European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 16, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday june 16, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page t3commentaryjames j. Kilpatrick station Worth the Price promoters promoters of space station Freedom made a persuasive Case in the House last week. They did not make a convincing Case the regrettable truth is that this $2 billion baby is a bad buy. The taxpayers Money can be far better spent on other projects Here on Earth or out in space. During six hours of impassioned debate the House heard All  arguments in favor of continuing the Prejea. It would inspire our Young people. It would demonstrate american leadership. It would be the first step on the Road to Marsi to kill the space station we were told would alienate such partners in the venture As Japan Canada and the european space Agency. They would never Trust us again. And so on Rah Rah Rah and Sis Boom Bah. The vote was 240-173 to pour another $2 billion into this huge Black Hole. V roughly $5.6 billion already has been spent on fryc Dom. It seems an incredible amount to invest in preliminary studies but the National aeronautics and space administration has a Way of spending Money with a lavish hand the pending authorization for 1992 is critical if the Senate goes along with the House the project will have passed a Point of no return. Congress will be committed to keep funding the space station into the next Century and beyond. No one least of All Nasa has any Clear idea of the financial Burden the taxpayers would be assuming. It will Cost a minimum of $30 billion to get the station assembled in space. That is nasal a own estimate. No one gives it the slightest credence. But assuming that this fictional figure has substance the taxpayers May Well ask what would we be getting for this huge chunk of Money the answer is not much. The original design called for a permanent Crew of eight the current design would House a Crew of four. The size of the station has shrunk from 40 feet to 27 feet. Once we were promised multiple experiments that would produce multiple spinoffs. Now sponsors arc Down to two experiments one of which could be performed better on Earth. Nothing More is heard of  this Point let us listen to John Pike he is director of space policy for the american federation of scientists. In his testimony he traced the a declining expectations that have troubled the space station Over the past seven years. The grand idea in 1974 was that the station would be the Centrepiece of our whole space program. The facility would service commercial and scientific satellites. It would be the assembling Point for missions to Mars. A. Little remains of the grand idea. The problem today said Pike a is that we Are now Down to the Point that the Only two user communities that Are left arc the materials research Community and the space Medicine Ellen Goodman Community and it appears that we can to even do both of  a a a. A a a a a a a a Pike and other witnesses voiced practical objections in its present configuration the station would have enough fuel on Board to remain in orbit for Only a year. If Nasa should suffer another challenger disaster the Crew then on Freedom would have to escape aboard an emergency return vehicle a a vehicle incidentally that does not even figure in nasal a estimate of costs. It would Cost another $2 billion. It the Agency has based its projections of Cost and completion on a highly improbable scenario. Parts for this Complex Assembly would have to arrive for launch on time. Shuttles would have to perform immaculately. There could be no serious malfunctions in computers. Our foreign partners would have to be kept Happy with their role. To Piet deadlines of 1995 to 1997 would require timely and successful tests of the structural elements. All this seems a great Deal to ask of the same wonderful people who gave us the a Bubble telescope.1 there Are alternatives to a manned space,station.,it is generally agreed that much valuable research May be done at far less expense through unmanned satellites and space probes. Such projects might Lack the a pres tic a of a manned station but the. Re turn on investment would be Many times higher. It will Cost at least $2 billion a year simply to maintain Freedom in its orbit. Senators should ask themselves if the sum could lie More profitably spent on science education in our schools. It was Clear from the House debate that Rem hers still have a Lively interest in space exploration. There Wasny to a Flat Carth spokesman anywhere. But hours of visionary Rah Rah Rah provide a poor substitute for sober appraisal of this venture. Its a Bummer kill it. A. A cd Universal press Syndicate definition of a father now More complicated one blazing hot afternoon i was the sole captive audience for a Washington cabdriver a he extolled the vices of his City and the Virtues of his second wife. A one thing about my wife a he intoned a a she a a Good provider.�?�. This was said with such matter of fact appreciation that i could t help smiling. I had never heard such a traditionally. Male expression applied to a female without at least a nod a Wink a hint of some a emr. Momy role reversal about it but the More i ran that sentence around in my mind and the More i repeated the Drivers line the More it occurred to me that 1 rarely hear that kind of Kudo to men anymore. A a he a a Good provider a a even the sound of such a phrase would be vaguely suspect today As if there were some understood flaw for which this a a providing compensated. At least. He a a Good provider. Whatever else he a a Good provider. A today among the ads and cards that carry the images of fathers Day there is no tie no tool no electronic toy that carries Praise for the provider into the Public Arena. A. What was once the essence of fatherhood the moral virtue for which a Man was rewarded with the title of head. Of household seems somehow out of place in our More egalitarian  Day a Salute to the solid souls who brought Home the Bacon put food on the table a roof Over your head a now carries a different message. The socially approved images of fatherhood Are emotional not financial. They Are about love not Money. Calvin Klein a Model father hugging his Young son for a eternity a another Man Ivory soaping his baby. Hollywood heroes confessing to enquiring minds that their newest Romance is their offspring. Child raising books that speak pointedly to men. The definition of a bad father May be the same As its been a Man who Abandons his children. But the definition of a Good father is More layered. Its not that the demands of providing have truly lessened their hold but they have gone underground. And a new Structure has been added. Ask James Levine the director of the fatherhood project what fathers want and he will report Back from the research front a first and Foremost they still want to be the providers the economic and physical protector of their families. That show men feel  gut level and its what women expect. We All buy into it. A. A second of All they want a different relationship with their children than they had with their own father. Part of being a Good father is being different from their own  a a what we be done is up the Ante on fathers the Way we have upped it on mothers. Added one role on top of the other a new expectation on top of the old. Even in the two paycheck family car taking is a Given for mothers. The headlines Are heaped on fathers who change diapers. Even in the changing american family earning is a Given for fathers. The headlines go to the mothers who debate their  our grandparents counted themselves successful if they kept their children clean housed fed a provided for. But today parents Are less Likely to judge themselves by what they do for their children a cooking their dinner buying their clothes. We count our Success As parents by what we do with our children. So fathering is less about a role and More about a relationship. Did our ancestors expect intimacy with their children As they grew up i done to think so. But we do indeed altruist every measurement we openly apply to family life is about feelings we judge ourselves today largely by our children a psychological Wel being a a much trickier calculation. We. Grade our families by the closeness of the ties formed and sustained. Its a High maintenance Job that can Only be accomplished at Home. A so working fathers no longer a redundant phrase have Learned about conflict they have Learned about the a conflict Between being a provider and a Parent. The conflict Between supporting a Home and being in it. And except for the neckties fathers Day is getting to look a lot like mothers Day. A a a a c Washington Post athe opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government