European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 3, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday augusts 1986 the stars and stripes Page 7 Wii hero dedicates ship of the future by George c. Wilson the Washington Post Bath Maine retired adm. Arleigh a. Burke the world War it destroyer skipper has dedicated inc Arligh Burke a billion guided missile destroyer of the future. The 84-year-old Burke the hero of naval Battles in the Pacific and the ship he dedicated at a thursday ceremony a the Bath Iron works represent dramatically Dinar Chi approaches to fighting at sea one proved effective by him the other illustrative of Amer Ica s big Gamble for winning the next War. Burke raced his destroyers through Pacific nights at Over 30 knots earning him the nickname thirty one kno Burke o catch japanese ships by sur prise at Dawn. His guns and torpedoes Sank them at dose Range usually five Miles or less. The destroyers were comparatively cheap $5 million each and expendable. The Fletcher class destroyer of world War ii carried 250 men was 376 feel Long displaced 2,100 tons and had a top Speed of 37 knots. By contrast Arligh Burka dais destroyers which will begin to so to sea in 1989, Are neither cheap nor expendable. The first one designated ddg-5i, will Cost ii billion which would have bought 200 world War ii destroyers. It will depend on High technology rather than Speed Surprise or Force of numbers to win the Day. The Arligh Furke will carry 303 men Many of them technocrats measure 466 feel Long displace 8,400 tons and be not quite As fast As the old Fletch i cars. These ships Are the Navy s version of the big Gamble also being played by the army with its tanks and smart weapons and the air Force with its Ever More sophisticated aircraft that High tech will offset the soviet Union s Edge in numbers and terrorists willingness to commit suicide in their attacks on . Forces former Deputy defense Secretary Paul Thayer never thought the Arligh Burke was a Good Gamble. He argued during the most tempest aug meetings of the Weinberger Pentagon that the Navy had reached the Point of diminishing returns by proposing to build is billion destroyers to protect $4 billion aircraft carriers. He said there was not enough Money in sight to build a Fleet of the High tech destroyers. If the Navy went ahead with the Arleigh Burke class Thayer warned the army would never get the Money it needed to Complete its modernization program. Navy Secretary John f. Lehman or. Won that fight persuading defense Secretary Caspar w. Weinberger to go ahead with this most expensive destroyer of Alt time. The flattening of president Reagan s military build up already has put Navy plans for the Arligh Burke in jeopardy. The Senate armed services committee in its fiscal 1987 defense authorization Bill scheduled to be taken up monday recommends going along with the Navy request and Selling aside $2.5 billion Lor the first three of these destroyers. The House Bill also scheduled to come up for floor debate monday recommends buying two of them. Navy leaders plan to buy no fewer than 29 and perhaps As Many As 65. They claim the Price Wilt drop below s1 billion each As production increases. Vice adm. Joseph Metcalf Iii Deputy chief of naval operations for surface warfare conceded in an inter View that the new destroyers will be expensive but said the soviet threat from above below and on the sea demands such a High Lech ship. Compared with the five mile killing zone of world War ii destroyers Metcalf said the Arleigh Burke anti aircraft system and other electronic gear and weaponry will be Able la select planet 200 Miles away sink submarines even if they go As deep As 4,000 feet and bombard shores with guns and Inland targets with Tomahawk cruise missiles. Nasa denies hiding data on astronauts deaths by Philip m. Boffey new York times news service Washington on july 17 the National aeronautics and space administration cited evidence that the Chal Lenger Crew members had been unaware of the disaster unfolding about them but it acknowledged Friday that at that time some key officials had known for almost a week thai the astronauts had activated their emergency breathing packs. But Nasa officials complained at a press briefing that they had been taking a very bum rap in news reports and Edito rials that have suggested the Agency deliberately was concealing information about the last moments of the seven astronauts who died when the space shuttle exploded shortly after its launching on Jan. 28. The officials said that in sensitive matters involving How the Crew died they have consistently tried not to Dis cuss isolated pieces of evidence. The Agency said in a statement Friday that All important evidence was communicated first to the families of the dead Crew members and then after the investigation into the cause of death was com plete to the Public. The briefing Friday was held to re Spond to complaints that the Agency retrieved the astronauts personal Emer gency air packs As Long ago As March but did not inform the Public until last Mon Day that three of the Parks had been activated an indication that some of the Crew survived the explosion and were struggling to keep alive. The head of Nasa s investigation into the cause of death formally was told july 11 that the air packs had been activated but Nasa announced july 17 that a sep Arate study of a tape recording showed the Crew was unaware of its predicament. Last monday however the Agency re versed itself and disclosed that both the tape and the air pack analysis indicated that the Crew had survived the explosion at least briefly. We really Felt pretty stung by the charge that we have had information and withheld it from you All since March. Laid Shirley m. Green director of Public fairs for Nasa. The Agency attributed the confusion to failures in internal com shuttle changes estimated cos for  ran. No space shuttles