Jan 31 1993
From The Space Library
After conferring with Space Station contractor McDonnell Douglas, space officials confirmed that a cost overrun of at least $500 million was expected if costs were not brought under control. They told a congressional panel that the Station was now a $31.3 billion project. The increases appeared to be mainly in the Johnson Space Center portion of the program. NASA's Marty Kress, the Space Station project's new Deputy Director, said managers were determined to lower costs and were considering various means for doing so. Key congressional aides expressed anger at the news of the overrun, noting that for years NASA had ignored their advice on a design strategy to lower costs. (W Post, Jan 31/93; Space News, Feb 1-7/93; 0 Sen Scar, Feb 3/93)
In a 1992 report to Congress on the danger posed by asteroids smashing into Earth, NASA estimated that there were about 1,000 to 4,000 "near-Earth asteroids" larger than a half-mile, the minimum size capable of causing global disaster; such asteroids crash into Earth about once every 300,000 years.
According to the report, during our lifetime there was a small chance (very roughly 1 in 10,000) that the Earth would be struck by an object large enough to destroy food crops on a global scale and "possibly end civilization as we know it." (AP, Jan 31/93)
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