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Washington, D.C. 20540

SPACE ISSUES IP371 S

After more than 25 years in space, the United States has come to a

turning pint in its space program. As a result of the accident of the

space shuttle Challenger, the United States faces many decisions about

space policy including getting the space shuttle operational again,

management of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the

proper roles of expendable launch vehicles versus shuttles, the issue of

civilian vs. military payloads, the commercial potential of space, and

the building of a permanently-occupied space station. This Info Pack

addresses the pros and cons of these issues.

Members of Congress who want additional information on this topic

can call CRS at 287-5700. Other CRS reports can be identified in the

Guide to CRS Products (for congressional use only) under "Space policy"

and in Update under "Science and technology."

Constituents may find additional information on this subject,

primarily in periodicals and newspapers, at a local library through the

use of indexes such as the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature,

Public Affairs Information Service Bulletin (PAIS), General Science

Index, and the New York Times Index.

We hope this information is useful. lYOATHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY Congressional Reference LIBRARY Division WERNMENT DOCUMENTS COUECTION NASA has shaped up since Challenger was lost. But it's not standing tall yet. Some say US space programs still lack long-range purpose. Others wonder about foreign competition. Today, the Monitor looks at projects affected by the explosion; tomorrow, the people. The year since Challenger US spreading the space load By Marshall Ingwenon moving fonvard again. Strll writer of The Uvntian Swna Manitor The shuttle hardware is being revamped Miami for greater safety, NASA management has A year after Challenger's tragic 73sec- been reoganized, Challenger is being re ond flight, the National Aeronautics and placed with a new orbiter, and the shuttle Space Administration has picked itself up Discovery will likely be flying again in early and dusted itself off. 1988 - even if not by NASA's Fkb. 18 target After an exmciating season of public date. hearings last spring revealing a trail of Ultimately, it was planning solely around NASA misjudgments and weaknesses that the space shuttle that left the United States led up to the Jan. 28 accident, the agency with no access to space at all for a time last that planted an American flag on the moon is ReasesseNASAbodcpege

