European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 23, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                . Can to afford a space station Charles Osgood Tribune Media service what if you and i went out and bought everything that struck our fancy regardless of How much it Cost and regardless of How much Money we had in our pockets or in our budgets pretty soon you or i would be broke if we paid Cash or in staggering debt if we used credit. Someone would take our credit cards away. With this in mind it is time to take Uncle same a credit card away. The . Government is totally unfamiliar with the concept that there Are things that Cost too much Money things it cannot afford. The . Government is deeply in debt and has to borrow enormous amounts of Money to keep up with the Bills and with the loan payments. It would be Nice to have a . Space station. It really would. It would be Nice to be Able to explore Mars and Jupiter Saturn Neptune Etc. It would be Nice to explore our own solar system. It would be More than Nice. It would be wonderful. Surely you  be so Gross would you so Boorish tasteless and Small minded As to suggest that we can to afford it of yes i would the official Price tag from the National aeronautics and space administration for the space station is $30 billion and that does no to include such frills As maintenance. At first Nasa figured it would take 130 hours of astronaut space walking per year to keep the Structure in working shape. Then some other experts took a closer look at the complexity of the staff and they concluded that it would require More like 2,200 hours of space walking per year. The current expert estimate is that it would take 3,800 hours per year. To give you an idea How much time that is so far in the entire 30 years of the . Space program there have been Only 400 hours of astronaut extravehicular activity. Nasa quickly threw together its own team of experts to say that there Are ways maintenance costs could be Cut and lets not throw the baby out with the Bath water. But Nasa is a government Agency and the principal priority of any government Agency is the preservation perpetuation and promotion of itself. Nasa is understandably panicked by any suggestion that its baby its Pride and Joy the space station should be abandoned now for such a mundane reason a that we can to afford it. No other country on Earth thinks that it can afford such an ambitious Enterprise As the space station. Yet Here in the United states despite uncontrolled deficits and staggering debt we keep deluding ourselves into thinking that we can afford anything. Even now while politicians wring their hands about the budget we keep rummaging through our National pocketbook looking for that trusty old credit card. It s that cop a6mn,trtlt4�.to sell us tickets tothe flu Clemens Ball no kidding the Early Days of magazines cosmopolitan a stressed its educational Content in 18b0s to guide a originally produced for new York Only better Homes and gardens a first called fruit Garden and Home look a evolved from Section of Das Moines Register and Tribune source work features Syndicate presidents in military who saw no combat John Tyler a War of 1812 Millard Fillmore a civil War Andrew Johnson a civil War Chester Arthur a civil War Jimmy Carter a korean War Ronald Reagan a world War ii source the world almanac of presidential fact Firat film appearances for 5 child stars baby Leroy months old 8 a i 2va Jackie Coogan years old Judy Garland a years old Jackie Cooper a 3 years old Shirley Temple a 4 years old a rejected for role in Quot our gang series 8ourca behind the screen september 23,1990 sunday c Page 3