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Apur-ee.171 net.columbia utzoo!decvax!pur-ee!davy Wed Nov 18 10:12:39 1981 Shuttle Opens Space Research The following is a summary (i.e., the boring stuff is hacked out) of an article appearing in the Purdue Exponent this morning:

"Technology in America needs a transfusion of young people, who are coming up with new ideas all the time," said J. Michael Smith, space shuttle research director, in Chicago last week. He spoke to materials engineering students from seven universities in the Chicago area.

"If you have creative ideas, here is a place where they can be tried out at relatively low cost," he said. Prices given were from $3,000 for a 60-pound payload up to $10,000 to launch one weighing 500 pounds.

The zero-gravity environment has many properties worth experimenting with, Smith said. There is no buoyancy problem; one material will not tend to float on top of another. The shuttle is also vibration-free in oprbit. "All sorts of properties fall apart when you set 'g' (gravity) equal to zero," said Smith.

"The shuttle brings the cost of access to space into the sphere of what industry can afford," Smith said. Foreign firms are taking advantage of the oppportunity. One German company, for example, has bought 25 small package payloads to manufacture lead-antimony bearings. But no U.S. firms are interested enough to buy space, he said. "A few scientists (were), but no firms."

Smith said, "These principles are being utilized around the world. And we are trying to stimulate the young minds of America" into making use of the shuttle.

Smith also answered questions from students and faculty there. In reference to which payloads have priority, Smith replied, "First come, first served." As to whether domestic payloads can be given priority over foreign ones, Smith said an order from President Nixon, issued in 1972, forbids this. Someone asked if he felt this policy should be re-examined. His reply: "Hell, yes!"

For the future, Smith said, NASA is planning to work on a space tug, an in-space utility/cargo vehicle, and a Space Orbital Center, latest catchword meaning "space station".

"Fitting it into the Reagan budget is going to be pretty tough," he said.

--Dave

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