Christian Science Monitor January 26, 1987 p1,32

@ l987 The Christ~anScience Publishing Society. Reproduced by the Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service with permission of copyright claimant. agency, many NASA-watchers new safety ofice, and given as- joints goes far enough. But the tion, NASA's next big project, as think. tronauts more control and visi- new joints - with an inside lip subject to the same pitfalls that "I think it has changed bility in the program - "like it added to keep them from twist- ensnared the shuttle program year. This happened when both [NASA] quite dramatically, says used to be," says Mr. Seamans. ing slightly apart under pressure NASA tried to justify the shuttle the Titan and Delta rocket a former NASA head, Robert The directors of all three ma- .- will have to survive four full- through its commercial potential launchers failed. Seamans of the Massachusetts jor space centers have been re scale test flrings before NASA and found itself pressed into set But the revived shuttles will Institute of 'khnology. "1 think placed since the accident. So will fly them. ting unrealistic flight schedule: not be the nation's one-size-flts- it has changed it for the better." have all the managers directly NASA has also decided to and underestimating costs. all space truck fleet of the pre NASA administrator Fletch- involved with the ill-advised de- equip the shuttle orbiter with a Like the shuttle program be Challenger era. The nation no er, who returned to the agency cision to launch the Challenger limited bailout capability. The fore Challenger, says JO~II longer wants all its eggs in one last spring after running it in the on an unusually cold morning system may not be in place in Logsdon, a George Washington basket. As a result, the shuttles early 1970s, is getting high last January, including Law- time for the Discovery's &st University space policy expert and NASA itself will have some- marks for vigorously pursuing rence Mulloy. He headed the launch in 1988. It would not the space station "is still promis what diminished roles. the recommendations of the booster rocket program at Mar- have saved the Challenger crew, ing to be all things to all people." Even though the military will presidential commission that in- shall Space Flight Center in who were lost during the highly Most outside analysts believc use about twethirds of the shut- vestigated the accident. HunstviUe, Ala., and took much stressed kttwo minutes after the space program lacks a visio~, tle payloads for a decade, the The commission, run by for- of the heat for the decision. launch. But future shuttle crews or long-range purpose to makc Air Fbrce is fast developing its mer Secretary of State William The thrust of Fletcher's will have parachutes, and blow- sense out of its more immediate own unmanned space launch Rogers, found that the flawed moves is to open up cleaner lines off hatches will be installed in decisions. fleet. hardware that caused the acci- of authority and communication the crew cabins. The agency is "We drifted into the fourth Most commercial satellite dent grew out of deeper flaws in so that critical safety concerns still considering whether to use orbiter decision [replacing Chal companies are going to have to the NASA organization, saying are not again lost between space extraction rockets to pull crew lenger] without knowing exactly look to private launch compan- the organization succumbed to centen and management layers. members clear of the shuttle. why," says Lou Friedman, direc ies, here or abroad, to reach flight schedule pressures. The effort to redesign the For all of NASA's progress in tor of the Planetary Society ir~ orbit. The US currently has no Dr. Fletcher has shifted the shuttle haidware is traveling a Rnding its feet again, observers Pasadena, Calif. "The space sta private launch capacity, but the shuttle management from John- rockier course. Some outside ex- still voice strong concerns about tion is the big driving activity shuttle will no longer have room son Space Center in Houston to perts still question whether the the future of the space program. now, yet we don't know what for most commercial cargo. NASA headquarters, opened a rejigging planned for the booster Many even see the space sta- it's for." NASA administrator James Dr. Friedrnan believes the na Fletcher announced last week tion should decide to land a hu that the agency's own plans will man on Mars in the next cent ury once agnin includc unmanned, 3 and build its space progr:ull expendable rockets. ; around that goal. That could bt3 Suffering most perhaps are achieved, he at NASA'., space science and exploration current budget levels. projects. 'ho-thirds of them Nex Roland, a Duke Univcr have been canceled. The rest are sity historian of the space pro running at least a decade behind gram, believes that NASA's con- schedule. centration on manned project3 "lt has just been a catastro- like the shuttle and the space phe," says Bruce Murray, a Cali- station bleeds money away fro111 fornia Institute of 'kchnology more useful endeavors, such a.r professor of planetary sciences. Rnding cheaper ways to launcl~ Mr. Murray is also the former unmanned vehicles. director of the Jet Propulsion NASA's problem is still that it Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. has to scrape for its budget ev- "We had been forced to put all of ery year on an increasingly our eggs in -that [shuttle] bas- skeptical Capitol Hill. Although ket," when most missions could support there has held up be launched more cheaply and through the crises of the past easily on unmanned rockets, he year, says former associate ad- says. ministrator Jack Kerrebrock, But the legacy of the Chal- "The agency's budget is still lenger beasterhas improved the stretched tight as a drum." SHUTTLE PAYLOAD MANIFEST -LB-. New Manifest for Space Shuttle Generates payload Sponsor Debate

