The Chemical World This Week

NASA OPTIMISTIC ABOUT FUTURE OF SPACE PROGRAM After more than two years of uncer­tainty, the future of the U.S. space program has become much clearer within the past few weeks. With the release of the proposed federal budget for 1975, which includes an increase of about $100 million for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to $3.2 bil­lion, NASA administrator James C. Fletcher has expressed confidence in the future of U.S. space efforts and revealed some of the specific programs NASA has planned. "We are no longer uncertain about the future," he told a recent meeting of the National Space Club. "We now have challenging programs ap­proved for this decade, and we have a sound planning base and technol­ogy base for what we want to do in the 1980's."

Of first priority for the remainder of the decade is the space shuttle program, which is now scheduled to launch its first manned orbital flight in the second quarter of 1979. The shuttle will carry men and equipment into space in an orbit­ing, recoverable satellite. The rock­et launchers will also be recoverable and re-usable. Dr. Fletcher predicts that in the period from 1980 to 1991 most spacecraft will be launched by the space shuttle, cutting the cost of these projects by an estimated $1 billion per year.

During the shuttle era, some 95% of the spacecraft launched by NASA will be for earth observa­tions and communications. There are 120 communications or naviga­tions satellites scheduled to be or­bited before 1992, including 43 for commercial communications within the U.S. In addition, large, un­manned space telescopes, high-en­ergy astronomical observatories, solar observatories, and radio as­tronomy observatories weighing up to 12 tons will be launched and maintained by the space shuttle crews.

Two new earth observation satel­lites are included in NASA's 1975 budget for launch in 1977 and 1978. One of these, SEASAT-A, will measure the physical characteris­tics of the oceans and investigate the utility of such information to the shipping and fishing industries.

The other, a heat-capacity map­ping mission, will make thermal measurements of the earth's surface to locate mineral deposits and aid in the construction of highways and canals. This satellite also will in­vestigate the possibility of locating geothermal energy sources by spacecraft.

Continued exploration of the solar system also is planned within the next 15 years. The top-priority project in this area, according to Dr. Fletcher, is a new item in the 1975 budget; two Pioneer space­craft to explore Venus in 1978. One will orbit Venus close to the surface of the planet to study the charac­teristics of its atmosphere and map the planet's surface. The other spacecraft will send four probes through the atmosphere from dif­ferent positions to obtain a three-dimensional picture of the composi-

Vaccine work suggest A heroin-addicted monkey kicked the habit after it was injected with a "vaccine" developed by a multi-disciplinary team at the University of Chicago. Dr. Bruce H. Wainer, a student in one of the university's M.D./Ph.D. programs, headed the effort. The other investigators were Dr. Frank W. Fitch and Dr. Rich­ard M. Rothberg, both patholo­gists; Dr. Charles R. Schuster, a psychopharmacologist; and Dr. Josef Fried, a biochemist.

In the first stage of the study, morphine molecules were conjugat­ed with protein molecules. These altered molecules, injected into rabbits, stimulated the production of antibodies that were effective not only against the conjugates but also against morphine alone. Radioim­munoassay techniques were used to measure the level of antibodies in the blood; other tests confirmed the ability of the antibodies to counter­act the drug's usual biological and pharmacological effects.

Similar antisera were prepared for codeine and heroin. Although each type of antiserum was fairly specific, there was some cross-reac­tivity. That suggests, the Chicago scientists say, that each antiserum

Fletcher: space shuttle top priority

tion of the atmosphere and the forces that influence it.

NASA also has plans to launch two Viking spacecraft to land on Mars in 1976 and two Mariners to fly by Jupiter and Saturn in 1977. In the 1980's as many as 10 Mari­ner or Pioneer missions to study Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, and Ju­piter; two spacecraft to bring back samples from Mars; a flyby of Hal-ley's comet; two lunar polar orbi-ters; and a communications satel­lite for the back side of the moon are planned.

an addiction cure contains several different anti­bodies, with each antibody reacting with a different portion of the op­ioid molecule.

Later, a monkey was trained to obtain heroin injections by per­forming a task and also trained to obtain cocaine, on alternate days, by performing a different task. The monkey soon became addicted to both drugs.

Then the monkey was injected with the heroin-protein derivative and given time to produce anti­bodies. When returned to the origi­nal situation, the monkey quickly stopped working for heroin—but worked as hard as ever for cocaine. The heroin dosage was progressive­ly increased. It took doses 16 times the original level to override the ef­fects of the immunization and cause the monkey to return to its self-administration routine.

The results suggest the develop­ment of vaccines for human ad­dicts. Dr. Wainer observes, how­ever, "There are a lot of practical and ethical questions involved." For now, "the more intriguing re­search direction is toward better understanding of the basic pharma­cology of these drugs."

6 C&EN Feb. 25, 1974