SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA JOINT HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE AND AERONAUTICS COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION U.S. SENATE ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION FEBRUARY 12, 2003 Serial No. 108–2 Printed for the use of the House Committee on Science and Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/science U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 85–090PS WASHINGTON : 2003 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 17:09 Sep 27, 2003 Jkt 085090 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 C:\WORKD\SA03\021203\85090 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1 COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE HON. SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT, New York, Chairman LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas RALPH M. HALL, Texas CURT WELDON, Pennsylvania BART GORDON, Tennessee DANA ROHRABACHER, California JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois JOE BARTON, Texas EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas KEN CALVERT, California LYNN C. WOOLSEY, California NICK SMITH, Michigan NICK LAMPSON, Texas ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland JOHN B. LARSON, Connecticut VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan MARK UDALL, Colorado GIL GUTKNECHT, Minnesota DAVID WU, Oregon GEORGE R. NETHERCUTT, JR., MICHAEL M. HONDA, California Washington CHRIS BELL, Texas FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma BRAD MILLER, North Carolina JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois LINCOLN DAVIS, Tennessee WAYNE T. GILCHREST, Maryland SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas W. TODD AKIN, Missouri ZOE LOFGREN, California TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON, Illinois BRAD SHERMAN, California MELISSA A. HART, Pennsylvania BRIAN BAIRD, Washington JOHN SULLIVAN, Oklahoma DENNIS MOORE, Kansas J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia ANTHONY D. WEINER, New York PHIL GINGREY, Georgia JIM MATHESON, Utah ROB BISHOP, Utah DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas VACANCY JO BONNER, Alabama VACANCY TOM FEENEY, Florida VACANCY VACANCY SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE AND AERONAUTICS DANA ROHRABACHER, California, Chairman LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas BART GORDON, Tennessee CURT WELDON, Pennsylvania JOHN B. LARSON, Connecticut JOE BARTON, Texas CHRIS BELL, Texas KEN CALVERT, California NICK LAMPSON, Texas ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland MARK UDALL, Colorado GEORGE R. NETHERCUTT, JR., DAVID WU, Oregon Washington EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas JOHN SULLIVAN, Oklahoma BRAD SHERMAN, California J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia DENNIS MOORE, Kansas ROB BISHOP, Utah ANTHONY D. WEINER, New York MICHAEL BURGESS, Texas VACANCY JO BONNER, Alabama RALPH M. HALL, Texas TOM FEENEY, Florida SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT, New York BILL ADKINS Subcommittee Staff Director ED FEDDEMAN Professional Staff Member RUBEN VAN MITCHELL Professional Staff Member KEN MONROE, Professional Staff Member CHRIS SHANK Professional Staff Member RICHARD OBERMANN Democratic Professional Staff Member TOM HAMMOND Staff Assistant (II) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 17:09 Sep 27, 2003 Jkt 085090 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\WORKD\SA03\021203\85090 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1 U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION HON. JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona, Chairperson TED STEVENS, Alaska ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina CONRAD BURNS, Montana DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii TRENT LOTT, Mississippi JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine JOHN B. BREAUX, Louisiana SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota GORDON SMITH, Oregon RON WYDEN, Oregon PETER G. FITZGERALD, Illinois BARBARA BOXER, California JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada BILL NELSON, Florida GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia MARIA CANTWELL, Washington JOHN O. SUNUNU, New Hampshire FRANK LAUTENBERG, New Jersey FLOYD DESCHAMPS, Republican Senior Professional Staff KEN LA SALA, Republican Professional Staff JEAN TOAL EISEN, Democratic Senior Professional Staff (III) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 17:09 Sep 27, 2003 Jkt 085090 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\WORKD\SA03\021203\85090 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1 C O N T E N T S February 12, 2003 Page Opening Statements Statement by the Hon. John McCain, U.S. Senator from the State of Arizona; Chairman, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Technology, U.S. Senate . 1 Statement by the Hon. Sherwood L. Boehlert, Representative from the State of New York; Chairman, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representa- tives ....................................................................................................................... 2 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 3 Statement by the Hon. Ernest O. Hollings, U.S. Senator from the State of South Carolina ................................................................................................. 4 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 6 Statement by Representative Ralph M. Hall, Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives ..................................... 61 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 62 Statement by the Hon. Ted Stevens, U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska .... 63 Prepared Statement the Hon. Frank R. Lautenberg, U.S. Senator from the State of New Jersey ............................................................................................. 6 Prepared Statement by Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, Member, Com- mittee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives ............................................ 7 Prepared Statement by Representative Zoe Lofgren, Member, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives ............................................................. 8 Witness Sean O’Keefe, Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administra- tion; accompanied by Frederick D. Gregory, Deputy Administrator, and William F. Readdy, Associate Administrator for Space Flight Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 9 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 19 Discussion Effects of Budget Decisions on Shuttle Program ............................................... 64 Changes Needed to Assure an Independent Investigation ............................... 65 Contractor Incentives and Obligations ............................................................... 66 NASA’s Budget Request to OMB ........................................................................ 70 Crew Escape Systems .......................................................................................... 71 Questioning NASA’s Goals and Objectives ........................................................ 73 History of Tile Damage and Loss ....................................................................... 76 Reiterating the Need for an Independent Investigation Board ........................ 80 ASAP’s Safety Concerns ...................................................................................... 81 Questioning an Aging System ............................................................................. 82 Suggesting a Presidential Commission .............................................................. 84 ISS Contingency Planning ................................................................................... 87 Role of Automation and Robotics ........................................................................ 90 Crew Escape Systems .......................................................................................... 93 Replacing the Space Shuttle Orbiter .................................................................. 110 NASA Workforce Legislation ............................................................................... 111 Manned vs. Unmanned Spacecraft ..................................................................... 112 Thermal Tile Adhesive ......................................................................................... 113 Debris Assessment and Need for Imagery ......................................................... 115 Re-evaluating NASA’s Mission ........................................................................... 129 (IV) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 17:09 Sep 27, 2003 Jkt 085090 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\WORKD\SA03\021203\85090 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1 V Page Lessons From the Challenger Investigation ...................................................... 139 Appendix 1: Answers to Post-Hearing Questions Responses by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 148 Appendix 2: Additional Material for the Record National Aeronautics and Space Administration Charter of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, signed and dated May 1, 2003 ..................................... 160 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 17:09 Sep 27, 2003 Jkt 085090 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\WORKD\SA03\021203\85090 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 17:09 Sep 27, 2003 Jkt 085090 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\WORKD\SA03\021203\85090 SCIENCE1 PsN: SCIENCE1 SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA FEBRUARY 12, 2003 SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE AND AERONAUTICS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, JOINT WITH U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, DC. The Committees met, pursuant