Cover1111-fin_AA Template copy 10/21/11 10:40 AM Page 1 10 AMERICA AEROSPACE November 2011 NOVEBER 2011 NOVEBER Vigilance from above Space and risk analysis paralysis Supply chain globalization grows more complex A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS VIEWlayout1111_Layout 1 10/18/11 11:16 AM Page 2 Preparing NASA’s astronauts for the High Frontier IN THE PREDAWN DARKNESS, DOUBLE Columbus, and Kibo laboratories. Fo- NASA asked our panel to address sonic booms sent a shiver up my cused for three decades on short-dura- three major questions: spine: A spaceship was coming home. tion shuttle flights, will NASA’s Astro- •How should the role and size of Scant minutes later, the xenon search- naut Corps be prepared to meet the the activities managed by the NASA lights flickered at the approach end of demands of steady-state ISS opera- Johnson Flight Crew Operations Di- Runway 15, Kennedy Space Center. tions (and anomalies) through 2020 rectorate change following shuttle re- Atlantis, back on Earth, streaked past and beyond? tirement and completion of the assem- us at midfield, drag chute filling at the bly of the ISS? end of her final voyage. Corps questions for astronauts •What are the requirements for But STS-135’s landing was not—no That question prompted NASA to ask crew-related ground-based facilities matter how many times the media said the National Research Council of the after the shuttle program ends? it—‘the end of America’s space pro- National Academies to examine the fu- •Is the fleet of aircraft used for gram.’ This oft-repeated hyperbole ig- ture roles and size of the corps, and training the Astronaut Corps a cost-ef- nores the two NASA astronauts and the proper training facilities needed to fective means of preparing astronauts their four international crewmates preserve U.S. human spaceflight ex- to meet the requirements of NASA’s who were living and working aboard cellence. Early this year, the NRC com- human spaceflight program? Are there the international space station. missioned a study panel to address more cost-effective means of meeting For the next decade or more, the ISS these topics. The 13-member panel these training requirements? will be the focus of the U.S. human was cochaired by Joe Rothenberg, for- We’ll discuss only the first and third spaceflight program. Shifts of astro- mer NASA associate administrator for of these questions here. The reader nauts will supervise an array of exper- spaceflight, and Fred Gregory, former can find a full discussion of the sec- iments at the national laboratory and astronaut and NASA deputy adminis- ond within the report itself. conduct tests of next-generation sys- trator. Dwayne Day, NRC senior pro- tems and operations techniques to pre- gram officer, directed the study. Post-shuttle roles pare for expeditions into deep space. In early September, the panel issued For the past three decades, NASA’s as- Now that the station is substantially its final report, entitled “Preparing for tronauts have prepared mainly for complete, crews are deeply involved the High Frontier: The Role and Train- space shuttle operations. In this ISS not only in systems operations and ing of NASA Astronauts in the Post- and Soyuz era, what should be the maintenance, but in interactive science Space Shuttle Era” [http://www.nap. central roles and responsibilities of the operations conducted in the Destiny, edu/catalog.php?record_id=13227]. Astronaut Corps? Based on NASA information and our own research, the panel found that the Astronaut Office (the Astronaut Corps is the subset of people within that of- fice eligible to fly in space) should sup- port six tasks in priority order: •Provide well-trained spaceflight operators to support the NASA flight manifest. •Supply ground support personnel for unique tasks required to support the NASA flight manifest. •Provide support for new program development, ranging from relatively small payloads and equipment to whole new spaceflight designs. •Be a source of operational knowl- edge and corporate memory of human spaceflight. The ISS and the docked space shuttle Endeavour, flying at an altitude of 220 mi., were captured •Provide for collaboration with other by Expedition 27 crewmember Paolo Nespoli from the Soyuz TMA-20 following its undocking on May 23. ISS and Soyuz training are the current focus for NASA’s Astronaut Corps. governmental and private organizations 10 AEROSPACE AMERICA/NOVEMBER 2011 VIEWlayout1111_Layout 1 10/18/11 11:16 AM Page 3 as needed and directed by NASA. •Provide support for public and ed- ucational outreach to society. Flying is why astronauts sign up for this hazardous job. Once Soyuz crew launches resume, probably this month, NASA’s astronauts will continue serv- ing space station tours lasting an aver- age of six months. They will also serve as flight engineers during Soyuz launch and reentry (commanded by a Russian