NASA's New Budget Launches Hunt for Shuttle: The Next Generation


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	NASA's New Budget Launches Hunt for Shuttle: The Next Generation By Paul Hoversten Washington Bureau Chief posted: 06:21 pm ET 07 February 2000

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WASHINGTON -- NASA's budget request for this year throws open the door for aerospace companies to build the next-generation space vehicle.

The agency this year wants to put $290 million into space transportation -- a 48 percent increase over last year -- as part of a five-year, $4.5 billion Space Launch Initiative to spur private industry into developing a replacement for the space shuttle.

More About NASA's Budget

NASA's 2000 Budget: The agency proposed $14 billion budget is a3-percent increase over the $13.6 billion the space agency received in 1999.

Humans to Mars Not in Cards, NASA Says: NASA can't ask for an enormous budget at a time when federal dollars are being stretched thin in many other areas. Recent studies estimate the cost of a human mission to Mars is between $20 and $40 billion.

NASA Watchers Give New Budget Thumbs Up: Space industry-watchers particularly loved $290 million for space transportation, a 48 percent increase from last year. They also applauded $2.4 billion for NASA' space science division, a 9-percent increase over 2000.

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It will be "the competition of the decade," said NASA Administrator Dan Goldin, who announced the agency's proposed budget on Monday.

The overall budget request is $14 billion, up from the $13.6 billion NASA got last year -- the first increase for the agency in seven years.

Some of that increase goes to fund a series of safety upgrades for the space shuttle, including hiring 1,850 more engineers over the next five years.

Also targeted in the $256 million investment for safety are three high-priority upgrades that together will nearly double the reliability of the shuttle during liftoff. Those upgrades cover improvements to the shuttle's main engines, the electrical-generating Auxiliary Power Units and avionics controls in the cockpits.

Though the space shuttle fleet -- which first flew in 1981 -- has only used a quarter of its lifetime, it is in dire need of safety upgrades, Goldin said.

"Keep in mind that the probability [of disaster during launch] right now is about one in a few hundred. I'm told that if you're a combat pilot the probability is one in 20,000," Goldin said.

"This is something that requires attention every minute of every day and it would be unconscionable for us not to take steps. This is not politics. It's not business. It's a statement�that the safety of those brave astronauts has to be dealt with," he said.

But the shuttle can't fly forever. NASA only plans to keep it going until 2010 or 2012, hence the need for a competition to replace it.

"We are interested in bottom-line results," Goldin. "Our stated goal for [a] second-generation [launch vehicle] is that the probability of loss of crew will be improved by a factor of 100. The probability of loss of vehicle will be improved by factor of 10. And the operations per pound to getting to orbit will be reduced by a factor of 10. That is what we want."

It will take "breakthrough technologies" and "incredible leaps" in research and development in order to do that, he said. Major pushes will need to occur in the areas of biotechnology, miniaturization and information technology.

To better focus on those areas, NASA has merged its chief technologist's office with the office of aerospace technology. Heading up the new post will be chief technologist Sam Venneri, who also becomes an associate administrator for aerospace technology. Venneri's duties include developing new commercial partnerships and establishing technology core competencies at NASA's centers.

"We are going to move out to give this nation once and for all assured access to space with incredible safety and a much reduced cost," Goldin said. "That is the objective."