mclure@SRI-UNIX@sri-unix (05/12/82)
!a268 1813 11 May 82
AM-Space Station,160
Official Says Group Will Begin Work Soon On Space-Station Plans
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Within a few weeks a task force will begin
developing plans for an orbiting space station that would be launched
by the end of the decade, a space agency official says.
The group is expected to submit its first recommendations in five
months as part of NASA's 1984 budget request to Congress, said Terry
Finn, deputy director of industry affairs for the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration.
NASA's top officials consider a manned orbiting platform a ''logical
extension'' of the space shuttle program, but have not decided on its
design, he said.
Space officials have yet to convince Congress and the Reagan
administration of the need for such a station, he said.
''We can't afford not to build it,'' Finn told the Orlando Sentinel.
''If NASA doesn't think about its future, it won't have a future.
''We're still seeking approval for a go-ahead. My understanding is
that we're getting some positive signals from the administration.''
ap-ny-05-11 2113EDT
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