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Sun into a polar orbit sometime in 1994, I think. So hopefully, Ulysses will soon to be on a long trip.

The shuttle has also been used for satellite repair. We sent astronauts from the comfort of the shuttle to go out and repair a variety of satellites. Some of the communications satellites broke after launch from the shuttle. Also, a couple of science satellites had been launched even before the first shuttle flight, but broke during their lifetime.

Astronauts went out and rendezvoused with the satellites and literally replaced broken electronics boxes with new electronics boxes, and then kicked them back out into orbit to extend their life. In fact, most of the information that we've received on the Sun and on solar flares these last few years has been directly a result of repair that was done by several astronauts on one of the solar satellites.

NASA has had quite a few problems lately. I want to talk briefly about the problems that the space shuttle has been having. I'd be happy to talk about any of the other problems if you have questions about them. But the one that I wanted to speak to first was the problem with the hydrogen leaks in the space shuttle, because there are a couple of points that I'd like to make about it, and maybe give you a little different perspective than you ordinarily get in the newspapers.

Just as background, you may all remember, we now have three space shuttles—Columbia, Atlantis and Discovery. Discovery is the one that was launched this morning. Prior to today we hadn't had a space shuttle launch since Spring. There have been several shuttle flights that have been cancelled, where shuttles have gotten as far as the launch pad. They've been loaded with the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen just a couple hours before launch, and then hydrogen leaks have been discovered and so the shuttles are kind of unceremoniously taken off the launch pad while they look for the hydrogen leaks. They've had a lot of trouble finding them. In fact, they haven't found them yet.

Columbia was the first one that was on the launch pad, because a hydrogen leak was discovered. It's actually been on and off a few times now. Atlantis was assumed to be okay. It was sent to the launch pad and loaded with the fuel. We discovered that it had a leak too, and so it was pulled off the launch pad. People are still trying to understand where all these hydrogen leaks are.

NASA has been taking a lot of heat in the media for not being able to launch a shuttle. But as someone who was a member of the investigation of the Challenger accident and on the commission that studied that problem, I have a different perspective.

You may remember that NASA took a lot of very well justified criticism right after the Challenger accident for not having safety as the number one priority. Over the years, they  might have slipped by paying too much attention to schedule, to media pressure, and to the desire to demonstrate that NASA could launch, on a regular routine basis, and make this a real operational Space Program. Well, the Shuttle Program is anything but routine. It's really a high technology operation, in spite of what I said about the computers and R&D program. NASA has finally recognized that they need to treat it as such. It's not the sort of thing that can be subject to a schedule. It has to be subject to readiness, understanding of each and every one of the systems, and appreciated for the safety of the system.

NASA, as I said, was criticized severely and very appropriately after the Challenge accident, for not paying as much attention to the safety aspects as perhaps they should have. They've learned a lot from that, and they've demonstrated that they've learned it over the last several months.

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Transcription Notes:
Only mistake found: 3rd para, 2nd sent. "I want to talk..." Not take