TIM FURNISS / LONDON
NASA says crews will be reduced or eliminated in response to Congress criticism
NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe admits the Space Shuttle is likely to carry smaller crews when it returns to flight, and could even be operated from the ground on unmanned cargo flights to the International Space Station (ISS). His comments followed criticism from members of Congress and the US Space Frontier Foundation (SFF).
House of Representatives space and aeronautics sub-committee member Joe Barton says the Shuttle should be scrapped as too dangerous, or modified to serve as an unmanned cargo vehicle to deliver components and supplies to the ISS. Crew rotation flights could be made by Russian Soyuz craft, he says.
House majority leader Tom DeLay, meanwhile, says NASA's planned Orbital Space Plane (OSP), intended eventually to take over the crew transfer mission from the Shuttle, should be reconsidered, and funds put into a longer-term plan for human exploration of Mars.
The SFF's Rick Tumlinson says NASA, rather than "waste billions to pay government contractors to design a spaceplane" specifically for its own use, should transform itself "into a customer for private spaceplanes, instead a competitor". But O'Keefe says the agency "will pursue activities unique to our mission - if NASA does not do them, they will not get done. If others are doing them, we should question why NASA is involved."
Tumlinson adds: "We don't need one OSP, we need many spaceplanes. NASA can get all the transportation it needs, save billions in taxpayer funds and kick-start a huge new industry, including space tourism."
Shuttle assembly flights are still required to complete the ISS, however. Although the Russian Proton and Boeing Delta IV Heavy could carry some hardware, some equipment still needs Shuttle transportation and support during assembly EVAs.
NASA has appointed William Parsons as manager of the Space Shuttle programme following the resignation of Ron Dittemore, who felt his position was untenable after the Columbia accident. Parsons is currently director of NASA's Stennis Space Centre in Mississippi.Source: Flight International
