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I Continuous MIT News Service Cambridge Since 1881 Massachusetts 59 I Volume 105, Number Wednesday, January 29, 1986 - __ Shuttle explotles moments afterr launch MIT grad McNair among seven presumed dead _By the Tech staff American astronaut in space, did that had earlier plagued Chal- Ronald E. McNair PhD '76 his graduate work in physics at lenger and caused a launch delay. was among seven astronauts who MIT's Spectroscopy Lab. One minute and 12 seconds died when the space shuttle Chal- McAuliffe had been selected by into the flight, Scobee notified I lenger exploded minutes after its the National Aeronautics and Mission Control: "Roger, go to ~Ce ' ~ -_' -- launch from Florida's Kennedy Space Administration (NASA) throttle up," signifying the appli- Space Center yesterday morning. Teacher in Space Program from cation of full throttle, and maxi- The crew included Air Force over 11,000 applicants to become mum stress, to the Challenger. Math Francis R. Scobee, the shut- the first private citizen in space. This transmission was the last _ dtle commander; Navy Cmdr. Mi- The shuttle lifted off flawlessly heard from the shuttle. chael J. Smith, pilot; Dr. Judith at 11:38 am, apparently unaffect- The unused, highly-explssive A. Resnick, mission specialist; ed by the equipment problems (Please turn to page 3) McNair, mission specialist; Greg- _~b ory B. Jarvis, payload specialist; Air Force Col. Ellison S. Oni- zuka, mission specialist; and Christa McAuliffe, payload specialist. =w X Text of President Ronald Reagan's eulogy of Challenger's Used with permission of WCVB TV crew, Page 9. Th; -naeP shuttle Challenaer seconds; after the expnksion. 111 JrOPvv %,V Qll Li~tLVU vqul %Ai Lill-, vr1. vv~v·McNair, the second black MlTreacts to shuttle crash By the Tech staff from six to twelve monthsLs," sad Director Gordon 'H. Pettengill Yesterday's crash of the space Joseph H. Binsack PhD ''66, as- '48 predicted that NASA will not shuttle Challenger will set back sociate director of MIT's Center launch any more space shuttles the National Aeronautics and for Space Research (CSR) until it determines the cause of Space Administration's (NASA) Several other researchhers at the accident. hv .n2nvwhee rperrnn9DSA c;m;lnrlzvur r- bIIULLIVChllttlP ylV6^^nrarnm vCU}.LU -5 AdI"V" MaT Ronald E. McNair PhD '76. Photo courtesy NASA IV11 IlsYpuflleU 3similaFrly. -Ad NASA will probe for a good iFI II I- qpq-. rl ILIW - IbCI-LI nrasuates ffiexplanation of what caused Chal- Cambridge e C.1val- V eWAVlenger s to explode, Binsack said. Once' NASA has identified the Ronald EnNMcNair 1 n ucleg source of the explosion, it will MIITs ar reactor search for a way to ensure that Ronald E. McNair PhD '76 is one of seven astronauts be- By Earl C. Yen member Of the committee. lieved killed in yesterday's crash of the space shuttle Challenger. An ad hoc committee ap- "There's been an increase in in- such an incident does not happen .. ... .. ~agan, he continuted. .McNair; who came to MIT as a Ford Foundation fellow, specials Ipointed by the Cambridge City ternational terrorism, and in light ,, ized- in chenical and high-pressure carbon dioxide lasers. He I l14o one-in their right mind Council has begun a safety inves- of wadd events the sAny&aan><- s 4rformed -Wsme of the -earliest experitneots, in Witt - spectros- .gation of MIT's nucear reactor, excellent idea at this time," copy; Michael S. Feld '63, his thesis advisor, now directs the according to David B. OWConnor, O'Connor said. program without analyzing the Spectroscopy Lab where McNair completed his graduate work cdirector of the city's Department Located at 139 Albany Street, ata and coming up with some in physics. of Emergency Management and MIT's five-megawatt research fa very good hypothesis of what .. ~~~~~~happened," Binsa~ck said. An interview with McNair about the personal growth involvedI I cility uses weapon-grade, highly- enrichefl uaium NASA had planned 15 shuttle inrmeeting challenges appears on page 19. .. ice .rnu .HUfe. I missions for this year. It winl is the second largest university re- Originally front Lake City, SC, McNair earned a bachelor's search reactor in the United probably cancel all of the mis- degree in physics from North Carolina A&T State University in . ~~~sions in the next couple of States. The,, largest one is at the 1971, where he was a Presidential Scholar. He spent his junior ... r I,. ~months, Binsack said. of Missouri at year with the MIT physics department through a special MIT University Binsack and Pettengill would Columbia. exchange program. i City councilor David E. Sulli- not speculate on what might have City councillor Davia E. Suili- McNair joined the physics staff of the Hughes Research Lab- van '74,wh requested the in - caused the apparent explosion of oratories after leaving MIT. The National Aeronautics and