The loss of Challenger has delayed for several years planned missions to Venus, Mars, Jupiter and explorations of the sun that will be carried out by the Laboratory, which is operated by the California Institute of Technology. But it has allowed JPL to dispatch a team of 40 to 50 systems engineers and analysts to Washington to help to oversee the work to be done on the $13 billion space station.
"We're a creature of NASA," said JPL Director Lew Allen Jr. when asked if the Laboratory had requested a role in the space station. "They were looking for someone to help them out, and we're happy to make a contribution."
The JPL team will be led by Richard Laeser, who directed the Voyager project through its encounter with Uranus last winter and who has just completed preparations for its flight past Neptune in 1989. David Black will continue to ...
