§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the meeting of the Minister of State for Information Technology and James Beggs, Director of National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in relation to the future of IRAS, and possible participation in the European infra-red space observatory in 1992.
§ Mr. ButcherMr. Beggs was in the United Kingdom only briefly on 13 and 14 December to present NASA awards in connection with the very successful infra-red astronomy satellite mission. Mr. Beggs then had a short social meeting with my hon. Friend. Their discussion touched on a number of space matters, including possible British participation in the international space station programme but not the particular science projects referred to by the hon. Member. My hon. Friend hopes to meet Mr. Beggs again in Washington later this month.