November 1994
From The Space Library
A feature article commemorated the rendezvous on July 17, 1975 of the Soviet Space Ship Soyuz and the U.S. Apollo. The occasion was also used to discuss the new policy of Russian-U.S. cooperation in space and the forthcoming plan for Space Shuttle Atlantis to rendezvous with Russian Space Station Mir in 1995. (Sky, Nov 94)
A lengthy article on the Clinton administration's science and technology policy dealt with these two fields and the President's goals in their regard. The government spent more than half of its research and development money on developing usable technologies. The remainder was divided almost evenly between applied research and basic research. However, the availability of funding was a serious problem. Funding increased significantly during the Cold War but scientific disasters such as the failure of a nuclear reactor at the Three Mile Island electric power plant and the explosion of the Challenger Space Shuttle eroded public support and federal funding. The accomplishments of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) in consolidating the two weather satellite systems of the Defense Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as well as the NSTC's initiative in coordinating space launch policy among NASA and the Defense, Commerce, and Transportation departments were commended. (Government Executive, Nov 94)
The fact that each year a Space Shuttle liftoff was seen as more unremarkable than the preceding year testified to the small and particular miracles of engineering, mechanics, and electronics that made each mission fly. The process of mating the orbiter to an enormous external fuel tank and two Solid Rocket Boosters, constituting the Shuttle, was described in some detail as well as the fueling of the Shuttle. (Destination Discovery, Nov 94)
A discussion of enthusiastic hobbyist rocketeers involved in model and high-power rocketry contrasted this with NASA's programs and bore the title, "Tired: NASA; Wired: Amateurs." (Wired, Nov 94)
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