WASHINGTON INSIGHT

DEAD OR ALIVE? NASA’s decision to kill off a multibillion-dollar program to develop a new, more powerful solid rocket booster for the space shuttle fleet was a carefully planned move actually intended to help save the project, according to Capitol Hill insiders. . . . The advanced solid-rocket motor program, which would have cost nearly $500 million in 1993, was eliminated with the expectation that funds for the project will be restored by Rep. Jamie L. Whitten (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Nearly all of the work on the advanced boosters is being conducted by contractors in Whitten’s home district.