By Craig Covault is that elements of the organization re- ter, a factor affecting the outlook for use main out of step. of Vandenberg AFB, Calif., as a shuttle Washington-A new space shuttle pay- "I'm not sure everybody is working to launch site. load manifest forcing fundamental the same music," Truly said. The astro- In light of the Kennedy Space Center's changes in shuttle flight operations is be- naut office, program office and NASA capability, and the ability of the Titan 4 ing criticized by U. S. and international centers were cited by Truly as elements booster to launch heavier payloads from payload sponsors, and questions are being that need closer coordination. Vandenberg into polar orbit than is possi- raised about whether the flight rate will be Truly agreed that the shuttle recovery ble with the shuttle, the U. S. Air Force i able to keep up with even the constrained effort remains too broad, rather than be- now likely to abandon launch of space payload plan. ing narrowly focused on returning the shuttle altogether from Vandenbug, many As a rault of the new manifest, com- program to flight. He said a particular space managers believe. munications satellite operators are threat- concern is ensuring progress is made in Other elements of the new manifest are: ening lawsuits against NASA, and foreign receiving and implementing decisions krtv~tionalpressure--West Gma- governments are bringing diplomatic pres- from the multiple committees, both inside ny and Japan are concerned that a three- sure on the U. S. and outside of NASA. looking at dl as- year delay (to 1991) in the hunch of the By 1993, according to the manifest, the pects of the shuttle program. "I am not German D2 and Japanese Spacelab mh- space shunle program will become almost satisfied we are doing that well enough sions seriously will inhibit their prepam entirely devoted to space station assembly right now," he said. tions for participation in the space station . and Defense Dept. space missions. Major project. Both countries have void con- science payloads important to U. S. space Annual Flight Rate cern to NASA and the State Dept. In leadership, such as Hubble Space Tele- The manifest is baKd on an annual West Germany's case. that effort resulted scope, are set for launch early in the new flight rate starting with five missions. in- in a somewhat earlier launch for D2. The manifest. crusing to 10 in the second year and European Space Agency has ken equally First launch of the space shuttle follow- gradually building to 16 per year. frank in expressing its concern on delays ing the Challenger accident has been set A National Research Council report to to the Ulysses mission to Jupiter and the for Feb. 18, 1988. Experienced space man- the House Appropriations subcommitte+ Sun. agers and astronauts said, however, that overseeing NASA, just released, said how- Small pyloabNASA will ask De- the shuttle recovery momentum does not ever, that even with a fourth orbiter. an fense Dept. to any some smaller civilian exist to achieve that target, and the first annual fight rate of 11-13 missions is the middeck, Getaway Special and Hitchhiker launch is unlikely until mid-1988 or early maximum that should be expected from payloads on shunle flights primarily dedi- 1989. NASA, except for shon surge periods. cated to military space operations. Navy Rear Adm. hchard H. Truly, Defense Dept. payloads including nu- who heads the shuttle program, told AvI- merous Navstar satellites are a sigruficant Manifest Development ATION WEEK & SPACETECHNOLOGY he element in I8 of the 30 missions on the "Since the accident. the development of also is concerned about the current mo- new manifest through mid-1991. EIeven of the shuttle manifest has been one of the mentum, but disagrees that it already has those flights arc entirely devoted to mili- most complex and difficult things we have affected schedule. tary payloads. had to cope with," Truly said.-~rul~and Truly said, however, that if be is unable Several of the Defense missions m the other managers said none of the payload to impiement some changes in the way the new manifest will be USAF/Central Intel- sponsors are pld, but that dclays in recovery effort is proceeding, the shuttle ligence Agency imaging reconnaissance launch data were dealt out fairly. Major will not be able to make the February, satellites launched into relatively high in- international missions such as the West 1988, target. He said one of the problems clination orbits from Kmnedy Space Cen- German and Japanese Spacelab flights

