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

DATE: TUESDAY, January 11, 1994                   TAG: 9401110050
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

OBSERVER CONTRACTOR TO RETURN $17 MILLION

Martin Marietta, which built the ill-fated Mars Observer spacecraft, announced Monday it will not claim a $21.3 million on-orbit performance fee and will return the $17 million it had been paid.

The corporation said the action was "appropriate in light of the unsuccessful mission."

The Mars Observer was lost Aug. 21, three days short of entering orbit around Mars after a journey of 442 million miles. - Associated Press

by CNB