[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H5553]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


ACHIEVEMENTS IN AERONAUTICS AND SPACE DURING FISCAL YEAR 1994--MESSAGE 
                FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. laid before the House the following message 
from the President of the United States, which was read and, together 
with the accompanying papers, without objection, referred to the 
Committee on Science:

To the Congress of the United States:
  I am pleased to transmit this report on the Nation's achievements in 
aeronautics and space during Fiscal Year 1994, as required under 
section 206 of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 2476). Aeronautics and space activities involve 15 
contributing departments and agencies of the Federal Government, as 
this report reflects, and the results of their ongoing research and 
development affect the Nation as a whole in a variety of ways.
  Fiscal Year 1994 featured many important developments and changes in 
U.S. aeronautics and space efforts. It included 7 Space Shuttle 
missions successfully completed, 15 Government launches of Expendable 
Launch Vehicles (ELVs), and 4 commercial launches from Government 
facilities. Among notable developments in the ELV area were the launch 
of the Deep Space probe, Clementine, initial use of the Titan IV 
Centaur upper stage, and the first launch of the Taurus launch vehicle. 
Highlights of the Shuttle missions included the highly successful 
servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), which replaced 
several faulty parts and installed a sophisticated package of 
corrective optics to compensate for the spherical aberration in HST's 
primary mirror. Also, the flight of the Space Radar Laboratory began to 
provide information on environmental change, and a mission with a 
Russian astronaut, Sergei Krikalev, as a member of the crew signalled 
the beginning of a three-phased cooperative program in space between 
Russia and the United States.
  In a year of tremendous accomplishments for the international Space 
Station, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) developed 
an initial set of specifications that included Russian elements as part 
of the design. Russia's agreeing to join the 12 original participating 
nations as a partner resulted in the expansion of the existing Shuttle/
Mir
 program into Phase I of the international Space Station program, which 
officially began with Sergei Krikalev's flight on the Shuttle. All of 
the partners held a successful systems design review in Texas in March, 
and in June Russia and the United States signed an interim agreement on 
the Space Station and a $400 million contract for Russian space 
hardware, services, and data. In August, the program completed a 
vehicle architecture review and in September, the Space Station Control 
Board ratified the recommendations it included. The redesigned Space 
Station costs $5 billion less than Space Station Freedom and still 
offers increased research capability and users flexibility.

  In aeronautics, activities included development of technologies to 
improve performance, increase safety, reduce engine noise and other 
environmental degradation, improve air traffic management, lower costs, 
and help American industry to be more competitive in the world market. 
For example, high-speed research continued during Fiscal Year 1994 to 
focus on resolving critical environmental issues and laying the 
technological foundation for an economical, next generation, High Speed 
Civil Transport (HSCT). In this connection, the United States reached 
agreement with Russia to use the Tu-144 supersonic transport as a 
testbed for HSCT development. In addition, efforts in advanced 
subsonics focused on reducing aircraft and engine noise levels, on 
development of wind shear sensing devices, and on creating technologies 
that will improve general aviation aircraft.
  In space science, astronomers using HST's revitalized optics 
discovered disks of protoplanetary dust orbiting stars in the Orion 
Nebula, suggesting that the formation of planets in the Milky Way and 
elsewhere may be relatively common. Also, HST's revelation of helium in 
distant constellations provides valuable information about the 
conditions in the universe during its initial evolution. The Spacelab 
Life Sciences-2, U.S. Microgravity Payload-2, and International 
Microgravity Laboratory-2 greatly increased our understanding of the 
role of gravity on biological, physical, and chemical processes. In 
biology, we learned that gravity affects the function of the neural 
connections between brain cells; this can have profound implications 
for rebuilding damaged brain cells due to strokes and diseases. In 
Earth science, the Space Radar Laboratories-1 and -2, plus the Lidar 
In-Space Technology Experiment payload, used powerful radar and laser 
technology to penetrate cloud cover and map critical factors on a 
global scale. Also, the highly successful launch of the Clementine Deep 
Space Probe tested 23 advanced technologies for high-tech, lightweight 
missile defense. The relatively inexpensive, rapidly-built spacecraft 
constituted a major revolution in spacecraft management and design; it 
also contributed significantly to lunar studies by photographing 1.8 
million images of the surface of the Moon.
  Additionally, on May 5, 1994, the White House announced that the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department 
of Defense, and NASA were establishing a joint program to effect the 
convergence of civil and military polar-orbiting operational 
environmental satellite systems into a single operational program. 
Other White House announcements during the year included a policy for 
licensing U.S. firms by the Secretary of Commerce to operate private 
remote sensing systems and sell their images to domestic and foreign 
entities and a national space transportation policy that will sustain 
and revitalize U.S. Space transportation capabilities by providing a 
coherent strategy for supporting and strengthening U.S. space launch 
capabilities to meet the growing needs of the civilian and national 
security sectors.
  Thus, Fiscal Year 1994 was a highly successful one for the U.S. 
aeronautics and space programs. Efforts in both areas have contributed 
significantly to furthering the Nation's scientific and technical 
knowledge, international cooperation, a healthier environment, and a 
more competitive economy.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, May 24, 1995.
  

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