Aviation Week and Space Technology October 13, 1986 p.22,23

@i19 8 6 ~c~raw-HillReproduced by the Library of Congress. Congressional Research Swvica with permission of copyright claimant. maintained their chronological relation- bother Galileo or Ulysses launch oppor- ship when slipped, he said. tunity in Ocyober, 1990. The joint U. S./ The manifest ,would have been ready' Italian tethered satellite will receive its about July but was held up by the White first test in October, 1990, on a flight that House Economic Policy Council, which will also deploy India's Insat and USAF decided to make key decisions on commu- Navstar payloads. The last Bight in 1990 nications satellite aspects of the document. is set to launch a Syncom-4 payload and The Administration group included mem- finally retrieve the long-duration exposure bers unfamiliar with significant spacefiight facility, with the majority of its payloads issues. NASA space propam personnel ruined by spending nearly five yean long- belicve the process introduced political er in space than desired. concerns, complexity and delays into deci; The flight schedule in 1991 opens with sions that many NASA managers said a Spacelab pallet mission, focusing on at- should have been left for space program mospheric data and a large structures con- officials. trol experiment. It is followed in Febru- Shuttle missions now planned into 1994 ary, 1991, by a Navstar/materials pallet are: flight, a Defense mission in March and .1988--The first flight in February then launch of the European Eurefa un- will launch a tracking and data relay sat- manned spate platform in April, 1991. ellite. It will be followed in May, 1988, by In 1991 the manifest stops assigning a geosynchronous orbit Defense mission flights, simply naming the highest-priority and by a second military mission in July payloads and establishing which quarter expected to be a large imaging reconnais- they are scheduled for launch. Specidc sance satellite. The TDRS-D satellite is flight rates are not assigned during this set for a late September, 1988, launch and period. the Hubble Space Telescope will be the The Japanese Spacelab mission is set for fifth mission of the year set for launch the second quarter of 1991, while the Nov, 17, 1988. West German Spacelab D2 mission is set m 198"TLe Astro-1 ultraviolet tele- for the third quarter of 1991, dong with scope attached payload mission is set for shuttle's first revisit to the Space.Tcle- launch in mid-January, 1989, followed by scope for refurbishment. Retrieval of the a military geosynchronous payload in European Eurcca is set for the fourth March. The Magellan Venus radar map quarter of 1991. per is set for a late April, 1989, launch, Commercial missions such as Intelsat followed by a Strategic Defense Initiative and Inmarsat do not begin to show up on Spacelab mission in early June, 1989. The the manifest in fore until abut 1992. In fifth flight in late June, 1989, also will be 1993, the first five space station construc- defense-oriented, carrying two USAF tion flights arc planned. Navstar satellites, but also a NASA mate- In 1994, the manifest is composed al- rials science pallet. Two dedicated mili- most entirely by Defense missions dong tary missions will be flown in July and with seven space station assembIf early September, followed by another de- flights. El fense-oriented mission in late September, 1989, again carrying two Navstan and the materials pallet. Either Galileo or Ulysses could be launched toward Jupiter during a November, 1989, slot while a December, 1989, launch is set for NASA's first Spacelab Life Sciences mission. 199CL-The Gamma Ray Observatory is set for launch in January, 1990, fol- lowed by a Defense mission in February and the International Materials Science Spacelab flight in April. 1990. A multidis- ciplinary mission including a USAF Nav- star, McDonnell Douglas electrophoresis processor and space station heat pipe test is set for May, 1990, followed in late May and early July, 1990, by dedicated De- fense Dept. fllghts. The British Skynet4 military payload, which was commercially booked, is set for launch in late July, 1990, followed by a Defense mission in late Aueust. 1990. and n deciding to fund construction of a re- It was noted that NASA was committed Iplacement Space Shuttle orbiter. the to launch 44 commercial payloads via the Reagan Administrat~onalso cleared the way Shuttle fleet. An inter-agency working for development of a new US commercial group is developing a 'priority list' among expendable launch vehicle (ELV) industry. the 44 commercial customers because only Stated. US President Reagan: "It has Developing- 15 commercial spacecraft can be launched been determined ... that NASA will no by the Shuttle fleet between now and the longer be in the business of ,launching the US end of 1992. private satellites .... NASA and our Shuttles In all. 29 commercial spacecraft will be can't be committing their scarce resources taken off the Shuttle manifest, said to things which can be done better and commercial Speakes. According to the White House. cheaper by the private sector .... NASA will commercial payloads that can expect Shut- keep America on the leading edge of space launch tle launch will be those which (1) are change; the private sector will take over Shuttleunique and (2) have significant na- from there. Together, they will ensure that tional security or foreign policy implications. our country has a robust, balanced, safe industry In this category would be foreign broadcast space program." spacecraft, such as Indonesia's Palapa satellite series. Despite the August go-ahead for devel- The White House decision was greeted opment of new, non-reuseable space laun- with less than enthusiastic acclaim by chers, the US aerospace industry has hardly NASA administrator James C. Fletcher. created a 'stampede' to the doorsteps of who said that NASA was "pleased" with the nation's ELV manufacturers for book- , by Ramon L. Lopez the decision to build a new orbiter. But ings. Indeed, the response by Shuttle users Fletcher did not laud Reagan's decision to has been restrained and it appears that they yield the bulk of its commercial launch base are awaiting pending decisions by the to the private sector. He said simply that Reagan Administration as to how many the President's decision "accurately re- strictly commercial payloads will in fact flects the attitude of the majority of Ameri- remain on the Space Shuttle manifest. cans." But it is a fact that a large number of Later, Fletcher indicated that NASA payloads will be taken away from NASA as might be able to launch a larger number of a result of the Space Shuttle grounding. commercial satellites than the 15 men- And most new commercial customers will tioned by Speakes. 