🚀 go-pugleaf

Editorial praising Pete Aldridge (sec of air force) for his efforts at
getting expendable launchers going again, but ending with a caution:
"USAF is now threatening to turn ALS into a technology program instead
of a project that can provide the US with a heavy lift capability by
the late 1990s.  Sending ALS into the bureaucratic black hole in which
so many technology efforts disappear will not help the US recover the
heavy lift capability it lost when NASA abandoned the Saturn V..."

Arianespace puts in a bid to launch the next pair of NATO military
comsats, pointing out that 60% of NATO's infrastructure budget now
comes from Europe.

Small study contracts for multimegawatt space reactors put out by DOE.

Aussat is showing a strong preference for launching the next-generation
Aussats on Long March (!).  The business may end up being split between
Long March and either Titan or Ariane, because Aussat will probably want
a backup launcher and the Western launch companies may not be interested
in serving only as backups (i.e. they may want to be first in line for
one of the launches in return for being backup for the other).

White House finally releases the new National Space Policy.  Of note are
provision of shuttle external tanks in orbit free to commercial projects,
and competitive procurement by NASA of something like ISF.

Big article on SDI's Delta 181 space test mission, launched Feb 8.  There
were some tracking problems and a partial failure of one important sensor,
but on the whole the mission was successful.  The launch was very carefully
done, including a supervisory team whose sole job was to watch for things
the launch team might overlook.  Weather criteria were tight, and so was
security:  a USAF gunship circled the pad area for several hours before
launch, among other things.  (Officially it was there to keep the range
clear of boats, but note that the AC-130 aircraft is heavily armed and
carries sensors that can pick up intruders by their body heat.)

The third SDI Delta will fly early in fall.  Delta will officially become
a USAF launcher after that mission, but the USAF has asked NASA for the
lead role on that one too; "the issue is being negotiated".

Picture of a Hermes model in a wind tunnel.

Formal space-station negotiations concluded Feb 6, not entirely successfully.
Informal negotiations will continue to try to sort out the remaining issues.
Canada is still the only partner that has agreed to the US's memorandum of
agreement.  [Late news:  Canada's participation is now considered to be in
serious jeopardy, because Congressional budget cuts may remove most of
Canada's role.  If you have a station-related job, on either side of the
border, I would recommend bringing your resume up to date...]

Veteran cosmonaut Vladimir Solovyov among those presenting papers at an
AIAA conference this week.  He says that greater attention to crew comfort
is needed on Mir, and better automation of routine housekeeping would also
be useful (he appears to mean monitoring and control, not robotics).  He
also notes that the crew wants to be able to vary the vehicle's climate
from time to time, and that private rooms are needed.

Aerojet tests a small ultra-high-thrust rocket engine for final maneuvering
of missile interceptors.

SDI outlines a proposed operating structure for an initial missile-defence
system; of note is that contrary to assorted alarmist claims, top control
would remain with humans.

Big advertiser-funded supplement:  "Space Industries".  Front page is a
satellite photo of Seattle, supplied by Soyuzkarta.  The content is pretty
lightweight except for two items:  a statement from Eosat that Spot has
had no effect on Landsat revenues (apparently it has expanded the market
instead), and a near-full-page ad for the only heavy booster "AVAILABLE
RIGHT NOW!":  Proton.

[Yes, Soyuzkarta is who you think it is:  the USSR.]

Target for next Ariane launch slips a week (to March 11) because Matra is
making urgent changes to one of the payloads.  Telecom 1C is being fixed
to ensure that it doesn't have the same disastrous attitude-control failure
that hit Telecom 1B.

Stacking of the first Ariane 4 (launch tentatively May) is underway.

JPL studies feasibility of a specialized space telescope for hunting
extrasolar planets; it would combine ultraprecise optics (developed for
the semiconductor industry, not for spy satellites!) with a new design
of coronagraph to block the light from the star.

Design selected for astronaut memorial at KSC, a slab of granite that will
track the sun, with astronaut's names cut into it, illuminated by mirrors
behind it.

Retiring DepSecCommerce Clarence Brown slams government mismanagement of
space programs (especially by NASA) and hostility to commercial space.
In microgravity programs, "Optimistic folks think we're in third place;
the pessimists think we're in fourth or fifth."  Recent DoC study says
industrial interest is space is very high; Brown observes that most of
the interested companies are European or Japanese.

The competing mobile-satellite companies have finally merged into an
uneasy consortium and have submitted a joint bid to the FCC.

DARPA to award small contracts for lightweight-launcher programs,
including an air-launched vehicle for small payloads, a Standard Small
Launch Vehicle (1500 lbs to low orbit in mid-1990), and an Interim
Launch Vehicle (400 lbs to low orbit in mid-1989).  All the obvious
companies are interested.

Hearings to begin on limiting liability for US commercial space launches.
Congress backs a scheme in which liability over $500M is assumed by
government, paralleling an arrangement used by NASA in pre-Challenger days.
Liability for damage to government property will be limited, all parties
involved will be required to sign waivers renouncing claims against each
other, and launch-date commitments will not be subject to government
preemption except in cases of "imperative national need" [whatever that is].
Also bundled in may be provisions giving special discounts and liability
reductions to owners of satellites bumped from the shuttle, *if* they
launch them on a US launcher.  Reagan administration also wants limits on
commercial-launch liability, but is proposing it as a flat limit on
liability, rather than having the government assume responsibility after
a limit is reached; this is arguably a fundamental change to liability
law and may not be popular with Congress.

Two-page letter column with reactions to AW&ST's facelift and style change,
perhaps half of it negative.  "If I wanted Newsweek -- I don't -- I would
have subscribed to Newsweek."  [I agree.]
-- 
Those who do not understand Unix are |  Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
condemned to reinvent it, poorly.    | {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,utai}!utzoo!henry