WASHINGTON (States News Service) -- The U.S. Navy says it is ready to step in with an "interim control module" for the International Space Station as soon as March of 2000 if the Russian model is not ready to go on schedule, despite claims by members of Congress that NASA has no firm contingency plans for the ISS.
Pete Wilhelm, director of the Naval Center for Space Technology, said that an unused Naval booster stage, originally slated to lift a satellite to a higher orbit from the Space Shuttle Challenger, will take the place of the Russian service module if it is not ready this November.
"It was almost an accident," Wilhelm said about coming up with the module. "There was a casual conversation between one of my young engineers and a NASA engineer at a conference."
A NASA spokeswoman confirmed that the plan is in place.
The service module will control the orientation of the station as well as creating a temporary living space during the beginning of the station's mission. The module will also provide "reboost," in the form of 12,000 pounds of propulsion, which will keep the two station modules already in space in their 400 km orbit.
Presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has repeatedly criticized NASA for having no full contingency plans in case the Russians fail to deliver their promised contributions to the station. A recent report from the General Accounting Office also urged NASA to finish its contingency plans.
"Russias' funding problems have delayed delivery of the Service Module -- the first major Russian-funded component -- and raised questions about its ability to support the station during and after assembly," the GAO report stated. The Russians are scheduled to launch the module Nov. 12.
"I don't think anyone believes that," Wilhelm said of the Russian's ability to launch the module on time. Wilhelm said that representatives of the GAO know about the Navy's plan, but the report did not give specifics.
"The GAO people have been here and they understand," Wilhelm said.
Wilhelm said that the Navy originally developed the stage in the early 1980's to boost satellites into orbit from the Shuttle. However, after the Challenger accident, the Department of Defense said the shuttle could not carry any more military satellites.
After the Navy began to send satellites up on Air Force Titan IV rockets, they had no need for the stage fitted for the Shuttle. It sat dormant for over 13 years until the chance meeting between the two engineers.
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