[Senate Hearing 110-1188]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 110-1188
PREPARING FOR THE WORKFORCE TRANSITION AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
=======================================================================
FIELD HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE, AERONAUTICS, AND RELATED SCIENCES
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
JUNE 23, 2008
__________
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Transportation
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Chairman
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West TED STEVENS, Alaska, Vice Chairman
Virginia JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas
BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine
BARBARA BOXER, California GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon
BILL NELSON, Florida JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire
FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey JIM DeMINT, South Carolina
MARK PRYOR, Arkansas DAVID VITTER, Louisiana
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
Margaret L. Cummisky, Democratic Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Lila Harper Helms, Democratic Deputy Staff Director and Policy Director
Christine D. Kurth, Republican Staff Director, and General Counsel
Paul Nagle, Republican Chief Counsel
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE, AERONAUTICS, AND RELATED SCIENCES
BILL NELSON, Florida, Chairman DAVID VITTER, Louisiana, Ranking
JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire
BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi
MARK PRYOR, Arkansas
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on June 23, 2008.................................... 1
Statement of Senator Nelson...................................... 1
Witnesses
Berridge, Randy, President, Florida High Tech Corridor Council... 35
Prepared statement........................................... 36
Griffin, Hon. Michael D., Administrator, National Aeronautics and
Space Administration; accompanied by William H. Gerstenmaier,
Associate Administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate,
NASA; and Doug Cooke, Associate Administrator, Exploration
Systems Mission Directorate, NASA.............................. 5
Prepared statement........................................... 7
Kohler, Steve, President, Space Florida.......................... 38
Prepared statement........................................... 39
Martinez, Hon. Mel, U.S. Senator from Florida.................... 3
Rice, Lisa, President, Brevard Workforce Development Board, Inc.. 32
Prepared statement........................................... 34
Weatherman, Lynda L., President and CEO, Economic Development
Commission of Florida's Space Coast............................ 28
Prepared statement........................................... 30
Appendix
Bergman, Alan, Republican Candidate, U.S. House of
Representatives, Florida 15th District, prepared statement..... 49
Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Mary L. Landrieu
to Hon. Michael D. Griffin..................................... 50
PREPARING FOR THE WORKFORCE TRANSITION AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
----------
MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2008
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee on Space, Aeronautics, and Related
Sciences,
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
Cape Canaveral, FL.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9 a.m. in
Commission Room, Cape Canaveral Port Authority Maritime Center,
445 Challenger Road, Cape Canaveral, Florida, Hon. Bill Nelson,
Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BILL NELSON,
U.S. SENATOR FROM FLORIDA
Senator Nelson. The meeting of the Subcommittee on Space,
Aeronautics, and Related Sciences, of Senate Commerce Committee
will come to order. I want to thank all of you for coming. I
want to thank those thousand people outside that came to lend
their support to the continuation of America's space program. I
want to thank Joe Metheny, the Chairman of Port Canaveral, and
the members of the Port Authority. We have several elected
officials here, and I have a list that I've been given, so I'm
going to recognize those on the list. If you're not on the
list, then it's because somebody didn't give me that name.
In addition to the Port Commission, Brevard County
Commissioners Truman G. Scarborough, Jr., the Chairman, Chuck
Nelson, Jackie Colon, Mary Bolin, and Helen Volt.
Members of the State legislature delegation; Senator
Haridopolos, the Chairman of the Delegation, Representative
Altman, Representative Sansom, Representative Poppel, and many
other officials who have come from all around, because of the
enormity of concern that this community has with the economic
devastation that has occurred in the past due to layoffs in the
aftermath of the Apollo program and their potential to occur in
the future. This is one of the reasons of having this hearing
here today.
I have offered to have this hearing, as well, in New
Orleans, in the Michoud National facility, which is the other
facility which is projected to receive a huge reduction,
concurrent to their existing workforce. We are just trying to
work out the details with the two Senators from Louisiana for
that.
In the projections, the Johnson Space Center in Houston, is
also slated for some substantial cuts, but those come later on
in the planning process.
It's the Kennedy Space Center where the projected figures
released by NASA, could be as much as 6,400, on the high side,
or about 5,300 on the low side. That is what we have to address
today.
I am delighted that Senator Martinez is here, my colleague
in the Senate. The Senator does not sit on the Commerce
Committee or on our Space Subcommittee, but he and I share
other committees, including the Senate Armed Services, and
obviously he has an interest in the subject matter today.
I need you all to understand that the way we run a Senate
hearing is different from how we would normally conduct a Town
Hall meeting. There is formal testimony, we have a court
reporter that is recording the proceedings, and there will be
formal questions asked of the two panels that we have. What we
are trying to do today is to get a better understanding of the
workforce challenges that we're going to be facing, and how we
identify solutions to those challenges. I know we're going to
look today at the Kennedy Center. These cuts are going
throughout, and it's an enormous time of not only unrest, and
uncertainty, for folks because of their livelihood and their
jobs, but it's a very important transition on our ability to
have access to space.
Naturally, the fact that we're going to be laying off
people here so that we can hire Russians to build Soviet
spacecraft, so the U.S. Government can spend hundreds of
millions of dollars buying rides to the International Space
Station, a $100 billion investment, $75 billion of which is the
United States investment, is of concern to people.
But it is what it is. We've been trying, in the Senate, and
I can name you a bunch of other Senators, Senator Mikulski,
Senator Shelby, Senator Landrieu, so, you see, it's bipartisan,
Senator Hutchison from Texas, to get an additional billion
dollars into last year's NASA budget, only to have the White
House Budget Office say, ``Nyet.''
[Laughter.]
Senator Nelson. And I want you to know I don't blame these
folks here. I want you to know that my personal opinion is, Dr.
