Apr 1 1985
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The Department of Defense's 1985 edition of Soviet Military Power said the USSR was continuing in 1984 deployment of new nuclear and conventional military weapons systems, including test firings of fifth-generation ICBMs, launchings of new classes of submarines, and installing new strategic bombers, the Washington Times reported.
The book detailed several significant developments by the Soviet military, the article said, including continued test firings of the SS-24 and SS-25 intercontinental ballistic missiles, launch of two units of new Delta IV-class of strategic ballistic missile submarines to be fitted with the SS-NX-23 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) then being flight tested, and completion of sea trials of a third 25,000-ton Typhoon-class strategic ballistic missile submarine to join the two Typhoon units already operational and fitted with 20 SS-N-20 SLBMs.
The book also said the Soviets had developed a heavy-lift launch vehicle capable of putting 150-ton payloads into orbit as part of an "extremely high priority" military-related space program. The Soviet version of the U.S. Space Shuttle and manned Space Station would benefit from this heavy booster. Major emphasis in their space program was on long-duration manned missions for military research.
The USSR continued research on ground- and space-based, antisatellite high-energy lasers. "The Soviets currently have the world's only deployed antisatellite weapons system that can attack satellites in near-earth orbit," the book said.
The Soviets also continued upgrading detection and tracking systems for ballistic missile defense and development of new early-warning and air-surveillance radars. Their work on a new, large phased-array radar at Krasnoyarsk violated the ABM treaty, the book stated, and "in addition, the Soviets are actively engaged in extensive research on advanced defenses against ballistic missiles." (W Times, Apr 1/85, 1A)
The Department of Defense's 1985 edition of Soviet Military Power pointed out that the Soviets were developing a version of the U.S. Space Shuttle, a space plane, and directed-energy weapons and were engaged in military-related experiments abroad the Salyut 7 space station, the Washington Times reported. The book concluded that the USSR's grand strategy was to attain global supremacy "by means short of war-exploiting the coercive leverage inherent in superior forces, particularly nuclear forces." (W Times, Apr 1/85, 1A)
NASA announced it had submitted to the U.S. Congress today a report by its Advanced Technology Advisory Committee (ATAC) that said automation and robotics would be significant elements of the NASA Space Station program and that the initial Space Station design should accommodate evolution and growth in these technologies.
The report, required under Public Law 98-371 that appropriated FY 85 NASA funds, noted that all Space Station elements, including the core station and associated unmanned platforms, vehicles, and ground facilities were candidates for the technologies, necessitating accelerated R&D in automation and robotics. The Automation and Robotics Panel, which assisted the Advisory Committee in a six-month study led by the California Space Institute, said that a desired level of funding for automation and robotics research would be 13% of the total Space Station costs; a minimum acceptable level was 7%. An augmented research program, the report said, would result in improved productivity from the initial station and much greater productivity from later versions of the Space Station.
The report also said successful incorporation of automation and robotics into the Space Station program could lead to deployment of a new generation of flexible and adaptable space systems, which could provide the U.S. with new methods of generating and exploiting space knowledge in commercial activities and thus preserving U.S. leadership in space and industrial systems.
Other report recommendations included: development of criteria for incorporating automation and robotics technology in the Space Station; verification of automated equipment performance, including terrestrial and space demonstration to validate technology for Space Station use; use of automation techniques to enhance NASA's management capability; establishment of measurements to verify inclusion of automation and robotics in the Space Station; development of a program for technology transfer to U.S. industries; and design of satellites and payloads accessible from the Space Station to accommodate service and repair by robots. NASA would incorporate report recommendations into the Phase B definition and preliminary design contracts [see Mar. 14] it was negotiating with industry teams.
The Advisory Committee, made up of personnel from NASA Headquarters and centers, would continue to monitor automation and robotics developments and would report semi-annually to Congress. (NASA Release 85-46)
NASA overcame the final obstacle to achieving four-way international cooperation (the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Canada) on the U.S. manned space station when NASA and The European Space Agency (ESA) compromised in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on wording in three areas: technology transfer, nondiscriminatory access for European users to the Space Station, and station elements that would be candidates for European participation, Aviation Week reported. NASA Administrator James Beggs and ESA Director General Reimer Lust resolved at an early March meeting the differences over wording concerning technology transfer and European user access. A compromise formulated by W. Germany and approved in late March by ESA members resolved the issue of which components would be open to European development.
"The final step for Europe is approval of the MOU by ESA's council, which has its next meeting at the end of April," Michel Bignier, ESA director of Space Transportation Systems, said. "I don't foresee any difficulties there because the ESA member delegates have been informed of the negotiations and are aware of the final wording." Bignier went on to say NASA accepted "certain small nuances" concerning nondiscriminatory access for Europe to the station and that both sides made compromises on the issue of which elements would be included for European cooperation. And he added that ESA "basically accepted NASA's proposed text" on technology transfer for the Phase B memorandum but said the wording would not apply to follow-on agreements covering hardware development. "We felt this was not as critical an issue in Phase B as it will be in the later Phase C/D," Bignier explained.
Philip Culbertson, NASA associate administrator for the Space Station, said international participation in the station was essential to overall U.S. planning for the facility. "The investment of our potential partners from around the world will give the station a significantly greater capability than we in the U.S. could provide alone," Culbertson said. "We believe we will end up with a capable Space Station for all of us to use." (Av Wk, Apr 1/85, 16)
The U.S. House Science and Technology Committee approved President Reagan's request for a $7.9 billion NASA budget for FY 86, the Washington Post reported, but allocated the funds differently than he had requested. By a 32-to-9 vote, the panel decided to retain a subcommittee's recommendation to shift $45 million to spare parts procurement for the Space Shuttle in order to keep the Space Shuttle assembly line open and thus increase chances for a fifth orbiter. The administration requested $2.1 billion in FY 86 for 14 Space Shuttle flights and delivery of the fourth orbiter, Atlantis; it sought no funds for a fifth orbiter. (W Post, Apr 1/85, A9)
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