Editor: Kris Cerone

New Day Dawning?

by Diane Rhodes

The midterm elections are over and the new term is being ushered in. What will it mean for the Space program? In the past, support for the space station and other projects has not been robust in the current administration. Under George W. Bush, funding was cut and then ended for the crew return vehicle. Without it, the International Space Station was being unable to do the science it was designed for. This lack of support for the space program has been pronounced in the first two years of the Bush administration.

NASA, in order to kept it's commitments to the ISS and to a number of new technology development programs (materials processing and nanotechnology, to name two), is considering a new space plane, which will be designed to be less expensive to launch, utilizing one of the new heavier expendable launch vehicles. http://www.space.com/news/microgravity_report_021108.html

Other countries, which had been partners in the ISS, are finding that their participation is limited due to a lack of the crew return vehicle. The new space plane may open the ISS up to increased international utilization, due to the use of a different launch system than that employed by the shuttle. Using more than one system would enable two vehicles to access the station at the same time. The proposals put forward by two major contractors suggest a look into an old idea. http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/fl_021030a.html

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and President Bush are asking Congress to work around NASA's current and future budgets to accommodate the proposed maintenance schedule for the Shuttle and development of the new launch system. http://www.floridatoday.com/news/space/stories/2002b/110902budget.htm

Too little, too late or just in time? We'll see.

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