Dwayne Brown 
Headquarters, Washington, DC          May 3, 1996
(Phone:  202/358-1600)

RELEASE:  96-88

FORCE TO LEAVE NASA

    Charles T. Force, Associate Administrator for NASA's 
Office of Space Communications, announced that he is leaving 
NASA, effective May 6, to pursue commercial business 
interests.

    "It has been an honor and privilege to work with the 
dedicated men and women at NASA. I am especially proud of the 
achievements of the people in the Space Communications 
program.  The increasingly ambitious achievements of NASA 
programs would not have been possible without corresponding 
increases in telecommunications capabilities.  The Space 
Communications staff not only succeeded in satisfying these 
challenging needs, but also reduced operating costs by a third 
over the past five years," Force said.

    Force was named Associate Administrator for Space 
Operations in July 1989.  He joined NASA in 1965 as Director 
of the Guam tracking station and except for returning to 
industry for a couple of  years in the early 1980's, held 
increasingly responsible positions at NASA since that time. 

    Force received several awards and honors for his work. He 
was instrumental in the development, construction and the 
eventual "fully operational" declaration of the Tracking and 
Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). TDRSS replaced a nearly 
25-year-old, worldwide ground-based communications network. 
The revolutionary system cut NASA's telecommunications costs 
in half, yet increased data acquisition and communications 
contact time with spacecraft six-fold.  This February, the 
TDRSS achieved 100 percent error-free coverage with its 
satellites and ground station command centers.


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