The criticism in the Joint Science Committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives intensifies * The director of NASA believes that a budget to speed up the construction of the space plane will solve the problem
Week after week, senators and members of the House of Representatives try to undermine NASA's decision to return to flying the shuttles.
The plan to resume spaceflight by March 2004 at the earliest drew criticism from leaders in Congress last Wednesday (September 10, 2003), including one seeking to completely phase out the flight of flesh-and-blood astronauts on the shuttles from now on and forever.
Rep. Joe Burton, Republican of Texas, told NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe that he believes the shuttle is so unsafe that no more humans should be flown aboard.
"We are sending American men and women to risk their lives, to fly on 30-year-old spaceships that cannot be made safe," Barton said at a Science Committee hearing.
He announced that he would do everything in his power to prevent astronauts from re-boarding the shuttle, which he called "inherently unsafe." "We lost 14 men and women and if we don't stop flying ferries we will lose 21 more in the next 10-15 years.
Other members of the committee also expressed criticism, but not so strongly. The committee's chairman, Sherwood Boehlert, a Republican from New York, told NASA that the agency's plan was too ambitious. Dana Rohrbacher, Republican of California, said the agency should not
Hurry up and repeat the problems that led to the Columbia disaster.
Barton, however, said that the shuttles should be flown in robotic mode, with no humans on board, and thus transport equipment and supplies to the International Space Station.
O'Keeffe said in response that technically it is possible to fly the shuttle without a crew and operate the spacecraft by remote control to bring cargo to and from the International Space Station, and this is one of the options that NASA is considering at least as an interim step.
For humans, O'Keeffe said, NASA could, if given the appropriate resources, develop an orbital space plane designed to transport passengers to and from the space station.
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Senators make it difficult for NASA following the report of the commission of inquiry into the Columbia disaster
5/9/2003
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe received a barrage of tough questions from senators last Wednesday about his part in the Columbia disaster. This is a week after investigators blamed NASA's corporate culture for the accident that killed seven astronauts.
"When do you expect the culture to be fixed?" Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, asked O'Keefe at a hearing before the Senate Science Committee.
"It will be a very long process," replied O'Keefe, adding that "the beginning of the change will be felt within six months to a year."
O'Keefe told senators that he plans to establish rules and processes to effect organizational change. He later expressed frustration that some of NASA's safety guidelines were taken as a recommendation rather than a binding directive. “When you write rules and procedures, you mean it. These are not just recommendations," O'Keefe told reporters.
Senator Ernest Hollings demanded to know who was specifically responsible for the falling block of insulating foam from the external fuel tank, which damaged the shuttle's wing.
"I'm trying to navigate through these findings about 'culture' and find who is directly responsible," said Hollings, a Democrat from South Carolina.
Republican Senator Sam Brownsback of Kansas questioned whether continuing the shuttle program was worth the risks and costs. "Aren't we throwing good money after bad money?"
O'Keefe replied that the shuttle adjustment plan expected to be published this Monday should address these concerns and asked Branusbeck and others to keep an open mind about the plan.
Harold Gehman, who chaired the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Columbia disaster, testified that while O'Keeffe had to be held accountable, the systemic problems that led to the disaster began several years after the Challenger disaster in 1986, in which, as I recall, 7 astronauts were killed. Gehman said that leaders, including in Congress and the White House share responsibility for the budget cuts and schedule limitations, which were also cultural factors that contributed to the accident.
The commission's report was released on August 26 and NASA's culture was characterized by "poor decision-making, self-delusion, inwardness, and loss of curiosity about the outside world." The report commented that complacency and avoidance of listening to safety warnings in favor of maintaining the schedule.
The report commented that NASA lacks a clear vision for the future of manned flights and the need for the aging shuttle fleet to be flight-ready before the next mission.
O'Keeffe has said so far that the shuttles could return to service in March or April 2004, but at Wednesday's hearing he said only: "That will happen when it is determined that we are able to return to service.
Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, challenged O'Keeffe and demanded that cost-benefit analyzes be incorporated into any future manned flight, while the committee found that NASA lacked a vision for the urgency of spaceflight after the end of the Cold War.
"It's an interesting idea," O'Keeffe said.