in Matota of deters spare parts Supply Cha Jenger Savage investigation. J other corrective changes steering braking changes main engine changes to talc f28 Muton Chicago Tel turn Cowrt source cute ago trl tuna new reports m imitations. There has never been any intention to do anything but be As straightforward As possible Green said. She said the Agency had been taking a very bum  the Issue of How the astronauts died is potentially important for psych logical Legal and policy reasons. Many people have said they feel More comfortable thinking the astronauts died instantly in the explosion and did not suffer a slow death As the Crew compartment fell 13 mites to the sea a Fate that some might blame on Nasa s failure to provide an escape system. The fact that the astronauts survived the initial explosion at least briefly is being cited in a Sis million damage claim filed against Nasa by the widow of the shuttle s Pilot Navy cmdr. Michael j. Smith. For most of he time since the Chal Lenger was destroyed Nasa officials have allowed the impression to remain that the astronauts died instantly. Some Agency spokesmen said after the Accident that they doubted the Crew survived the explosion and no officials contradicted that impression. In a terse statement issued july 17, Nasa implied that the Crew had no Ink Ling of the disaster. That statement asserted that preliminary analysis of a tape recording of the Crew s internal conversations showed that the Crew was unaware of the events associated with the  the statement was issued the Day after it became known that mrs. Smith had tiled suit but officials of the Agency said Friday their statement was not related to the suit. They said the results of the preliminary analysis had just become known and they wanted to gel the information to the Public. But last monday the Agency was forced to reverse itself. Top Nasa officials announced at a news conference that further analysis of the tape had de elected the words us of uttered by Smith. The officials also disclosed then for the first time that the emergency breathing packs for at least three of the astronauts had been activated indicating that they survived the explosion Long enough to attempt to save themselves. Those disclosures triggered a barrage of questions from the news Media about How Long the Agency had known the air packs had been activated and Why the Public was not lot earlier. Friday the Agency issued a chronology of its actions and Navy Cape. Robert l. Crippen an astronaut who was on the Agency s Accident investigation team provided More details. Crippen said four of the astronauts personal egress air packs were recovered from the Ocean floor with other Crew Cabin debris bet Ween March 15 and March it. But he said it was not until april 15, after it was Clear that Paiho tog Isle would not be Able to determine How the astronauts died that Nasa asked a team under or. Joseph Kerwin at the Johnson space Center in Houston to conduct an analysis of the Cabin for Evi Dence that might shed Light on their deaths. After a lot of head scratching he said the analysts realized that me air packs might provide information look them apart and on May 21 found some evidence of activation. He said that on june 29 army technical analysts con firmed that three of the four air packs had been activated. These findings were communicated to Kerwin july ii Crippen said but Nasa s july 17 statement that the Crew conversation indicated that the Astro nauts were unaware of the explosion did not mention the air pack evidence that showed the Crew was indeed aware and struggling. Friday Nasa officials attributed the lapse to a failure of internal communications. They said different people an Al Zed the tapes and the air packs and that rear adm. Richard a truly. Nasa s associate administrator for space flight had not been aware of the air pack evidence when he authorized release of the july 17 statement. However some confusion remained Friday Over when truly was told of the air pack evidence. Crippen said the notes he prepared for the briefing showed that it was july is but Nasa s official chronology said it was july is. When asked to explain Crippen said his notes were in error and the official version was Correct. Crippen said that the Day after the preliminary analysis of the voices on the tape was released some analysts listened la a garbled portion and finally selected a last us of from Smith a plaintive indication that he recognized impending disaster. Crippen said it would not be appropriate 10 make Public the full tape of the astronauts last comments or the pathology reports relating to the cause of their deaths. He also said the Agency had erred in releasing the preliminary report about the voice tapes before having All the evidence in hand. Court says Gay rights Don t preclude recruiting Philadelphia a the City cannot use its Gay rights Law to Stop Mili tary recruiting at Temple University Law school a Federal appeals court has ruled. The City had charged that military recruitment at the school promoted sexual discrimination because the military As a Mailer of policy refuses to admit homosexuals. A Federal District court in september ruled against the City and on Friday a three judge panel of the 3rd . Circuit court of appeals agreed. The appeals court said Philadelphia s attempt to enforce its fair practices ordinance against the recruiters violated the supremacy clause of the Constitution which says Federal Law supersedes local and slate Laws. The City human relations commis Sion had ordered Temple in february 1985 to bar the array s judge advocate general corps from interviewing prospective recruits on Campus. The commission acted after two male Law students filed complaints in 1982 after they were denied interviews with recruiters. Temple then joined the Justice department to fight the commission in court saying the Case also represented an Issue of free speech