'We plan to accomme be turned away. date most of the commercial satellites that On 15 August, Reagan gave NASA the we are committed for," he said. authority to build a replacement for the Richard H. Truly, NASA's associate ad- Challenger Space Shuttle orbiter that was ministrator for space flight. said he was destroyed last January. In doing so, the "delighted" with the orbiter decision but White House ordered NASA out of the declined to express disappointment at the commercial launch business. the point be- prospect of losing space launch fees from ing to permit NASA to concentrate on the commercial satellite industry. Shuttle launches of national security, for- Others, however. were beside them- eign policy and scientific applications. selves in applauding the White House For the nation's aerospace industry, the space launch decision. DOT Secretary long waiting game ended. Ever since the Elizabeth Dole predicted that US ELV man- Challenger tragedy, the nation's ELV indus- ufacturers will begin launching commercial try had been expecting a clear signal from satellites by 1989 as a result of Reagan's the Reagan Administration as to whether decision. NASA would continue to be a major com- It is Dole's government agency which is petltor for private-sector rocket launch op in charge of developing a private-sector erations. space transportation agency. DOT'S Office of Commercial Space Transportation has The much awaited decision to build a issued interim regulations that outline the new Shuttle orbiter almost seems insig- policies and procedures for licensing com- nificant when compared with the implica- mercial launches. tions of the new space launch policy. This Dole said the greatest barrier to devel- decision, coupled with the Pentagon's de- opmegt of a commercial launch vehicle sire for additional heavy boosters and industry has been "the highly subsidised medium launch vehicles (MLVs), should Shuttle system". She added: "By create new opportunties for the US aero- eliminating the government monopoly in space industry for years to come. Also to space transportation. we can expand benefit are Arianespace's Ariane ELV and America's fleet of launchers at no cost to new launchers being developed by Japan the taxpayer." and the People's Republic of China. The DOTsaid that, by the early 1990s. US The Reagan Administration, in effect, has firms could have about 50 per cent of the moved to encourage development of a anticipated worldwide market of 15 to 20 private rocket industry. But the White commercial satellite launches per year, with House made it clear that no company the rest going to Ariane and other foreign should expect to be subsidised by the US competition. Government except as a recipient of gov- ernment contracts for launch services. White House spokesman Larry Speakes said a fourth Shuttle orbiter is required if 4 The US bunch industry began its r€-cWerV this NASA is to accomplish planned missions. summer w~ththe successful ortnt~npof the NOAA-10 such as Space Stat~on construction. He polarorblt~ngweather satellite on 17 September, f0i- lowing numerous 'play-safe' delays. 1% bun+ vehicle remarked that the space launch policy deci- was an Atlas E, made by General DyMmlCs. This Picture sion "eliminates the major roadblock, or the show the more powerfulAtlas G version, top!Jed with a major fear that the private sector has." Centaur cnlogenlc upper stage. According to Dole. Martin Marietta The decisions of the nation's ELV man- The USAF said the MLV will be smaller (maker of the Titan ELV series) has had ufacturers to enter the commercial space than the Titan IV and more capable than the "about 21" formal requests for commercial launcher sweepstakes were not taken with- existing Titan II. In early August, the USAF launch services, while General Dynamics out consideration of the emerging US milit- awarded initial MLV R&D contracts to (the Atlas Centaur manufacturer) has had ary market. For, equally affected by the McDonnell Douglas, Martin Marietta. Gen- 14 requests for launch proposals. She Challenger loss is the Pentagon, which, as it eral Dynamics and HughesIBoeing. The added that Transpace Carriers, responsible turns out, made the right decision in not initial $5 million six-month contracts will for marketing the McDonnell Douglas Delta relying 100 per cent on the reuseable Space fund design work on existing or modified ELV. has already signed contracts to launch Shuttle for placing military payloads in orbit. launch vehicle configuration. two commercial satellites. ; Aside from procurement of the Titan IV Candidate MLV boosters include a ver- sion of the Martin Marietta Titan using just Understandably, both Martin Marietta, (previously called Titan 34D7), the USAF is the 348 core vehicle, with upgraded Gener- which is offering the Titan Ill, and General in the process of selecting the manufac- turer of the MLV which will be used to al Dynamics Atlas Centaur and McDonnell Dynamics, aiming to enlarge Atlas Centaur Douglas Delta rockets. The MLV must be production, have been less than forthcom- launch NavstarIGPS spacecraft. capable of lifting a 2.1001b (950kg) payload ing in describing the level of interest by With start-up and production costs paid to a 10.000nmi orbit. For example, Hughes satellite manufacturers and users in their for by Uncle Sam, the MLV winner would Aircraft. teamed with Boeing Aerospace, is launch services. be well positioned to move into commercial proposing an MLV design that combines Both companies are seeking formal production. Whether a second or third Saturn launch vehicle propulsion systems negotiations for launches, and both have space launch company can also find busi- with structures and electronics derived been contacted by several firms concerning ness remains to be seen. from the Space Shuttle. pricing and schedules. A Martin Marietta "These actions by the USAF will provide According to a USAF