Shuttle Costs Surge - Extensive Fixes to Fleet Will Run $1.1B

http://www.floridatoday.com/news/spa...HUTTLECOST.htm

"Shuttle costs surge - Extensive fixes to fleet will run $1.1B, NASA
comptroller says"
BY LARRY WHEELER
FLORIDA TODAY - July 17, 2004

WASHINGTON -- Fixing the U.S. space shuttle fleet will be more expensive
than originally estimated, top NASA officials said Friday.

It could cost as much as $1.1 billion to accomplish all the safety
upgrades and changes now under way and planned, said Steven Isakowitz,
NASA comptroller.

That's more than double the estimate NASA gave earlier this year.

The price increase was caused by additional shuttle improvements NASA
has begun and more extensive work on repairs it was already undertaking,
said Michael Kostelnik, deputy associate administrator for the
International Space Station and space shuttle programs.

"It's not as if we couldn't estimate the cost," Kostelnik told reporters
at a briefing at NASA headquarters in Washington. "We could not estimate
the content."

For example, Kostelnik said modifications to the insulation foam on the
shuttle's external fuel tank, the culprit in the loss of shuttle
Columbia, have been far more extensive than originally thought.

Additionally, shuttle program managers are tackling far more
improvements to the remaining three space planes than the 15
enhancements mandated by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board last
summer, Kostelnik said.

The new shuttle repair estimates come just days before a House
appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to take up an annual spending
bill that will set NASA's funding for fiscal year 2005, which begins
Oct. 1.

Isakowitz said NASA officials briefed members of Congress on the
increased cost estimates.

"They fully appreciate a program of this complexity," Isakowitz said.
"There is no easy solution."

The Bush administration has asked for an $866 million increase in NASA's
budget for the next fiscal year. Of that increase, $750 million is for
shuttle return-to-flight needs and other costs associated with the
International Space Station.

In meetings with lawmakers, Isakowitz stressed the need for Congress to
approve the entire increase.

"Unless we get the president's full request, the problem (of fixing the
shuttles) could be a lot tougher," he said.

Although the appropriations process may not wrap up until after Election
Day, lawmakers have already expressed opposition to granting NASA such a
big increase in a tight budget year when many other federal programs --
except defense -- are being told to endure cuts or only slight
increases.

This most recent cost increase isn't going to sit well with some
lawmakers, said Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., chairman of the Senate
Science, Technology and Space Subcommittee.

"We're pouring a lot of money -- $4 billion to $5 billion a year -- into
the shuttle whether it flies or not," said Brownback. "There will be
some real hard questions such as what are we getting out of putting more
money into the shuttle."

Brownback said he would rather retire the shuttle sooner and divert its
budget and accelerate NASA's plans to follow through on President Bush's
vision to send astronauts back to the moon and eventually to Mars.

[end of article]

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