Oct 3 1986
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (1MB PDF)
NASA opted to use the deactivated Minuteman facilities at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, for long-term storage of debris recovered from the Space Shuttle Challenger accident. Large concrete covers were to be placed over the tubes for a weather tight seal, concluding NASA's primary activities related to the analysis and disposition of recovered hardware. (NASA Release 86-141)
NASA announced a seven-year schedule of tasks for the Shuttle fleet, and that Shuttles would resume flying in early 1988. The schedule reflected President Ronald Reagan's directive to phase out commercial and foreign launches, inasmuch as 24 of the 44 contracts had been voided. This left only 12 percent of the Shuttle missions devoted to commercial and foreign launches. An increase to 41 percent of the payloads, as opposed to 31 percent, would be given to Department of Defense missions. The remaining 47 percent of the schedule was reserved for the space agency's own missions, 33 percent for scientific studies and other needs, and 14 percent for the Space Station. The first year, said NASA, would see only five flights; that number would, it was hoped, increase to 16 flights per year by the 1990s. (WSJ, Oct 6/86; W Post, Oct 4/86; P Inq, Oct 4/86; B Sun, Oct 4/86; NY Times, Oct 4/86)
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