Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Key NASA Official Will Leave Agency

William B. Lenoir announced his resignation as the head of NASA’s manned flight activities, joining his boss in leaving the agency. Lenoir’s resignation is effective May 4. Administrator Richard H. Truly leaves NASA today at the behest of the White House. There was no hint in NASA’s announcement that Lenoir was leaving because Truly lost his job. Nor did it say what Lenoir will do. Their departures remove the two highest-ranking former astronauts from managing the agency. Meanwhile, the space shuttle Atlantis lost a second scientific instrument to a blown fuse, this time a telescope.