Fiscal Year 2003 Activities

a Aeronautics F and 1997 iscal Year Activities Space Report of the President Fiscal Year 2003 Activities National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, DC 20546 b The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 directed the annual Aeronautics and Space Report to include a “comprehensive description of the programmed activities and the accomplishments of all agencies of the United States in the field of aeronautics and space activities during the preceding calendar year.” In recent years, the reports have been prepared on a fiscal-year basis, consistent with the budg- Aeronautics and Space Report of the President etary period now used in programs of the Federal Government. This year’s report covers activities that took place from October 1, 2002, through September 30, 2003. TABLE OF CONTENTS c F iscal Year 2003 iscal Year Activities National Aeronautics and Space Administration . 1 Department of Defense . 29 Federal Aviation Administration . 35 Department of Commerce . 45 Department of the Interior . 61 Federal Communications Commission . 79 Department of Agriculture . 83 National Science Foundation . 89 Department of State . 95 Department of Energy . 97 Smithsonian Institution . 103 Appendices . 109 A-1 U.S. Government Spacecraft Record . 110 A-2 World Record of Space Launches Successful in Attaining Earth Orbit or Beyond . 111 B Successful Launches to Orbit on U.S. Launch Vehicles October 1, 2002–September 30, 2003 . 112 C U.S. and Russian Human Space Flights 1961–September 30, 2003 . 115 D U.S. Space Launch Vehicles . 136 E-1A Space Activities of the U.S. Government—Historical Budget Summary . 139 E-1B Space Activities of the U.S. Government—Budget Authority in Millions of Equivalent FY 2003 Dollars . 140 E-2 Federal Space Activities Budget . 141 E-3 Federal Aeronautics Budget . 142 Acronyms . 143 d Aeronautics and Space Report of the President 1 F iscal Year 2003 iscal Year Activities NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION NASA Space Flight Enterprise Fiscal Year (FY) 2003 was a year of great accomplishments for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Space Flight Enterprise. But no accomplishments, however extraordinary, could ever balance the terrible loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia and its crew of Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon on February 1, 2003. The Columbia accident precipitated a wrenching investigation into the immediate, physical causes of the disaster, as well as the broader program- matic and cultural underpinnings of not only the Space Shuttle program but also the entire Agency. In 2003, the Nation honored our fallen comrades and friends by launching an intensive accident investigation with interagency assistance. Throughout the year, as the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) carried out its service to our country with extraordinary skill and dedication, NASA began the long, arduous process of recovery and reform. With the release of the Board’s final report on August 26, 2003, NASA solemnly pledged a return to the exploration goals to which the crew of Columbia, representatives of humanity’s best from around the world, gave their lives. Although the world grieved for Columbia and its crew, the danger of exploration does not permit a retreat from its passion and reward. This passion found expression through the success of critical NASA missions both before and after the accident. The Space Flight Enterprise continued to provide the foundation for NASA operations and missions, including space access and transportation, the 2 maintenance and operation of in-space laboratories for world-class scientific research, and the means to return data from space to Earth. The Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) programs continued to be two of NASA’s most visible programs, and through that visibility, they supported important scientific research and inspired the next generation of explorers and leaders. The Space Flight Enterprise’s Launch Services and Space Communications operations continued to be at the forefront of fostering innovative and effective partnerships between the Government and the private sector. Finally, the ever-expanding horizon of human knowledge and curiosity compelled the Space Flight Enterprise to continue invest- ing in the next generation of space flight technology and capabilities through the Advanced Systems Office. Prior to the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-107, the Space Shuttle program successfully completed two assembly missions in support of the ISS. The Space Shuttle Atlantis carried out STS-112, launched on October 7, 2002, for Assembly Mission 9A. The six-person crew successfully delivered and installed the 31,000-pound Integrated Truss Assembly S1, part of the Station’s structural, thermal, and electrical power backbone. STS-112 also delivered the Crew Equipment Translation Aid cart that, along with the Mobile Transporter system already installed, will provide future Station crews with important extrave- hicular activity support. STS-112 also flew hardware and samples for experiments conducted aboard the ISS. The Space Shuttle Endeavour was successfully launched on November 23, Aeronautics and Space Report of the President 2002, en route to the ISS for STS-113, a mission to deliver major hardware com- ponents and to support an exchange of Station crewmembers. The primary payload was the Integrated Truss Assembly P1, the port complement to the star- board S1 segment launched on STS-112. In addition to the integration of truss segment P1, the crew of STS-113 deployed a small, two-satellite demonstration payload intended to validate new on-orbit inspection capabilities. STS-113 also ferried the Expedition 6 crew of Kenneth Bowersox, Nikolai Budarin, and Donald Petit to the Station and returned the Expedition 5 crew of Valeri Korzun, Peggy Whitson, and Sergei Treschev to Earth after a successful 6-month tour. STS-107, the final flight of Space Shuttle Columbia, was launched on the morning of January 16, 2003, on an Earth-orbiting mission devoted to space, life, and physical science research. Once in space, the STS-107 crew worked tirelessly on 3 research aimed at fighting cancer, improving crop yields, developing fire-suppression F techniques, constructing earthquake-resistant buildings, and understanding the 2003 iscal Year Activities effects of dust storms on the weather. In all, STS-107 carried some 80 individual experiments, many of which relied upon the ingenuity of the astronauts assigned to them to record data, react to unexpected results, and quickly respond to the inevitable complications that are an integral part of laboratory science. The overwhelming success of the mission was eclipsed during Columbia’s reentry 16 days after launch. Mission controllers noted a growing number of instru- mentation irregularities and failures during the reentry maneuver, and witnesses on the ground later reported debris coming off the red-hot orbiter as early as in the descent along the California coast. Breakup of the primary orbiter structure took place at approximately 9 a.m. eastern standard time on February 1, 15 minutes prior to Columbia’s scheduled touchdown at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The NASA Space Flight Contingency Action Plan for a major mishap guided NASA’s actions in the initial minutes, hours, and days following the Columbia tragedy. This plan was inspired by lessons learned from the Challenger accident in 1986 and is updated regularly, based on crisis simulations. Among other things, the plan specifies notification or first-response procedures and defines the roles and responsibilities of mishap response and investigation teams. Within minutes of the loss of contact with Columbia, the Contingency Action Plan was activated. Immediate steps included impounding any potentially relevant infor- mation at Mission Control at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, TX, and notification of the President, the President’s senior staff, members of Congress, and the Israeli Government. Ongoing mission preparations for the remaining Space Shuttle fleet (including the orbiters Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor) were immediately halted and all Shuttle flights grounded. The Contingency Action Plan also called for the immediate selection of dis- tinguished persons outside NASA to head an independent accident investigation team. The process of chartering the investigation team, later named the CAIB, began about 10:30 a.m. on February 1, 1 hour after the Contingency Action Plan was first activated. On February 1, NASA named retired Navy Admiral Harold W. Gehman, Jr., whose expertise included the investigation of the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole, to chair the CAIB. Over the next several weeks, 12 additional members of the 4 CAIB were chosen for their expertise in heading civil and military offices and for their knowledge of aviation accident investigations, aerospace safety, and NASA manage- ment and operations. Many hundreds more from Government, industry, academia, and NASA itself were to become involved in the ensuing 7-month, nationwide investigation. During its deliberations, the CAIB and its staff reviewed more than 30,000 documents and 84,000 pieces of debris recovered from Columbia, conducted more than 200 formal interviews, heard testimony from dozens of expert witnesses, and reviewed more than 3,000 comments from the public. The interagency support and volunteerism for the recovery operations for STS-107 involved

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