Jul 17 2006
From The Space Library
NASA’s Discovery returned to Earth, landing at NASA’s KSC at 9:14 a.m. (EDT) to complete the 13-day Mission STS-121. During STS-121, the crew had tested the use of Discovery’s robotic arm boom extension as a work platform, performed repairs to the exterior of the ISS, delivered 14 tons (12.7 tonnes or 12,700 kilograms) of equipment and supplies to the orbiting space station, and transported ESA astronaut Thomas A. Reiter to the ISS. Reiter joined Russian Pavel V. Vinogradov and American Jeffrey N. Williams as an ISS crew member, marking the first time since May 2003 that the ISS had three crew members. Discovery crew had also tested improved safety procedures and equipment for the Shuttle. Furthermore, the flight had verified the safety of a significant aerodynamic modification to the Shuttle’s external fuel tank. More specifically, NASA had removed protuberance air load ramps from the external fuel tank, because a piece of foam had jettisoned from that area of the tank during Discovery’s launch for the Return to Flight Mission (STS-114) in 2005.
NASA, “NASA Welcomes Space Shuttle Crew Back to Earth,” news release 06-280, 17 July 2006, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/sep/HQ_06321_Atlantis_lands.html (accessed 15 March 2010).
GAO released a report criticizing NASA’s plans to acquire rockets and spacecraft for the Vision for Space Exploration program and recommending that the U. S. Congress restrict some of its funding until NASA had completed its review of the program. NASA expected to finish the review during the following year. The report addressed NASA’s plans to sign long-term agreements with the contractors for the project in late 2006. NASA planned for the contractors to design, develop, and produce both the CEV—the the crew exploration vehicle, which would replace the Space Shuttle—and the rocket that would launch it. The report stated that NASA had not completed the first phase of its ongoing design and cost estimates for these projects, and that signing the contracts would place the projects at risk for cost, performance, and schedule problems. GAO recommended postponing the contracts until after NASA had completed its preliminary design reviews for those projects. NASA expected to complete the final phase of the ongoing review by March 2008. The report specifically recommended that Congress restrict NASA’s appropriations and obligations for the CEV, providing only the funds needed to complete the preliminary review.
Mark Carreau, “GAO Warns NASA of Problems with Moon, Mars Strategy,” Houston Chronicle, 27 July 2006; U.S. Government Accountability Office, “NASA: Long-Term Commitment To and Investment in Space Exploration Program Requires More Knowledge” (report no. GAO-06-817R, Washington, DC, 17 July 2006): 1-9, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06817r.pdf (accessed 22 January 2010).
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