[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
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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.