Jan 31 1983
From The Space Library
James M. Beggs, NASA's administrator, told a press conference on the agency budget that President Reagan was committed "to a strong national space and aeronautics program," citing NASA's obligation to help strengthen national security and maintain U.S. leadership in space. "This budget, I believe, moves us forward toward those goals," he said.
NASA's FY84 budget would be just over $7.1 billion, an increase of $267 million (4%) over FY83. Of $5.7 billion sought for research and development (R&D), 61% (about $3.5 billion) would be earmarked for the Shuttle program to cover Shuttle procurement and operation, upper stages for Shuttle use, the Spacelab, the tethered satellite, and other equipment and launch vehicles.
Beggs said that the trend begun last year was to spend relatively more on operations and less on capability development. NASA's FY84 budget request included four initiatives to "stretch the scope of our program in science, applications, and aeronautics." They were the Tethered Satellite System (TSS), a cooperative U.S.-Italian project for conducting experiments in space up to 100 kilometers from a Shuttle orbiter; the Venus radar mapper, replacing the Venus-orbiting imaging radar (VOIR) authorized by Congress in FY82; the Advanced Communications Technology Satellic (ACTS) to flight-test high-risk technology, using "a novel procurement approach" of cost-sharing with industry; and a numerical aerodynamic simulation (NAS) capability, a large computer system to improve accuracy and reliability in aircraft design while reducing the need for wind-tunnel and flight testing.
Beggs said U.S. space policy called for "permanent space facilities," to be embodied in the Space Shuttle program; FY84 money would define and plan for such facilities. We have no specific plans to establish a permanent manned space station in earth orbit," he said, but NASA would continue the study of user requirements, hardware and software systems, science applications, and designs to accommodate specific missions. (Text, press conf, Jan 31/83)
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