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From: TAW@SU-AI@sri-unix.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Space Station Politics
Message-ID: <11914@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 21-Sep-83 15:29:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.11914
Posted: Wed Sep 21 15:29:00 1983
Date-Received: Tue, 27-Sep-83 01:51:21 EDT
Lines: 84

From:  Tom Wadlow <TAW@SU-AI>

n013  0736  21 Sep 83
BC-SPACE-STATION
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
c.1983 N.Y. Times News Service
    NEW YORK - President Reagan is reported to be under pressure from
his political strategists to endorse a major new space endeavor, the
orbiting space station, as a tactical move against Sen. John Glenn,
the former astronaut who could be Reagan's Democratic opponent in the
next election.
    Administration officials say the president is being encouraged to
announce the new multibillion-dollar project soon and in some
dramatic fashion that, in tone and spirit, would be reminiscent of
President Kennedy's dramatic call in 1961 to send men to the moon.
    In this way, according to some White House thinking, the president
might neutralize Glenn's ''hero image'' and demonstrate a commitment
to maintaining American leadership in space technology. The National
Aeronautics and Space Administration has lobbied vigorously in recent
months to win support for the space station as ''the next logical
step'' in the nation's space program.
    Although the project has strong backing in Congress, in the
aerospace industry and among some in the White House, opposition has
been raised by the Defense Department, the Central Intelligence
Agency and the Office of Management and Budget. The opponents argue
that NASA has not made a convincing case to justify the project's
estimated cost of $6 billion to $9 billion by 1991.
    Bruce Abel, press secretary to the president's science adviser,
George A. Keyworth 2d, emphasized Tuesday that no decision has been
reached by the administration and that no announcement appeared to be
imminent. The matter, he said, would ''continue to be discussed over
a couple of months.''
    Even if Reagan decided in favor of the space station, Glenn's
science adviser, Lynn Weiss, said it would be ''a little late'' to
show that the administration's support for a stronger civilian space
program was anything but lukewarm. Although as a Senator he has taken
little direct part in space politics, Glenn is the only Democratic
candidate so far to announce support for a more active space program.
    In an article in the September issue of Spectrum, a publication of
the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Glenn said:
''Our spirit as a nation is reflected in our willingness to explore
the unknown for the benefit of all humanity, and space is a prime
medium in which to test our mettle. We have the resources and the
talent to maintain our superiority in space as well as on earth. All
we need is the leadership and the will.''
    The senator added that a permanently manned space station in earth
orbit was ''the key to cost-effective space operations.''
    In an announcement in July, the space agency said that if
development began next year a large space station could be put into
orbit by 1991. Preliminary plans call for a station, an assembly of
living and working modules, that could house four to six astronauts
at a time and serve as a base for scientific experiments, the
processing of industrial products in the micro-gravity environment,
earth observations and the deployment of vehicles going out to the
more distant reaches of space. People and supplies would be ferried
to the station by the space shuttles.
    The Soviet Union has made no secret of its plans to assemble a large
station in orbit, perhaps later in this decade. The Salyut 7, now in
orbit with two astronauts aboard, is believed to be a precursor to
such an installation.
    James M. Beggs, the NASA Administrator, said Monday that the United
States would build a space station sooner or later. ''If we delay, we
will lose part of our lead,'' he said at an aerospace electronics
conference. ''It would not only be dangerous, but tragic, if we lose
the momentum we have developed in the last 25 years. We, therefore,
believe the space station is an idea whose time has come.''
    But Dr. Victor M. Reis, former assistant director of the President's
Office of Science and Technology, reflected the go-slow attitude of
many opponents of the program. ''We have plenty of study and
experimentation to do before we need to move on to another level of
sophistication,'' he said at the same conference. ''What corporation
would spend billions to construct a plant before either the
manufacturing technology or the market were even established?''
    Both the Pentagon and the CIA contend that there is no military or
intelligence-gathering mission that the space station could perform
that could not be done as well and at less cost with unmanned
satellites. The National Academy of Sciences issued a report last
week saying that there was no immediate scientific need for the
station but acknowledging ''the possibility that a suitably designed
space station could serve as a very useful facility in support of
future space science activities.''
    
nyt-09-21-83 1034edt
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