HOUSTON While investigators try to piece together why Columbia disintegrated during reentry killing its crew, a NASA-backed move is underway to upgrade space shuttle systems and hardware to sustain decades more of flight.
Government, industry and university experts are set to hold a Space Shuttle Life Extension Program Summit, to be held March 19-20 at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans, Louisiana.
The high-level summit was far along in its planning prior to the Columbia accident, and takes on added importance in charting the future of the space shuttle program.
Shuttle modernization
The first Space Shuttle Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) Summit will focus on how to maintain and upgrade the overall space shuttle system. Taking part in the two-day summit, NASA will join with representatives from other government agencies, industry and academia.
Central to discussions is assuring that all critical assets are in place to safely and effectively fly the space shuttle through at least the middle of the next decade.
How to enhance shuttle safety, closer integration of the shuttle and space station programs, as well as industrial readiness to support a shuttle modernization program are among topics to be addressed.
Life extension duty
The summit has been masterminded by retired Major General Michael Kostelnik, now Deputy Associate Administrator for the International Space Station and Space Shuttle Programs at NASA Headquarters.
Kostelnik orchestrated a similar service life extension program during his tenure as Commander of the Air Armament Center at the Air Force Materiel Command, headquartered at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
In a web site dedicated to the summit, Kostelnik explains that the meeting has been called "to advance the important dialogue on how to maintain and upgrade Space Shuttle systems and technologies in order to achieve decades more of productive flight."
Scheduled to join Kostelnik in shaping the summit is veteran pilot astronaut, William Readdy, now NASAs Associate Administrator in the Office of Space Flight at NASA Headquarters. Also a key player in the meeting is Ron Dittemore, manager of the space shuttle program, bringing to the table over 25 years of shuttle hardware experience.
Strategic plan needed
"The idea here is to bring all the stakeholders together to define a strategy plan," said a source close to the summit. "It will look at safety priorities and performance enhancements to the shuttle system, as well as develop a plan to gain support for extending the life of the space shuttle program," the source said.
"You dont want to have people not addressing these issues. With a new NASA administrator, a new White House, a new organization and management structure and then have the Columbia tragedy you dont want people after the fact coming in and telling you that you ought to be doing something like this," the source said.
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