🚀 go-pugleaf

	Does anyone know of articles that have been written in the
past year or so about the "excess missile assets" of the Ballistic
Missile Defense organization? My understanding is that there are some
450 surplus Minuteman vehicles that would be available for use by DOD
(and perhaps Universities) or others if it were not for powerful
congressional interests who want to make sure that their friendly
local aerospace companies do not get hurt from dumping them on the
market. 

	Apparently, this is what happened to NASA's STEDI (Student
explorer) program that lost about 50% of its budget when Orbital
Sciences Corporation had some Senator (who might this have been?)
intervene on their belhalf so they could sell their more unreliable
PPegasus launch vehicle in place of the surplus Minuteman. Apparently
it was a political fight between Colorado to support work by Martin
Marietta, who builds Minuteman and would be involved in the conversion
to orbital vehicles for small payloads, and Orbital Science, supported
by someone from Virginia.

	I heard that the Senate Defense appropriations committee is
supposed to be considering a program to have these surplus missiles
available for use by at least DOD for research, but that such
companies as Orbital Sciences is willing to have them scrapped even
rather than allow them to be used. Since these cost at least $4
million each, I as a taxpayer would be more than a little upset if
such were to go to waste in this way. I hope that someone could inform
me that the rumors I heard are incorrect.



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Joseph Cain			cain@geomag.gly.fsu.edu   
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