The timing
of NASA's next shuttle launch remains uncertain as the space agency works to
recover key facilities from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, agency officials
said Thursday.
In addition
to spreading widespread devastation across the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina
damaged NASA's external tank-producing Michoud Assembly Facility in New
Orleans, as well as Stennis Space Center, where shuttle main engines are
tested, in Mississippi.
While some NASA officials still hope to launch around March 2006, they were unable to complete a feasibility analysis for that target before the hurricane struck
the Gulf Coast last week.
"We're in the process of evaluating it," William Gerstenmaier,
NASA's associate administrator for space operations, said of a possible spring launch during a teleconference with reporters.
The update
followed reports of an internal Sept. 1 memo
by Wayne Hale, NASA's acting shuttle program manager, in which he suggested
that "launch dates before fall [2006] may not be credible."
"Right
now, we're still addressing what the implications are on the shuttle launch
schedule, and if I say I don't know what those are, that's an
understatement," NASA chief Michael Griffin told employees in a televised
address, according to the Associated Press.
Gerstenmaier
said Hale's note was a very preliminary paper used to discuss some of the
initial points raised by the hurricane. Hale, himself, labeled the memo "extremely
preliminary," according to the document.
"It's
really too difficult to predict," Gerstenmaier said of future shuttle launch
dates.
Gerstenmaier
said NASA set aside about $1.1 billion - $500 million for Michoud and $600
million for Stennis - to aid recovery efforts at the two sites. But those funds
were based on preliminary damage estimates based on photographs and the space
agency's past experience with hurricanes at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in
Florida, he added.
In addition
to damage at both facilities, up to 900 Stennis employees have lost their
homes, said NASA's William Parsons, who is spearheading the agency's hurricane
relief effort. Almost 4,000 people were evacuated to Stennis Space Center when
Hurricane Katrina hit, he added.
All of the Stennis
center's civil servants have been accounted for, as well as 95 percent of its
contractor personnel, Parsons said, adding that Lockheed Martin is still
tracking down about half of its 2,000 employees at Michoud. The 15 NASA employees
stationed at the New Orleans facility have been accounted for, he added.
External
tank work continues
NASA's next
shuttle flight depends on when engineers solve a foam debris shedding problem
observed during the July 26 launch of the space shuttle Discovery.
A 1-pound
piece of foam insulation fell from a protective ramp on Discovery's tank during
launch. While that chunk of foam did not strike Discovery, a similar shedding
event did strike the space shuttle Columbia during its ill-fated 2003 launch.
Columbia's heat shield was damaged in the impact and the shuttle broke apart
during reentry, killing its seven-astronaut crew.
NASA engineers
are still unsure of the exact cause of the latest foam loss, but have narrowed
it to a few potential sources, shuttle officials said.
"It looks
like it's going to be very unlikely that we're going to be able to just remove
the...ramp and fly," Gerstenmaier said.
Some tank
studies are underway at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama,
while other non-destructive analyses will likely be moved from Michoud to KSC
while the New Orleans facility rebuilds, Gerstenmaier added.
Trucking
to Michoud
Conditions
are improving daily at Michoud and Stennis, though only recently have recovery
teams managed to reach the external tank facility by road, NASA officials said.
The facility was previously only accessible by helicopters, they added.
"We're
starting to supply them by truck," Parson said. "Up until last night, the
Michoud facility was cut off."
Michoud
suffered roof damage when Hurricane Katrina struck, including the external tank
storehouse. One tank was damaged when concrete, knocked loose in the storm, hit
it, Parsons said.
"We haven't
been able to evaluate that damage," Parsons said, adding that cursory looks
suggest it's superficial. "We're trying to safe the facility."
Tornadoes
damaged some roofs at the Stennis center, but overall the facility fared "very
well," Parsons said.
ISS
obligations
While NASA's
focus is centered on the hurricane recovery effort and displaced personnel, the
agency is confident the storm will not severely impact plans to return the
shuttle to flight and complete construction on the International Space Station
(ISS).
Many of
NASA's international partners are waiting for shuttle flights to loft their components
to the ISS before the agency's three remaining orbiters are retired in 2010.
Before the next ISS assembly flight - STS-115 aboard Atlantis - engineers must
complete their external tank modifications, and the Discovery orbiter must fly
STS-121, NASA's second return to flight mission.
"We're
still going to be able to accomplish our goals for a good station configuration
for shuttle retirement," Gerstenmaier said. "In our schedule and planning we
assumed that we'd have some shuttle problems along the way."
The agency also
needs to secure a return trip for NASA astronaut, and ISS Expedition 12
commander, Bill McArthur.
McArthur
and Expedition 12 flight engineer Valery Tokarev are scheduled to launch toward
the ISS atop a Soyuz spacecraft late Sept. 30. Space tourist and scientist Greg
Olsen will also accompany the Expedition 12 crew to the ISS for a brief stay.
While
Tokarev is slated to return on that Soyuz in April 2006, McArthur planned to
stay aboard until May and catch a shuttle ride back to Earth. Shuttle officials
said they are making contingency plans in case of a further delay.
"We'll get
a ride home for [McArthur] on a Soyuz," said Gerstenmaier. "We'll have a ride for
him."
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