The so-called "Clark" science satellite has been marooned awaiting its Lockheed Martin launch vehicle since an original fall 1996 launch date, which has repeatedly slipped for months at a time, most recently projected for final launch in the April-May, 1998 time frame. The space agency's program review board last summer said that a spring '98 lift-off date would be o.k.

But sources tell SpaceCast the review board, meeting at nearby Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Friday, received a report that the Lockheed booster won't be ready until August at the earliest. Worse still, the delay will push the cost overruns beyond the Goldin-mandated maximum of 15%. Programs that run more than that amount over budget should be cancelled, in a formula set down by Goldin in 1994. The administrator was to make his recommendation known late Friday, but no word was received from the space agency spokespersons as SpaceCast went to press.

According to reports from the space agency, research equipment aboard the satellite might not be able to survive extended storage of the satellite until August, and could need replacement or refurbishment, driving the cost of the stalled mission even higher.

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Washington DC - Dec 20, 1997 - NASA administrator Daniel S. Goldin has chosen to end 1997 much as he started it - by blaming the U.S. space industry for thinking more about profits than performance, for using "weasel words" to lie, cheat, and low ball cost estimates for space projects, only to raise the ante later. Goldin's tirade marks yet another occasion during 1997 when he found the very contractor community he claims NASA needs to shift burdens away from the civil service deficient in some way.