Forum
NASA needs more direction, not more criticism
By Christopher Blair
lust wilt'll it seemed the
spar i' agew \ was bin k oil its
leel after thi' lllffti (ihallengei
explosion. it h<is recently sul
liTt'il a number of embarrassing
setbiii k^
Commentary
In May. .1 fuel leak nil the
spare shuttle ( olumbia put it
bai k in the NASA Harare until
the leak i mild he fixed Last
week astronomers around the
world were told that the mir
ruts am the long awaited Huh
hie Spai.i* I’elesiope were not
foi using i.orrei 11v File tele
si ope w ill still he able to per
form some ol its observations,
hut it will take two or three
years to schedule a rescue shut
tie mission to get the St 1 hi I
It'll, ir
lion tlfv ii e hat k to its ■'s
status
\n<l non tins I'hi' spat t»
shuttIt* Atlantis developed tht■
same It'.tk th.it plagued Colum
hut. ton ing NASA to ground
.ill throe shuttles until the .igon
i v i .m find out v\ In the idonti
i.d problem occurred twice in
two different spacecrafts
As expelled, members ot
(Congress are milted i hiding
NASA tor its technical prob
loins Sen Albert ( lore 11
I'eMn said NASA's eves were
bigger than its stotuai b
when it came to developing
projei Is. and that the agent \
doesn't p.n enough attention to
minute details He also said
NASA "owes it to the taxp.n
eis to tint! out what went
wrong how to ti\ it and make
sure it never happens again
( ougress coin erns are valid
and ves NASA should p.n
i Iomt attention to detail lint
perhaps those i out crus .ire .1
bit out ot tin us
It is interesting that while the
defense department is handl'd .1
virtual blank t he< k every year
the spate program has always
been blamed lor wasting feder
al dollars and blasting them
uselessly into orbit Sm It 1 riti
( ism is unfair.
NASA has an annual budget
1 it about S 11) billion w bit h it
has to light to keep every year
(.ranted that is a lot ol tavpay
or money ospot tally when you
consider the two broken shut
ties and a nearsighted telesi ope
floating around in oulei spate
And surely III.it money t ould
be put to good use here on the
ground
Regardless ot the protest
Irom ( 1 ingress however. keep
in mind yvha! Sill billion
means fen billion dollars is 1
pen i'llt of iho ti-iitT.il budget
and is about otpral to what I’res
ident Hush and Vh e
(’resident Dan Quavle art' niv*■ n
tor tht-ir stall and lor olhor ev
at ulivf allot ations
l h.it S 111 liillion t an pav ft»i a
war ol speer h writing White
I louse mainlftrant e anti nvt u
livt- junkets It also tan p.i\ lot
a war's worth ol weather satel
lilt's anti orbiting laboratories
where new industrial protlui ts
i an be made and important
pharmat culit als i an be tier el
oped in a weightless environ
men!
While I ongress t umplains
about NASA's trouble reineui
her this is the saute l a ingress
that gives the tlelense «11• pa11
merit an annual ‘s.t'Hi billion to
pi.iv w 11 h ( it l hat $ 1 Mi hi 11 ion
is spent evert tear defend
mg Western l urnpe troiil the
Soviets Smelt llhil unmet
i c>uIci be better spent .is t mild
tbe $ n billion tb.it u ill be
spent on the Stealth bomber, a
min bine whose effei liveness
and relevant e is being debated
ill tbe post ( old W ar era
W hat NASA needs more than
needling Irom Congress is
goals No one Irom the agent \
to lawmakers to tbe president
lias any idea w here the nation s
spat e etlort should i ai r\ us. a
stagnating i omlitioii that t mild
be partialis to blame tin the
program's lei linii al problems
A mission to Mars:' A perm.)
nent spai e station ' No one
knows I'eibaps someone
( (ingress N \s \ amt me
should make that dei ision, and
give the spaie program some
direi t ion
( hnstnphri IlLiir is m./nag
i/ig rjilm oI llir Oregon Mails
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I—---1
Suddenly, two bystanders stuck
their heads inside the frame and ruined
one of the funniest cartoons ever