Feb 15 1994
From The Space Library
Glenn Cunningham, manager of the new program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said NASA planned a new program of Mars exploration. The program was to begin with the launching of two small unpiloted flights in November 1996. Launchings were to occur every 25 months over the next 10 years, using relatively low-cost spacecraft. Funds in the current NASA budget were to go for designing the first of the orbiting craft, the Mars Surveyor. Another Mars program, the Mars Environmental Survey (MESUR), was to establish a seismic network on Mars. The program was to begin with the already authorized $175 million Pathfinder mission. (NY Times, Feb 15/94; CSM, Feb 16/94)
In an address to business executives, NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin also spoke of NASA's goal of putting a man on Mars. With the proper technical groundwork and economic and political conditions, Goldin felt 10 years was a reasonable time frame for accomplishing this. The plan was for innovative technology to cut the cost, such as drawing methane from Mars to use as fuel for the return trip, thus cutting the space vehicle's size in half. Another part of NASA's vision was to learn how to work together with other countries in space programs. (Reuters, Feb 15/94)
Senator Barbara Mikulski, Democrat from Maryland, in addressing a Maryland Space Business Roundtable, warned aerospace contractors that congressional budget cutters were targeting NASA's Space Station; meanwhile other congressional members supported increased funds for human services programs and sought to cut from science and technology projects. Senator Mikulski stressed the importance of investments in science and technology within the framework of a balanced budget. (B Sun, Feb 16/94)
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