CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An orbital test flight of a prototype crew rescue ship and technology development for human missions to Mars face cancellation as NASA continues a bid to absorb an anticipated $4 billion International Space Station cost overrun, agency officials said Friday.
Unveiling yet another associated round of proposed budget cuts, NASA also would all but stop work on the rescue ship as well as advanced station life support systems for the station.
An unspecified number of jobs at NASA field centers also would be slashed, yet the agency still would face a $484 million ISS budget shortfall in fiscal years 2004 through 2006.
"We've still got about a $500 million problem to solve, but it's in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 timeframe," Michael Hawes, NASA's deputy associate administrator for the ISS program, told reporters during a teleconference.
"On the positive side, we can proceed with (the space station program) in 2002 and 2003."
The Bush Administration in February ordered NASA to reign in escalating ISS costs after it became apparent that the agency would need an additional $4 billion beyond a congressionally-set $25 billion cap to complete the outpost as envisioned.
NASA's initial response was to stop work on an American propulsion module, a U.S. dormitory module and a crew return vehicle -- the latter two of which would be required to expand station staffing from the current level of three to six or seven.The proposed new cuts would scrap plans to conduct an orbital test flight of a prototype crew return vehicle, known as the X-38, during a shuttle mission now scheduled for launch in 2003.
The mission planned called for shuttle Columbia to haul the prototype into orbit. The X-38 then would have executed an atmospheric reentry and landing during what amounted to a full-scale systems test.
Under the proposed cuts, work on the X-38 would all but stop in fiscal 2002, which begins Oct. 1. The same would hold true for work on advanced ISS life support systems.
A slate of technology development efforts being carried out at NASA's Johnson Space Center as precursors to human expeditions to Mars also would be axed under the proposal.
That work includes projects aimed at putting plans in place for the development of human Mars habitats as well as systems for generating fuel from resources available on the Red Planet.
Also on the chopping block: An initiative to lure commercial business to the station.
Hawes said an external review group that will report back to NASA in November would vet the new round of cuts as well as actions already taken.
In the meantime, Hawes said NASA will continue to work on alternatives aimed at enabling the size of station crews to be increased to six or seven, a capability deemed key to carrying out a robust science research program on the outpost.
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