🚀 go-pugleaf

Editorial commenting that despite protestations of "strong support", Bush,
Quayle, and the National Space Council have been silent while NASP has been
fighting for its life in budget hearings.

DARPA is examining a proposal by Globesat Inc and CTA Inc for a small
tactical spysat, capable of launch on Pegasus or other small boosters,
that could provide 1m resolution from a 400nmi orbit.  The concept is
to give the armed forces a low-cost quick-look reconnaissance capability.

Latest on the Incredible Shrinking Space Station...  Completion will slip
18 months to 1999 and management will be reorganized, again.  More of the
management authority will move to Marshall and Johnson.  Launch of the
Japanese and European modules will slip about a year to 1998.  Electric
power available to users drops from 45kW to 30kW.  The oxyhydrogen
thruster scheme has been abandoned in favor of hydrazine; this will be
a simpler system and will not need 4kW of power for water electrolysis,
but will need regular fuel shipments from Earth.  The 20kHz AC power
system is abandoned [good!] in favor of DC.   [Curious -- why not use the
standard aircraft 400Hz AC?  Because that would be an admission that the
ridiculous 20kHz stuff was a mistake?]  The thermal control system is being
redesigned and simplified.  The combined effect of several of these changes
is to eliminate the need for a major external plumbing network, which will
simplify assembly.  The 8psi spacesuit is deferred in favor of using the
4psi shuttle suit (which requires a substantial prebreathing period before
use).

These changes were formally recommended to Truly by Lenoir (associate
admin for Space Station and Spaceflight) last week.  [Readers are reminded
that all times in these summaries are as of publication date.]  Lenoir
was not impressed by the state the program was in when he took over:
"I had hoped I would find the program in better shape..."  He wasn't
impressed by the management setup either:  "There were certainly more
efficient ways to segment this program..."

The international partners are considering their reactions, but overall
they are not pleased.  Congress is also starting to grumble about the
continued shrinkage and slippage of the program.

SDI flies two sounding-rocket tests Sept 4 and 11 to validate laboratory
data on survivability techniques.  Few details available.

NASA assesses water damage to Columbia after accidental activation Sept 24
of a fire-extinguisher water-deluge system.  [Eventually assessed as
not serious.]  The payload bay doors, and most other doors, were closed
at the time, and the orbiter was powered down.  It has been powered up
without incident, although there is some remaining worry about wet
connectors that might short.

LDEF is just above 200nmi.  If Columbia goes up on schedule Dec 18,
LDEF will be retrieved Dec 21 at a predicted altitude of 177nmi.  Solar
activity of late is nearly 25% above prediction, however.  NASA would be
reluctant to attempt retrieval below 130nmi.

Last NASA-run KSC expendable launch successful Sept 25, carrying a Navy
comsat, after a 3-day slip due to concern about Hurricane Hugo.
-- 
That's not a joke, that's      |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
NASA.  -Nick Szabo             | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu