NASA Official Hopeful

WASHINGTON—The pam of the present will eventually lead to longterm gains for space scientists if NASA’s budget continues to grow, says Lennard A. Fisk, the agency’s new associate administrator for space science and applications. “NASA has essentially been directed by the president to go back to its R&D roots, and that will do well for science and applications,” Fisk told THE SCIENTIST in one of his first interviews since taking the position in April. “If I stand back from the short-term, day-to-day problems, the long-term trends are very healthy.” Fisk’s immediate concern is bridging the gap between the present launch hiatus and the mid1990s, when the space station and additional Delta expendable launchers are expected to become available for science payloads. As a near-term solution, NASA plans to use upgraded Scout rockets to provide flight opportunities in the early 1990s for small (up to 475 pounds) experiments in astrophysics, space plasma physics and other disciplines. “The reason for that is very pragmatic,” Fisk said. ‘There are Scouts available.” He expects funding for Scout/Explorer missions to be included in NASA’s budget “as soon as possible.” “The ELV [Expendable Launch Vehicle] policy issue is my highest priority, bar none,” he said. “I have budgetary concerns, but I also have access-to-space ooncerns. It does no good to pump money into new missions unless you’re sure you can launch all those missions.” Still, obtaining start-up funding for at least one major mission start in fiscal 1989 is another priority for Fisk. Even though he includes “or both” as an option, Fisk will likely have to choose between the Comet Rendezvous/Asteroid Flyby (CRAF), the next major planetary mission, and the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) mission, which would create permanent observatories modeled after the Hubble space telescope. Neither mission is expected to be launched before the mid-1990s. An astrophysicist and former vice president for research and financial affairs at the University of New Hampshire, Fisk sees a silver lining in the post-Challenger cloud. “Prior toåChallenger, one of NASA’s chief functions was using the shuttle as a truck... We no longer do that,” he said. “Space science was suffering by having the shuttle as its only launch vehicle.” Nor does Fisk see a great loss for scientists in NASA’s decision earlier this year to convert the space station into a smaller facility with fewer points at which, scientific instruments can be attached. He noted that astrophysicists will have the “Great Observatories” to occupy themselves in the 1990s, while Earth scientists will rely mainly on instrument platforms rotating in polar orbit. Fisk is aware that his optimism runs contrary to widespread concern that the United States has lost its lead in space science. “That hasn’t happened yet,” he asserted, “but it will happen if we don’t begin to move aggressively.” His expectations of a steadily rising NASA budget include a constant 20 percent devoted to science and applications. Without that financial commitment, he acknowledged, his hope to obtain one new start a year is unlikely. “People will be watching the budgets that come forth from NASA,” said Fisk, who is preparing his portion of the agency’s fiscal 1989 budget request that will not be finalized until January. For the fiscal year beginning October 1 the administration has requested $1.5 billion for space science, roughly the same amount being spent this year. “I had a perfectly happy career up at the University of New Hampshire,” Fisk said about his decision to join NASA and come to Washington. “I didn’t take this job to preside over the demise of space science and applications.” Reichhardt is a Washington freelance writer and editor at Space World magazine.

NASA Official Hopeful

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