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.
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