Griffin is doing a very good job under a very difficult
circumstance.
First of all, he's a rocket scientist. He knows something
about space. And that's important. And two, he has a sense of
humility which, I think, is important in a leader, because he
brings the team approach. And if ever there has been a team
approach, it's the American space program. I mean, just look at
the miracles that we have pulled off in the past. And I say we,
because it's collectively we as the space team.
You know, I had one of the greatest times I ever had,
having Gene Kranz come in. And I mean, I just didn't want to
let him go, just asked him question after question. As the
mission manager of Apollo 13 he's the one that coined that
famous phrase, ``Failure is not an option.'' They basically
brought back three astronauts that we would have never seen
again, and they brought them home safely.
That's the kind of can-do spirit and teamwork that is so
much of a hallmark of NASA. And that's what we don't want to
lose. And yet, people, to use a Southern expression, get down
in the mouth, when you see potentially huge layoffs.
Now, we've tried, this bipartisan group that I just named,
have been trying to get extra money into NASA. It was cut out
from last year's budget, we tried again this year, but we're
not having success. Because it's going to be nixed, at the end
of the day, by the White House Budget Office.
So, again I get to the point that in America you change
policy by ballots, not bullets. And you have an opportunity now
in an election, of changing governmental policy with regard to
America's space program.
The problem is, that by the time the new Administration
gets into place, an awful lot of time has been expended, and a
lot of decisions that will have already been made that would be
irreversible. And we're going to get into some of that.
So, Dr. Griffin, we welcome you, and I want you to know how
much I appreciate you coming down here. This is not a session
to beat you up, or Bill, or Mr. Cook. This is a session to
learn, and to learn together. Most of you who are in here,
haven't seen the visuals, of 1,000 people out there, all with
handmade signs, that are concerned, not only about their jobs,
but about the future of our space program, and how we will have
human access to space.
We're concerned about losing the skills, the knowledge, the
corporate memory, of all of these contracted partners. We
learned a lot of lessons, when we stepped down after Apollo.
Huge layoffs, a lot of lost corporate memory that took us a
long time to work our way back to.
Now, before I turn it over to Senator Martinez, again, this
is an official Senate hearing. This will become a part of the
official Senate record, and I want to recognize my colleague,
Senator Martinez.
STATEMENT OF HON. MEL MARTINEZ,
U.S. SENATOR FROM FLORIDA
Senator Martinez. Mr. Chairman, thank you very, very much.
I'm delighted to be here today and join in this Commerce
Committee hearing. And as Senator Nelson said, I'm not a member
of the Committee, but I'm delighted to have a chance to
participate at his invitation, and thank him for that, very,
very much.
The fact is that this is a problem which touches all of us
who love Central Florida, who've grown up here, and who
understand the fabric of this very, very wonderful space
community.
I want to thank the elected officials who are here, the
County Commissioners, other elected officials, and I appreciate
their interest, as well. Also, our host--the Port Authority--I
want to thank you for the great job that you do, bringing
commerce and jobs to this community.
And let me thank the panel, and then the second panel, as
well, for being a part of this important day, here.
You know, NASA, the space program has been to Central
Florida, as part of what we are, as part of the fabric of this
area. The fact is that, the jobs that are spun off--not only
the ones that are directly related to NASA activities, but
those that relate to the other activities that are generated,
because of what NASA has valued as important to this and
important to the State of Florida. And now we're facing a
situation where this family, this tremendous team of people
that have come together to put us into space, in good times and
in bad, who have known how to bring this program from the
brink, on a couple of occasions after tragedy has struck, to
put it back together, to put it back in flight, to keep it on
schedule, and to do the things that are so remarkable.
I was so pleased to see the Japanese module get up into
space. I remember seeing it here, stored and waiting for its
turn, and delays and problems and challenges. This workforce
has met them all. This is the best and the brightest and the
most accomplished group of people you could have anywhere in
the world, and it is a national treasure.
And it's a national treasure we cannot afford to lose. That
we can not afford to just put out to pasture because of the
inconvenience of time.
I'm concerned about two things. I'm concerned about the
industry in this region, that employs more than 64,000 people
in Florida. I'm concerned about the 1,034 separate contracts
we've valued at more than $875 million--all of the things that,
together, make this the economic engine that it is, but I'm
also concerned for our national security.
I'm concerned about the United States losing the ability to
put a human in space, and depending on the Russians to do this
for us.
Now, you know, I love the fact that we get along with the
Russians, and that we are in partnership and that we're doing
things together. And this Space Station is called the
International Space Station. So, I'm not going to go on longer
about what that implies, but the truth of the matter is that we
don't always know where Russia's leadership is on any given
day. The fact of the matter is that we might cooperate very
well in some things, and then from time to time we wonder about
whether our goals are the same around the world, or not.
You know, they are not a democracy like we're a democracy,
they have a little different system of government. And the fact
of the matter is that I would hope--and I'm counting on the
fact that we'll have the kind of cooperation we need--we need
to be careful how we say this, but at the same time, it does
seem to me that for us to be the preeminent nation in space--
which we have been, ever since the workforce here at NASA won
the race to the Moon--and that wasn't won just by wishing it.
It was won by hard work, it was won by teamwork, it was won by
skill, but it was also won by a national commitment by our
Congress and the White House--it takes all of us working
together to make that happen. And that is what I envision for
the future of the space program, it's what I envision for the
future of the Space Coast, and what I'd like to see occur.
