Space Access Update #79  10/8/98 
                 Copyright 1998 by Space Access Society 
________________________________________________________________________ 

Back in late August, we asked you to help support Federal funding 
for "Military Space Plane" USAF research into fast-turnaround 
reusable rockets.  The idea is to usefully increase diversity in 
government cheap access research at relatively modest cost. 

Well, the Congress is finishing up many of the FY'99 funding bills 
this week, and results are in on the ones we're interested in. 

The FY'99 DOD Appropriation doesn't provide new money for MSP, but 
it does authorize carrying last year's line-item-veto delayed $10 
million over into the new fiscal year.  (FY'99 started October 1st.)

Meanwhile, the FY'99 NASA Appropriation provides $20 million and 
directs NASA to use it in support of Military Space Plane work. 

The combination ought to allow a significant increase in the pace of 
work over this year's bare-survival keep-the-lights-on USAF funding. 

To everyone who worked for this small but we think significant bit 
of progress, thanks! 
________________________________________________________________________ 

In other news, The Safari Resort, site of our Space Access 
Conferences for the last several years, alas is no more.  The site 
in downtown Scottsdale had become too valuable to go on hosting a 
comfortable rambling old place like the Safari; a deal was announced 
last month to tear the place down and replace it with a Marriott 
with twice as many rooms (and likely twice the rates), to open 
sometime in 2000. 

Which leaves us looking for another site for Space Access '99.  
Better six months notice than none, of course - our sympathy to the 
groups with events scheduled the weeks right after the announcement; 
*they* had a problem.  We look on this as an opportunity; we're now 
looking at sites for our conference both on the weekend we'd booked 
at the Safari, April 16-18, and the weekend after, April 23-25.  We 
figure going with the later weekend could remove our conference a 
bit from tax-deadline stress; let us know ASAP if you're aware of 
conflicting events or if you have a strong opinion either way. 

Either weekend, we plan on changing our schedule somewhat from 
recent years - we'll be holding the main sessions Friday and 
Saturday daytimes and evenings, rather than Saturday and Sunday as 
in previous years, in order to allow our increasing number of 
professional attendees to get home with some time left in the 
weekend.  Our overall schedule (including our peerless hospitality 
suite) will run Thursday evening through Sunday morning. 

Watch our web site, www.space-access.org, for info as things firm 
up. 
________________________________________________________________________ 

(Space Access Society's sole purpose is to promote near-term radical 
reductions in the cost of reaching space.  You may redistribute this 
Update in any medium you choose, as long as you do it unedited in 
its entirety.) 
________________________________________________________________________ 

 Space Access Society 
 http://www.space-access.org 
 space.access@space-access.org 

 "Reach low orbit and you're halfway to anywhere in the Solar System" 
                                        - Robert Anson Heinlein