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Chronology:December 1977-September 1978
Because I've been away so long,please accept this slightly longer than normal chronology post. Also,the TOC interludal epilogue thingy stands because Books 12 and 13 will be posted to the Writer's Forum w/a link to this thread.So:

December 1977
NASA Administrator Robert Frosch is forced into medical retirement. James Fletcher takes over as interim Administrator until a replacement can be found.

January-February 1978
Space Shuttle Columbia is delivered to KSC on January 18:the first space shuttle mission is now anticipated for late 1979. The ESA announces that Olympus,their newest communications satellite project,will be launched via Space Shuttle in 1988. President Ford appoints Buzz Aldrin to head a committee to study options for an integrated space architecture for the 1990s and beyond.

March-April 1978
Soyuz 27 takes off from Baikonur on March 4,docking to Salyut 6 the following day. Cosmonauts Yuri Romanenko and Boris Andreyev set up shop:they are expecting two Interkosmos missions,one of which will exchange their Soyuz. Israel tests their first Jericho 100 missile on March 23:to some it's pretty obvious that this missile could someday be a satellite launcher. In April,NASA decides to cancel the Skylab reboost mission,but temporarily keep open the option of deorbiting Skylab with a Delta-launched Agena.

May-June 1978
The Soviet Mars 8 and 9 orbiters arrive at Mars,assuming elliptical orbits. On May 16,Soyuz 28 carries Alexei Gubarev and Vladimir Remek to Salyut 6,where they spend 10 days with Romanenko and Andreyev doing astronomical experiments. Deke Slayton forms Comspace,a commercial space exploration group. In August,they reveal the design of their Percheron rocket,a two stage LEO booster loosely inspired by the Titan 23G. The smaller Peterel rocket will act as a Percheron test platform,uncovering any potential issues (1). They also contract with the USAF for the use of Launch Complex 46 for both rockets.

July-September 1978
Soyuz 29 arrives at Salyut 6 on July 10,crewed by Pyotr Kolodin and Zenon Jankowski. On July 20,they return to Earth in Soyuz 27. Romanenko and Andreyev return to Earth on August 26,utilizing Soyuz 29. NASA announces that the Skylab B ATM will fly on the Sunlab Shuttle mission,scheduled for late 1985 or early 1986:after the mission,the modified ATM will be left in orbit for automatic observations and possible retrieval by a future Shuttle mission. On September 8,William A.Anders is sworn in as NASA Administrator by Vice President Rockefeller,one of his last major actions in office.

(1)-This helps to avoid the problems Percheron suffered in OTL.

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