Safety First: NASA to Hire More Shuttle Inspectors


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	Safety First: NASA to Hire More Shuttle Inspectors By Paul Hoversten Washington Bureau Chief posted: 07:49 pm ET 03 February 2000

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WASHINGTON -- Look for more shuttle safety inspectors to be hired at four NASA centers in the space agency's budget request next week.

NASA's proposed budget for 2001 "will make a major statement about safety," NASA Administrator Dan Goldin told reporters on Thursday. "The most important issue is the deep and broad discussion we had with the [Clinton] administration about safety. Safety is the number one priority of NASA."

Goldin was coy about providing numbers in advance of next Monday's release of the federal budget for all agencies. But he couldn't hide his emotions over what is expected to be a request topping $14 billion -- a significant increase over the $13.65 billion that Congress gave NASA last fall.

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About $5 billion has been earmarked for upgrading the shuttle, as well as to begin developing replacement spacecraft.

"First, look at the smile on my face," he said, beaming. "It is clear that we have overshot in [workforce] reductions. There will be a very significant statement about increasing the staff in safety areas�and upgrading the shuttle."

That means increasing the safety work force should grow at:

Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where the space shuttle's propulsion system is developed.
Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, where the shuttle's crucial main engines are tested.
Johnson Space Center in Houston, where shuttle astronauts are trained.
Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, where the shuttles are launched.

"I think you'll see some very serious commitment to science. There will be some new starts�. This is a very robust budget that emphasizes the cutting edge."

The budget also contains "a significant increase" for next-generation vehicles to put humans into space, Goldin said. Although the 1970s-era shuttle fleet has flown only about one-fourth of its design life, NASA plans to keep using the winged spaceships until 2010 or 2012.

After that, NASA hopes to have a different sort of re-usable spacecraft in place to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station or to mount missions to the moon or Mars. No matter what sort of vehicle develops, it will have to be safe, Goldin said.

"Politics or building companies in no way will interfere with us doing the right thing," he said. "We've got to meet our responsibility to the crews that fly them�and that means putting safety first.