Thursday, August 21, 1997
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 9
Mir chief denies cutting corners
The Associated Press
MOSCOW — Mir's crew members inspected their space suits yesterday for a desperately important repair mission into an airless compartment — while their bosses on the ground insisted they were not putting lives in danger by skimping on spare parts.
A computer breakdown this week that shut down most systems aboard the banged-up space station was caused by an aging part that Russia had chosen not to spend the money to replace, Deputy Mission Control chief Viktor Blagov acknowledged.
But Blagov insisted that Mission
Control was not saving money at the expense of the safety of the Russian-American crew.
"It's not like Mir's falling apart," he told The Associated Press.
Ground controllers said that by yesterday afternoon the station largely had recovered from the computer failure, having regained its alignment with the sun, recharged its solar batteries and switched on its main oxygen generator.
In fact, space officials said there was little for the two Russians and one American aboard to do except get some rest before tomorrow.
when cosmonauts are to make the long-awaited "internal spacewalk" into the dark, depressurized Spektr module, ruptured by a collision with a cargo ship in June.
Russia's space program has been dodging criticism since February, when Mir started a run of major malfunctions: a dangerous fire, frequent breakdowns in its oxygen and cooling systems, and the nearly catastrophic cargo ship crash.
Officials at Mission Control have acknowledged that Russia's struggling economy and strained federal budget are taking a toll on the
station, which already is operating six years past its expected five year lifetime.
One effect is that some components — except in life-support systems — are not replaced until they break down, Blagov said.
An "information exchange module" failed Monday during a cargo ship docking, knocking out the station's computer. The device, similar to a modem, was past its expiration date. Blagov admitted.
"This computer part simply failed at the worst possible moment, otherwise nobody would have heard about it," he added.
Indians prepare to battle appropriations bill
WASHINGTON — Sally Matsch thought she was a victim of age discrimination when she was fired from a Minnesota Indian casino, so she sued the tribe that ran it.
But the Prairie Island Indian Community forced the case into tribal court, where it was dismissed when the tribe claimed immunity.
The case is tied up in appeals as pressure mounts on Congress to strip Indian tribes of one of their most closely guarded powers — immunity from lawsuits.
"The cards are stacked against
us," said Matsch's attorney, Craig Greenberg.
Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., last month inserted a provision into the Interior Department's 1998 appropriations bill that would deny federal benefits to tribes that refuse to waive immunity and allow litigants to bypass tribal courts and go straight to a federal judge.
The provision is expected to be the subject of a fight on the Senate floor when Congress returns to work in September.
Indian tribes are sending dozens
of letters to Senate offices this month, and tribal leaders are expected to converge on Washington after Labor Day to lobby against the provision.
"We look at it as blackmail," said Bobby Whitefeather, chairman of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa in Minnesota. "It's not right. It's not just. It's not legal."
Many tribes rely heavily on Washington to pay for everything from police to education and social programs. The federal government often is one of the few employers
on a reservation.
Tribes also hope to strip the legislation of a second Gorton provision, which would force tribes to provide an accounting for all their income. The measure grew out of concerns that tribes that were made wealthy by gambling are still receiving federal assistance.
The chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., and the panel's senior Democrat, Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, are expected to fight both provisions.
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