Nasa Officials

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's astronauts say their space shuttle training suffers from technical glitches, inexperienced instructors, outdated textbooks and a shortage of simulator equipment, according to an internal agency report.The report, based on a survey of the astronaut corps, found that, although shuttle crews have managed to make up for shortfalls in the program by teaching themselves, the training system is "grossly inadequate" for handling more than 10 flights a year, something the National Aeronautics and Space Administration hopes to do starting in 1993.

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - A 12-foot experimental plane equipped with a special jet engine streaked across the Pacific Ocean at more than seven times the speed of sound yesterday, shattering a technological barrier and brightening future prospects for super-fast airline flights. Flying faster than any aircraft ever built, NASA's X-43A "Hyper X" plane reached a top speed of about 5,000 mph, or about a mile and a half per second, before the unmanned craft was intentionally ditched into the ocean.

GREENBELT -- The first joint U.S.-Soviet space effort in 16 years has successfully begun monitoring depletion of the Earth's protective ozone layer, scientists from both countries said yesterday.A U.S.-built Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), launched aboard a Soviet satellite Aug. 15, is sending back "high-quality data," said an obviously pleased Dr. Vyacheslav Khattatov, deputy director of the Soviet Central Aerological Observatory.Researchers from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and from the observatory, located near Moscow, made the announcement at a news conference at Goddard Space Flight Center.

Hardly anyone in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration would agree, but the apparent failure of its mission to Mars could have beneficial effects for space exploration in the long run.The immediate result of the Mars Observer disaster is a serious setback for an ambitious international space program to explore Mars in the coming decade.This mission was to pave the way for others -- two Russian spacecraft next year and in 1996 and other multinational projects to follow into the early years of the 21st century.

When the $2 billion Hubble Space Telescope was found to have a serious flaw shortly after its launch into orbit aboard the space shuttle two years ago, NASA officials scrambled to answer the obvious question: Why wasn't the problem detected earlier, during extensive tests carried out by Perkin-Elmer Corp., the Hughes Aircraft subsidiary that manufactured the telescope mirror?Now government investigators think they have a plausible answer. After a two-year inquiry, officials say they have uncovered evidence indicating that Perkin-Elmer knew the instrument was flawed and deliberately withheld test data that might have revealed the problem to NASA officials.

Even as officials investigate the Columbia disaster, NASA officials are making plans to keep the space shuttle program flying until 2015. Do you think the shuttle program ought to continue, or should NASA seek new missions? Is manned space flight still worth the cost and the risk to human lives? We are looking for 200 words or less; the deadline for responses is April 21. Letters become the property of The Sun, which reserves the right to edit them. By submitting a letter, the author grants The Sun an irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use and republish the letter, in whole or in part, in all media and to authorize others to reprint it. Letters should include your name and address, along with a day and evening telephone number.

Even as officials investigate the Columbia disaster, NASA officials are making plans to keep the space shuttle program flying until 2015. Do you think the shuttle program ought to continue, or should NASA seek new missions? Is manned space flight still worth the cost and the risk to human lives? We are looking for 200 words or less; the deadline for responses is Monday. Letters become the property of The Sun, which reserves the right to edit them. By submitting a letter, the author grants The Sun an irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use and republish the letter, in whole or in part, in all media and to authorize others to reprint it. Letters should include your name and address, along with a day and evening telephone number.