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Aviation History
1973
1973 - 0159.PDF
FLIGHT International, 18 January 1973 MAJOR PROGRAMME LOST IN NASA BUDGET CUT Severe reductions in spending, involving the cancellation or delay of major programmes, were announced by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration last week. The cuts anticipate the US presidential budget proposals for the 1974 financial year, due to be announced on January 26. Cuts totalling about $200 million (£80 million) have been made in Nasa's $3,409 million (£1,400 million) 1973 budget ending on June 1. This reduction is intended to conserve money for use next year when budget restric tions are expected under President Nixon's declared plan to hold US federal spending for 1974 down to $250,000 million (£104,000 million). Other government offices have also cut down their current spending for similar reasons. A curtailed Nasa budget proposal for 1974 is also expected when Nixon presents his national budget to Congress. Some US newspapers speculate that it could be as low as $2,800 million. In addition, Nasa indicated that actual spending might be restricted next year, possibly resulting in the loss of more programmes. Nasa officials have given no details about such possibilities. The dominant factor is the space shuttle development and the whole financial effort is designed to save money for the peak spending years on this project. In announcing the cuts, Nasa stated that the immediate effects include a slowing of the shuttle-development manpower build-up. As a result, the first flight will be delayed by nearly a year until 1979 instead of 1978. A major loss to scientific work has been the ambitious High Energy Astronomy Observatory (Heao) programme. Two of these 9,5001b cosmic-ray satellites have been under development by TRW since early last year, under initial contracts totalling $70 million. The first was to have been launched in 1975. Plans included a further pair of Heao satellites which could have taken the total programme costs as high as $250 million. Nasa is also pulling out of advanced communications research, which essentially means the Advanced Tech nology Satellite (ATS) series. The next satellite, ATS-F, will be launched this year as planned, but ATS-G, originally scheduled for launch in 1975, has been cancelled. Nasa officials say that they now feel that private industry is strong enough to move forward alone in this field. Nuclear research is to be totally abandoned. This coincides with cutbacks by the US Atomic Energy Com mission and results in the loss of even the residual research left after the cancellation last year of the Nerva nuclear engine project. As a result, Nasa's Plum Brook nuclear research station in Ohio is to be closed down. Preliminary impression of Esro's planned geostationary scientific satellite, Geos, for which the Star consortium has just begun definition studies towards a 1976 launch date. The spacecraft will carry nine experiments and, although the design has yet to be finalised, the diagram shows four sensors extended rearward around the apogee motor bell. A side boom is balanced by three rods to permit spin-stabilisation. Communications antennae and a directional sensor protude foreword 101 The cuts are not likely to affect the Skylab programme nor the US-Soviet joint mission in 1975. Although the Viking Mars-lander, due for launch in 1975, and the Mariner Jupiter/Saturn mission, scheduled for 1977, are safe for the moment, Nasa has indicated that it is prepared to make any sacrifices for the sake of the shuttle. LUNA 21 LAUNCHED Another Soviet unmanned spacecraft was expected to have arrived in lunar orbit by last weekend or even to have landed on the Moon. The spacecraft, Luna 21, was launched at 0700 GMT on January 8. No details were given other than the usual objective of "further scientific studies of the Moon and near lunar space." In practice, this phrase has indicated plans for a landing. Nor is there any sign whether this is carrying another rover vehicle or a soil-collecting return vehicle. It has been suggested that a rover is indicated because the launch followed the new Moon by four days, as did the launch of Luna 17 carrying the Lunokhod automatic roving vehicle. The timing in the case of the Lunokhod, was to enable a landing while the Sun's elevation above the lunar surface was still moderately low. This was to give ample time to charge up the vehicle's solar batteries, and to check out systems and operation within the two-week period of the lunar day. The launch follows close on the end of the mission of Luna 19, which was shut down last autumn after complet ing a year in lunar orbit. The last Moon-probe launch was that of the second soil-collector, Luna 20, in February last year. The first such mission, Luna 16 took place in September, 1970. ASTRONAUT RETIREMENT Astronaut James Lovell has announced plans to leave Nasa to enter industry. He has been deputy director of science and applications at Houston since May 1971. With four flights, Gemini 7 and 12 and Apollo 8 and 13, he has a record number of 715 spaceflight hours to his credit.
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