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WHAT'S NEW (in my opinion), Friday, 8 Jan 93       Washington, DC

1. PRESIDENT BUSH UNVEILS HIS FINAL DEFICIT PROJECTION! Under the
Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, President Clinton must submit the
real FY 94 budget to Congress by 1 Feb 93--just 12 days after he
takes office.  But meanwhile, President Bush released a "baseline
budget" showing what federal spending--and the deficit--will look
like if no changes are made in programs and policies. Projections
include $859M for the SSC (up from $517M in FY 93). There is also
$1,086M for other accelerator projects (up from $931M), including
the main injector upgrade at Fermilab, a B-Factory at SLAC, and
restoration of the RHIC construction schedule.  Bush's projection
also includes the final installment in the five-year doubling of
the NSF budget. Sound good? Forget it! The bottom line, even with
no new programs and no inflation adjustment, is a $327B deficit.

2. QUAYLE'S SPACE POLICY ADVISORS LAUNCH THEIR LAST ROCKET!  "The
current organization of space activities is not appropriate for
the post Cold War era," according to the Vice President's Space
Policy Advisory Board.  That may not come as a major revelation
to the incoming Administration.  In a report released last week,
the Board called for closer cooperation between the military and
civil space programs, fewer security restraints, more cooperation
with industry, and leadership in an international space agenda.
The first change by the incoming Administration, however, will be
to abolish the Space Policy Advisory Board in favor of a broader
National Technology Council headed by Vice President Gore.

3. SHUTTLE MISSION STS-54 WILL ADVANCE THE FRONTIERS OF SCIENCE.
The seven-day $843M mission is scheduled for a 13 Jan 93 launch.
In the "Application Specific Preprogrammed Experiment Culture
System Physics of Toys" test, Mission Specialist Susan Helms will
play with a "flipping mouse," Mario Runco with "klacker balls",
Greg Harbaugh with a basketball, and pilot Don McMonagle with a
"balloon helicopter".  After recess they can relieve themselves
in a test of the new $30M Hamilton Standard Space Toilet.  Then,
it's on to the Extravehicular Activity test.  The Intravehicular
Crew Member (Helms) will observe as Extravehicular Crew Member 1
(Harbaugh) and Extravehicular Crew Member 2 (Runco) manipulate
each other in the cargo bay.  As explained by NASA: "To simulate
carrying a large object, the astronauts will carry one another;
to simulate how well they can align an object, they will attempt
to place each other into brackets in Endeavor's airlock."

4. GASP!  THE AIR IS THINNING IN BIOSPHERE-2!  A 28% drop in the
oxygen concentration over the last fifteen months is having a
dizzying effect on eight eco-pioneers in the "miniature world."
"It is the kind of mystery Biosphere 2 was meant to investigate,"
noted the systems engineer.  Crews are standing by to pump in
pure oxygen if things get worse.  The experiment seems to be
converging on a general conclusion: humans can survive in the
enviropod if there is an external source of air, food and water.

Francis Slakey  (202) 662-8700      The American Physical Society


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