As the shuttle program heads to the hangar and policy makers debate the future of manned missions, jobs hang in the balance
Kennedy Space Center, Fla. - Standing close to the launchpad-say, 2.5 miles away at the NASA Press Center here-you're aware of your trouser legs flapping against your shins seconds after the space shuttle blasts off. The predawn launch of the shuttle Endeavour is something to see, but what grabs you is the in-your-bones feel of the launch-being swept up in the sound wave generated by 6.2 million pounds of rocket thrust, the crackling of the solid-rocket boosters.
It's unexpected, and, as the Apollo astronauts said of their even larger rocket, the mighty Saturn V, "very emotional."
"Go at throttle up," says Mission Control in Houston, and the shuttle fades into a shooting star, turning north to sync up its orbit with its target. Things begin to settle down. It's then that you finally hear the car alarms going off in the VIP parking lot, as if to verify what you have just felt.
NASA still puts on one helluva show. But the recent success of the Endeavour's two-week mission to the International Space Station-delivering the last major section, the Tranquility Node, and a new bay window (facing down at Earth, the Italian-built "cupola" was said to have provided the astronauts with views that brought tears to their eyes)-only momentarily diverted attention from the space agency's uncertain future and the trajectory of U.S. human spaceflight.
Indeed, the flight of STS-130 marked the beginning of the end for the nearly 30-year-old space shuttle program, which will wrap up later this year. About 7,000 jobs will be lost along Florida's "Space Coast" when the program ends. Those job losses, and the proposed cancellation of a future moon-rocket program, have set off a political firestorm.
The end of the shuttle program also is forcing NASA managers to rethink fundamental assumptions about the space agency's role. Will it remain a mission-driven "operator" of space craft and launchers? Or will it lease the capabilities for low-Earth orbit missions from commercial vendors, while working with the aerospace industry on new endeavors-such as a heavy-lift booster that could return humans to the moon, or perhaps take them to Mars and the rest of the solar system?
The greater emphasis on commercial launch services is also likely to have an impact on space component vendors, which are already seeing shrinking lead times to deliver parts for space probes (see story, page 31).
Prior to Endeavour's launch, there was far more talk here about the proposed cancellation of the Constellation moon-rocket program and its heavy-lift capacity than about the Tranquility Node or orbital vistas.
NASA administrator Charles Bolden strode into a prelaunch briefing with an aplomb befitting an astronaut who has flown in space four times. The former Marine Corps general came under heavy fire as local reporters unleashed questions about the proposed end of the $9 billion Constellation program, the impact on the NASA workforce here and what it all means for the future of U.S. manned spaceflight.
The angry tone carried over to recent NASA budget hearings, where there was nearly unanimous agreement that canceling Constellation would "decimate" American manned spaceflight and idle much of NASA's engineering workforce. The outrage directed at Bolden by members of the House Science and Technology Committee during a Feb. 25 budget hearing was best summed up by Rep. Alan Grayson, (D-Fla.), whose district includes the Orlando area just west of Cape Canaveral. Grayson called the plan to rely on commercial contractors for low-Earth orbit missions a "shot in the dark" and NASA's "faith-based initiative."
Bolden, saying NASA's new strategy seeks "redundant, reliable access to space," argued that "Constellation was going to be putting all our eggs in one basket" and that his plan would give NASA more options. He said it as if he believed it.
Administration critics have also complained that the United States will have to rely on the Russian Soyuz system to reach the space station after shuttle flights end later this year. Among those questioning the space agency's plan to reach out to international partners are contractors with plenty to lose, as well as some astronauts.
The latter include Walter Cunningham, a crew member of the Apollo 7 mission, which orbited Earth for nearly 11 days in 1968. Cunningham has argued that NASA and previous administrations gave up too much in return for international space cooperation, especially with Russia. One contractor echoed the sentiment, saying, "An international partnership is one thing; international dependency is another."
Pressed on that point, Bolden told EE Times that he expected future international collaboration in space to result in "proportional" funding from partners like Japan, Russia, Canada and the European Space Agency based on the nature of future technology projects. "It means they would put up an appropriate proportion of funding for what they do," Bolden said.
Prior to the NASA budget hearings, the Obama administration launched a counteroffensive against pro-Constellation forces in Congress (mainly those with NASA facilities and contractors in their states) with the release of a detailed budget proposal that attempts to outline its plan for reinventing NASA. Bolden followed that up with a letter informing angry lawmakers that he was proceeding with plans to shut down Constellation, specifically telling NASA engineers "to refrain from initiating new work that is not under contract."
According to lawmakers, NASA has sent out letters to Constellation contractors seeking details such as "termination liability costs" during fiscal 2010. Given the congressional outrage over the Obama administration's attempts to cancel the moon-rocket program, along with Bolden's stated willingness to try to preserve technology "nuggets" from Constellation, one likely outcome is that at least parts of the program-and the jobs that go with them-will be preserved.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers and astronauts, including Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, propose extending the shuttle program beyond this year while NASA finds a new ride other than Soyuz into low-Earth orbit.
The decision to end the shuttle program, which Bolden said costs about $2 billion annually to operate, was made under the previous administration. With the International Space Station nearly complete, it's a safe bet that STS-134, launching this fall, will be the last shuttle flight. The three orbiters will then be retired and shipped to aerospace museums around the country, taking their place alongside Apollo and the other U.S. manned spacecraft that blazed a trail to the moon.
NASA was born of post-Sputnik politics in the 1950s. The decision to race the Soviet Union to the moon was fundamentally political. The future of U.S. manned spaceflight will certainly depend on technological innovation and could summon the national pride forged in the Apollo program.
For now, however, the reinvention of NASA looks to be one of the major political battles of 2010 and beyond.
Space shuttle chronology
1968 – The shuttle program is approved as a next-generation reusable spacecraft that can glide to a landing instead of splashing down in the ocean.
1970s – Design and technical issues plague shuttle development; the schedule for the initial launch slips, and the development budget soars.
1981 – Veteran astronaut John Young and rookie Robert Crippen fly the first shuttle mission, orbiting Earth 37 times in two days before landing Columbia in the California desert.
1983 – The second shuttle in the U.S. fleet, Challenger, launches with a four-man crew.
1986 – Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff on Jan. 28, killing all seven crew members, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. The shuttle program is grounded for more than two years.
1988 – Shuttle flights resume.
1993 – The seven-member crew of Endeavour conducts five spacewalks to repair the failing Hubble space telescope, significantly extending the lifetime of the remarkable orbital observatory.
2003 – Columbia breaks up during reentry on Feb. 1, killing all seven crew members. The shuttle program is again grounded for more than two years.
2005 – Shuttle flights resume.
2010 – The launch of Endeavour, designated STS-130, opens the final year of the shuttle program. Four more flights are scheduled before the program is slated to end.
Source: NASA
www.eetimes.com
See related articles on pages 28 and 31.