Cuts Threaten Shuttle Safety, NASA Says

Some planned upgrades to the nation’s aging space shuttle program are being canceled or delayed, partly because of unanticipated expenses confronting the space program, a top NASA official said Thursday.

Budget problems could affect space shuttle safety, William Readdy, a deputy associate administrator for NASA, told a Senate Commerce subcommittee.

He said some projects were “being evaluated for cancellation or deferral . . . due to either technical issues or to pay for increased costs that were not known at the time of the budget submission.”

Readdy said some of the increased costs were beyond NASA’s control, such as contractor rate increases and higher energy costs.

Many Democrats, led by Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, have recommended adding money to NASA’s budget to prevent a possible decline of safety standards in the space shuttle program.

House and Senate negotiators are to sit down soon to complete the NASA budget numbers, now ranging between $14.5 billion and $15 billion.

Nelson, who traveled to space as a congressman, said the shuttle portion of the budget is about $218 million less than needed. He complained that the shuttle program has seen its outlays decrease every year since 1990.

“We’re starving NASA’s budget and thus greatly increasing the chance of a catastrophic loss,” Nelson said.

“I wonder if the lessons of Challenger are fading,” Nelson said. In 1986, the shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff, killing all seven aboard, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

Richard D. Blomberg, chairman of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, said the shuttle program needs updated equipment and facilities and a skilled work force to fly safely in coming years.

Many members of Congress, however, have cited the cost record of the international space station, which in 1984 was estimated eventually to cost $8 billion to build. It’s now expected to run $28 billion to $30 billion.

Last year, Congress imposed a $25-billion cap on station spending, but NASA said it was headed $4 billion higher. The Bush administration directed NASA to curtail expansion by 2005 and absorb other cost increases.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) cited a report by congressional auditors that questioned NASA’s accounting practices on the space station.

“It is unconscionable that after spending most of this year reviewing the costs of the station, they still don’t know where they are,” McCain said Thursday. “The [General Accounting Office] has once again found that NASA has failed the American taxpayer.”