Feb 25 1975
From The Space Library
On 25 Feb. Hans E. W. Hoffman, managing director of West Germany's ERNO Raumfahrttechnik GmbH, said that the development of Spacelab was exactly on schedule, with a complete engineering model to be delivered to NASA in April 1978. The first flight unit would be delivered 1 yr later.
The first mission of the Spacelab would be a joint U.S.-European venture. A call for ideas for experiments had netted 243 proposals, from which a selection would be made; the selection process for European payload specialists would begin in 1975.
Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator, addressed the gathering 26 Feb. He noted that, although aerospace technology had been one of the "key drivers" in retaining the U. S. lead in world technology, a feeling of the importance of technology was "not universally shared." A decline in the national emphasis on technology "has much to do with the decline in productivity in this country." The increasing cost and complexity of applying new technology had become a vexing national problem. Finding new ways to reduce costs was a key management task that the aerospace business must face.
Caspar W. Weinberger, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, said in an address 26 Feb. that satellite-delivered services in Alaska had been so successful that the Alaskan Federation of Natives -a highly representative broad-based grassroots organization-had made them the organization's top priority. The goal was to achieve an operational satellite service for health, education, and other communications needs.
The formation of the Public Service Satellite Users Consortium, consisting of health and educational organizations, represented the first effort to organize a market of small independent users sufficient to attract private investment capital for large-scale technology to meet their collective needs. HEW was investigating the possibility of a "social service satellite" to meet the needs of various public and social service communities by means of an inexpensive ground receiver. The satellite could dramatically reduce the cost of such services while greatly increasing the quality.
At the Honors Night Banquet 26 Feb., Chairman Hansen was installed as the 13th president of the AIAA. The 19 newly elected fellows included Hans M. Mark, Director of Ames Research Center, and William H. Phillips of Langley Research Center. Other awards presented at the banquet included: (A&A, Feb 75, April 75; AIAA Releases 10-20 Feb 75; AIAA Bulletin, Aug 74; Fletcher speech, text)
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