Facing a budget crunch, NASA looks at options that could bring further reductions
NASA still plans to launch the next Space Shuttle flight in May next year, but its annual budget process is examining the number of flights remaining before the vehicle is retired in September 2010.
Although it has not set a firm launch date, the US space agency says it has made progress in determining why insulating foam was lost from the external tank on the Shuttle return-to-flight mission in July, and is considering a 3-23 May 2006 launch window.
No single cause has been found for the loss of a large piece of foam from the tank’s protruberance air load ramp, but officials believe a recurrence can by prevented by changing the way the foam is applied. NASA’s goal is to eliminate the foam ramp, but it will take “a couple of flights and about a year’s worth of windtunnel testing to come to conclusion as to whether or not we can do that”, says Shuttle programme manager Wayne Hale.
NASA, meanwhile, may not have the budget for the annual number of flights needed for the planned 19 recovery missions, to resupply and complete assembly of the International Space Station and to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA managers “are discussing a number of options” as part of the agency’s 2006 budget process. Leaks from NASA suggest that the options could include only eight flights.
This means serial orbiter processing – one orbiter at a time, allowing two flights a year.
Alternatives include asking for more funding to complete the planned Shuttle flights, as well as a proposal to save money by combining continued Shuttle operations with the planned development of Shuttle-derived launch vehicles for NASA’s exploration programme.
GRAHAM WARWICK/WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
