KENNEDY SPACE CENTER Astronaut Shannon Lucid said that she could have managed a greater science research load during her 3,000-orbit, six-month stay on board Mir. The science load for both Lucid and her replacement, John Blaha, covers about 35 experiments.

HONG KONG COLORADO SPRINGS Congress has officially approved U.S. participation in Japan’s F-2A/B close support fighter program, a move expected to generate $5 billion for U.S. industry during the next 15 years. Approval came after a routine 15-day congressional notification period passed Sept. 18 and ends negotiations that began in 1989 (AW&ST Aug. 12, p. 72).

WASHINGTON NASA is planning to send two tiny science probes crashing into Mars to look for ice under the planet’s surface and help validate technologies that could be used in future missions to the planet. The probes will travel to Mars in 1999 as the second mission of the agency’s New Millennium space technology demonstration program.