    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 21 (Monday, May 29, 1995)]
    [Pages 897-898]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Message to the Congress Transmitting the Report on Aeronautics and Space

    May 24, 1995

    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

    [[Page 898]]

    Space Station costs $5 billion less than Space Station Freedom and still
    offers increased research capability and user 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 disease. 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.