Save EUVE Update 26 September 2000

Dear EUVE fans-

There have been a few developments in the two-month-long race for
EUVE’s salvation! Here are some details.

In an early August 2000 report, the NASA OSS Senior Review
recommended the termination of EUVE at the end of NASA FY00 (i.e., 30
September 2000). Subsequently, Dr. Guenter Riegler at NASA
Headquarters (HQ) promised the EUVE Project $300K in closeout funds
that will stretch operations through the end of CY00 and will
accomodate end-of-mission testing.

Though the satellite continues to operate flawlessly and natural
re-entry is current not predicted until February 2002 (mean; +/-
2-sigma in Oct 2001 and Oct 2002, respectively), and with closeout
funding aside, the Senior Review panel’s decision was, in fact, to cut
the EUVE mission short by as many as two years.

The EUVE user community and public supporters have responded by
sending letters to NASA officials and congressional leaders urging
them to do what they can to extend the life of the mission. In their
appeals, supporters have consistently stressed the continued health of
the EUVE satellite and its return of new and exciting scientific
results.

Within two weeks of the Senior Review panel’s decision, Dr. Riegler
reported having received ~50 letters, and more have flowed in since.
Select letters are available at

http://www.euvexplorer.com/save.html

Thanks to those of you who have already taken part in this effort —
we hope more letters will continue to stream in.

The letter-writing campaign has helped to generate interest from
various media institutions such as NASA Watch, Universe Today and
space.com. This, in turn, has helped to generate wider public support
for the EUVE mission beyond December 2000. The most recent media
story on EUVE is at

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/ultraviolet_death_000922.html

In addition, several congressional leaders have shown interest in
EUVE’s situation, particularly those who represent the Berkeley area
and who serve on the House Science Subcommittee on Space and
Aeronautics. For example, Representatives Mark Udall (a member of the
House Science Subcommittee from Colorado) and Barbara Lee (Berkeley’s
congressional representative) submitted a “congressional inquiry”
letter to NASA HQ in an effort to better understand how its various
programs are being funded. The intention of this letter was not to
direct NASA how to spend its money, but to help settle questions of
deficits and shortfalls that may have played a role in the Senior
Review’s decision to terminate EUVE. This letter is available at

http://www.euvexplorer.com/EUVE_Letter_dco.pdf

When holding their last meeting on 13 September, Rep. Udall and
other members of the House Science Subcommittee on Space and
Aeronautics called on NASA officials to report on the status of
various programs, and expressed particular interest in EUVE. A
summary of the NASA report for this meeting is available at

http://www.aas.org/policy/NASALifeCycle.htm

On September 13 and 14, EUVE Project Manager Brett Stroozas and
Observatory Director Dr. Roger Malina visited select congressional
leaders’ DC offices to discuss continued support for EUVE. Contacts
in DC were particularly interested in how the termination of EUVE,
falling so close to its end-of-life, is counter to NASA’s stated goals
of NASA-University collaboration. Many were supportive of the idea of
getting all possible science out of EUVE after the investment the
project has already received.

At present, the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics is
awaiting delivery of NASA reports detailing appropriations of funding
toward its various programs. At the same time, the University of
California is working with the office of Senator Diane Feinstein to
draft a funding proposal via the VA-HUD-IA bill, the goal of which
would focus on the NASA-University partnership, and which could
benefit UCB (EUVE), Harvard (SWAS), and other universities. The EUVE
project has made it clear to Senator Feinstein and the University of
California that it is not interested in an EUVE-specific earmark as
this would be counter to the decision of the NASA Senior Review. We
are, however, interested in increasing the total FY01 research funding
for NASA missions in general, with the hope that some of the
additional funds might find their way to support EUVE.

Provided the national budget is passed in a timely manner, the EUVE
Project is expecting to know its ultimate fate within the next few
weeks. So, keep your fingers crossed …

-The EUVE Project