The Nation - News from March 26, 1987

NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher declared his intention to “get flying again” by February with the next space shuttle. Fletcher, in a speech before the Federal City Club in Washington, said he is equally determined to establish a “permanent manned presence in space” with a platform that will serve to launch and maintain observatories and provide a takeoff point for a manned flight to Mars. Others in the space program have cast doubts that a February shuttle launch is feasible.