Dec 17 1991
From The Space Library
The Wall Street Journal discussed the January 1989 offer by Nikolai Ponomarev-Stepnoy, leader of a Soviet design team that built a top secret military spy satellite, the Topaz-2, to sell, for a few million dollars, the Topaz-2 with the satellite's lightweight nuclear reactor. Moscow had no money to develop the reactor for commercial use but the paper deplored the U.S. delay in taking up the offer. The above discussion followed up on a statement by the Pentagon's Strategic Defense Initiative Office, reported on December 11, that the office stopped its share of funding for a space-based nuclear reactor projected to cost $1.6 billion by 2002. The reactor program, called SP-100, was shared by NASA and the Department of Energy. Instead the Pentagon office was inclined to go with the Soviet-style process represented by the Topaz, for which it earmarked $15 million. (WSJ, Dec 11/91; WSJ, Dec 17/91)
NASA released a lengthy report summarizing its 1991 activities. In addition to the various space flights and satellites deployed, the report covered the following fields: NASA management; space science and applications, with specific reference to Mission to Planet Earth, astrophysics, life sciences, solar system exploration, space physics, and ground-based research; space flight, including the Space Shuttle and flight systems; space systems development, stressing Space Station Freedom; exploration; aeronautics and space technology, including the X-30 National Aerospace Plane; commercial programs, covering the commercial use of space, technology utilization, and small business innovation research; international relations; space communications; education; safety and mission quality; and FY 1992 NASA appropriations. (NASA Release 91-209)
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