Not only, by the way, with governmental-oriented programs,
but branching out into this vast new world of public/private
partnerships, of looking for ways that we can expand the
horizons of space to, not only the governmental projects, but
also to the private sector, so that we can see the fullness of
space exploration--just like this port doesn't just depend on
the Navy presence to function--it's a part of it, and the Coast
Guard coming out of here--the fact of the matter is that it's
our private sector that has made this port flourish, likewise,
St. Petersburg, Florida is ending on the ultimate destination,
as ultimate possibility when it becomes a port, not only for
space launch by government, but equally for space launch by the
private sector.
We are falling behind as other nations in the world are
taking a lead in the private exploration of space--we have got
to play catch-up on that. And the thing we don't need to do is
to lose this tremendous workforce, to put people out of work,
give them their pink slip, while at the same time, we're
generating jobs in Russia to accomplish the same mission. It's
short-sighted, it makes no sense, we need to reverse it, we're
delighted for the people who came out today to show their
support for the Space Coast, for their jobs, and we're also
pleased to welcome a panel--I really appreciate Dr. Griffin
being here, and the other members of the panel we'll be hearing
from.
So, thank you very much for coming today.
Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for calling this hearing.
It is timely, it is important, and I appreciate the opportunity
to be with you.
Thank you.
Senator Nelson. He is going to remain for the second panel,
to hear from the Brevard County Economic Development Commission
of Florida's Space Coast, and the Brevard Workforce Development
Board. What we're trying to do, is to figure out how we can
mitigate the job losses.
Dr. Griffin, you know my personal appreciation and
affection for you. We have the Administrator of NASA, we have
his Associate Administrator for Space Operations, Bill
Gerstenmaier, and we have the Deputy Associate Administrator
for Exploration System, Doug Cooke.
Dr. Griffin?
STATEMENT OF HON. MICHAEL D. GRIFFIN, ADMINISTRATOR,
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION;
ACCOMPANIED BY WILLIAM H. GERSTENMAIER,
ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR, SPACE OPERATIONS MISSION
DIRECTORATE, NASA; AND DOUG COOKE, ASSOCIATE
ADMINISTRATOR, EXPLORATION SYSTEMS MISSION DIRECTORATE, NASA
Dr. Griffin. Thank you, Senator Nelson, Senator Martinez.
It's a pleasure to be here, and especially with my colleagues--
if you've got Doug Cooke and Bill Gerstenmaier here, you've got
the best we have at NASA.
Thanks for inviting us to discuss the greatest challenge we
have--flying the Space Shuttle safely to complete the
International Space Station, then retiring it in 2010 and
bringing new Constellation systems online, while remaining
within our budgetary resources.
It is a difficult time. It is important to remind ourselves
why it is also necessary.
Admiral Gehman's observation in the wake of the Columbia
accident holds as true today as it did then, quoting, ``because
of the risk inherent in the original design of the Shuttle,
because that design was based, in many aspects, on now obsolete
technologies, and because the Shuttle is now an aging system,
but still developmental in character, it is in the Nation's
interest to replace the Shuttle as soon as possible as the
primary means for transporting humans to and from Earth
orbit.''
We must not forget the, or the many other hard lessons of
that tragedy. We've made great progress in 5 years. With
enormous difficulty, we returned the Shuttle to flight, and
we're flying well. We're successfully assembling the Space
Station. We must maintain this sense of tenacity and purpose in
the conduct of the remaining Shuttle flights. We must not allow
our resolute sense of purpose--so fresh after the accident--to
fade with time. We must avoid distractions.
Now, above all else, we need clear communications. Many
stories were published the spring following our initial
workforce transition report to Congress. Preliminary estimates
of 6,400 job losses at KSC were reported out of context,
without the qualifying information that we offered about the
many contracts yet to be awarded, or the funds budgeted for
future work at KSC.
As I offered in earlier testimony, I continue to believe
that we are facing an actual reduction of three to four
thousand workers at KSC. We're working every day to reduce even
less, but there's no simple solution within the resources
provided. There is no silver bullet.
Now most of those who work in the space business do so for
reasons beyond money, but still they have families to support.
And to that end, we've identified retention incentives for
certain critically skilled Space Shuttle operations personnel.
We will issue a Request for Proposals early next year for
ground operations processing in KSC. After this fall's Hubble
Servicing Mission, we will begin mods to Pad 39B to prepare for
a series of Ares I flight tests, beginning in 2009. And KSC
will be the lead center for the disposition of Shuttle assets,
after we retire that system.
Because the Orion and Ares-I systems are much simpler and
safer than the Space Shuttle, we will not need nearly as many
people for KSC launch operations. Thus, our hope is that many
engineers and technicians will transition to the assembly and
integration of the Ares V heavy lifter, and the Altair Moon
lander.
We're taking steps to work with Federal, State and local
agencies on necessary retraining. But I must be perfectly
clear--the single pacing item for maintaining a cohesive
workforce while bringing new systems online is the funding
provided by the Congress each year, and the budget projected
for the agency over the next several years.
Our plain contract awards and our pace of work, are
contingent upon programmatic and funding stability.
So, while I sincerely thank both of you for your support
for NASA over the years, it remains true that the actual budget
received for these systems has eroded significantly, compared
to that which we were promised 5 years ago.
Again, Columbia Accident Investigation Board offers a
crucial perspective, ``This approach can only be successful if
it is sustained over the decade, if by the time the decision to
develop a new vehicle is made, there is a clear idea of how the
new transportation system fits into the Nation's overall plans
for space, and if the U.S. Government is willing at the time a
deployment development decision is made, to commit the
substantial resources required to implement it.''
Thus, I cannot guarantee that the Orion crew vehicle will
be available sooner than 2015, although we will certainly try.
Nor can we afford to start an additional procurement for
commercial crew transport development within our existing
exploration systems budget.
With the $500 million allocated already to the COTS
program, our first priority is to develop an affordable,
commercial cargo capability for our assets logistics.
