It was Goldin's harshest criticism yet of Russia, one of NASA's 15 partners in the $60 billion international station, and a clear indication of NASA's growing anger over what it considers to be Russian delays in meeting its obligations.
The crew quarters, called the Service Module or Zvezda ("Star"), is an upgraded version of the core lab of Russia's space station Mir. About the size of a city bus, it houses the all-important propulsion system needed to keep the station in orbit during construction.
The Service Module will take over the job of keeping the station from falling back through the atmosphere, which is currently done by a Russian space tug already in orbit. It will double as living quarters for station research crews. It was originally to be launched in April 1998.
The Interim Control Module (ICM) is a propulsion system built by the Naval Research Lab for NASA as a backup for the Russian's Service Module. It does not, however, have crew quarters on it.
Consequently, without the Service Module, NASA could send crews to visit the space station aboard space shuttles but they could not live on the orbiting outpost without the shuttle docked there.
The Service Module is to go up to orbit on a Russian
Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.But the Proton itself has had problems getting off the ground, and the Service Module -- already two years behind schedule -- has remained in the shop while engineers attempt to fix Proton.
As such, Goldin said, the $200 million U.S.-made ICM will be launched to the orbiting station this December if the Russians are unable to put up their piece of hardware by this July.
"The call-out has been given," Goldin said. "We are on a path to ready the ICM to launch to the station this year. We have a decision point in July as to whether to keep on this path."
In July, he said, engineers would have their last chance to design the ICM so it would fit neatly onto the existing station. If the Russians scramble and are able to have their module ready to go to orbit and dock with the station by summer, then the ICM would not need to launch until 2001.
But it is going up either way, Goldin said. NASA also will launch a separate $100 million propulsion module that can re-boost the station and keep it safely in orbit.
Goldin's broadside marked the first time NASA has firmly committed to launching both the ICM and the Propulsion Module. Both were developed as standby parts and NASA has long debated about when and how they might best be used.
With both on board, "it makes the station so much more robust," he said. The ICM and the Propulsion Module have the fuel and thruster rockets to keep the station in orbit 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth.
July, however, is "the first point of no return" for getting the ICM up this year, Goldin said.
He also was visibly upset at reports from Russia that more rockets and crews were being readied to visit the aging Mir space station.
While Goldin emphasized that "it is not up to America to tell the Russians how to operate Mir," anything that "saps their strength" in meeting their commitment to the international station would have grave implications, he said.
"We would have serious problems" with that, he said. "In no way is the operation of Mir to interfere with their commitments to the International Space Station. And we are at the moment of truth."
Goldin also acknowledged that some U.S. components -- including the main laboratory where station astronauts can perform science experiments -- are nearly as tardy as the Russian pieces. The lab is more than 18 months behind schedule.
As such, "it would be intellectually dishonest" to lay all the blame at the Russians, he said.
NASA is taking a neutral position on how the Russians should best fix the problematic Proton and get it ready for use again. Goldin said he would like to see at least three test flights before it actually takes the Service Module to orbit.
"We are making zero declaration on how to fix Proton. God knows, we've had our own problems with [the] shuttle,
Delta and Titan. I am completely sympathetic to them on this."But NASA cannot afford to simply stand by powerless any longer. "We want the Russians to be on the station with us but I feel we have to be responsible custodians," he said. "We are waiting for a signal that they are really committed" to the project.
NASA manager plans to visit their Russian counterparts in Moscow around February 11 and set a date for a general design review of the Service Module. Soon after, NASA will ask the rest of its international partners to gather, perhaps in Moscow or another European capital city, to determine how best to proceed.
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