"That facility ... simply has outgrown its usefulness," said Edward Ellegood, director of policy and program development at the Florida Spaceport Authority. "We intend to replace the inadequate facility now used at Kennedy Space Center with a larger state-of-the-art micro-gravity and biotechnology payload laboratory."
The proposal is to have Florida pay for construction and site development of the new facility -- all of which is estimated to cost $30 million, Ellegood said, and NASA would pay to use the facility.
Jan Heuser, program manager for KSC's Space Experiment Research and Processing Laboratory said NASA would lease the new facility for approximately $1.2 million a year -- the same amount the agency pays for upkeep of the current hangar. The cost of the lease would increase 3 percent for every consecutive year of its duration, Heuser said.
Plans for the proposed new facility include allowing academic officials from universities, particularly those in Florida, to use the laboratory. "Our intent is that this initiative will provide ... increased academic opportunities in Florida in space research and development, which is key to our goal of diversifying the industry in the state," Ellegood added.
With the expected completion of the international space station, officials worry about the current facility's ability to handle new research demands. "What we're anticipating is that once you move into the space station era, you are going to have a continual lab capability in orbit," Heuser said. "That means you are going to need much more payload preparation on the ground. The hangar may get very busy when you have a space lab."
The move would give research a much bigger role at KSC, which primarily serves an operational mission -- including keeping the space shuttle program running, Heuser said. "We do some research, but not a tremendous amount. This would significantly increase our ability to do that," Heuser said. "I think this is an excellent opportunity for the universities to take part in this research."
However, NASA's budget for space and earth science is the primary target for congressional budget cutters. A proposed $1 billion cut from the agency's budget does not eliminate the space station's construction budget, but does slash nearly all funding for space experiments.
Researchers currently work around tough conditions at the old hangar -- which was last renovated in the 1980s, said Bill Knott, chief scientist for the biomedical office at KSC. "The hangar roof leaks," Knott said. "If we have any significant rainfall it floods the place."
Gary Stutte, a plant scientist, has worked in the older hangar for seven years. He is currently preparing an experiment on how wheat grows on the space station, and sees his work benefiting from a new facility.
Researchers who now deal with the older facility's drawbacks would instead be able to concentrate on their research, Stutte said. "It certainly would be more convenient in many ways," Stutte said. "We'd have time to be more productive."
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