European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 21, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Rage 10 a the stars and stripes saturday july 21,1990 Edlu Mostom Wicker chaos at error prone Nasa must be resolved John Pike the space specialist of the federation of american scientists has observed fatalistic ally that recent troubling events at the National aeronautics and space Agency mostly reflect Murphy a Law in orbit anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Its by no Means Clear however that the ubiquitous Murphy had anything to do with putting an untested Mirror a the Centrepiece of the vaunted Hubble Telescope a into space with some of the largest ambitions of Modem science resting on its polished but flawed surface. That a one Good reason the White House has directed a panel of outside experts to evaluate Nasa a a not the Agency a past performance or current programs vice president Dan Quayle insists Only its management needs for the future. But that can hardly be done without a searching inquiry into past and present a for instance a the $25 billion shuttle Fleet has been grounded since june 29 for unexplained fuel leaks there s Only a slim Chance that Atlantis will be Able to Fly in August and if discovery can to make the scheduled Ulysses solar exploration by october As scheduled it will Nave to wait 18 More months for necessary solar conditions. A the overweight Over costly and Over publicized space station latest Cost estimate $37 billion Contin us to encounter technical criticism As Well As political and scientific opposition. A the $ 1.5 billion Hubble space Telescope orbiting. As part of a $2.3 billion 15-Ycar project works poorly because of that untested and flawed Mirror and a camera that can Correct for the resulting image distortions can to be installed before 1993. Nasa officials Point out that they had no facilities for a Complete ground test of the flawed Mirror and claim they did not know such facilities existed to have built them and made the necessary test would have Cost Many millions of dollars. Congressional budget cuts in the Early �?T80s, moreover limited nasal a Quality control efforts. The Magazine aviation week and space technology has reported however that the air Force offered Nasa the necessary test facilities 10 years ago. The offer was turned Down because of air Force insistence on top secret clearances for Nasa personnel. A Newsweek cover Story speculated further that Nasa might also have feared a Pentagon takeover of the Hubble project. Nor were air Force testing facilities the Only ones available. Or. Frank d. Drake an astronomer at the University of California at Santa Cruz told William Broad of the new York times that several civilian installations could have detected the flaw in the 94.5-Inch Mirror. Now it appears that Nasa May have rejected a better Walter Mears adm Fine by Wert Check my. Hauboe s  before he uft7.0h, what the Akk minor As Well As testing facilities. The primary Mirror maker was Perkin Elmer corp., now Hughes Danbury optical systems but a backup was made by Eastman Kodak Broad has reported that the backup Mirror was finished first and proved optically Superior to Parkin Elm Eros. A or. Robert a of Dell of Rice University then the Hubble projects chief scientist recommended that the Kodak Mirror be installed but he told Broad a per Kin Elmer did no to want to use somebody else a Mirror in their  the two mirrors apparently were not made in Competition with each other with the better to be used and Perkin Elmer was Given the final Choice. This bizarre arrangement meant that even if the Perkin Elmer Mirror had worked the expensive Kodak version would be left sitting unused in its crate a As it sits now in Danbury Conn. Except at immense further Cost it can to be substituted for the flawed Mirror already m orbit. Quayle and president Bush profess Complete Confidence m Nasa but convening an outside evaluation panel recognizes that these worrisome problems leave others less assured. An impatient House of representatives for exam re distrusting either the importance of a planned Lars Moon Mission estimated to Cost More than $400 billion or nasal a ability to handle it or both has eliminated Early funding for the project renewed Confidence in Nasa however is not merely a Public relations problem to be solved by a Whitewash report. The real need is for the kind of thorough evaluation and any necessary revamping of the Agency that May make less Likely another Hubble fiasco or a tragedy like the challenger explosion. That requires a hard look at nasal a past and present As Well As its future. C new Voyk Tom a Bush a Loose lips Are taxing to . Governor in new Hampshire where George Bush Learned lip Reading taxes Are a prime Issue in a state Campaign mirroring the financial squeeze that finally forced the president to Swallow his no new tax vow. Gov. Judd Gregg says Bush made a mistake when he dropped the Barrier against raising Federal taxes. Gregg seek edging from own pledge against a state sales or income ing a second term Isnit budging from his i tax although he presided Over a round of increases in most existing levies. A the has raised taxes More than an other governor in history Quot said a Josep Grandmaison a former democratic state chairman one of three candidates for the nomination to oppose Gregg. The governor said the new Hampshire lax system works to keep a rein on government by restricting state revenues. A a it has served us Well. Gregg said a we continue to be the lowest taxed state in the country on the basis of personal  new Hampshire has neither general sales nor income tax and the pledge to keep it that Way has become Standard in state campaigns a line breached Only by losers. Most Campaign years the pledge against a Broad based tax has been unanimous among the contenders in both parties. Robert Preston minority Leader of the state Senate has taken that pledge in his bid for the democratic nomination for governor. The other two democratic candidates in the sept. 11 primary Are talking of tax change. Grandmaison said the system should be reviewed and reformed ending the Era of no general sales or income tax although he Isnit proposing a specific formula. Paul Blacketor a state representative and College professor recommends a state income tax. Those Are perilous Campaign positions. That lesson was reinforced when John Sununu now the White House chief of staff was elected governor in 1982, upsetting a Democrat who eased away from the orthodox ban against sales or income tax just As a wavering Republican was ousted m a primary a decade earlier. In 1988, when vice president George Bush limped into the new Hampshire presidential primary Campaign after losing his first Campaign test in Iowa the no tax Issue was tailored to his needs. Sununu ran the Campaign in which Bush and his barrage of Campaign commercials depicted sen. Bob Dole of Kansas As a pro tax Republican. The tactic helped Bush overtake Dole to win the primary he had no More trouble on his Way to the gop nomination. The tax pledge became a Staple of the Bush Campaign and eventually a one liner a read my lips no new  that gave Way late last month to a Bush Concession that there will have to be a tax Revenue increases Quot to Cope with a swollen Federal budget deficit. Bush said head had to rethink his position in changing circumstances. Sununu resisted the tax Retreat. A Gregg a former House member said Bush made a mistake when he dropped the tax bar without a democratic commitment to slash spending. A my experience in Congress is that they la take All the taxes you la give them Ana spend it Quot he said. He said Bush a Concession on taxes muted a Basic Republican theme. A it blurs the distinction Between the parties a Gregg said. But the governor said it wont Hurt the gop in new Hampshire where conservative republicans Are absolutists on the tax Issue Federal and state. Gregg said hell try to Cope with slumping state revenues and an increasing deficit with spending curbs not with a Broad based tax. New Hampshire already has raised the rates on its assortment of state taxes and imposed a new 5 percent communications tax. Property taxes have spiralled upward stirring signs of the kind of tax rebellion that has hit elsewhere. It shows in town votes to turn Down local school budgets. Rising property taxes have become a Staple of radio talk programs. A poll conducted this Spring by american research group of Manchester showed that 57 percent of those surveyed were opposed to a state sales tax a but 58 percent would favor one if it came with a guarantee that the revenues would be used to Cut property taxes. Grandmaison is banking on those attitudes As he proposes changing a system in which More than 60 percent of combined state and local revenues come from property taxes. The National average is 20 percent. A your Reliance on the property tax is inherently unfair Quot he said. He said any proposed tax Bill would have to provide for the return of revenues to the towns to ease the property tax Burden or it  stand a Chance of enactment. Gregg said that wont work and new Hampshire voters know it. A you done to reduce taxes by raising taxes Quot he said. A a that a Medicine Man   Peai