WHAT'S NEW, Friday, 14 April 1989 Washington, DC

1. A COMMERCIAL MANUFACTURING FACILITY IN SPACE WILL HAVE TO WAIT
until we have something to manufacture. A National Research Council panel has issued a report that seems certain to end plans to orbit an automated laboratory for the production of materials in a microgravity environment. It was initially planned as a commercial facility that would enable private industry to get started in space manufacturing while the manned space station was being developed. But since no one else seemed anxious to lease space, the Reagan Administration offered $700M for a share of the action. The problem was that no one could think of anything to manufacture that would even begin to recover the costs. The NRC panel points out that virtually all of the proposed experiments could be done on the Shuttle--and its paid for. That argument also eliminates a major justification for a manned space station.

2 . MAYBE WE COULD JUST RENT SPACE STATION MIR,
which the Soviets have decided to vacate after more than two years of continuous occupancy. They couldn't think of anything to manufacture either. The Soviet decision may cause second thoughts in Congress, which must decide whether to go ahead with the expensive American plan for Space Station Freedom. It will be the first test for Admiral Truly, the former astronaut who was nominated Wednesday to be the new NASA Administrator. Special legislation will be required to circumvent legal obstacles to his appointment (WN 31 Mar 89).

3. THEY ARE BEGINNING TO GET Z'S AT THE STANFORD LINEAR COLLIDER.
Unmistakable evidence of the creation of a Z particle came Wednesday, more than a year behind schedule, but still months before the far more expensive LEP facility at CERN will turn out its first Z's. The innovative linear collider scheme was a gamble from the start to see if ingenuity could triumph over brute strength. It remains to be seen if Z's can be produced in the copious numbers needed. Burton Richter, SLC director, told his staff the next morning that "one leaf does not a laurel make."

4. SEVERAL NEW SIGHTINGS OF COLD FUSION HAVE BEEN REPORTED:
Texas A&M saw heat, Georgia Tech saw neutrons and the University of Moscow saw something or other. At the Chemical Society meeting Wednesday in Dallas (WN 7 Apr 89), the best placed shot was fired by Harold Furth, who heads the hot-fusion effort at Princeton. What happens, he asked, if the heavy water is replaced with ordinary water? Stanley Pons said he hadn't tried that. The same question was being asked at a hastily arranged international meeting in Sicily, attended by Martin Fleischmann, the other half of the Utah effort, and S. E. Jones of Brigham Young. Serious questions were raised about the quality of both experiments.

5. A SPECIAL SESSION ON COLD FUSION AT THE APS MEETING
in Baltimore has been arranged for Monday, 1 May, in Room 317 of the Convention Center. The session begins at 7:30 p.m.



Bob Park can be reached via email at whatsnew@bobpark.org
THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
Opinions are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the University, but they should be.