Somewhere in Florida a NASA technician is repairing the space shuttle Discovery for the final time. Policies of George W. Bush and President Barrack Obama have dismantled the space shuttle program. Bush's space policy grounded our shuttle fleet but offered no funding or encouragement for the replacement vehicles outlined in the Constellation Program. Last year, President Obama effectively dismantled the Constellation Program and instead plans to replace our shuttle fleet with private industry. So far no exact, or working, timetable exists for future manned space flights originating from the United States. With NASA's future unclear it'd be a wonder if researchers weren't following the Discovery's lead and starting to crack under pressure.
Discovery's Technical Woes
The space shuttle Discovery, STS-133, is cracking up. Perhaps the pressure of retirement is getting to the old craft. Discovery's next mission, a resupply mission to the international space station, will be the shuttle's final endeavor. However, on November 5, 2010 technicians discovered a crack in Discovery's Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate or GUCP. The GUCP, according to NASA, is at the end of a service arm responsible for clearing excess liquid hydrogen during fueling the external tanks of the spacecraft. NASA considers the GUCP critical to ground level preparations for liftoff and after the criticism of NASA safety procedures following the 2003 Columbia disaster they aren't taking chances.
Unfortunately for the Discovery, two more cracks were found on the fuel tanks themselves. On December 17th NASA began a tanking test. Filling the Discovery's orange external fuel tanks with liquid-oxygen and hydrogen a series of 89 sensors registered four more cracks in the tank. The tank has since been taken to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs and further testing. Discovery's final flight is scheduled to occur no sooner than February 24, 2011. According to a press release dated January 13, 2011 NASA is targeting 4:50 p.m. EST on Thursday February 24, for the launch of space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 mission to the International Space Station.
NASA Dismantled by Policy & Neglect
The future of Discovery's launch is not the only uncertainty at NASA these days. Since President George W. Bush's January 14 2004 speech on the future of space policy, a number of questions have lingered. Bush's speech outlined a plan for space exploration that began with returning to the moon by 2020 and from there to manned missions to Mars and beyond. Bush's speech came less than a year after the Columbia disaster as an attempt to rescue popular opinion of NASA. At the time space flight was still suspended as the Columbia incident was investigated. The result of President Bush's new space policy was the Constellation Program.
Constellation: Moon, Mars and Malaise
The Constellation Program called for the retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet no later than 2011. Future space flight, under constellation, would be carried out through a series of new exploratory crafts including the Orion and Altair, with Ares I and V booster rockets. The Ares I would deliver its payload, Orion and crew, into low earth orbit while the Ares V would deliver its payload, the Altair and supplies shortly after.
President Bush's Constellation program suffered setbacks. First, NASA was unable to provide a long term budget for the Constellation Program. Second, Bush failed to allocate enough funds to begin practical implementation of Constellation projects. Third, a curious gap resulted from the timetable. In 2011 the space shuttle program would end- completely. However America's commitment to the International Space Station would continue until 2015. President Bush did not support the Russian Space Program's transportation of NASA astronauts or equipment. By ending the space shuttle program, Bush essentially abandoned the international space station, refusing to fund his own program. Adding salt to the wound, Bush also set the unreasonable and convoluted “moon first” path to Mars, crippling NASA's ability to explore space.
In 2008 President Bush did sign legislation extending limited space shuttle use in 2011 and beyond. But to what end?
Enter Obama: Exit Constellation
After five years of scientific malaise President Barrack Obama, seeing NASA in a tough situation, announced a new space policy. Scrapping all but a few elements of Bush's Constellation Program, President Obama outlined the future of manned space flight: Private Industry.
Under President Obama's new space policy NASA would dictate what they want a space craft to do and pay private developers to build it. This plan allows NASA to get out of the “Space Taxi” business allowing NASA teams to conduct pure research and development. However, unless NASA makes its current designs public, which as of yet seems unlikely, private industry will be reinventing the wheel so to speak.
Critics, Buzz Aldrin and the Future of NASA
Skeptics of the new plan rightfully point out that private industry has had zero success in manned space flight. However, private rocket launches are often profit driven and necessarily cheaper than government launches. President Obama believes that by farming out manned space flight to private industry, development and launch costs will free up funds for pure research at NASA.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, famous for being among the crew of the Apollo 11 lunar mission and for punching out a man who questioned the moon landing, has been optimistic of President Obama's new space initiative.
“I continue to be excited about the development of commercial capabilities to send humans into low earth orbit and what this could ultimately mean in terms of allowing others to experience the transformative power of spaceflight. I can personally attest to what such an experience can do in creating a different perspective regarding our life on Earth and on our future. I applaud the President for his boldness and commitment in working to make this worthwhile dream a reality.“
Currently limited use of space shuttles will continue; however, for Discovery the end is near. The Discovery is coming apart at the seams and NASA's future is uncertain. Unanswered questions still remain regarding private sector space travel. Will private industry succeed in manned space flight? When? President Obama's plan extends the orbit of the International Space Station until 2020 but potentially leaves us without a means to get there. During the Constellation Program days NASA canceled many contracts for replacement shuttle parts. The wisdom and expense of continual repair on shuttles like Discovery is in question.
If President Obama is serious about the future of NASA he will have to do what President Bush did not: Follow through with his vision and create the infrastructure needed to accomplish his goals. That will require allocation of funds, a potentially unpopular move in a budget-heavy political climate. The next year will be an important one for NASA and space travel in general. How it will end remains to be seen.
