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FYI
The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News
Number 37: March 25, 2003

Hearing Addresses NASA Budget Request, Shuttle Investigation

"It's simply impossible to get a clear fix at this point on how much
the human space flight program will require in the upcoming fiscal
year."  - House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert

As the Columbia Accident Investigation Board continues to seek
answers to the shuttle tragedy, Congress must proceed with
consideration of NASA's FY 2004 budget.  On February 27, the House
Science Committee heard from NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe on the
agency's budget request and how the grounding of the shuttle fleet is
impacting the international space station.  Committee members raised
questions about the Earth Science budget, cuts to aeronautics R&D and
tech transfer programs, proposals for a number of new initiatives,
and progress on a vehicle to complement or replace the shuttle.

There is no indication yet of when the investigation board will
complete its work and the shuttle fleet will return to operation.
Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), who had previously
voiced concern over the independence of the accident investigation
board, expressed himself "more convinced than ever that the Columbia
Accident Investigation Board has the independence and resources it
needs."  However, others were not yet satisfied.  Rep. Bart Gordon
(D-TN) urged that the board be appointed as a presidential
commission, and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee called for greater diversity
on the board.  Members repeatedly questioned whether, during the
Columbia flight, engineers' concerns were addressed at the
appropriate level within NASA.  O'Keefe thought so, but added, "Was
that a judgment call that was in error?  We'll find out."

O'Keefe reported that, the previous day, the space station
international partners had reached agreement on a plan to use the
Russian Soyuz to bring back the three-person station crew in April or
May, and replace them with a two-person crew.  Additional flights of
the unmanned Progress resupply vehicle would be planned over the next
two years.  Previous hearing testimony, Boehlert noted, indicated
that the station needed more than two crew members just to maintain
operations.  NASA and its international partners have concluded that
a two-member crew can continue operations and conduct some science,
O'Keefe replied, and can use the Soyuz as an escape vehicle if
needed.  The objective, he said, is to keep the station operating and
continue conducting research, so that assembly can be continued at
the earliest opportunity.

O'Keee called the $15.5 billion FY 2004 request a "responsible"
budget that incorporates full-cost accounting, pursues
transformational technologies that will "open new pathways," and
includes exciting initiatives aligned with NASA's new Strategic Plan
(available in pdf format at
www.nasa.gov/about/budget/content/strategi.pdf).  He described nine
specific new opportunities in the request: initiatives in human
research; optical communications; climate change research; aviation
security; national airspace system transformation augmentation; quiet
aircraft technology acceleration; education; several "Einstein"
observatories; and Project Prometheus, a mission to Jupiter's icy
moons that will use nuclear power and propulsion technologies.  He
said the request also supports space station assembly to the U.S.
core configuration, upon the shuttle's return to flight, so the
station could be built out to a configuration dictated by the
research objectives.  He added that NASA plans to proceed with
establishment of a non-governmental organization to prioritize those
research objectives. 

Remarking that the change to full-cost accounting made comparison
with the FY 2003 appropriation difficult, Boehlert asked NASA for a
conversion of the final FY 2003 numbers to enable "meaningful
comparisons." 

Questioning NASA's plans for several "expensive new missions,"
Ranking Minority Member Ralph Hall (D-TX) commented, "A year after
OMB cancelled the $1 billion Europa Orbiter mission because it was
too expensive, NASA is now proposing to undertake a $4 billion
mission to Jupiter's icy moons.  Two years after OMB deferred work on
a $1.4 billion U.S. Crew Return Vehicle for the International Space
Station, NASA is now proposing to spend what it estimates could be
ten times as much on an Orbital Space Plane." 

Hall urged greater attention to crew survivability systems for the
shuttle.  Many members inquired about the role and cost of the
planned Orbital Space Plane, and whether development could be
accelerated with additional funding.  The plane is intended to
complement the shuttle by providing crew transfer capability, O'Keefe
explained, and the shuttle would continue to be used for its
heavy-lift capacity while technologies were developed for a
next-generation launch vehicle.  He hoped that a single design would
be selected within the next 12-18 months, but could not speculate on
the total cost at this time.  The plan currently calls for the
Orbital Space Plane to be operational by 2010, but NASA is exploring
whether its development could be accelerated.

Several members questioned the value of human space flight and of
recent research performed aboard the shuttle and space station.
O'Keefe, as in past hearings, used the Hubble Space Telescope as the
"most instructive example" of how human involvement can complement
unmanned missions.  He also referred to the role of space-based
research in development of a heart pump, and said that human research
on the station could have "rather dramatic" applications for those on
Earth. 

Indicating his interest in doubling the science budgets of NASA and
DOE, Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI) thanked O'Keefe for seeking increased
funding for NASA science programs.  Boehlert expressed concerns about
whether "Earth Science is getting its due," and called it a critical
NASA mission "of enormous scientific utility."  Committee members
were also concerned about the aging of the NASA S&T workforce and the
agency's difficulties in hiring.  Boehlert testified to the Senate
Governmental Affairs Committee on March 6 about this issue, and has
reintroduced legislation (H.R. 1085) that would give NASA enhanced
flexibility and authority in recruiting and retaining scientists and
engineers. 

While the tone of the hearing was generally positive toward NASA
programs, the House Science Committee, as an authorizing committee,
does not have control of NASA's purse strings.  Future hearings on
the agency's FY 2004 budget will be held by VA/HUD appropriators in
the House and Senate, who will draft the funding legislation for NASA
and other programs under their jurisdiction.

###############
Audrey T. Leath
Media and Government Relations Division
The American Institute of Physics
fyi{at}aip.org
(301) 209-3094
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