Jeff Vincent 
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
1:00 p.m. EDT 
October 26, 1989 

RELEASE:  89-165 

TRULY UPDATES AERONAUTICS AND SPACE PROGRAMS FOR PRESS CLUB 

     Four months after becoming NASA Administrator, Vice Admiral Richard
H. Truly issued an upbeat assessment of the agency's many programs and
said an analysis of future manned missions to the moon and Mars "is
proceeding exceedingly well." 

     While the Moon and Mars missions "will be technically demanding and
not without risk, they are well within our reach," Admiral Truly said at a
National Press Club luncheon in Washington, D.C. 

     "These expeditions will stimulate new technologies and enhance our
nation's long-term productivity," Admiral Truly said.  "They will improve
national competitiveness.  They will advance scientific knowledge and
lead to discoveries about our solar system, Earth and life, itself." 

     The NASA leader's broad-brush review of current NASA programs
included the following highlights: 

     * Aeronautics - NASA technology has enabled the U.S. aerospace
industry to maintain "an unqualified lead in world markets."  To help
maintain this position, NASA has revived research on a high-speed civil
transport -- research that will lead to "environmentally sound, supersonic
travel for the future." 

     * Space Science - The recent launches of the Galileo and Magellan
space probes ushers in an extraordinary era of space science missions. 
Over the next 5 years, NASA will launch 37 space missions that will
"radically change our understanding, not only of the universe but also
of ourselves." 

     * "Mission to Planet Earth" - Using "superior new instruments," we can
take a comprehensive look at the entire global system -- lands, oceans,
ice and atmosphere.  This program is taking shape and promises to provide
data that "will be coordinated in a decades-long effort to better
understand our fragile Earth." 

     * Space Shuttle - With six successful missions since the return to
flight, NASA is moving confidently to safely increase the Shuttle's flight
rate.  The Shuttle is "unquestionably a far safer and much more reliable
vehicle" and will be critical in the construction of Space Station Freedom. 

     * Space Station Freedom - The "cornerstone of our future in  space,"
Freedom is the largest international cooperative space  project ever
undertaken.  It is an essential step toward moving  again beyond Earth
orbit and into the solar system, providing new insights into the human
body and psyche as we cope with longer durations of space flight;
allowing us to test exploration technologies; and permitting the
assembly service of space vehicles. 

     Last July 20, the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing,
President Bush committed the United States to return to the moon and
then explore Mars.  NASA is supporting the efforts of the National Space
Council, chaired by Vice President Quayle, to determine what resources
will be required and to set a realistic timetable to meet these goals. 

     Admiral Truly said the benefits of future missions to the moon and
Mars are difficult to quantify and include such intangibles as knowledge,
success and pride.  "Each time we go to the frontier and beyond," he said,
"we bring back more than we hoped for.  This time we have the chance to
bring back more than we can imagine." 

     He also said manned space exploration will stimulate science and
engineering education in the United States.  "I feel strongly that NASA has
a special responsibility in education for a very special reason.  Our
programs -- airplanes, spaceships, moon, Mars and astronauts -- can get
to kids." 

Note:  Copies of Admiral Truly's prepared remarks are available from the
NASA Newsroom, Room 6043, 400 Maryland Ave., S.W., Washington, DC
20546 (phone:  XXX/YYY-ZZZZ).