May 14 1990
From The Space Library
Jerry Grey, Director of Science and Technology Policy for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, recommended that weapons designed for the Strategic Defense Initiative be developed to locate and destroy any asteroids that threaten Earth, views endorsed by Vice President Dan Quayle. Grey noted that 1,500 asteroids cross the Earth's orbit every year, that the location of only 100 of them is known, and that the impact of even a relatively small asteroid could have a devastating effect. (P Inq, May 15/90; C Trib, May 17/90)
Lockheed Corporation received a $971 million contract from NASA to oversee design and development of a new generation of rocket motors for the Space Shuttle. Twenty more powerful solid rocket motors were to begin lifting the Shuttle in 1995, according to the contract, and sources said that if NASA exercised the option to order 88 more, the contract would be worth $1.39 billion. (WSJ, May 15/90; NASA Release 90-68)
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