official: "The estab- spokesman said his company has talked to the essential, on-going production base lished MLV production base should facili- a halfdozen .firms concerning a launch total tate US industry entry into the space launch of between 21 and 25 spacecraft. A General arena. The additional commercial produc- Dynamics official said his firm has con- tion will in turn benefit DoD by expanding tacted about seven companies regarding Martin Marietta's Titan Ill (for- the production base and lower the unit cost Atlas Centaur launch of 25 commercial merly the 340) is competing for of the launch vehicles to the Government satellites. probably as from 1989. the US Air Force med~umbunch vehicle contract and (in a slightly and industry." A long-term MLV production In September. Martin Marietta disclosed modified version) has secured a rate of about four rockets per year is that it had signed a contract to launch a reservation to fty a Federal Ex- expected. press Expresstar satellite in In addition to this, while NavstarlGPS commercial satellite for Federal Express. It 1989. Martin Marietta is offering said that the express mail company paid a two launch deals: a mnventional launches are currently the only firm require- $100,000 down-payment for a Titan Ill launch into geostationary transfer ment for the MLV program, the majority of launch in 1989. (The Titan Ill is a commer- orbit or. for former Shuttle cus- commercial, payloads also fall within the tomers stuck with a payload as- cial version of the Titan 34D.) At press time. sist module which they cannot MLV payload and orbital launch capability. It the full cost of the launch services was not resell. a flight to low orbit only. was noted that MLV bidders are being finalised, but Federal Express expects to The Titan Ill can put payloads required to outline adaptability of the MLV pay Martin Marietta around $40-50 million. with a total weight (including for commercial usage and to consider PAW of 31.4001b (14.470kg) The Federal Express deal represents the into bw orbit or of 12.5001b future growth versions. first firm reservation to be placed with a US (5.670kg) into transfer orbit. A& Aside from a build-up in Titan IV produc- tematively. it can inject 4.2001b tion and MLV procurement, the Pentagon ELV company. The spacecraft to be (1.905kg) directly into circular launched via the Titan Ill. to be called geosynchronous orb~t. Martin plans to begin work on a heavy-lift ELV to Expresstar, will be used to relay voice, data Marietta intends to stay in the be available in the late 1990s. It would be and video messages. Federal Express holds commercial launcher market used to launch payloads of 150,000- wen if it does not win the USAF 300.000lb (68,040-136.080kg) into low an option for a second Expresstar space MLV contract craft launch that could take place the fol- Earth orbit. lowing year. A Federal Express official is The Reagan Administration's plan for quoted as saying that his company turned ELV usage into the next century comes as to Martin Marietta after failing to win a from which commercial launchers can be welcome news to the US aerospace indus- launch commitment from Arianespace. drawn," according to one senior US aero- try. But equally important have been recent However, another spokesman said his space official. Prior to the White House ELV launch successes after a series of company still held an option for Ariane. announcement, the USAF said it "could not catastrophes eariier in the year. afford to rely on a single launch system." It In April, a USAF Titan 340 exploded Transpace Carriers, meanwhile. says that revealed a space launch recovery plan shortly after launch from Vandenberg AFB; two customers have indeed signed launch which places heavy reliance on ELVs. aboard was a secret DoD satellite. And in reservation contracts for the McDonnell The USAF is buying at least 23 Martin May, the Delta 178 rocket launched from Douglas Delta, the launch vehicle it has long KSC was destroyed after it veered off planned to operate commercially. In addi- Marietta Titan IVs, which incorporate the seven-segment United Technologies UA course; it was carrying a NOAA GOESG tion. Transpace Carriers' Rck Endres says weather satellite. Officials later ordered that the customers are US companies that 1207 solid strap-on boosters (replacing the 5.5-segment boosters used on the Titan minor modifications to both rockets and do not wish to reveal their identities until declared, them operational. NASA's role in future commercial launch 340). The current Titan's liquid-fuelled core first and second stages remain un- In early September, a Delta booster car- operations is finalised. rying a classified SDI experiment was suc- "We are currently looking at the fourth changed.The USAF will also buy at least 12 MLVs which will be used. beginning in cessfully launched from Cape Canaveral. quarter of 1988 for both launches, if all goes 1989, to launch NavstarIGPS spacecraft Later in that month. NASA succeeded in well." said Endres. However, firm launch launching the NOAA-G weather satellite dates will depend on whether Transpace and other military satellites in the same weight class. with an Atlas ELV from Vandenberg AFB. Carriers can gain access to long-lead Delta Dole has stated that the US ELV industry pans. Launches would be from Cape Consequently, the USAF plans to in- faces "a market as vast as space itself". Canaveral aboard the first and second com- crease the rate of Titan IV launches from She says that the new space launch policy mercial flights of the Delta 3920, according the Kennedy Space Center from about two will allow for "a bold leap into the to Endres. Although Transpace Carriers per year to four per year. It will also convert heavens" says that its pricmg policy is currently under the Titan launch pad at Vandenberg AFB for But so far, little has transpired in the way review, the company has previously quoted Titan IV launches at the rate of two per year of commercial ELV bookings since the Au- figures in the mid430 million range for a as from 1989. (The USAF is delaying activa- gust announcement. And the US aerospace dedcated launch, plus payload assist mod- tion of the Vandenberg AFB Space Shuttle industry appears content - for now - to ule (PAM) booster. launch complex until 1992.) take a 'wait and see' attitude. ++ TECHNOLOGY