So, the United States will continue to be reliant upon the
Russian Soyuz system for ISS crew transport and crew rescue,
something I find to be unseemly in the extreme. However, I
can't find a way to avoid it.
While I do not relish the idea of Senator Nelson and
Senator Martinez--as you've said--of American taxpayers paying
Russian engineers, I'm nonetheless glad that the Russians are
our partners on Space Station, because without them, the
International Space Station would be in jeopardy.
We'll need the help of Congress--specifically, the Foreign
Relations Committee--to allow NASA to continue to make such
purchases from Russia, after 2011. We need that help this fall,
in order to have adequate time to negotiate contracts for
production.
Finally, Chairman Nelson, Senator Martinez, I thank you for
your leadership and support for NASA. Our budget--less than
six-tenths of a percent of the Federal budget, about 15 cents a
day for the average person--leverages a much broader range of
American leadership around the world than its mere size would
lead many to believe. To preserve that leadership, we must stay
the course, we must remain focused upon the challenges ahead.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Griffin follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Michael D. Griffin, Administrator,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the
opportunity to appear today to discuss the transition of NASA's
workforce at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) as the Space Shuttle Program
approaches retirement at the end of FY 2010 and NASA embarks on
returning Americans to the Moon and opening up the way to other
destinations in our solar system with the new Constellation Program.
The transition from Space Shuttle to Constellation over the next few
years provides a rare opportunity to reinvent NASA and reinvigorate the
Nation's space exploration capabilities. NASA is executing the first
major change in United States civil space policy in 35 years with
bipartisan Congressional support of the NASA Authorization Act of 2005
(Pub. L. 109-155). I believe that this Act remains the finest policy
framework for United States civil space activities that I have seen in
forty years, and I thank this Subcommittee for its leadership role in
crafting this legislation.
NASA's budget is sufficient to support a broad variety of excellent
space programs, but it cannot support all of the potential programs all
of our stakeholders would wish for us to execute. Balanced choices must
be made, but they cannot continually be remade and revisited if there
is to be steady progress toward our common, defined objectives. As the
Columbia Accident Investigation Board noted, and as stakeholders
acknowledged in ensuing policy debates, it would have been far worse to
continue with the prior lack of strategic direction for human
spaceflight, to continue dithering and debating and inevitably widening
the gap between Shuttle retirement and the availability of new systems.
There have been suggestions that NASA extend Space Shuttle
operations beyond FY 2010, but this would have serious budgetary and
schedule repercussions for the Constellation program. The cost of
continuing to support Shuttle operations beyond 2010 would be about
$2.7 to $4.0B per year. The substantial funding for such an approach
would come out of the Constellation Program, disrupting its schedule
and delaying the initial operational capability of the Orion Crew
Exploration Vehicle. In addition, the Constellation architecture is
designed to take advantage of Space Shuttle infrastructure, production
capabilities, and workforce once they are no longer needed for flying
the Shuttle. If the Shuttle were kept flying past its planned
retirement date, these capabilities could not be released for
Constellation's modification and use. It will also be extremely
difficult to keep the Shuttle workforce engaged if Shuttle fly-out is
extended. Ending Shuttle operations on a planned date known well in
advance is much easier for the workforce and planning than having a
floating end date. Keeping the Shuttle system operational past
September 30, 2010, would only compound the problem of getting
Constellation into service, exacerbate the gap in NASA human space
launch capabilities, and delay America's return to the Moon. Not moving
forward or delaying exploration capabilities would be more deleterious
to the KSC workforce than the current plans. The KSC community will
benefit directly from the lunar activities.
NASA's focus is on safely flying the Space Shuttle to complete
assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) and honor our
commitments to our international partners prior to retiring the Shuttle
in 2010, while bringing the new Constellation systems online by 2015 or
sooner. Through this period, NASA's greatest asset will continue to be
its people--the thousands of individuals across the country in both
government and industry who conceive, design, build, operate, and
manage an ambitious program of space exploration on behalf of the
Nation. Our greatest challenge over the next several years will be
managing this extremely talented, experienced, and geographically
dispersed workforce as we transition from operating the Space Shuttle
to utilizing the ISS as a National Laboratory, and expanding our reach
to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. We must work as carefully as possible to
preserve the engineering and technical skills we need to carry out
these efforts and minimize impacts to our workforce, both at KSC and at
other Agency and contractor facilities across the Nation. These are our
people. We need them to carry out our mission, and we care for their
well being.
Transition Challenge and Response
NASA remains committed to the concept of ``ten healthy Centers,''
and still plans to spend generally the same amount on human spaceflight
labor nationwide, but our workforce will need to transition from
primarily operations to development work. NASA does not yet have all
the answers for carrying out this complex transition safely and
effectively; however, we have been actively dealing with these issues
for the past several years and working on them each and every day. Our
best tool to retain employees is to provide meaningful and challenging
work. We are doing this now through the challenging and exciting ISS
assembly missions. Looking toward the future, we are working hard to
give people an opportunity to transition the skills learned flying the
Shuttle to the design and operation of the next generation of vehicles,
through work sharing, retraining, job rotations, and other mechanisms.
Today, a large portion of the Agency's skilled civil servant and
contractor workforce is focused on the safety of ongoing mission
operations. Much of the experience and expertise within this workforce
is required for the Constellation program to succeed. However, the
effects of the transition will not be the same for everyone. While
approximately 80 percent or more of NASA's budget will continue to pay
for the purchase of contractor products, goods, and services, the
nature of the work being done will change. NASA's human spaceflight
workforce will shift from a focus primarily on operating spacecraft to
a new recurring cycle of spacecraft development and operations. NASA
recognizes and values the dedication of its Space Shuttle workforce and
will leverage this resource, where feasible, by engaging those men and
women in the challenging future work that capitalizes on their unique
skills and abilities to the maximum extent practical.
