Sep 6 2001
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(New page: Lockheed Martin confirmed that the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) had decided not to fund the company’s development of the X-33 space plane, a possible replacement vehicle for ...)
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Lockheed Martin confirmed that the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) had decided not to fund the company’s development of the X-33 space plane, a possible replacement vehicle for the Space Shuttle. Since 1996, Lockheed Martin had been developing a pilotless prototype of the X-33, a reusable spacecraft that would be able to launch without shedding fuel tanks or boosters and to land like an airplane. However, the development of lightweight fuel tanks had taken the project off schedule and over budget, and NASA had decided in March 2001 to forego continued funding for the X-33, although it was, reportedly, 75 percent complete. When Lockheed Martin had subsequently attempted to secure another government sponsor for the project, the U.S. Air Force had expressed interest in the project and submitted to the Pentagon a proposal to fund the space plane. However, the DOD had since determined that the project was too costly to undertake. (Michael Cabbage, “Air Force Decides Not To Revive Lockheed’s X-33 Space Plane,” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 7 September 2001.)
The U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space held a hearing on safety and workforce issues related to NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. According to newspaper reports, much of the testimony addressed the effects of budget cuts on the safety improvements for the Space Shuttles. Subcommittee members and witnesses reportedly were critical of the budget cuts and concerned about their possibly detrimental effects on Shuttle safety. Individuals providing testimony at the hearing were NASA Deputy Associate Administrator William F. Readdy, Allen Li of the General Accounting Office (GAO), Michael James McCulley of United Space Alliance, Richard D. Blomberg, chair of the ASAP, and Bryan D. O’Connor, former chair of the NRC’s Committee on Space Shuttle Upgrades. (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space, Shuttle Safety, 1 07th Cong., 1st sess., 6 September 2001; Tamara Lytle, “Experts Fear for Shuttle Safety as NASA Budget Is Trimmed,” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 7 September 2001.)
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