THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 1, 1994 TAG: 9412010444
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Times are tough and likely to get tougher. That was the message France Anne-Dominic Cordova, NASA's chief scientist, gave to employees Wednesday at the agency's Langley Research Center.
``We have had difficulty in sustaining our investment in fundamental science research,'' she said. ``We know there is no new money. You don't get new knowledge without sustained investment.''
Cordova said NASA is continuing a top-to-bottom review of agency procedures and programs, with an eye to effectiveness and cost-cutting. She sidestepped political issues and the impact of new Republican majorities in Congress, predicting only that NASA will ``enjoy non-partisan support.''
Cordova pointed out that the space agency's $14 billion budget is likely to remain flat and perhaps decrease for the foreseeable future, constraining the growth of new programs and limiting new hires. Nationally, NASA employs 21,960 civil servants and 127,000 independent contractors.
No matter what budget battles develop, Langley's emphasis on applied aeronautics will probably spare it from severe cuts.
Employing some 2,940 civil servants and 2,150 contractors, and with a current budget of $688.7 million, the Hampton research center works closely with the aviation industry. Over the past several decades, a number of Langley-derived devices have been incorporated, and continue to be incorporated, into commercial aircraft.
In an hourlong presentation, Cordova previewed new agency initiatives and projects, such as partnerships with industry and universities and a ``better, faster, cheaper'' space program.
NASA wants to quicken the pace of development and launch of smaller robotic craft. The agency would also like to develop less expensive, resuable rockets that would be built by private firms, which then could oversee launches and charge management fees to customers, including NASA.
Cordova, 47, is a native Californian who grew up in Los Angeles. She is the first woman and first Hispanic appointed to the post of chief scientist for the space agency. An astrophysicist by training, Cordova has an undergraduate degree in English, is a former newspaper reporter and was, briefly, a high school teacher.
She was appointed to her current job in 1993, after working for four years at Pennsylvania State University as head of the astronomy and astrophysics department. From 1979 through 1989, Cordova worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
``One of the reasons I took this position was because I was the first woman to fill this post,'' Cordova said in an interview before her public talk. ``It's important to do these things for women's visibility in science. Women are no different than men in taking up challenges.''
She urged her Langley listeners not to become dispirited despite financial worries and concerns over the agency's future. Although NASA scientists will be required to promote and publicize their work as never before to a sometimes skeptical public, she asserted that basic research is worth the marketing.
``Science is not about fulfilling expectations but surprising us with its new revelations,'' Cordova said. ``Einstein could not have known that some of his theories would lead to the invention of the laser.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
France Anne-Dominic Cordova, an astrophysicist, is the first woman
and first Hispanic appointed chief scientist for NASA.
by CNB