Dec 26 1985
From The Space Library
NASA announced that it had named effective immediately John Hodge acting associate administrator for space station.
Hodge became director of the Space Station Task Force on its establishment in May 1982 and was appointed deputy director of the Interim Space Station Program Office in April 1984 when the task force completed its work. He directed activities that resulted in the initial concepts definition for the space station, established program management policies, initiated advanced development programs, defined user needs, and organized potential international cooperation. In 1984 NASA appointed Hodge deputy associate administrator for Space Station, coinciding with establishment of the Office of Space Station.
Hodge joined NASA in 1959, after working with Vickers-Armstrong, Ltd. and AVRO Aircraft Ltd., as chief of Flight Control, supervising a team of over 200 technical and administrative personnel and 100 aerospace contractors and serving as flight director for Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo flights.
In 1970 Hodge worked for the Department of Transportation as director of transportation systems concepts at the Transportation Systems Center and later became associate administrator for Policy, Plans and Program Management before rejoining NASA.
Hodge received a B.S. degree in engineering from Northampton Engineering College in London and in 1966 the honorary degree of Doctor of Science from the City University, London. (NASA anno., Dec 26/85)
NASA Installations Ames Research Center February 1: NASA announced that effective January 24, Dr. Dale Compton became deputy director of Ames Research Center (ARC), where he had been director for engineering and computer systems since February 1983. Compton joined NASA in June 1957, serving as deputy director of astronautics, then chief of the space science division and manager of the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS). Recipient of the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, Compton earned a B.S. degree in 1957 and an M.S. degree in 1958, both in aeronautical engineering, and a Ph.D. degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1969. (NASA Release 85-17; NASA anno., Feb 2/ 85)
NASA announced the highlights of its 1985 activities, which included nine Space Shuttle flights and launches of three Atlas Centaurs, two Scouts, and an Aerobee vehicle, its last flight. In 1985 NASA introduced the last and lightest-weight Space Shuttle orbiter-Atlantis. McDonnell Douglas inaugurated its upper stage booster, the Payload Assist Module D-2.
Fifty two individuals flew aboard Space Shuttles in 1985. Of this group 19 were scientists performing observations, experiments, or investigations; 27 were U.S. military officers, and six were payload specialists from foreign countries (Mexico, Saudi Arabia, France, the Netherlands, and two from West Germany). The 52 individuals' combined time in space was nearly 55 days or over 880 earth orbits, for a combined travel distance of nearly 22 million miles. Six Space Shuttle astronauts spent a total of more than a day in extravehicular activities during the year.
Two Spacelab missions aboard the Space Shuttle and an encounter by the International Cometary Explorer (ICE) with Comet Giacobini-Zinner highlighted the year for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications.
On April 19, 1985, a little more than a year after President Reagan directed NASA to develop within a decade a permanently manned space station, NASA awarded competitive contracts to eight industry teams for definition and preliminary design (Phase B) of elements of the station. NASA signed a memorandum of understanding with Canada, the European Space Agency, and Japan for cooperation during the definition and preliminary design phase of the program.
NASA's aeronautical research and technology efforts included continuing work on such programs as the NASA/Department of Defense X-29 X-wing research aircraft, the tilt rotor/JVX aircraft, the advanced X-29 aircraft featuring a forward-swept wing, and the mission adaptive wing that could change its curvature.
In the area of space technology, Langley Research Center completed development, assembly, and testing of a 15-meter hoop column deployable structure and antenna system. Other advances in space technology included significant modification to the Space Shuttle orbiter Columbia to measure dynamic and thermodynamic characteristics, selection of the reactor thermoelectric power system concept for design and testing for the space station space reactor power program, and completion of space construction experiments outside the Space Shuttle orbiter.
NASA's advances in space tracking and data systems included transition from ground network station support for low earth-orbiting spacecraft to use of the first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite in geosynchronous orbit. NASA had scheduled TDRS-2 and 3 for launch in January and July 1986, respectively. In February NASA completed consolidation of the Deep Space Network (DSN) and later an upgrade of the network that would enable the DSN to receive significantly more images from Voyager as it encountered Uranus in January 1986.
NASA's Office of Commercial Programs funded and opened the first five of a planned series of centers for commercial development of space, which NASA expected would become self-supporting through research collaboration by industry, academia, and government agencies. (NASA Release 85177)
NASA today released a statement on the proposed action to develop a second source for the Space Shuttle's solid-fuel rocket motor (SRM). Since November 1984, NASA had assessed the desirability of a second source, and four firms-Aerojet Strategic Propulsion Co., Atlantic Research Corp., Hercules, Inc., and Chemical Systems Div. of United Technologies Corp.-had expressed interest in becoming the SRM second source. As a result, NASA believed the development of an SRM second source would serve the national interest.
The statement read in part: “. . . Because of the continued strong interest of the four contractors and our belief that a second source would be in the national interest, it is our intent to provide the contractors the opportunity to respond through a formal request for proposal (RFP).
“Industry must, however, be willing to respond with the full knowledge that NASA will provide no firm guarantee of recovery of their qualification costs. If industry is so willing, and where competition remains available with the incumbent excluded, NASA intends to proceed with establishing a second source.
“Should the winner of a second source competition for SRMs become qualified to produce flight-quality motors in time to support our next production buy, NASA would plan to buy contingent on overall cost considerations, 20 flight sets of motors at the rate of not less than four flight sets a year. In addition, NASA would compete the balance of the buy and subsequent buys to determine the split in production between the incumbent and the qualified second source. A decision to dual source any quantity beyond the planned minimum buy of 20 flight sets would be based on the cost of the dual source in comparison to the cost of contracting the balance with the incumbent (Morton Thiokol, Inc.) only.
“Based on the above, NASA intends to notify the four interested firms by letter in early January 1986 of our willingness to proceed with an RFP and the specific conditions that would apply. Their comments and views would be requested. A positive response would provide the basis for NASA to issue an RFP. Should industry not support the RFP under these conditions, NASA would cancel any initiative of establishing a dual source for the SRM.” (NASA Release 85-178)
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