We will keep the Congress informed as we know more, award more
contracts, or assign new roles and responsibilities to the NASA Centers
most affected by the retirement of the Space Shuttle, such as KSC and
the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in Louisiana. The entire NASA
management team takes the displacement of lives and skills very
seriously as we wind down the Shuttle program. We will ensure that
critical skills are retained to carry out the exciting missions before
us. We are already ensuring that the lessons learned by the people
operating NASA's complex systems will be captured by allowing these
people to work on the new Constellation systems. As one example of this
commitment, the personnel supporting Shuttle launch will help to launch
the first test flight of Ares (Ares I-X), scheduled for next year.
NASA Opportunities at KSC
KSC has always played a vital role in human and robotic space
exploration, and will continue to do so, for both NASA and the emerging
commercial space sector. With the planned retirement of the Space
Shuttle following flyout of the current flight manifest by September
30, 2010, and planned initial operational capability of the new Ares I
Crew Launch and Orion Crew Exploration Vehicles in the Constellation
Program in 2015, this four-and-a-half-year gap in NASA human space
launch capability will be anything but quiet at KSC. During this
period, the flurry of activity at KSC will include: lunar requirements
development; facilities, operations, and vehicle planning; new
construction and extensive modifications to existing infrastructure;
robust systems testing and evaluation; operations and launch procedures
and checklist development; extensive training; large scale systems
processing and integration; and, vigorous production--all of which will
engage our skilled workforce. In addition, important transition and
retirement work associated with Shuttle equipment and facilities will
contribute to the continuity of employment between fly-out of the
Shuttle and the initial flight of Orion.
It is important to recognize that in the near-term future, there
will be fewer jobs at KSC. One example of how we have mitigated this is
with Orion assembly at the Operations and Checkout building at the
Center. In addition, we have assigned significant lunar roles to the
Center, though the benefits of this will not be felt in the immediate
future. The near-term mix of tasks that NASA is planning to execute
will involve more work going to design contractors located around the
Nation, and less work going to operations contractors at KSC. We are
working with state and county officials to help bring in non-NASA work.
Enabling Workforce Transition Through Retraining and Incentives
Many members of the KSC aerospace workforce will need to transition
from launch operations and Shuttle Orbiter ground processing to
development, assembly, integration and test activities for our
Constellation systems. Over the past year, NASA has made a concerted
effort to share workforce among multiple programs, particularly
Shuttle, ISS, and Constellation, enabling people to build crossover
skills. The effort, known as Workforce Synergy, enables the
Constellation Program to progress while ensuring that the critical
skills necessary to safely and efficiently execute the remaining Space
Shuttle missions (complete assembly of the ISS and service the Hubble
Space Telescope). On the civil service side, NASA is tracking workforce
time on Space Shuttle, ISS, and Constellation, and the analysis has
revealed that more than half of our human spaceflight civil servants
are working on more than one program. This encourages the transfer of
lessons learned, the incorporation of operations needs into design, and
demonstrates to the workforce that they will have future work on the
Constellation Program as Shuttle is retired.
NASA is providing the tools, training, and time for workers to gain
experience and skills on new processes we know we will implement for
Orion and Ares. NASA is applying these new processes required for
Constellation into Shuttle processing now, to provide skill and
experience that the workforce will need to do future work on
Constellation. This will be real, hands-on experience that will qualify
workers for future work. Examples include:
The United Space Alliance (USA) Shuttle Program Operations
Contract (SPOC) workforce is being used by Constellation to
process the Ares I-X vehicle for the first Constellation test
flight, scheduled for spring-summer 2009. The Ares I-X flight
will be conducted with the help of many contractor personnel
from the Space Shuttle workforce.
For STS-120, a single Solid Rocket Booster was stacked one
segment at a time to gather engineering information on the
Mobile Launch Platform for Ares I-X.
On STS-118, the Shuttle Endeavor was powered up during
operations and check-out using a new ``paperless'' process as a
test of future procedures for the Orion.
As part of its efforts to cooperatively work transition issues with
state and local officials, on May 27, 2008, NASA signed a non-
reimbursable Space Act Agreement with the Brevard Workforce Development
Board (BWDB) with the objective of preparing Brevard County's highly
skilled contractor workforce for the transition from Shuttle to the
Constellation Program. These efforts will enhance the BWDB's mission to
retain, strengthen, and expand the county's aerospace contractor
workforce. Under the terms of the agreement, NASA will participate in
initiatives of the Board's Aerospace Career Development Committee, meet
with the Board to provide workforce data, provide a representative to
serve as an ex-officio member of the BWDB Board of Directors, and
collaborate in the development of space workforce training and
assistance initiatives. The BWDB will work in support of existing and
future KSC missions through cooperation in requirements planning and
implementation of training and other initiatives to assist in the
development of needed new skills and capabilities, and meet with KSC
senior leaders periodically to educate and inform them on their program
of work.
NASA is also working with contractors to enable them to implement
incentive programs to retain skilled employees as the Agency approaches
transition. Examples include:
NASA is advised that United Space Alliance (USA) has
established two programs for employees impacted by Shuttle
transition. The Enhanced Severance Pay program will provide USA
employees who are laid off a minimum of 4 weeks' pay and
maximum of 26 weeks' pay, depending on years of service,
subject to policy criteria. The Shuttle Program Operations
Contract (SPOC) Completion Bonus, which is additive to Enhanced
Severance Pay, will provide SPOC employees with critical/
essential skills who are laid off with a minimum of 15 weeks'
pay and maximum of 26 weeks' pay, depending on years of
service. More than 6,000 USA employees ( 4,000 of whom are at
KSC) meet the ``critical/essential skill'' criteria.