van '74, wno requested tne irnves- the Challenger's main fuel tank. tigation at the Nov. 18 meeting of ,W d Space Administration selected McNair as an astronaut candi- "We don t get involved wlth the date in 1978, and he completed his training in 1979. the City Council, was concerned,propulsion . systems,",, Pettengil that the reactor might be vuler- said. He made his debut in space on Feb. 3, 1984, as a mission accident or a terrorist "We've b specialist on board Challenger Flight 41B. The crew tested the able to an "We ve been watching the films oate>>k jet backpacks used to repair the Solar Max satellite last year, attack. just like everyone else," Binsack and McNair controlled the shuttle's mechanical arm which aided "You've got a nuclear reactor added. "There's; just a lack of in- with bomb-grade fuel sitting in formation so far." in the testing. He was the second black American in space. one of the largest 'Metropolitan McNair held a fourth degree black belt in karate and played saxophone for a jazz band. areas in the United States,", . Sulli-. ~dentdeorge at the L. MITSpae Space SysteomsSystem van explained in an interview He is survived by his wife, Cheryl Moore, and his son Regi- wihheTch "atrli, o Laboratory, said he and his coi- with Tshe Teclh. "laturally, you nald, who will be four next month. He was 35 years old. want to know what the safe- (Please turn to page 8) 6 I~~~pp d~~~ r r ~ ~ · I guards are. The reactor could be a significant public health and safety hazard. The city has the G roup revis;es pornography policy authority and responsibility to address these issues." By Andy Fish The group which proposed the has consisted of three LSC mnem- Lincoln Clark, Jr., associate First of two parts. revisions included Nell; Moser; bers, three other students, three director of the 28-year-old reac- An advisory committee has Finley R, Shapiro G and Associ- faculty members, and three staff tor, said MIT will cooperate with proposed a revision of MIT's ate Professor of French Isabelle members. the city's investigation. The reac- policy on sexually explicit films de Courtivron, members of the There would no longer be any tor presently follows the security which would exempt educational Committee on Student Affairs; positions reserved for LSC mem- tPlease turn to pages 6/ presentations from the policy's Campus Activities Advisor Bar- (Please turn to page 79 restrictions and change the com- bara M. Fienman; and Dean for position of the pornography Student A ffairs Shirley M . screening committee. McBay The draft is only an intermedi- The present policy, created by ate step in the revision process, the Office of the Dean for Stu- ILq dent Affairs in August, 1984, according to Janine M. Nell G, Does Paul Gray listen president of the Graduate Stu- provided for a committee to dent Council and member of the screen all x-rated or unrated sex- to you? Page 2. advisory committee. The GSC ually explicit films prior to public and the Undergraduate Associ- showing on campus. Hayden Gallery laid bare. ation (UA) are sponsoring a Feb. Proposed changes Pap 1 1. 5 forum to discuss the proposed The advisory committee rec- policy. ommended several revisions. The crystalline song of UA President Bryan R. Moser * Composition: The statement '87, another member of the advi- the ice princess. alters the screening committee's Page 12. sory committee, emphasized that composition by (1) removing ex- the proposal "could completely plicit membership of student change" following the forum. groups such as the Lecture Series Tracksters get sweet, The UA and GSC would revise revengre after three - tw -- IV .1 4e_ Committee and (2) mandating the policy based on student in- equal representation of men and years. Page 22. Tech photo by Mike Klug put, he said. "The new policy is women. The screening committee ,-- - ,r I as MIT's research nuclear reactor on Albany Street. coming from the students." ai -- I I a I II r a I -- PAGE 2 The Tech WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1986 L - 1IrB "i's 74'''-'' Students call - M IT unreceptive t ~~~ :t. a -~~~ Stud~~~en s ca lIIvec~ptv ri t r 1·.· i'· Tech photo by Stephen P. Berczuk ·c Nobel laureate Franco Modigliani. F:7(.1 i CE M odigliaini addresses deficit By Donald Varona of the United States and his ministration to stop the inflation Institute Professor Franco Mo- views on its economic policies, ary effects that lingered from tht digliani, winner of the 1985 No- followed by commentary on the oil crisis, he said: This was more bel Prize in economics and a self- budget and the trade deficits, on effective and much less damaging described "reasonable" inflation and the strength of the than the price-fixing which oc economist, suggested last dollar on the foreign currency curred during the Nixon years, he Wednesday that an immediate markets.
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