NASA News
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration

John C. Stennis Space Center
Stennis Space Center, MS 39529-6000 PF-03-122
(228) 688-3341 Aug. 26, 2003

Paul Foerman FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NASA Acting News Chief
(228) 688-3341

NASA STENNIS SPACE CENTER EMPLOYEES ARE COMMITTED TO RETURN TO FLIGHT

HANCOCK COUNTY, Miss. -- The employees at Stennis Space Center are fully
committed to
returning to flight. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board's report will
reinvigorate NASA and
we fully support it.
Stennis Space Center feels very close to the return to flight effort, as
some of our top managers
are playing key roles in the effort. Bill Parsons, our former center
director, is now the Space Shuttle
Program Manager. Robert Lightfoot, our former head of Rocket Propulsion
Testing, is at NASA
Headquarters helping to lead the development of NASA's Implementation Plan
for Return to Flight.
Dr. Rick Gilbrech, the head of our Program Integration Office, is Stennis'
representative for
implementing the new NASA Engineering and Safety Center at Langley Research
Center in Virginia.
Mike Smiles, the head of our Safety and Mission Assurance office, is
assisting the efforts at Michoud.
They are all playing a major role in the return to flight effort.
The Space Shuttle is the world's first reusable spacecraft. It is still a
one-of-a-kind vehicle and
remains the best in the world at accomplishing the mission it has been
designed to do. Stennis Space
Center has been testing all Space Shuttle Main Engines since 1975 and will
continue to make these
engines ready to propel the Shuttle into space. We are approaching (on Oct.
1) 1,000,000 seconds of
testing on this phenomenal engine. Every astronaut who has flown on the
Space Shuttle has ridden on
these engines tested at Stennis. This testing at Stennis has ensured a
fantastic reliability record for the
Shuttle's engines. Besides the complex that tests the Space Shuttle Main
Engines, the center has
another area, the E-Complex test facility that is the largest facility of
its kind in the nation. The E-
Complex tests the developmental rocket engine components for future
spacecraft.
Stennis Space Center will play a major role in the Shuttle's return to
flight. We are One NASA
and will dedicate all our energies to ensure the Shuttle is fit to fly. We
are very proud of the hard work
and dedication of our people at Stennis, all of whom are doing their part in
helping the Shuttle in
returning to flight.

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Jacques :-)

Editor: www.spacepatches.info

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