Russian Woes May Delay Work on Space Station

The first launch under the international space station program, scheduled for November, may have to be delayed because the Russian space agency is falling behind on a critical part of the system, U.S. space agency chief Daniel S. Goldin disclosed Wednesday.

“There is a possibility we might wait,” Goldin acknowledged under tough questioning by the House Science Committee.

After more than a year of U.S. jawboning Russian officials to provide adequate funding for their space agency and an emergency short-term loan, congressional officials said that they have lost patience and now want the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to be ready to proceed without Russia.

The unfolding crisis appears to fulfill the worst fears of critics, who said in 1993 when the Russians were brought into the program that they would not be reliable partners.

But the NASA administrator defended the Russians, saying that they have contributed valuable technology, and he pleaded for more patience.

“I believe we did the right thing by working with the Russians,” he said. “Throughout any major development project, there have always been development problems. You never had it nice and neat.”

But Science Committee Chairman Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) said Russian promises so far had been “worthless,” and he grilled Goldin about whether he has alternatives ready.

“The U.S. program is walking a financial tightrope,” Sensenbrenner said. “It certainly cannot tolerate any more instability caused by external pressures.”

A decision to delay the launch would be fraught with political peril for a program that is subject to repeated attacks by critics who would eliminate its $2.1 billion in annual funding.

“The risk is a political risk,” said Marcia S. Smith, a noted space expert at the Congressional Research Service. “The opponents of the space station will use this as another example that NASA can’t perform.”

NASA is depending on the Russian Krunichev Design Bureau to build two of three initial elements of the space station, including a service module that was to be launched in 1998.

But Krunichev has slowed down work on the module and is now about eight months behind schedule because the cash-starved Russian government is holding back funding.

The problems have rippled across the entire $30-billion project and forced NASA to consider an emergency program by the U.S. Navy to construct alternative hardware or to pay Russia to build the alternative components, Goldin said.

In a meeting with Vice President Al Gore last week, Russian Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin pledged that Russia would release $100 million in funding for the space station this month and an additional $250 million later this year.

NASA has agreed to provide a $20-million loan to the Russians to provide a boost until their funding is released but that is only a fraction of the billions Russia eventually must pay to build and operate the space station. NASA’s scheduled November launch is to put into orbit a “functional cargo block,” also built by Russia but using U.S. funds. That element is on schedule.

The second piece would be a U.S. component that would link with elements launched later. The piece is the Russian service module, which provides navigation, an initial habitat for humans and propulsion to keep the station in orbit.

If NASA were to launch the first two parts as scheduled and the Russian service module were not available, the orbiting spacecraft potentially could plunge into the atmosphere and burn up.

To avoid that, Goldin said, NASA may have to delay the first launch until it is clear that the Russian service module or a replacement system will be available.