61 



Appeadlx U 



Lkbermtorr FuUltlea Havr UmlCrd 



Agencies' Productivity and SclentUlc 



CapabiUUei 



percent of the laboratories at Boulder failed to meet system performance 

 levels required by current scientific and engineering programs. 



As an example of its facilities' shortcomings, nist cited its need for 

 laiboralory space with precise temperature control for an advanced 

 coordinate-measuring machine because the length of metal parts is 

 sensitive to temperature changes — one of nist's recent calibration tests 

 operates completely under computer control because even the operator's 

 body heat in the room when measurements are taken can degrade the 

 accuracy of final results, nist has begun to replace the temperature control 

 system, designed 30 years ago with vacuum tube technology, with 

 substantially more reliable temperature control technology that uses 

 semiconductors. 



NIST also cited as an example the semiconductor industry's need for 

 standard reference materials to ensure the quality of high-purity solvents 

 and high-purity water used in fabricating the microscopic dimensions of 

 integrated circuits, nist carmot provide these reference materials; 

 however, Japan's National Institute for Environmental Science already has 

 clean-room facilities with the capabilities required for such 

 ultra-high-purity analyses. This laboratory, as well as national standards 

 laboratories in Switzerland and Canada, have special inorganic chemistry 

 facilities featuring plastic walls, ceilings, floors, and furniture that enable 

 them to outpace nist's ability to detect low levels of such important 

 metallic elements as iron, nickel, and copper by a factor of 100. 



In November 1992, nasa's Administrator initiated a task force to develop a 

 national facility plan for world-class aeronautics and space facilities that 

 meets the needs of U.S. industry and federal agencies. This study, which 

 will assess dod's and nasa's mission requirements through the year 2023, 

 will (1) determine where U.S. facilities do not meet national aerospace 

 needs, (2) define new facilities required to make U.S. capabilities 

 world-class, (3) define where the consolidation and phase-out of existing 

 facilities are appropriate, and (4) develop a long-term national plan for 

 world-class facility acquisition and shared usage. The task force is 

 expected to issue its final report in the spring of 1994. 



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