🚀 go-pugleaf

I noticed an article in today's (3/12/89) NY Times about the shuttle.
The article comments on the tight schedule of launches this year due
to all the constraints from interplanetary launch windows, the decay
of LDEF's orbit, and delays so far.  The Dec. launch of HST is
described as "success oriented" (read: don't count on it).

The article observes that NASA is back to its old practice of
cannibalizing orbiters to get spare parts, a practice that the Rogers
commission explicitly criticized.  The MEC replacement for the current
launch came from Columbia.  Other examples were alluded to but not
decribed.  I guess buying an adequate supply of spare parts was just
too expensive.

	Paul F. Dietz
	dietz@cs.rochester.edu