- - Is the agency building a laboratory, factory, diner-or Trojan horse?

he NASA engineers who dreamec States ever flies manned mis- up the space shuttle wanted i sions to the moon again or to truck that would ferry astronaut: Mars, the space station will and cargo to a permanent, mannec serve as a diner on the inter- station in space. Twenty years lat planetary highway as well as er, their vision of a US. colony in the heav an assembly station and launch ens has been blurred by budget cutters pad. In December the Pentagon political infighting-and the Challenge] said it wanted to use the space disaster last January. Hurting, NASA wil station as well. The interest led finally take its first steps toward building doubters to fearthat thestation the space station next month. The projeci might also become a space-age may cost at least $12 billion as current11 Trojan horse, a military out- proposed. This plan calls for a giant orbit, post in civilian disguise. ing station built like a galactic Tinkertoy Under NASA's current plan, As long as one football field, it will astronauts will haul the space- be assembled by outer-space construction station components into orbit workers. Ultimately a crew of six to eight aboard the space shuttle. A astronauts will man its duty posts. construction crew will stay in Will NASA repeat the design mistakes space, building the structure in that seared the US. space program after orbit. NASA officials estimate the explosion of Challenger a year ago? that it will require at least 17 "The big question about the spacestation is shuttle Bights to launch the whether there willbea demand or whether components. Floating in space, they will just sit up there playingcards and the astronauts will assemble measuring each other's heartbeats," says two long trusses built of inter- space expert John Pike, of the Federation locking lightweight materials of American Scientists. So far, much of the :hat will form the twin back- thinking behind the space station mirrors ,ones of the structure. Crew early decisions leading to the shuttle. parters and laboratory mod- NASA'sstrategy is uncomfortably famil- des will be attached to the keel. iar. In 1972 the agency chose a design that rhe space station will mostly made it cheaper to build the shuttle but far lse large parabolic mirrors for more expensive--and arguably more dan- 2ower. Unmanned platforms in gerous-to operate. To win funding from )ther orbits will accompany the Congress, NASA downplayed the risks and nanned station: one will carry JAMES L LONG ASCCIATP Getting ready to fly again: costs and promised that the shuttle would in X-ray telescope, another The Discouegv reliably serve many competing customers, vill carry instruments foraath- hauling military payloads and commercial ring data to study climate and weather new project. It has yet to rule out entirely satellites into orbit and serving as a lab for )atterns on earth. the possibilities in backing the shuttle up short-term scientific experiments. The Veteran crew: Before the Challenger blew with one-shot, expendable rockets. "The agency's leadership is the same. NASA Ad- ~p,NASA had hoped to have the station questions are whether we are building the ministrator James C. Fletcher shepherded n orbit by 1992, in time to celebrate the right station and whether we're confident the shuttle through Congress in the early iOOth anniversary of Columbus's voyage enoughin the shuttle capabilities to build a '70s-and now has returned to take over an o the New World. No more. Last week shuttle-dependent station," says John organization still in shock from the Chal- ?ASA began to bury the Challenger Logsdon, a space-policy expert at George lenger disaster. Facing similar budget neckage in an old missile silo at Cape Washington University. "There's the pos- pressures, NASA is taking the same Swiss :anaveral. It also announced a veteran sibility of compounding the error if the Army knife approach to the space station. ~ve-mancrew to fly the next mission, now shuttle isn't fixed properly and the station It promises that the station will be an orbit- cheduled for February 1988, aboard the isn't properly conceived." ing observatory and a scientific laboratory )iscovery. After that, NASA wants to re- NASA altered the design of the station for experiments in life sciences, physics urn gradually to a regular program of last summer after some astronauts and and materials research. And a factory in huttle flights and to launch the parts for space experts objected to it. Originally space for commercial customers. And a fo- he space station in the mid-1990s. NASA planned to use relay teams ofspace- rum for international cooperation-NASA The evidence demonstrates how risky walking astronauts from the shuttle to is negotiating with the European Space he technology of space shuttles has be- build the structure. The teams would have Agency (ESA), Japan and Canada to be 3me. Even so, NASA still plans to rely on had about 48 hours to work during each partners in the venture. If the United ne tiny U.S. fleet of shuttles to build the shuttle flight. Then they would return to -.. .. .