DOD’s top space official committed to space discovery

WASHINGTON — Just days after Space Shuttle Columbia broke
apart in the skies over Texas, the Department of Defense’s
executive agent for space said the nation’s program would
go on.

“I think we’re all (still) reeling and will be for some
time,” said Peter B. Teets, undersecretary of the Air
Force and the chief of the National Reconnaissance Office.

According to Teets, the Columbia disaster will force
people to alter the way they think about the space program.

“I think everyone recognizes that, essentially, it’s a
controlled explosion that creates the energy to get you
into orbit … but they’ve forgotten just what a
significant event re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere
really is,” he said.

“There’s a huge amount of energy that has to be taken out
of the vehicle as it re-enters the atmosphere — it’s
taken out by transferring energy to heat,” he said.

Once the root cause of the accident is determined, Teets
said, the nation’s space agency leaders have to reassess
how they operate in space.

Among the considerations, the nation’s space leaders will
have to face is how to resupply the international space
station, and where the manned space program goes from here.

“I’m one who believes it’s important for us to have fully
reusable launch systems that will be the for-sure way we
provide assured access to space,” he said. “Perhaps, by
working together, we can leverage the same kinds of
technology that will allow us to get more operationally
responsive systems.”

According to the undersecretary, shared technologies,
such as a common propulsion system and lightweight
structure, could lead to the next generation of manned
spacecraft, the space plane.

“The bottom line is that we need to redouble our efforts
to make sure we have a vigorous and successful national
security space program.”