European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 14, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday september 14. 1986 the stars and stripes Page 3 robots May help build orbiting station Nasa wants to Cut spacewalk time space Center. Houston a robots May be Given a role in the Assembly in orbit of America s $8 Pillion space station culling the amount of spacewalk ing required by up to half a Nasa official said Friday. Astronauts have criticized Early concepts for the orbiting station because its construction would require almost 700 hours of Spac walking far More than at tempted earlier. Andrew Stofan. The Boss of the National aeronautics and space administration s space station program and head of a task Force reviewing plans for the project said during a briefing that engineers had deter mined that Spac walking should be limited to no More than 24 hours for each of the shuttle missions required to assemble the space station. Earlier concepts called for up to 48 hours Stefan said. Under a revised plan he said robots computer driven or remotely operated machines could be used to assemble trusses and beams that previously were to be built by astronauts. Nasa is working under a mandate from president Reagan to have the space station in operation by 1994. Nasa administrator James Fletcher ordered Stofan and his team to re examine the space station concept and to recommend any changes. Stofan Friday said the group s final report should be completed this week and will be reported to Congress on sept. 25. Stofan said Nasa will Issue by mid november a request for detailed design bids from aerospace Compa Nies. Astronauts also had criticized plans to use space walks for much of the routine maintenance once the space station was built. It was estimated that work on electronic equipment located on beams outside the station s pressurized modules would require at least 391 hours of space walking a year. Stofan said the review team was trying to find a Way to move some of that equipment inside the modules so shirt sleeved astronauts could perform maintenance without going into the vacuum of space. To accommodate the equipment Stofan said the review team is considering enlarging the modules or adding others to the two now planned. Plans now Call for two 320-foot beams joined at Ither end by crossbeam forming a rectangular figure. Another beam about 500 feet Long and with pressurized modules attached would be built through the Cen Ter of the rectangle perpendicular to the Long sides. Stofan said the review team May not change the Basic design of the station but would change the Way in which it was built. I would expect it will look pretty much in the end like it is now but i would expect a different Assembly sequence he said. The station would be assembled in a series of shuttle flights each Mission carrying part of the station into orbit. Original plans called for 14 Assembly flights and four to ferry supplies. But Stofan said flaws in the space shuttle system uncovered in the investigation of the Jan. 28 challenger Accident will limit the space shuttle cargo weight. As a result it will take More flights to assemble the Sta Tion he said. Current predictions according to Nasa sources Call for about 24 Assembly flights instead of 14. Sloan said the additional flights could affect the station s Cost but Nasa was attempting to stay within the $8 billion budgeted. Plans Call for Canada. Japan and the european space Agency to provide $2 billion in hardware to the station. Astronauts also criticized the fact that the space station did not include a Way for Crew members to quickly return to Earth in an emergency. Stofan said this feature still was being studied. He said the planning team also was considering using unmanned rockets to deliver cargo and supplies to the station thus relieving some of the demands on the space shuttle. But there arc no plans to use unmanned rockets in the Assembly phase he said. Air Force threatens to withhold payments for Phoenix missile by Norman Blackcap military writer Washington the air Force has told the Hughes aircraft co. It is prepare to begin withholding monthly contract pay ments because of continuing late deliveries of the Phoenix air to air missile. The notice to Hughes disclosed by Pentagon sources late Friday was issued to the company last tuesday. The air Force gave the company until sept. 19 to say Why the payment suspension should t be imposed or to suggest alternative remedies. According to it. Col. Jim Jannelle an air Force spokesman Hughes had delivered 28 fewer Phoenix missiles than scheduled As of aug. 31. Recent production schedules have called for about three dozen missiles per month. Unless Hughes convinces the air Force otherwise Jannette said the service would withhold $320,000 per missile or $8.9 Mil lion based on the current backlog. Since monthly payments to Hughes have been running about $6 million the air Force is prepared to withhold pay ments Over the next two months until it recovers enough to match the  source explained that Hughes might prefer to negotiate a change to it delivery schedule with some financial penalty rather than place its monthly payments at continuing risk. Telephone Calls seeking comment from Hughes officials were not returned Friday night. The disclosure of the threat to begin withholding so called Progress payments follows by just one week an acknowledgement by the Navy that it has yet to deploy a single Phoenix missile to the Fleet even though Low rate production began five years ago. The aim-54c Phoenix is a Long Range radar guided missile designed to be earned by the Navy s f-14jct fighters. Navy fighters Are currently equipped with the first Model of the Phoenix the aim-54a. Although the Phoenix is a Navy weapon the notice to Hughes was handled by the air Force because it has Overall responsibility for overseeing work at the company s Tuc son ariz., production facility. The Navy s Effort to develop an improved Model of the Phoenix has been plagued by Well publicized production problems at Hughes which is now a unit of the general motors corp. Two years ago for example Hughes was forced to shut Down its Tucson As Sembly line for several months because of Quality control problems and Margi Nal workmanship cited by Navy and air Force inspectors. Survivors reunited Hannah Sara Rigler of Brooklyn . And George Hammond of Kent England show a diary detailing Rygler s escape from a 300-mile nazi death March on feb. 26,1945. A 16-year-old lithuanian she stumbled into prisoners from stalag 20b, Hammond among them who sheltered her until russians liberated the amp. Thursday was their first meeting in America. Soviets to let 3 peace group founders emigrate Moscow a soviet authorities approved emigration visas for three founders of a Moscow peace group including a Man serving a three year sen tence on a charge of hooliganism official sources announced saturday. Exit permits also were approved for two soviets married to american Citi Zens the sources said. Yuri and Olga medic Dukova co founders in 1982 of the group to establish Trust Between the . And u.s.a., received permission Friday to leave the country and Are expected to emigrate soon with their two Small Chil Dren the sources said. The couple along with other members of the Only known Moscow peace group without official Sanction were detained frequently by authorities while Demon Strating on disarmament issues. In March 1984, a Moscow court handed mrs. Medved Kova a 2 i year suspended sentence after convicting her of resisting arrest outside a courthouse where another group member was on trial. The Medve Kovas Telephone has been Cut off and they could not be reached for comment. The sources said another co founder of the group Vladimir Brodsky who was sentenced to three years in labor Camp in August 1985, was authorized to leave the country with his wife. Mrs. Brodsky was allowed to Tele phone her husband with the news the sources said. Tamara Tretyakova who has been trying to join her husband Simon Levin of Deerfield 111., since he emigrated in197g said she also was promised an exit visa and was told to arrange her de parture by Early october. Roman Kuperman married to Frances l. Pergricht of Chicago earlier was promised an exit visa to join his wife the sources said. Mrs. Tretyakova who has an 8-year old son and Kuperman Are members of the divided families group of soviet denied permission to join their spouses. Another member of that group Matvey Finkel who is married to Susan Graham of Spokane wash., said he was detained Fri Day while taking a lunch break from his Job at a ticket Booth near the exhibition of eco nomic achievements in Northern Moscow. Finkel said he was taken to a militia Sta Tion and was questioned for five hours