- -.. 52 NEWSWEEK: JANUARY 19, 1997 @ 19 8 7 Newsweek, lnc. Reproduced by the Library of Congress. Congressional Research weightless conditions of space in hopes of finding ways to prevent osteoporosis. Like any pioneering scientific effort, the results may not always be pre- dictable. "The real benefits come not from what you knew would happen but from the dis- coveries .and capabilities you run into when you open the new horizon," says Black. "If we do our job well and attract the right people, a Nobel Prize should come from working in this environment." Black is more skeptical about the im- mediate prospect for manufac- turing in space: "It is too early to say with any certainty what the commercial opportunities might be." Next month NASA will solic- it halproposals and bids from contractors. Ronald Reagan's new budget includes $767 mil- lion in development money for the space station, and the proj- ect has the support of some key NASA players in Congress. "We need 'Will they just sit up there playing cards?' An artist's rendering of the space station to proceed because it is a natu- rai frontier from which impor- NASA's plans to proceed tant national gains can be achieved," says with the space station have Sen. Donald Riegle, the chairman of the sharpened a question that has Senate subcommittee that oversees NASA. divided scientists from the Overseas flak But the space station's fu- earliest days of the space pro- ture on Capitol Hill is by no means assured. gram: are manned flights even And NASA has run into flak abroad: its necessary? Some top space sci- negotiations with the European Space entists, like physicist James Agency, Japan and Canada were put on Van Allen, don't think they are. hold when the Pentagon showed renewed This school of thought believes interest in the project. A Defense Depaft that scarce funds could be bet- ment spokesman said that the military ter used on unmanned flights. wanted to protect its option "to conduct The equipment to protect scientific research on nationalsecurity op human crews in spaceflight tions." The Pentagon won't be more speiif- greatly magnifies the cost of an ic, but such research might include work expedition. And on a practical with advanced electronics, lasers and op level, astronauts may inadvert- tics. "This is a civilian program for peace- ently interferewith thedelicate ful purposes," says NASA's Black. 'That optical or microgravity experi- means the space station won't be used for ments. Indeed, many of the operational military activities, but if they greatest scientific accomplish- want to do basic research, that's OK." ments of the space age have In fact, with Reagan's commitment to been made on roboticspacecraft Star Wars, the Pentagon's space budget is such as the interplanetary Vik- twice as large as NASA's. The Soviets have ing mission to Mars and Voyag- already launched the core of their third- earth while another shuttle took off with er missions to theouter planets. generation Mir space station. 'me notion more cargo and a fresh work crew. After Advocates of the space station argue that that space is the next military frontier is a the astronautscomplained that thescheme a manned laboratory in outer space will view held by the president and thoseofhigh was impractical, NASA changed the de- open a new scientific frontier. David ackaround him," says Riegle. "That puts sign. The new plan allows urork crews to Black, NASA's chief spacestation scien- ;he civilian space program in great jeopar- live in space for months at a time while t kt, believes basic research in life sciences ly." If it doesn't fall of its own weight. doing construction in one of the station's and materials research will be important, 3ringing off this extreterrestrial triple orbiting modules. NASA also revised the especially research into basic phenomena Aay--Star Wars, a retooled shuttle and design toenclose more ofthe space station's involving gravity. He envisions growing thespace station-may be toomuch for any equipment, thereby cutting down the time large, pure crystals and returning them American outside of Hollywood. astronauts will have to spend spacewalk- to earth for analysis or studying WILLIAMD. MARBACHwith ing to fix and maintain the gear. why the body loses calcium in the near- MARYH~crnin Washington

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