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Fwd: starship-design: O'Keefe Says OSP Will Cover Exploration Vision
In a message dated 11/24/03 5:08:58 PM, KellySt@aol.com writes:
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> O'Keefe Says OSP Will Cover Exploration Vision
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> Aviation Week & Space Technology
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> 11/03/2003, page 28
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> Frank Morring, Jr.
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> Washington
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> (Embedded image moved to file: pic08281.gif)
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> O'Keefe telling skeptical lawmakers OSP will cover exploration 'vision'
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> Earth to Orbit
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> NASA hasn't committed itself to accelerating its proposed Orbital Space
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>Plane
> (OSP) program by two years, and it won't issue a contract on the project
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>until
> Congress has a say on any long-term space-exploration plans the White
>House
>may
> propose, Administrator Sean O'Keefe has told members of Congress worried
>the
>space
> agency is getting ahead of itself on the $15-billion program.
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> Two of the most influential NASA overseers on Capitol Hill--Rep. Sherwood
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>Boehlert
> (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Science Committee, and that panel's ranking
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> Democrat, Rep. Ralph Hall of Texas--last week urged O'Keefe to defer work
>on
>the
> OSP until there is a clear idea of where the U.S. is going in space. After
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>an
> exchange of letters didn't settle the question, O'Keefe said he would
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>discuss it
> directly with Boehlert.
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> "The recent creation of an inter-agency space policy group in the White
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>House is
> testimony to the fact that the nation has made no decision on the outline
>of
>its
> human space flight agenda," Boehlert and Hall wrote O'Keefe in a letter
>they
>
> released Oct. 27. "Therefore, neither the mission nor the benefits of
>the
>OSP are
> knowable at this point."
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> The pair particularly questioned the validity of NASA estimates on the
>cost
>of
> accelerating development of OSP so it could start serving as a crew rescue
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>vehicle
> for the International Space Station as early as 2008, two years ahead
>of the
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> schedule in the current Integrated Space Transportation Plan.
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> Dennis Smith, the OSP program manager, has told lawmakers it will cost
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>$11-13
> billion to build a down-only crew rescue version of OPS that could be
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>stationed at
> the International Space Station (ISS) after launch on an expendable rocket.
>
>Sen.
> John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate panel, said the overall
>OSP
>estimate
> was $15 billion, presumably including its two-way crew transport vehicle
>
>(CTV)
> variant.
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> (Embedded image moved to file: pic04734.jpg)(Embedded image moved to file:
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> pic00053.pcx)
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> European engineers conceived this OSP winged vehicle with an escape pod
>for
>crew
> survivability on ascent. Lawmakers say policy should shape the craft.Credit:
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> EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY
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> "Given NASA's current cost estimates for the program, the OSP five-year
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>budget
> plan that accompanied the FY 2004 NASA budget request is clearly no longer
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> credible," Boehlert and Hall wrote. "Thus the credibility of the accelerated
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>OSP
> program plan and cost estimate, formulated prior to decisions on the design
>
>of the
> OPS and in the absence of any cost estimates for NASA's other planned
>space
>
> transportation initiatives, also must be considered questionable."
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> O'Keefe reminded Boehlert, Hall and the Senate panel that NASA won't issue
>a
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> request for proposal for OSP until the end of this month at the earliest,
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>and
> won't award a contract until next August. By that time, he said, Congress
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>will
> have had time to consider the issues raised in the letter written by
>Boehlert and
> Hall.
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> "The administration is reviewing the overall plan for a crew transfer
>
>vehicle to
> the International Space Station (ISS) in light of overall U.S. space
>exploration
> goals, as part of the FY 2005 budget process," O'Keefe wrote the two House
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>
> members. "This planning horizon will permit ample time for Congress to
>fully
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> consider this important endeavor."
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> That didn't satisfy Boehlert and Hall, who released O'Keefe's letter and
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>stated
> "it does not explain how the Orbital Space Plane fits into an overall
>vision
>for
> the human space flight program, but rather acknowledges that such a vision
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>is
> still being developed." O'Keefe disagreed, and said late Thursday he would
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>take
> the matter up with Boehlert.
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> "We're making no contractual commitments that would preclude a mid-course
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>
> correction," O'Keefe said of the OSP planning process. But as in the past,
>
>he
> would not speculate on whether the White House discussions would produce
>a
>better
> idea of what the mission of the OSP will be beyond transporting crew to
>and
>from
> the ISS, saying again that the ultimate decision will be made and announced
>
>by
> President Bush.
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> "There is an interagency process underway, in which we are looking at
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>various
> options for the vision objectives as well as the strategic modifications
>to
>the
> basic plan as presented," O'Keefe told Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.).
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>Until
> Bush announces his space exploration "vision," O'Keefe said, the long-term
>
>U.S.
> space effort will continue to be focused on three exploration
>enablers--nuclear
> power and propulsion, human endurance in space, and broadband
>
>
> communications--outlined in the Fiscal 2004 budget request (AW&ST Feb.
>10,
>p. 63).
> He said that work would support human exploration to any of the destinations
>
>under
> discussion--the Moon, Mars or the L2 Lagrange point where big human-services
>
>space
> telescopes could work with less heat interference from Earth and the Sun
>
>(AW&ST
> Oct. 27, p. 27).
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> "WE ARE NOT committing the administration or the Congress beyond the scope
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>of what
> is contained in the budget today," O'Keefe told Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.).
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>"That
> said, we are exploring the option to accelerate [OSP], and to the extent
>
>that that
> will be pursued, there will be ample opportunity to do that question and
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>
> incorporate it as part of the president's [Fiscal 2005 budget] well before
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>any
> [OSP] contract."
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> Adm. (ret.) Harold W. Gehman, Jr., who headed the Columbia Accident
>Investigation
> Board, told the Senate panel that while his group did not endorse any
>design
>or
> destination for future U.S. space vehicles, it did urge a clear link between
>
>the
> vehicle and its "concept of operations." Regardless of what the ultimate
>
>
> destination of human space exploration is, in moving from the surface
>of the
>Earth
> to low-Earth orbit (LEO) the OSP will have to traverse the most difficult
>
>and
> dangerous leg of the trip, Gehman said.
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> "We need some leadership to say that just getting into and out of low-Earth
>
>orbit
> without killing a lot of people is a goal worthy in and of itself," Gehman
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>said.
> "That's hard to argue because it isn't very jazzy."
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> After the hearing, Gehman said the best OSP design would be one that could
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>evolve
> into a vehicle that goes beyond LEO, an argument European engineers made
>in
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> recommending a winged OSP based on the Hermes spaceplane (AW&ST Oct. 27,
>p.
>28).
> In a proposal likely to find interest on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers
>are
>on the
> verge of directing NASA to study ways of improving crew survivability
>on the
>space
> shuttle, one European concept would even have an "ejectable cabin" lifting
>
>body
> within the winged vehicle that could eject in the event of an accident
>on
>ascent,
> or be used as an ISS lifeboat (see diagram).
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> "I don't see any reason why the same vehicle which is used to get into
>and
>out of
> low-Earth orbit couldn't also go to other places," Gehman said, stressing
>
>that
> flight frequency requirements for a CTV are also likely to increase in
>the
>years
> ahead. "L2 is not much different from low-Earth orbit."