Feb 17 1993
From The Space Library
NASA announced that a study at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, might lead to a reduction in the light headness astronauts feel after returning to Earth from space. A reduced level of plasma was believed to contribute to the tendency to feel faint. (NASA Release 93-030)
A spacewalk was added to Space Shuttle mission STS-57 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour as part of a series of spacewalk tests NASA planned to conduct during the next three years to prepare for the construction and maintenance of Space Station Freedom. Endeavour was scheduled for an April launch. The main objectives of the STS-57 mission were retrieval of the European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA) deployed during a Shuttle flight in August 1992 and the conducting of research in the SPACEHAB module. (NASA Release 93-31)
Bernard A. Harris, MD, an African American, was set to make his first Shuttle flight aboard Space Shuttle Columbia in late February. He was scheduled to conduct experiments exploring the behavior of humans, living organisms, and materials.
The February launch would be Columbia's 14th voyage into Earth orbit. The primary payload was Spacelab D2, a self-contained, space-based research laboratory carried inside the Shuttle's 60-foot-long cargo bay. (Philadelphia New Observer, Feb 17/93)
The Clinton administration decided to increase funding and continue work on the $8.2 billion Superconducting Super Collider under construction in Texas, according to Senator Bob Krueger, D-Texas, and other sources. Krueger said that Clinton's Office of Management and Budget had budgeted the project at $640 million for fiscal 1994, a 24 percent increase over the current year's spending levels. However, just before he left office last month, outgoing Energy Secretary James D. Watkins said that the 1994 funding level would have to he $1.2 billion to keep the project on schedule for completion by the end of the decade. (W Post, Feb 17/93)
Speaking on CNN's morning news show, Senator Jim Sasser, D-Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, called the Superconducting Super Collider a $7 billion scientific pork barrel. He said he would propose cutting it out of the budget along with the Space Station. (AP, Feb 7/93) February 18: The President's 1994 budget request for NASA called for an increase over last year's budget and contained key provisions for the Space Station program and the development of important new technologies. The President was to propose a $14.7 billion budget for NASA for fiscal year 1994, up from $14.1 billion during the current year.
President Clinton directed NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to redesign the Space Station. Goldin said that NASA officials would come up with new designs, expected within 90 days, that increased the project's efficiency and produced "greater returns on our investment." (NASA Release 93-32; W Post, Feb 18/93, Feb 19/93; WSJ, Feb 17/93, Feb 18/93, Feb 19/93; NY Times, Feb 18/93, Feb 19/93; B Sun. Feb 18/93; P Inq, Feb 18/93; AP, Feb 18/93; UPI, Feb 18/93, Feb 19/93, Feb 20/93, Mar 3/93; AP, Feb 17/93; W Post, Feb 19/93; NY Times, Feb 19/93; WSJ, Feb 19/93; AP, Feb 19/93; AP, Feb 19/93; UPI, Feb 19/93; LA Times, Feb 22/93; Space News, Feb 22-23; Av Wk, Feb 22/93)
Speaking at a press conference at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, John Gibbons, President Clinton's science advisor, said that science and technology would take center stage as the dual engine for economic growth in the United States. He added that the administration would need to make some hard choices about expensive projects such as the Space Station, find ways to gain more practical benefit from basic scientific research without limiting its creativity, and learn to be a true international partner. (CSM, Feb 18/93; W Post, Mar 3/93)
According to NASA, President Clinton's plans for the Space Station could threaten some of the 125 Maryland jobs connected with the project. About $14 million was being spent in Maryland on station-related work. (B Sun, Feb 18/93)
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