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Page 12 -.The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 5, 1986

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Space port put on hold

SPACE CENTER, Houston
(AP)-America's space station
exists only in volumes of
. drawings, miles of computer tape,
and the minds of engineers who
still disagree with it.
But by 1994, NASA plans to
have a structure as long as one
and two-thirds football football
fields orbiting 280 miles above the
Earth, and housing eight crew
members for up to 90 days. The
goal is to have astronauts in a
space outpost for science every
day of the year.
THE COST: about $10 billion,
80 percent from the United States,
the rest from Canada, Japan, and
the European Space Agency.
As with nearly every plan in
the American space program, the
space station has been sent back to
the drawing board by the
Challenger explosion. The loss of
one of the nation's four shuttles
has crippled plans to launch,
supply, and maintain the space
station.
And the accident gave new
clout to internal critics of the
safety of the station's design just
when the space agency was ready
to draft final plans.
IN 1984, President Reagan set
a national goal of opening a
permanent space station by 1994.
4 Since then, the National
SAeronautics and Space
Administration defined uses for
the station and spent a year
refining its design. Final design
and contruction remain to be
done.
Attached to the center of the
transverse boom would be two 44-
foot-long modules, each 13 feet in
diameter. These modules, con -

nected by tunnels, would house
crew quarters and a laboratory.
A 24-foot supply craft would be
docked to the station and
exchanged every 90 days.
Japan is to build a laboratory
module; the European Space
Agency, a laboratory and two
orbiting platforms..
THE SHUTTLE could dock
at either of two ports. Other
spacecraft and platforms would
link up at five locations on the
booms. Robot arms would man-
euver payloads.
NASA plans call for space-
walking astronauts working as.
orbiting steeplejacks to build the
latticework of booms from
components delivered by the
shuttle. It was thought 15 shuttle
flights would be needed to lift the
parts into orbit.
When Challenger exploded.
these plans started unraveling.
In June, astronaut Gordon
Fullerton completed a report
outlining serious safety flaws.
He pointed out the station had no
"life boat" - a crew would be
stranded there if the shuttles were
grounded again.
FULLERTON said it would
take 672 hours of space-walking
hours to assemble the station, and
391 space walking hours each
year to maintain it. No other
project has required this much of
this very risky activity.
And Fullerton noted that
design changes resulting from
the Challenger accident will
reduce the weight the shuttle can
lift. This will force NASA to use
five more flights to assemble the
station.
It was time to return to the

drawing board, so there are 55
NASA experts huddled at the
Langley center reviewing the
project.
ANDREW J. Stofan, recently
appointed space station chief, said
the review is concentrating on
reducing the space-walking and
on launching the parts with the
reduced shuttle payload.
"It looked like we would have
to do more EVAs (space-walks)
than have ever been attempted," he
said. a new space suit would be
required.
A final report is expected next
month. Stofan hinted it will not
resolve all criticisms but it will
keep the station on schedule and
within budget.
The accident also generated
controversy over who would do the
work.
The project has been
distributed to four NASA centers.
Johnson Space Center near
Houston was to manage the
program and do 42 percent of the
work. Marshall Space Flight
Center in Alabama was given 32
percent; the rest was divided
between Goddard Space Flight
Center in Maryland and Langley
Research Center in Virginia.

Associated Press

Flood

Emergency workers for people possibly trapped in vehicles Thursday in Murfreesboro,
squad worker Jim Pratt kneels on top of a submerged car trying to locate the door handle.

Tennessee. Rescue

Dealers boost sales with low auto rates

DETROIT (AP)- American
Motors Corp.'s offer of interest-
free loans might grab headlines,
but the struggling automaker is
in greater need of capturing
customers, industry analysts
say.
AMC fired the ultimate volley in
the auto financing wars

Wednesday, when it announced 0
percent loans on two-year
contracts for most of its 1986 cars
and Jeeps.
The nations fifth largest
automaker said it'was offering
2.9 percent financing on 36-
month loans and 5.9 percent on
48-month loans in an effort to

clear dealers' lots for the 1987
model year.
Last week, General Motors Corp.
and Ford Motor Co. announced
2.9-percent financing on three-
year loans. Chrysler Corp.
countered with 2.4 percent
financing on two-year notes.
Their offers end Oct. 8, as does




AMC's.
The AMC program covers all
1986 Renault Alliance and Encore
compacts, as well as the four-
wheel drive AMC Eagle, Jeep
Cherokee and Wagoneer sport
utility vehicles and Jeep
Comanche compact pickup
trucks.
"You just can't go below
zero...We wanted the best
program for out customers, and
they got it," AMC President
Joseph Cappy said.
Dealers can offer rebates of $600
on Alliance, Encore and two-
wheel drive Comanches; $700 on
four-wheel drive Comanches;
and $800 on Cherokees,
Wagoneers and Eagles instead of
the cut-rate loans, AMC said.
. Jim Kelel, owner of Greenfield
AMC in Detroit, said dealers have
waited long time for the new
incentive program.
"They had to do it," Kelel said.
"There was no question about it. It
was just a question of when they
were going to do it. It should clear
the cars off my lots It shoul4
double or triple my sales."
But auto analysts didn't share
Kelel's enthusiasm.
"It will have affect in the long
run," said Thomas O'Grady,
president of Integrated
Automotive Resources, a Wayn
Pa. , marketing res:
earch,analysis and forecasting
company. "It might slow down the
retreat, but that's the best that can
be hoped for. It's their next to last
gasp, to an extent. They really ar
on the ropes.
O*iinta1lioi
stresses
minority
services
(Continued from Page 1)
44
followed by comments from.
Henry Johnson, vice president fo
student services, and by Bog
Holmes from the office of tha
provost.
Johnson challenged the
students to "not simply study and
pass exams, but become actively;
involved in some sort of progran
or activity at the University." H
also stressed the need for
minority students to be, "unified
but not uniform.",
"Although there is tremendous
pressure to mold you into a cast of
uniformity, we need you as.
individuals to bring your owi
personal background and ex
periences to the University,"t
Johnson said.

Freeze Modeling
2 - 4 p.m.
In Store Windows
Are they mannequins or are they real? See this
fascinating form of stop-action modeling,
performed by the Briarwood Fashion Network.

Create a new U-M slogan and you could win a
week for two in Hawaii from Briarwood and

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