Feb 6 1985
From The Space Library
Finnish army divers had recovered the main section of a stray Soviet rocket that had crashed December 28, 1984, through a frozen lake, and military officials said it was not a cruise missile, the Washington Post reported. A helicopter recovered the missile's main frame and engine after divers had brought up the nose cone and other debris. Finnish authorities said the debris showed it was "an old-type missile dating from 1971 or 72 and without military capacity" U.S. officials, contradicting an earlier statement by Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger that it was an "air cruise missile," agreed with the Finnish that the missile was an older-generation drone and unarmed.
The Soviet Embassy in Helsinki, which said the missile had gone off course while in use for target practice over the Barents Sea, had requested return of the remnants.
The Finnish later announced they would return the fragments, but asked Moscow to pay for the recovery. (W Post, Feb 3/85, A17, Feb 6/85, A15)
President Reagan's FY 86 budget for NASA sought $7.9 billion-just under what it would take to sustain the agency's programs at current levels, the Washington Post reported. At a press conference [see NASA/ Budget, Feb. 4], NASA Administrator James Beggs had acknowledged the $230-million budget request for the space station was $50 million less than the agency had sought to keep the project on schedule. (W Post, Feb 6/85, A17)
President Reagan and USSR Chairman Konstantin Chernenko had approved the idea of establishing ties between the U.S.'s Young Astronauts and the Soviet's Young Cosmonauts, the Washington Post reported, as a step toward better U.S.-Soviet relations and peaceful cooperation in space.
The program would begin with a Young Cosmonauts' delegation visiting the U.S. to view a space launch and tour space facilities. Young Astronauts would then write to Young Cosmonauts, explaining their interest in space and what the groups might accomplish together. Those writing the best letters would visit, all expenses paid, their letters' recipients. In addition, the International Aeronautical Federation had adopted the Young Astronaut program and planned to offer it to other nations to establish ties between Young Astronauts and Cosmonauts around the world.
In his Washington Post column, Jack Anderson wrote that the Young Astronaut Council was recruiting 6-to-16-yr-olds for future space exploration and that those joining would be eligible to participate in the "Letter to a Young Cosmonaut" contest. (W Post, Feb 6/85, F11)
NASA announced it had delayed for at least a week the February 20 Space Shuttle flight that would carry Sen. Jake Garn (R-Utah), because of thermal tiles problems and a backlog of paperwork, the Washington Post reported. A chemical reaction in the thermal tiles' adhesive on the orbiter Challenger's underside had caused about 4,000 of the more than 30,000 tiles to loosen during return to earth on the orbiter's last flight. Although NASA had replaced all but 47 of the faulty tiles, it had not certified the repair work. (W Post, Feb 6/85, Al2)
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