Oct 1 1996
From The Space Library
United Space Alliance (USA), a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corporation and Rockwell International, took over daily operations of NASA's Space Shuttle fleet. NASA had previously used private contractors. NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin marked the occasion as "the first day of a new space program in America." Financial experts forecast that the government-private industry pact might be worth as much as US$12 billion by the end of its 10-year venture. According to the agreement, USA shouldered the responsibility for the 12 Shuttle-related contracts carried out at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. NASA stated that USA might take over additional tasks in the future. NASA had decided to consolidate the Shuttle operations with USA to improve cost efficiency, a vital step in light of congressional budget cuts. Kent Black, the CEO of USA, predicted that the move would save NASA as much as 20 percent of its operating budget for the Shuttle in the first year of the contract alone. Even with the turnover, NASA maintained complete control over planning Shuttle missions, selecting astronauts, and approving launches of the Shuttle. NASA planned to take on an oversight role similar to that of the Federal Aviation Administration, rewarding USA with bonuses for savings and imposing monetary penalties if the company failed to achieve "very good" safety ratings.
NASA introduced a new technology with the potential to make much smaller and more efficient electronic devices: the Thin-Layer Composite-Unimorph Piezoelectric Driver and Sensor (THUNDER). Researchers at Langley Research Center (LARC) recognized the potential of piezoelectric material, because of its well-known capability to generate movement when subjected to an electric current. NASA hoped that the THUNDER technology would improve devices in "electronics, optics, jitter (irregular motion) suppression, noise cancellation, pumps, valves and a variety of other fields." LARC's interdisciplinary team had improved upon already available commercial-grade piezoelectric material, producing a more durable, cheaper, and more effective product. R&D Magazine announced that it would honor THUNDER as one of its top 100 most technologically significant new products of the year. Six companies signed agreements with NASA to develop THUNDER, and a dozen other companies expressed interest in negotiating similar pacts.
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