On April 30, 2008, NASA announced a modification of the
Lockheed Martin Space Systems External Tank contract which will
provide incentives to eligible contractor personnel to ensure
mission success and construction of the remaining External
Tanks to support the Space Shuttle through its retirement. The
contract modification is valued at $39.5M.
On June 10, 2008, NASA announced a modification of the Pratt
& Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME)
contract to incorporate an employee retention incentive plan to
ensure that critical skills are retained to enable the safe
fly-out of the Space Shuttle fleet. The modification is valued
at $16.8M.
KSC Future Role in Human Spaceflight
KSC is already taking a leading role in many areas of the Agency's
future human spaceflight program, including:
Supporting Exploration experiments on the ISS.
Constellation program integration and support for safety,
reliability and quality assurance (SR&QA); systems engineering
and integration; and test and evaluation. This effort supports
integrated hazards analysis and preliminary hazard analysis;
Risk Management, and quality assurance for the Constellation
Program.
KSC ground operations activities include project management
and integration; responsibility for achieving all Agency ground
operations objectives allocated to the launch and landing
sites; leading design, development, test and engineering, and
logistics activities for all ground processing, launch and
recovery systems; and serving as lead for ground processing,
launch and landing operations planning and execution. On June
6, 2008, NASA selected contractors for a fabrication of ground
support equipment for Constellation and other space programs at
KSC. The multiple award indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity
contract has a maximum value of $400 million during a basic
five-year ordering period with the potential to be extended for
as much as 1 year past the end of the ordering period. Several
Florida companies, including Engravers Metal Fabricators of
Cocoa; TJ Inc. of Christmas; Precision Fabricating & Cleaning
Co., Inc. of Cocoa; Coastal Steel, Inc. of Cocoa; Met-Con, Inc.
of Cocoa; Samson Metal & Machine of Lakeland; and Specialty
Maintenance and Construction of Lakeland, were awarded
contracts as part of this award, along with companies from
other states.
KSC will provide contractor oversight for the Orion ground
processing effort, including ground support equipment, and will
lead the launch operations and recovery support during design,
development, test and engineering; as well as perform prime
contractor oversight and independent analysis.
KSC will support work that will be done under a contract
awarded on June 12, 2008 for the design, development, and
production of a new space suit system for Constellation
astronauts.
For the Ares I, KSC will lead ground processing, launch
operations and recovery support during design, development,
test and engineering; as well as lead launch operations
planning and execution for Ares I-X and other flight
demonstrations.
In support of the 2009 Ares I-X test flight, as well as
other flight demonstrations, NASA started the construction of
facilities modifications to KSC in 2007. KSC is modifying
equipment and facilities used most recently by the Space
Shuttle, such as Launch Control Center Firing Room One, and
Launch Pad 39B, to prepare for Constellation testing.
Other construction of facilities (CoF) projects to be
carried out as part of the Agency's transition activities
include modifications to the Operations and Checkout building,
the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), and the Multi-Payload
Processing Facility (MPPF). Constellation's facility
requirements continue to evolve in parallel with flight
hardware maturity. As project offices are created and move into
manufacturing and processing, facilities requirements are being
identified, evaluated, and requested. The contractor workforce
that will be associated with construction of facilities
projects has not been included in the ``Workforce Transition
Strategy--Initial Report.'' At this time, NASA cannot estimate
the number of contractor personnel to be associated with the
various CoF projects, in part because Agency bases its contract
awards on open competitions that do not stipulate workforce
numbers. In addition, the full scope of CoF activities in
support of Constellation is not yet known.
Further into the future, KSC will support lunar architecture work
for the Constellation Program system engineering; ground operations,
and assembly for Orion and Ares I Low Earth Orbit operations phase;
Ares V ground processing, launch operations and recovery support during
design, development, test and engineering; final assembly of and ground
processing support for human lunar lander; and lunar surface habitat
management and integration. Additionally, KSC will be the NASA lead for
lunar surface in situ resource utilization systems and support surface
systems logistics concepts, all of which are vital to our Exploration
success.
Therefore, given the exciting and varied amount of work that is in
KSC's future, it is clear that NASA is not going out of business at
KSC; rather, this transition will enable a new line of NASA business at
KSC as the Center increases its involvement with Exploration activities
that will be pursued for decades to come.
Launch Services Program
As we prepare for the future of human spaceflight, it is important
to remember that KSC has also been key to launching NASA's robotic
explorations of the Earth and space, and this will continue through the
transition from Shuttle to Orion and beyond. The Agency's Launch
Services Program (LSP) has maintained a success rate of 98.8 percent
since 1987. LSP supports NASA science missions, as well as the launch
of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration spacecraft (e.g.,
Geosynchronous Operational Environmental Satellites), Department of
Defense spacecraft (e.g., Global Positioning System and Defense Support
Program), and commercial satellites (e.g., GeoEye 1).
Commercial Space Activity at KSC
In addition to playing a key role in the Constellation Program, KSC
will support commercial space activity. NASA is actively encouraging
the growth of a new, robust, commercially-based space economy through
the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) project. From the
beginning, NASA has considered COTS to be an investment in space
commercialization, and with that investment, there were inherent risks
associated with stimulating a market capability that is in its infancy.
Therefore, NASA is providing $500 million as ``seed money'' to spur the
commercial space industry to develop and demonstrate commercial orbital
transportation services. It is also important to understand that NASA
is only one investor in the overall demonstration of commercial cargo
services. The commercial space companies (and their other private
investors) are the largest investors because they stand to reap the
financial benefits of developing a proven commercial space
transportation capability that they can sell to other non-NASA
customers.
