Jul 24 2007
From The Space Library
The House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics held a hearing to discuss the status and future of the ISS in the context of NASA’s FY 2008 budget request. Subcommittee Chair Mark E. Udall (D-CO) expressed concern about the significant cutbacks in NASA’s ISS research program, warning that these cuts had “potentially serious implications for the productivity of the station as a research facility once it is assembled.” Christina T. Chaplain of GAO testified that NASA had planned 15 more Space Shuttle launches—an average of one every 2.7 months—through 2010, when NASA intended to end the Space Shuttle program. Compared to the existing launch schedule of once every 10.8 months, the new Shuttle schedule would provide little allowance for delays related to mechanical failure or weather. Thomas W. Holloway, Chair of the IISTF, expressed doubt that commercial space vehicles under development would be ready to ferry supplies to the ISS when the Space Shuttle retired. Associate Administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate William H. Gerstenmaier testified that, after the first test flights of the commercial cargo vehicles, scheduled for 2008, NASA would be better able to judge their readiness. Subcommittee Ranking Minority Member Thomas Charles “Tom” Feeney III (R-FL) expressed concern about the loss of skilled KSC workers when NASA ended its Shuttle Program and shifted its focus to the Moon and Mars programs, warning, “We can’t repeat past mistakes—like the Apollo-to-Shuttle transition— where America frittered away hard-earned space-faring skills, which are almost impossible to replace.”
U. S. Congress, House of Representatives, Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, NASA’s Space Shuttle and International Space Station Programs: Status and Issues, 110th Cong., 1st sess., 24 July 2007, 14, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/pagedetails.action?browsePath=110%2FHOUSE%2FCommittee+on+Science+and+Technology&granuleId=CHRG-110hhrg36737&packageId=CHRG-110hhrg36737&fromBrowse=true (accessed 11 January 2011); U.S. Congress, House of Representatives, Committee on Science and Technology, “Subcommittee Examines Challenges Facing Space Shuttle and International Space Station Programs,” press release, 24 July 2007, http://science.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1928 (accessed 29 October 2010); Tamara Lytle, “Space Station’s Future in Doubt,” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 26 July 2007.
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