Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 19, 1990 TAG: 9003192540
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The trouble could force a redesign of the 500-foot-long, 290-ton station, NASA officials said, adding that the agency had only preliminary ideas of how it might be fixed.
The setback was uncovered by a team of National Aeronautics and Space Administration investigators early this year.
They found that the station's construction, expected to take five years, would be only 60 to 70 percent complete before space-walking astronauts had to turn from assembly to an elaborate program of preventive maintenance, inspections and repairs.
The station is envisioned as an orbiting outpost from which astronauts would conduct a variety of scientific studies and would venture into the solar system.
This year's budget for the station is $1.8 billion, and the Bush administration has requested $2.5 billion for next year. So far $3.9 billion has been spent on design studies and the building of prototype parts.
If built as now conceived, the station would require about 2,200 hours of maintenance each year by space-suited astronauts, NASA experts said.
They characterized the figure as alarmingly high.
In the 30-year history of the U.S. space program, astronauts have logged a total of 400 hours in space walks, which are considered dangerous because of radiation risks and possible injury or death from speeding debris and micrometeorites.
The last time an American walked in space was more than four years ago.
"It's pretty serious," said Charles R. Price, a NASA engineer at the Johnson Space Center in Houston who is co-leader of the special investigation team.
He said the study was to be finished in June and would include a set of recommendations on how to address the problem.
Most of the recommendations have yet to be determined.
Carolyn S. Griner, director of space station operations and utilization at NASA headquarters in Washington, said the station could be redesigned to incorporate solutions.
She said the remedies might include building parts with longer lifetimes, a move she conceded could greatly increase the station's cost.
David M. Walker, an astronaut who is manager for space station assembly at the Johnson center, said the station as conceived could probably not be built.
But he quickly added that design changes could lower the hours of upkeep.
by CNB