Jun 3 1998
From The Space Library
At the request of U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Bill Frist (R-TN), the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report, analyzing the United States' role in the ISS and the cost of the program. GAO estimated that life-cycle costs could reach US$96 billion, US$2 billion more than the 1995 estimate, and that these costs could increase further because of the potential for changes in the program. According to the report, "at the current estimated spending rate, the program would incur additional costs of more than [US] $100 million for every month of schedule slippage." The report cited, as reasons for the cost increases, schedule slippage, delays in production of components, the need for additional flights to and from the space station, and NASA's decision to change its tracking requirement for space debris. GAO's report added as much as US$1 billion to the estimate overall, including crew-return-vehicle testing and resupply flights not part of the original NASA estimate. Although the report cited U.S. Department of Defense as the only agency with appropriate tracking equipment, its equipment would need as much as US$5 billion in upgrades to handle the new NASA requirements. The report also highlighted other issues including insufficient staff at KSC to handle nine Shuttle launches per year.
The Boeing Company announced the creation of a new subsidiary called Boeing Space Operations, based in Houston, Texas, at the Johnson Space Center, which would provide various services for government and commercial space operations. Rick Stephens, the president of the new subsidiary, stated that the goal of Boeing Space Operations was to make Boeing "the global provider of low-cost, reliable, commercially based space operations services.
Space Shuttle Discovery encountered its first malfunction during Mission STS-91, when the KU-band system failed to switch on after Discovery's crew deployed its antenna upon reaching orbit. The KU-band downlink carries broadcasts with a high rate of data. The system failure prevented the Shuttle crew from sending televised images or high rates of information to Mission Control. This problem had never occurred before. NASA spokesperson James Hartsfield stated that it was unclear whether the trouble originated with the antenna, transmitter, or other associated equipment. Hartsfield also mentioned that the failure would "prevent immediate analysis of data from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer." The S-band antennas worked normally, and the crew was able to talk with ground controllers as usual.
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