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Reflections from Space

A Director's Forum with Frederick (Rick) Hauck, president and CEO AXA Space and former NASA astronaut

Date & Time

Wednesday
May. 28, 2003
10:00am – 11:00am ET

Overview

The Columbia shuttle disaster has prompted many questions about the future of the space program. Former astronaut Rick Hauck, having flown on three shuttle missions during his 11 years with NASA—his third as commander of Discovery, the first space shuttle mission since the Challenger accident—Hauck said although space travel is risky, he deems it worth the investment.

“Would I fly on the next space shuttle mission? Yes, I think I would,” said Hauck. “I base that on what I know of the business and what I know of the process of recovering from such a situation, knowing the full effort of the team of NASA and their contractors [who are] going to get this problem right.”

The problem, in question, was what caused the Columbia crash. There is no conclusive answer to date, but one hypothesis was that some hard foam flew off the top of the fuel tank at high speed, damaging the wing. NASA currently is conducting tests, he said, to determine whether foam traveling at high speed can cause structural damage to a shuttle.

Having flown on the first mission following the Challenger tragedy, Hauck said he felt convinced that NASA—since the accident—had taken every possible precaution to safeguard the astronauts. “The crew should be convinced that all safety measures have been taken to minimize the risk.”

Citing some statistics, he said that—as of February 2003—people from 31 countries have flown on space missions in both the U.S. and Russian space programs. Of that number, 18 astronauts have died during space missions㬊 of them from the Challenger and Columbia accidents—which translates into a 4-5 percent fatality rate. Thirteen of those who died were among the 271 U.S. citizens who have flown into space. When Hauck began his career, no U.S. astronauts had died during space flight. He added that, at that time, had he been told there was a four percent chance of dying on a space mission, he might not have flown.

In his opinion, the public—as taxpayers—should have a vote on whether to spend government money on NASA programs but should not have a vote on whether to risk astronauts’ lives. Ultimately, Hauck said, the decision must be up to the astronauts themselves—the ambitious men and women who are aware of and must decide on whether to take the risk. And, there is time to contemplate the danger of a space mission when walking across the platform toward the launch pad, he said, particularly the fact that the astronaut will be sitting on 4.5 million pounds of rocket fuel.

Out of the 2003 federal budget that totals nearly $2 trillion, the federal government has allotted $15 billion to NASA, or about eight-tenths of a penny for every tax dollar spent. Half of that funding goes toward flight capabilities, specifically the space shuttle and space station. The other half goes toward science, aeronautics, and exploration, which includes education and research on biological and earth sciences, the evolution of the universe, and the solar system.

Funding for the shuttle, he said, goes toward building, repairing and restocking the space station; giving humans access to space; delivering, repairing, and upgrading satellites; and researching and building the next generation of shuttle and the orbital space plane for crew rescue and cargo transfer. There is discussion currently underway regarding whether two separate designs are needed for cargo and passenger-carrying vehicles, when to phase in a new kind of vehicle, and whether to maintain and upgrade the current shuttle model.

NASA plans to send new space probes to Mars in the coming months to search for water resources, water being the basis for all life. In the future, the goal is to robotically bring back material from Mars to study, although there is concern over bringing potentially life-threatening materials back to Earth.

When asked about the technological hurdles of taking people to Mars, Hauck said primarily the health of the people and reliability of the equipment. “There are no service calls in space.” In addition, he said, there is no way to shield humans from the radiation and damaging particles en route to Mars, on a trip that probably would last at least a year.

Reflecting on his space travels, Hauck said, “We saw 16 sunrises and sunsets a day from space.” Flying in space “is a reminder of how fragile the earth is; 99 percent of all the earth’s atmosphere is below 60 miles.”

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