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What's New | 7 Feb 2003 23:20
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What's New for Feb 7, 2003

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 7 Feb 03   Washington, DC

1. STS-107: THE FINAL SHUTTLE SCIENCE MISSION.  This was to have 
been the last shuttle flight devoted to scientific research.  The 
plan was for the International Space Station to become a space 
science laboratory, with shuttles serving as a fleet of delivery 
trucks, ferrying supplies and crew members.  In the coming weeks 
and months, however, the Columbia investigation will move from 
the failure of the shuttle technology to the question of what the 
mission was meant to accomplish.  What was the science mission of 
Columbia?  Six of the 59 separate investigations were chosen by 
school children, such as spiders building webs in microgravity.  
Another 21 involved commercial agreements.  Let's take a look.

2. EAU DE MONEY: "SPACE IS JUST ANOTHER PLACE TO DO BUSINESS."  
That was the justification given by the Reagan White House for a 
space station.  Industry, however, was unwilling to invest a dime 
in the idea.  But, you ask, aren't there all these great spinoffs 
like Tang and Teflon and Velcro that came from the space program?  
No.  An internal NASA report, done for Dan Goldin in 1992, says 
it's an urban myth, concocted to sell products (WN 22 Jan 93), 
and NASA found it worked wonders at budget time.  One commercial 
experiment on Columbia involved the scent of a rose, which is 
supposedly altered when it blooms in microgravity.  The company, 
perfume giant International Flavors and Fragrances, claims that 
fragrances from STS-95 led to a perfume, Zen, and a body spray, 
Impulse.  Of course, the ads can say the aroma came from heaven 
by way of NASA.  Is it a truly fabulous scent?  It is to die for.

3. PROTEIN CRYSTALS: THE ONES GROWN IN SPACE ARE DIFFERENT.  They
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What's New | 14 Feb 2003 22:56
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WHAT'S NEW Friday, 14 Feb 03

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 14 Feb 03   Washington, DC

1. COLUMBIA: RICHARD FEYNMAN IS NOT ON THE INVESTIGATION BOARD. 
The enduring image of Feynman dropping a piece of the Challenger
O-ring into his glass of ice water is a reminder of how much
things have changed.  Missing from the 11-member Columbia
Accident Investigation Board is independence.  Appointed by NASA
Administrator Sean O'Keefe, all eleven are no doubt capable men,
but ten of the eleven are employees of the federal government. 
Three Air Force Generals are balanced by two Navy Admirals, one
of whom is the Chairman.  Of the three Board members drawn from
NASA, one is responsible for the safety of all NASA programs,
while another is NASA Chief Engineer, responsible for review and
technical readiness of all NASA programs.  The only PhD scientist
is a physicist, James Hallock, from MIT, whose research was for
NASA.  Roger Tetrault, the only private citizen, is the retired
CEO of McDermott International. 

2. GREENHOUSE EXTORTION: HOW TO MANDATE "VOLUNTARY" REDUCTIONS. 
To demonstrate that the White House plan to save the world
through voluntary reductions in greenhouse emissions is the way
to go, the administration pressured industry to announce specific
goals for reduction of greenhouse-gas "intensity," which is the
ratio of emissions to production.  The idea is that greenhouse-
gas emission should not grow faster than the economy.  In other
words, its OK to pollute as long as you're making money.  The
White House plan was to go before the American People with Bush
Administration officials arm in arm with industry leaders,
pledging their commitment to "intensity" reductions.  This was to
take place on Wednesday; but with the economy tanking, few
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What's New | 21 Feb 2003 21:17
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WHAT'S NEW Friday, 21 Feb 03

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 21 Feb 03   Washington, DC

1. COLUMBIA: SHIELA WIDNALL IS ADDED TO THE INVESTIGATION BOARD. 
In the first of the many hearings that will examine the accident,
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe found himself having to defend
the independence of the Investigation Board he had appointed (WN
14 Feb 03).  So O'Keefe added MIT physicist and aeronautical
engineer Shiela Widnall to the Board, and is considering adding
additional scientists.  Best known for work in the fluid dynamics
of aircraft turbulence, Widnall is a former Secretary of the Air
Force (1993 - 1997), and is certainly independent. But finding
the failure mechanism that led to the breakup of Columbia is less
important than understanding the NASA culture that risked sending
a crew into space at enormous cost to do trivial science.

2. PROTEIN CRYSTALLOGRAPHY: NASA KNEW THE SCIENCE WAS VOODOO.  
In the days following the Columbia tragedy, NASA repeatedly cited
protein crystal growth as an example of important microgravity
research conducted on the shuttle.  NASA knew better.  It was 20
years ago that a protein crystal was first grown on Space Lab 1.
NASA boasted that the lysozyme crystal was 1,000 times as large
as one grown in the same apparatus on Earth.  However, the
apparatus was not designed to operate in Earth gravity.  The
space-grown crystal was no larger than lysozyme crystals grown by
standard techniques on Earth.  But the myth was born.  In 1992, a
team of Americans that had done protein crystal studies on Mir,
commented in Nature (26 Nov 92) that microgravity had led to no
significant breakthrough in protein crystal growth. Every protein
that crystalizes in space, crystallizes right here on Earth. 
Nevertheless, in 1997, Larry DeLucas, a University of Alabama at
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What's New | 28 Feb 2003 22:17
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WHAT'S NEW Friday, 28 Feb 03

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 28 Feb 03   Washington, DC

1. NASA: THE SHUTTLE AND THE HUBBLE-REPAIR MYTH.  For the first
time, the need for a human presence in space is being questioned
openly on Capitol Hill.  But at a House Science Committee hearing
yesterday, Sean O'Keefe invoked the Hubble repairs as an example
of man doing what robot could not.  It's a NASA myth; Hubble was
designed to be serviced.  It was supposed to be like calling AAA
for a jump start; NASA promised a shuttle launch every week.  But
the repair missions cost more than Hubble, and no other science
satellite has ever been repaired in orbit.  Moreover, Hubble had
to conform to a NASA decree that everything that went into space
had to be launched with the shuttle.  This confined Hubble to a
far from optimum low-Earth orbit that took it in and out of the
Earth's shadow and exposed it to the rain of space garbage from
past missions.  Moreover, Hubble's dimensions had to conform to
the shuttle's cargo bay, and its launch was delayed for three
years by the Challenger accident.  Ironically, the Challenger
accident finally forced NASA to drop its shuttle-only launch
policy.  Hubble has gone on to achieve greatness, not because of
the shuttle and the man-in-space program, but in spite of it. 

2. MISSILE DEFENSE: PENTAGON SEEKS WAIVER FROM REQUIRED TESTING. 
In April 2000, the APS Council stated: "The United States should
not make a deployment decision relative to the planned National
Missile Defense system unless that system is shown   through
analysis and intercept tests   to be effective against the types
of offensive countermeasures that an attacker could reasonably be
expected to deploy with its long-range missiles."  In fact, a law
designed to prevent deployment of weapon systems that don't work
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