Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 18, 1993 TAG: 9306180002
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
For the space station, Clinton wants to spend $10.5 billion over five years, and costs would reach $16.5 billion by the year 2001.
Clinton described the space station as a "reduced-cost," scaled-down version of a project that officials said could put four astronauts in orbit soon after the turn of the century.
The plan Clinton signed off on would save $8 billion to $9 billion by the year 2000 and $18 billion over the life of the project, if approved by Congress, the White House said .
For the superconducting supercollider, being built in Texas, the costs have been estimated at $8.25 billion but are expected to rise to $10 billion.
"These are tough economic times, yet our administration supports this project as part of its broad investment package in science and technology," Clinton said of the supercollider in a letter to Congress.
The supercollider is being built about 30 miles south of Dallas.
It consists of magnets that will steer and focus beams of protons moving in opposite directions until they collide at nearly the speed of light. Two large detectors will record the collisons for analysis by physicists.
The space station project lumbered along for eight years and cost $9 billion without any flight hardware to show for it. Clinton took a personal hand in it in February when he told NASA to cut costs in half.
He asked NASA to see how much of a station $5 billion, $7 billion and $9 billion would buy. After a frenzied effort by three redesign teams, NASA said that amount would buy nothing useful. It came up with options ranging from $11.9 billion to $13.3 billion.
by CNB