>This is a big mistake, IMO. They are not going to get funding for a new vehicle. They will have another accident with an old one.
[The New York Times] [Sponsored by Starbucks]
September 5, 2003
Shuttle Panel's Head Says Current Craft Can Continue Flights
By WARREN E. LEARY
[W] ASHINGTON, Sept. 4 ? With increased vigilance, the space shuttle can be flown safely for a few more years, but the craft should be replaced as soon as possible, the head of the panel that investigated the Columbia accident said today.
Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr., who heads the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, told a hearing of the House Science Committee that NASA's three remaining shuttles could continue flying long enough to complete the International Space Station.
If NASA wants to continue with human space flight, Admiral Gehman said, it should hasten work on another vehicle to take over the job of carrying people into space.
"Our recommendation is to replace the vehicle as soon as possible," the admiral, who is retired, told a crowded hearing room.
A new human spacecraft should be designed so that its crew is separated from the cargo, he added, making it easier to build in escape systems.
His appearance, after a hearing on Wednesday by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, begins an intense period of Congressional oversight over NASA and its plans to fly the remaining shuttles again. Congress was in summer recess on Aug. 26 when the 12-member inquiry panel released its report on the Columbia accident.
The panel said a piece of insulating foam struck the shuttle shortly after liftoff, causing a breach in the left wing that led to the Columbia's destruction on re-entry on Feb. 1.
At the hearing, Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Republican of California, criticized NASA as having been on the wrong path with the shuttle for 30 years.
"The shuttle has failed miserably to meet its original goals," Mr. Rohrabacher said.
nytimes.com |
