
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 27, 1990                   TAG: 9007270085
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

PROBE THREAT WEATHERED AT NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has quietly survived a crisis that insiders say could have devastated the agency, destroyed morale and driven out its most talented managers and scientists.

The problem for NASA came when both congressional critics and the staff of the National Space Council, chaired by Vice President Dan Quayle, called for a sweeping investigation of alleged mismanagement at the space agency.

President Bush forcefully rejected the calls. Instead of ordering an outside investigation of NASA's current problems, Bush took a far more modest step: He asked NASA Administrator Richard H. Truly to appoint a panel to review the agency's long-term goals.

Speculation that a major investigation was forthcoming had been fed by a recent story in the weekly trade newspaper Space News. According to the article, Bush planned a massive NASA reorganization and a fundamental review of the nation's space priorities. The article also said that the president blamed current NASA management for the agency's troubles.

Space agency executives became convinced that the tale originated with the staff of the National Space Council, which has clashed with senior NASA managers.

by CNB