&A "passengers on shuttle flights" business; it is supposed to be in their latest catalog (which I have not yet received, if I am still on their mailing list). I cannot recall the source of my info, but the idea was that it was NOT for 6 "rich" people; they were selling lottery tickets at $20 each for the 6 seats. I think the idea was that they were going to buy payload bay space and somehow put in people instead of cargo. This was all totally WITHOUT the approval of NASA or anyone with any authority in the matter. The NASA people were said to be "displeased" with the whole thing... (JS&A is Jules [?] Sugarman & Associates; a very successful mail-order company specializing in high-tech gadgets and the like.) High Frontier: I caught the last few minutes of a local public-TV interview show which was discussing the topic, and had General Graham as the main guest. The costs were estimated to be from $15 billion in three-five years to $50 billion over 12 years; the first figure would apply if the project were performed in a "Manhattan-Project" style of isolated total committment; the latter figure would apply if the same tasks were performed using the normal military procurement and planning and managerial techniques used for current weapon systems acquisition. SRB's: What ever happened to the recovery process for the last shuttle flight's SRB's? Were they completely recovered, partly recovered, or is the effort still under way, or was it abandoned? Last I recall was that only part of one or both were retrieved. Regards, Will Martin