WASHINGTON
-- NASA's attempt to finish the International Space Station by the time it
retires its space shuttle fleet in two years would require much to happen and
very little to go wrong, a congressional auditor told lawmakers Thursday.
"It will be a challenge
for NASA to complete the space station by 2010 given the compressed
nature of the schedule, maintenance and safety concerns, as well as events
beyond its control, such as weather," said Cristina Chaplain of the
Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
Chaplain testified before
the House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics.
Its chairman, Rep. Mark
Udall, a Colorado Democrat, said he was impressed with the space station's
progress but expressed concern over how NASA plans to sustain the project after
the shuttle's retirement.
"If we are to receive
a meaningful return on the nation's investment in the ISS, we need to ensure
that the station's post-shuttle logistics resupply needs are adequately funded,"
he said.
Chaplain said that for NASA
to finish the space station within the next two years, the agency must stick to
its current aggressive schedule -- just slightly less demanding than the one it
pursued prior to the Columbia
disaster. At the time of the 2003 accident, NASA launched a shuttle about
every other month and used four vehicles -- one more than its current fleet --
to maintain its schedule.
Ten more flights are
scheduled before NASA retires the shuttle in 2010. That schedule includes two
contingency" missions that would deliver critical spare parts to the
station.
Chaplain pointed out that
once the space station is finished, NASA will have a hard time supplying it
because there won't be spacecraft
large enough to carry necessary cargo.
The agency will be relying heavily
on the Russians, and eventually on the Europeans and Japanese, to supply
vehicles that can service
the space station once the shuttles retire. But, she noted, none of those
vehicles are capable of bringing cargo back.
Chaplain also noted that
NASA must complete the space station to expand its scientific research.
Currently, most of the crew's time is spent maintaining the station, as opposed
to conducting experiments.
According to NASA, the crew
spends no more than three hours per week on science, she said.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a
California Republican, noted the testimony of several scientists who spoke
about the medical research taking place because of the space station.
Rohrabacher said he viewed himself as a great supporter of the space station,
but he doubts whether any of the scientific accomplishments mentioned have been
validated.
"I've heard a lot of
rhetoric today. I've been listening to that rhetoric for 20 years," he
said. "I'm satisfied with the fact that we now have capabilities of
building structures in space. I would hope they're not just pyramids. . . . I
hope there is something that comes out of it in terms of a cure for a disease.
Believe me, I've been listening to that for 10 years, I haven't seen it
yet."
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