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Aviation History
1994
1994 - 0976.PDF
SPACEFLIGHT Alpha station under attack BY TIM FURN1SS NASA's $17.4 billion Alpha Space Station enters the US Congressional budget proc ess this month still uncertain of its future, despite its new Rus sian link. The station is coming under fire on financial, safety and political grounds. Originally called the Freedom, the station has been redesigned seven times since 1984 and has cost $11.2 billion to date. On 25 March, NASA re affirmed the final design (Flight International, 1-7 December, 1993), but confirmed that ear lier cost- and schedule-saving Loral/DASA enter mirogravity link Space Systems/Loral and Deutsche Aerospace (DASA) will jointly develop, manufacture and market space- borne microgravity laboratories for US Government and com mercial customers. The companies will build a 111m2 laboratory at Loral's Palo Alto factory in California, to begin research on materials sciences, bio-sciences and pro tein-crystal growth. The move comes after the failure of the NASA-sponsored, Westinghouse-led Commercial Experiment Transporter to lift off, and will be in competition with the Space Shuttle-borne Spacehab laboratory. Both projects have been hit by a lack of commercial cus tomers, who will become con vinced of the benefits of microgravity processing only when launch costs are cut — a key area to be addressed. • estimates had been optimistic. NASA said in November 1993 that Russian co-operation would save $2 billion costs and two years in the assembly time required for the Alpha. The assembly schedule may now slip a year, however, and $1 billion of the potential savings may have to be written off by cost over-runs. For the first time since 1972, NASA has suffered a year-on- year budget cut and, with fur ther cuts expected, a Congres sional Budget Office report says that NASA's plans to continue its space efforts, despite the cuts, are doomed to failure and that the agency should adopt more modest aims. Astronauts at NASA's Hous ton Space Center have also weighed into the debate, saying that they are worried about the pressure on the Shuttle system to launch 23 station assembly- utilisation missions — and the ten planned precursor missions to the Russian Mir space sta tion — especially if an accident were to ground an orbiter. NASA has conceded that it will have to compromise some Shuttle launch safety restric tions to meet the tight 5min launch windows required to fly space station missions. A safety warning has also come from the joint NASA/Con gress Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, which is con cerned that the cuts in the Shuttle opera tions budget will affect safety. On top of this, space supporters in and outside Congress are expressing doubts about the viability of the project because of possible financial and political instabil ity in Russia. George Brown, the chairman of the House science, space and technology committee and a supporter of NASA, says: "I'm probably going to have to go against Alpha. I want us to be a partner, but not dependent on Russia." NASA says that it has a back-up design in hand in case Russia — or any of the other international partners — drops out of the project. This would increase NASA's share of the budget, however. Not everyone in Russia is keen on co-operation either. Disillusioned scientists at the cosmonaut training centre in Shuttle safety could be compromised Star City, north of Moscow, are warning that co-operation with the USA in the project will result in the loss of key tech nologies and hundreds of jobs. Attempts to spread the de bate beyond Star City are being largely thwarted by strong op position from the space com pany NPO Energia and the Russian Space Agency. Already, there are fears that the nearby manned-spaceflight mission-control centre at Ka liningrad will become redun dant, as the Alpha would be controlled from NASA's mis sion-control centre based at Houston, Texas. D First GSLV launch scheduled for 1996 India will launch its first Geo stationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) in 1996, says the Indian Space Research Or ganisation's annual report, re leased on 4 April. The GSLV demonstration flight will be powered by a Russian cryo genic engine on the rocket's third stage. The GSLV will be March satellite launch log No Date Spacecraft 14 2 Mar Coronas S1 15 4 Mar Columbia 16 16 9 Mar Navstar 17 13 Mar Darpsat/Step 18 17 Mar Cosmos 2274 19 22 Mar Progress M22 "Taurus maiden flight Type Science Science GPS Milsats Recon Tanker Launcher (*) Country (*) Launch site (*) Tsyklon (2) CIS (8) STS 62 (2) USA (4) Delta 2 (2) USA (5) Taurus (1)* USA (6) Soyuz (3) CIS (9) Soyuz (4) CIS (10) Plesetsk (3) KSC (2) Canaveral (3) Vandenberg (2) Plesetsk (4) Baikonur (6) 'Indicates total number of orbital launches by this launch vehicle, country and launch site in 1994 able to carry 2,500kg into geo stationary orbit. India will buy seven cryo genic engines from Russia as part of a new deal, following the collapse of an agreement involving the transfer of rock ets and technology which caused the imposition of a US embargo on certain space activ ities with the two countries. The new sale does not violate the missile-technology control regime as did the original $350 million deal in 1993. The first engine is scheduled to be deliv ered in 1996 and the rest over three years. The basic design of an indi genously developed Indian cry ogenic engine and GSLV upper stage has been completed. Pri vate and public-sector compa nies have been selected to build its components. The first GSLV launch, with an Indian devel oped cryogenic engine, is scheduled for 1998. India will spend $7.3 million on the GSLV in the next year, and has completed fabrication of all 15 segments of the solid- propellant first stage and the strap-on boosters and two en gines of the second stage. Preparations are under way to attempt the second launch of the smaller Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, components of which will be used to fly the GSLV, by the end of July. The first launch failed in 1993. • 22 RIGHT INTERNATIONAL 13 - 19 April, 1994
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