Jan 2 1986
From The Space Library
A Reuters report said that Arabsat-1, the Arab world's first communication satellite, built for the Arab League by a French-led consortium and launched in February 1985 by a European an rocket, failed to operate in orbit because of technical errors. The report also noted that Iraqi Director General Ali Mashat, the man in charge of the project, was fired last month by a committee of six Arab League communications ministers. (C Trib, Jan 2/86)
Having examined NASA's 1986 schedule of launches, missions into space, and other space science events, U.S. media predicted that 1986 would "open an extensive new chapter in space exploration," and would rival the era of space exploration "that began with Galileo's first peak through a telescope 400 years ago." Predicting 1986 to be "a banner year," the Christian Science Monitor pictured an expanding role for the United States in space exploration because the year promised to put NASA on the cutting edge. Although the Los Angeles Times predicted "a year of spectaculars," it warned that no new starts for planetary missions beyond 1986 were on the horizon. The Times also noted that the projected $8 billion orbiting Space Station would likely take a big bite out of NASA funds and that increased military applications equated to less sharing of knowledge with the public.(CSM, Jan 2/86; LA Times, Jan 2/8)
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