Both of the funded COTS Phase I partners, SpaceX and Orbital
Sciences Corp., plan to demonstrate cargo mission capabilities to the
ISS in calendar year 2010. NASA has identified ISS commercial cargo
requirements in the 2010-11 timeframe, and the Agency is in the process
of procuring commercial cargo services through the ISS Commercial
Resupply Services acquisition. The Request For Proposals (RFP) for
these services was released on April 14, 2008, with an award expected
by the end of 2008.
By investing in U.S. private industry through COTS, NASA is
facilitating development of reliable, cost-effective access to low
Earth orbit (LEO). The intent is to create a market environment in
which commercial space transportation services are available to
Government and private sector customers. The availability of safe,
reliable and economical service to LEO will help NASA achieve the
Nation's goals of retiring the Space Shuttle and building a new space
transportation system.
In addition to COTS, the possibility of leasing land to one or more
commercial entities to develop and operate a Commercial Vertical Launch
Complex (CVLC) on KSC property is being considered.
Enhanced Use Leasing (EUL)
NASA's use of Enhanced Use Leasing (EUL) improves the Agency's
performance by allowing it to recover asset values, reduce operating
costs, improve facility conditions, and improve mission effectiveness.
It also opens up opportunities for commercial vendors who can make
effective use of NASA facilities and equipment at the Agency's Centers,
including KSC. NASA encourages the use of its facilities by other
agencies, industries, and universities (e.g., Space Shuttle Landing
Facility). NASA's Centers have begun to develop enhanced use leases for
their underutilized real property, and KSC and Ames Research Center
(ARC) have participated in an EUL demonstration program that will
likely continue to result in lease awards in FY 2009. NASA will
continue to provide a fiscal year report to Congress on the progress of
its use of enhanced use lease authority.
Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA) Relief
In order to minimize impacts to NASA's workforce, it is essential
that the Agency transition from the Space Shuttle to Constellation as
quickly and as smoothly as possible. One key element of this effort is
the extension of relief from the Iran, North Korea and Syria
Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA) to enable the Agency to purchase Russian
services beyond 2011. On April 11, 2008, the Administration submitted a
proposed amendment to Congress to extend the exception for payments to
Russia for Soyuz crew transportation and rescue services until the
Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle reaches Full Operational Capability or a
U.S. commercial provider of crew transportation and rescue services
demonstrates the capability to meet ISS mission requirements. In
addition, the amendment would enable NASA to purchase Russian-unique
equipment and capabilities, such as sustaining engineering and spares,
through the operational life on the ISS. This is essential to maintain
an American presence onboard to sustain and utilize the ISS. Continued
operation of the Station is also important for the developing cargo
resupply commercial market. We look forward to working with the
Congress on enactment of this crucial legislation.
Conclusion
NASA continues to make steady progress in managing its challenges,
including the critical challenge of transitioning our Shuttle workforce
to exciting new projects. The Agency has assigned leadership roles and
responsibilities for exploration and science missions to NASA's ten
field Centers across the country in order to help restore the core
technical capabilities across the Agency as we transition from the
Space Shuttle to new capabilities. Thanks to its dedicated, highly
skilled aerospace workforce, Kennedy Space Center will continue to play
a key role in launching both human and robotic space missions, as it
has since it was established in July 1962 as the Launch Operations
Center.
In a short span of years, we have already taken long strides in the
formulation of strategies and programs that will take us back to the
Moon and on to Mars and other destinations in our solar system. These
efforts will result in tremendous opportunities for those interested in
becoming involved in space exploration and development at KSC, in both
the Federal and commercial space sectors.
Chairman Nelson, with your support and that of this Subcommittee,
we are making the right strategic choices for our Nation's space
program. Again, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you
today. I would be pleased to respond to any questions that you may
have.
Senator Nelson. Dr. Griffin, I think I heard something new.
You spoke of a cut of three to four thousand jobs. Instead of
the projection, on the upside, that we've heard, of 6,400 jobs.
You want to clarify?
Dr. Griffin. Yes, sir. You and I have, of course, talked
privately about that in your offices, and we have talked
publicly about that. We--the projected cuts of 6,400 people
that we're showing in that initial Workforce Transition Report,
did not--and could not at the time--also include the work which
we expect to come to KSC in the future as we develop Ares and
Orion and move on to our lunar--to our lunar systems.
So, we think, at this point, that the net reduction would
be somewhere in the three to four thousand, rather than in the
six to seven thousand range.
Senator Nelson. Even during the time-frame of 2011?
Dr. Griffin. We do not think the 6,400 that was offered in
that report represents the complete picture. We're putting this
picture together, as we go. You will receive, by law, a new
report every 6 months, and as increasing maturity of the newly
developed programs becomes available, we will refine those
estimates. But our best guess for a long time has been three to
four thousand, not six to seven thousand, even in 2011.
Senator Nelson. Well, this is the first time that that has
been stated publicly. In your previous testimony before our
committee you had said 6,400. So, now putting it at three to
four thousand, instead of the 6,400, even in year 2011. In the
chart of the contractor workforce that was shown the high end
was a 6,400 cut, low end was showing a cut of about 5,300, in
2011. Now we're hearing a cut of considerably less. Of three to
four thousand.
Dr. Griffin. Yes, sir.
Senator Nelson. That is some news. I can't say it's good
news, but it's certainly news that's a step in the right
direction.
Now, to put this in perspective, the overall employment at
the Kennedy Space Center is about 14,500. The projections that
you all put out in your cuts were from just the Shuttle
workforce, which started at 8,000, not at 14,500. So, is it
reasonable to think that the workforce over and above the
Shuttle workforce at the Kennedy Space Center will be fairly
much intact, or do we not know?
