Sep 26 1985
From The Space Library
A Federal grand jury in St. Louis subpoenaed 11 McDonnell Douglas employees and certain company records as part of its investigation of alleged overcharges on F-15 contracts with the Air Force, Defense Daily reported. The Defense Contract Audit Agency alleged that the company furnished inaccurate cost and pricing data to justify $28 million in probable inflation in the cost of manufacturing major pieces of the F-15's equipment.
McDonnell spokesman Gerald Meyer said the subpoenas apparently related to an investigation of pricing elements in FY 80 and 81 F-15 contracts, although McDonnell did not know the full scope of the investigation.
Meyer said McDonnell had “no reason to believe there was any unlawful conduct” on its part and that it would cooperate with the Justice Department and other government agencies participating in the investigation. He added that McDonnell felt the serving of the subpoenas “was inappropriate and unnecessary because it was not preceded by more ordinary channels of communications. All they had to do was ask.” (D/D, Sept 26/85, 130)
NASA announced that its AST-3 communications satellite, located at 105° west longitude, was providing communications support through its control center at Malabar, Florida, to American Red Cross and Pan American World Health Organization rescue and relief efforts following Mexico City's earthquake.
The voice communications link with the outside world was crucial, since the earthquake disrupted all other forms of communications in the city. George Manno, director of media relations for the Red Cross, said “the ATS-3 is providing us with the most critical communications link. Although ham radio operators have been doing a swell job, they are serving as our backup communications system, while we rely primarily on the ATS as our main communications vehicle.” Immediately after the earthquake occurred, NASA implemented the ATS emergency preemption plan; within 24 hours ATS-3 was on the air, giving priority to satellite communications traffic for the emergency rescue operations. (NASA Release 85-133)
Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Georgi Grechko in the Soyuz T-13 spacecraft returned to earth September 26 from the Salyut 7 orbiting complex, making a soft landing 220 km northeast of Dzhezkazgan, the Washington Post reported. Vladimir Vasyutin, Viktor Savinykh, and Aleksandr Volkov remained onboard Salyut 7. The partial replacement of the crew, FBIS Moscow Domestic Service in Russian reported, for the first time provided for continuous use over a prolonged period of a manned space complex, thus substantially enhancing its efficiency.
The present Soviet space effort was the fourth long-term expedition aboard the Salyut 7 station since its 1982 launch. The overlapping of crews meant that the Salyut 7 would not have to be shut down and restarted. Left empty after the previous mission ended in October 1984, the station suffered an electrical failure that created severe and dangerous problems for Dzhanibekov and Savinykh when they docked June 8 with the station.
The Soviet space program emphasized endurance flights in space with the ultimate goal of establishing large permanently manned orbiting complexes. The previous Soviet space mission set a record for human endurance in space when three crew members lived aboard Salyut 7 for 237 days. (W Post, Sept 27/85, A21; FBIS Moscow Service in Russian, Sept 26/85)
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