This story was updated at 12:33 p.m. ET.
WASHINGTON The chief of NASA's space shuttle program said
Tuesday that the agency could technically continue to fly its three aging
orbiters beyond their planned 2010 retirement if ordered to do so by President
Barack Obama and lawmakers. All it would take would be the extra funding needed
to pay for it.
Space shuttle program manager John Shannon said NASA spends
about $200 million a month on its space
shuttle program. That's about $2.4 billion a year that would be required to
keep the shuttle flying beyond their 2010 retirement date, he said.
"I think the real issue that the agency and the nation has
to address is the expense," Shannon told reporters in a mission briefing.
NASA currently plans to retire the space shuttle fleet in
the fall after flying the last of four final shuttle missions remaining for
this year. The next shuttle to fly is Discovery, which is poised to blast off
on April 5 to deliver vital supplies and spare parts to the International Space
Station.
The fleet's retirement would end more than 29 years of U.S.
space shuttle flights and leave NASA without a dedicated American spacecraft
for launching astronauts into orbit.
Some U.S. senators and members of Congress have expressed
support for extending
the shuttle program, with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) filing a
bill last week formally seeking a reprieve for NASA's space shuttle fleet.
Last month, President Barack Obama proposed canceling the
Constellation program building NASA's
shuttle replacement the Orion crew exploration vehicle and its Ares
rockets as part of his 2011 budget request for the space agency. Instead, the
president asked NASA to provide more support to private companies that are
building commercial spacecraft, which could launch astronauts to the
International Space Station.
The 2011 budget request would extend the space station's
life through at least 2020 and set aside $6 billion over five years to spur
commercial spacecraft development. The president plans to hold a special
meeting in Florida on April 15 to discuss his plan for American human spaceflight.
Shannon said NASA already has the external tank and twin
solid rocket boosters for at least one extra shuttle mission beyond the four
remaining flights.
That tank and its boosters are currently reserved for a
rescue mission in case NASA's final
shuttle flight runs into serious trouble, but could potentially be used to
deliver more supplies and cargo to the space station if approved.
NASA has already begun shutting down some parts of the space
shuttle program, but could restart assembly lines if ordered to do so. The
agency has launched a new study to touch base with its shuttle program
suppliers to see what is available and what might be needed to support an
extension, Shannon said.
There is also the issue of recertifying NASA's space
shuttles for continued flight beyond 2010.
The decision to retire the shuttle fleet which consists of
the Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour orbiters was made in the wake of the tragic
2003 loss of the space shuttle Columbia and its seven-astronaut crew as they
reentered Earth's atmosphere.
An investigation board suggested that NASA recertify its space shuttles to make
sure they were safe for continued flight if they were to continue launching
beyond a planned retirement. NASA planned to mothball the shuttles and replace
them with safer capsule-based spacecraft and new rockets to launch them.
Shannon said studies into how best to go about that
recertification process have been underway since 2005. The agency has also met
with aviation experts for long-running programs, like the U.S. Air Force's B-52
bomber program, to determine new ways to inspect shuttles to recertify them.
After meeting the B-52 bomber experts, NASA added 23 extra
inspection points to its shuttle health checks, Shannon said.
"We feel like we've addressed recertification," Shannon
said, adding that lawmakers and experts would have to weigh in on NASA's
efforts to make sure they align with the Columbia investigation board's
recommendations.
Shannon said there would be a gap of about two years between
the order to resume building shuttle fuel tanks and the time the next one would
be delivered. That gap could potentially be shortened by spacing out the
remaining shuttle missions, he added.
With the shuttle fleet's retirement looming amid calls for
its extension, NASA has been keeping tabs on the morale of shuttle workers with
surveys for technicians and managers every four months, Shannon said.
"From a personal standpoint, I just think it's amazing that
we're headed down a path where we're not going to have any vehicles at all to launch
from the Kennedy Space Center for an extended period of time; to give up all
the lessons learned and the blood, sweat and tears that we've expended to get
the space shuttle to the point where it is right now where it is performing so
magnificently," Shannon said. "But it's a money discussion, and if we don't
have the resources to do that and to continue to logistically supply the International
Space Station, then I understand it."
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