Congress, NASA, and the International Space Station: A New Civility? Part 4
A summary of hearings before the House Science Committee on Space Station Cost Overruns, 4 April 2001
Texas Objects
Rep. Lampson (D-TX) presented Goldin with the issues: regarding the movement of ISS program management from JSC to NASA HQ, what the cost benefits were; what the impact would be on the ISS if CRV, propulsion, and Hab functions were needed later – would there be additional costs because of actions being taken now; and what the cost would be to stop work on the CRV. Specifically Lampson wondered if two Soyuz spacecraft could used instead of just one – and what effect this would have on the crew mix given that certified pilots would be needed on the ISS for each vehicle.
Regarding the move of ISS management from JSC to NASA headquarters, Goldin said that NASA has to “restore confidence in JSC’s ability to be the lead center.” He said “this move is not permanent” and “we hope to move it back to JSC. No people will actually be moved.”
Goldin then said that “we will live within our budget. We do not have he resources for the Hab or the CRV and we need to retire more technical risks before these tasks are undertaken. He said that there is an issue with the Hab module and that “we need to understand more” about the life support systems.
Lampson then asked if all of these moves were somehow indicative of our nation’s commitment to space. Goldin replied that “our President has a set of priorities that he is following. I hear space cadets talking about why NASA should have more money. Would we like more money? Yes. We wanted – we needed – more money.” Goldin then went into one of his standard replies about doing more with less. Goldin then returned to Lampson’s original question and said “We know that we want to go to Mars. But I am going to live within the President’s guidelines.”
Rep. Jackson Lee repeated her earlier concern saying that she “opposes the Administration’s position. I do not see how a 40% cut is going to get us more. Instead of 23 racks we’ll now only do 10.” She then expressed some concern about possible job cuts as a result of the Administration’s plans. Goldin replied that “NASA is not an assured jobs program. When things are done, we shut them down. In the private sector, CEOs are forced to make tough decisions. I cannot sit here and say that everyone will have a job.”
Goldin later answered another question from Lampson about the move of people from JSC to NASA HQ and said that there would not be any civil servant job cuts. As for the potential of contractor job cuts, Goldin said “Some contracts are coming to an end independent of this budget issue. As they do, some jobs will be lost.” He mentioned the fact that KSC and JSC are also looking at ways to consolidate activities and that several hundred contractor jobs could be lost as a result.
What did you know – and when did you know it?
Rep. Weldon then returned to the core issue of the cost overrun itself. “You said that there would be cost growth a year ago – but it was substantially smaller. I am surprised that figures this big could sneak up on us.”
Goldin replied that some of this had to do with NASA’s tendency to want to deal with problems later rather than sooner. “There was a sudden surge. We didn’t know it was going to be this bad. We felt that we’d meet our budget when we met with OMB in August. First we thought there’d actually be an under run.”
As the pace of ISS activity picked up after the Service Module launch last Summer “there was a huge increase in activity and numbers representing actual operational costs started to come in.” The input Tommy Holloway got in September (for the month of August) showed that there was a potential problem. “People were supposed to be coming off the program – but didn’t.” Goldin then said that NASA did a conservative bottoms-up assessment that produced the number that NASA is now grappling with.
As to when he first learned of the true extent of the cost overrun Goldin said “I found out on December 12th.”
Epilog
Goldin closed his testimony by saying “we need to show the American people that we can do what we say we can do. My whole life’s dream is a human mission to Mars. That is what I first worked on at NASA.”
Related Links
° Statement of Daniel S. Goldin, NASA Administrator
° Oral Statement by Dan Goldin before the House Science Committee
° Testimony of Russell A. Rau, NASA Assistant Inspector General for Auditing
° Statement by Rep. Boehlert regarding Space Station Cost Overrun Hearing
Background Information
° Space Station User’s Guide, SpaceRef
° House Science Committee
° NASA Office of Congressional Affairs
°28 February 2001: Memo NASA Staff: FY 2002 Budget Blueprint Overview by NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight Joe Rothenberg, NASA HQ
°27 February 2001: Letter from Reps Rohrabacher and Weldon to Dan Goldin Regarding JSC Center Director George Abbey’s Reassignment, House Science Committee
°23 February 2001: Letter from (former) JSC Center Director George Abbey to Senior Staff: Actions Required to Address ISS Budget Challenges
°23 February 2001: NASA Administrator Appoints Johnson Space Center Director to Senior Assistant Position, NASA PAO
