GROWING COMPUTERS IN SPACE:

Astronauts retrieved the $25 million Wake Shield satellite today following its troubled 3-day flight. Plagued by various mechanical failures, the mission nonetheless was a partial success, NASA says, yielding four pieces of space-grown semiconductor film cultivated in the perfect vacuum of the satellite's wake. If further experimentation proves that film manufactured in space is superior to earthbound production, these materials may be a boon in the design of faster computers.