cosmonaut). These fundamen- tal tasks drive most of the training re- quirements for ISS crewmembers. Flying is an obvious and core prior- ity, but even when not actively train- ing for a mission, astronauts directly support their colleagues in space. In Mission Control, they work as cap- Heat damage is evident on the Soyuz TMA-11 descent module after landing on April 19, 2008. Astronauts coms (capsule communicators), help will have to respond to similar in-flight emergencies in the era of ISS, Soyuz, and commercial crew flight controllers develop procedures spacecraft. (Photo: Novosti/Aleksandr Pantyukhin) for on-orbit research or maintenance, and verify proposed workarounds for Orion multipurpose crew vehicle, new Russian and six U.S. and international in-flight anomalies by executing them heavy-lift Space Launch System, and partner astronauts. That manifest in simulators or in the Neutral Buoy- advanced concepts for asteroid, lunar, drives the overall size of the Astronaut ancy Laboratory at Johnson. and Mars exploration. Corps and the need for new hires. NASA also assigns astronauts to as- As an invaluable national reservoir As the end of the shuttle program sist future spaceflight programs. They of knowledge and corporate memory neared, Johnson’s Flight Crew Opera- track the work of commercial space- on effective operations practices, the tions Directorate shrank the corps size craft developers and provide opera- Astronaut Office fosters the spread of through attrition and reduced hiring. tional input to designers of NASA’s a vigorous safety culture within NASA. From a high of nearly 150 in 2000, by Astronauts also work with U.S. early 2011 NASA had just 61 astro- government departments and nauts. That total may drop further as international space agencies, some shuttle astronauts depart and providing technical expertise others are disqualified by medical and coordination of common problems. NASA says it needs a corps, human spaceflight activities. through 2016, of 55 to 60 astronauts. Finally, they are often the That number, based on the direc- highly visible public face of torate’s model of the so-called ‘mini- NASA. Speaking with everyone mum manifest requirement,’ includes from David Letterman to thou- a managers’ margin above the corps sands of eager students, astro- size required to meet the six or so nauts between flight assign- crewmembers flying each year. FCOD ments spend several days each has recently dropped this margin from month crossing the country to 50% to 25%. But that cushion may still represent NASA and its mission not be enough to enable the Astronaut to taxpayers. Office chief to deal with real-world factors affecting astronaut supply and Sizing up the Right Stuff demand. In contrast to the 40 or more For example, each ISS crew slot has astronauts who crewed shuttle a specific skill requirement, such as launches every year, steady- EVA and robotics qualifications, Rus- Progress 44 launched from Baikonur on August 24 on a state ISS operations require the sian language skills, scientific research Soyuz U rocket, bound for the ISS. The Soyuz experienced launch of roughly a dozen experience, or flight experience re- a third-stage engine shutdown due to a faulty gas generator. (Photo: RSC Energia.) crewmembers each year: six quired to serve as an ISS commander AEROSPACE AMERICA/NOVEMBER 2011 11 VIEWlayout1111_Layout 1 10/18/11 11:16 AM Page 4 Soyuz is highly automated and lands under a parachute after a near-ballistic reentry profile, are high-performance jets really an effective way to train for ISS and the Soyuz flight regime? Ground-based mission simulators, in facilities at Russia’s Star City, NASA Johnson, and international partner fa- cilities in Europe, Japan, and Canada, provide approximately 90% of ISS and Soyuz task training. NASA also re- quires crewmembers to fly the T-38N The 2009 class of NASA, JAXA, and CSA astronauts never flew on the shuttle, but will fill the ISS flight for what it calls ‘spaceflight readiness manifest for the coming decade. They are Jeremy Hansen, Scott D. Tingle, Michael S. Hopkins, Gregory R. training,’ or SFRT. Wiseman, Mark T. Vande Hei (front row); Jack D. Fischer, Serena M. Auñón, Kathleen Rubins, Jeanette J. Epps Although jet flying amounts to just (middle row); and David Saint-Jacques, Takuya Onishi, Norishige Kanai, Kimiya Yui, and Kjell N. Lindgren. 10% of the training activity for unas- signed astronauts, shrinking to 5% for or Soyuz flight engineer. But astro- agement increase corps size to com- those assigned to an ISS expedition, it nauts are not interchangeable; they fortably exceed the calculated mini- does expose crewmembers to a fast- have different strengths, and levels of mum needed for flight requirements. paced operational environment that proficiency vary as they move through We think NASA should increase the parallels the dynamic, stressful, and al- their careers.