Dr. Griffin. I think that that workforce will remain fairly
well intact. There certainly can be collateral effects of
retiring the Shuttle that may influence that workforce, but I
would, again, offer to this committee that we are, after all,
retiring the Shuttle. So, eventually there will be no Shuttle
jobs.
What we are not yet able to show is the number of new jobs
that will be developed in the course of awarding bids for Ares
I, Ares V, Altair Lunar Lander, KSC ground operations to
prepare the facilities and the pads for those vehicles, ISS
experiment support, as we begin to use the ISS, and many other
things that we do intend to do here at KSC that are budgeted,
but for which contracts are not yet awarded, and therefore no
preliminary manpower count can be allocated.
So, you're seeing reductions in Shuttle, but you're not
seeing, yet, and we'll give it to you when we have it, but
you're not seeing, yet, the increases that will result from new
programs.
Senator Nelson. And, part of that is the fact that you will
basically assemble the Orion spacecraft here in the ONC
building?
Dr. Griffin. That's affirmative. The contractor--the
winning contractor on Orion is now working with us to modify
the ONC building at the Cape for Orion assembly.
Senator Nelson. So, to put it in its context, I want to do
this, because I think this is, although we can't say good news
when you talk about cuts, it is clearly a step in the right
direction of mitigating these cuts, a total of 14,500
approximately that are employed at the Space Center. About
2011, before we start ramping back up in 2012, you're looking
at a net of three to four thousand cuts from that total
workforce of 14,500.
Dr. Griffin. That's what we think today, sir, and as I said
in my opening statement, we are working to mitigate that
number. We do not take the loss of our skilled workforce
lightly, and have been working every day to find ways to
ameliorate that issue.
Senator Nelson. Before I turn to Senator Martinez, I just
want to say that you know how I have expressed to you, and all
of you, in rather vigorous terms, that your own goals for NASA
include 10 healthy Space Centers. Needless to say, when one of
those Space Centers gets absolutely whacked, where its heart is
cut out, it's not a healthy Space Center, it's a Space Center
that's on life support.
So the fact that that you have given us this news today, I
think, is significant. But, in terms of specifics, of nailing
down the net job loss, it's really going to be when you report
to us much later this year. Is that going to be the time when
we will have a better fix on the specific number of job loss?
Dr. Griffin. We probably won't have a significant reporting
change in, for the October report--that would be 6 months after
the one we gave you from April, and they're due every 6 months,
as I know you're aware, but I wanted to get on the record.
Because some of the significant contracts will still not have
been let at that point.
So, we have a considerable amount of forward work yet to do
before we would have put out RFPs, selected contractors, and
then been able--from, with that behind us--to give any sort of
an immediate, an ameliorative estimate.
So, you won't have something significantly different this
October.
Senator Nelson. I just want to say that I have had
innumerable private conversations with Dr. Griffin. And he is
doing everything humanly possible, within the confines that he
has to operate in, to mitigate these losses, and to be creative
in an approach for the future workforce here at Kennedy Space
Center, which we will get into the specifics of later on.
I thank you for that, Dr. Griffin.
Senator Martinez?
Senator Martinez. Well, I'm looking forward to hearing from
the other members of the panel, as well, but just to follow up,
Dr. Griffin, as you go forward and make these additional
contracts that will then give a clearer picture of the
workforce left--what, if anything, can we from Congress do to
help alleviate the problem? To minimize the job loss?
Dr. Griffin. Within the context of--I think Senator Nelson
has his finger on the core of the issue, and so I'll restate it
again, for emphasis. But, it is--it is in the nature of what it
is we do here at KSC. We integrate and launch space vehicles
here--it's NASA's primary center for doing that. And I've
worked down here on and off for 30 years now, in one role or
another. This, in some ways, is the least satisfying of those
roles, I liked it a lot better when I was in closer touch with
the hardware.
But what we do here is we integrate and launch space
vehicles. The retirement of the Shuttle, and the development of
new systems that will enable us to return to the Moon, and also
service the International Space Station as the Shuttle does,
are necessary things. The Shuttle retirement, and the
development of new systems is necessary for this Nation.
The only thing which could have prevented this downturn in
operations period that some have called ``the gap,'' would have
been for the Congress of the United States, and for the
Administration to request, and for the Congress to approve, a
significantly higher NASA budget, so that we would operate
while we were also doing development.
We didn't do that. The Administration has proposed for the
last 5 years, and the Congress has approved, for the last 5
years, essentially, in constant dollars, a flat NASA budget.
Within the context of that budget, we are doing everything
humanly possible to minimize this gap.
We have a forward plan to sustain the Space Station,
admittedly, through the services of our Russian partners. But
it will at least protect our $100 billion investment in the
Station.
But within the context of the monies that we have
available, I believe we have the best plan that we can have,
and we have the plan which causes the least disruption
possible, here at KSC.
I wish that it were less. I've said this on the record for
the 3 years and 2 months that I've had this job. I wish that
there were something else that we could do about it. But,
within the context of the resources available, we're doing the
best we can.
Senator Martinez. So, the job losses that we're going to
anticipate are reasonably forecasted--they're very reasonably
forecasted, given a 5 year legacy of flat budgets for NASA by
the Administration and the Congress?
Dr. Griffin. Yes, sir. We have projected--for several years
now, we have known, and we have been very clear--that there
will be a gap between Shuttle flights, and Ares/Orion, which
will be the replacement vehicles.
Senator Martinez. So, you basically have been fulfilling
your mission, given what the Congress has given you, and what
the White House has given you?
Dr. Griffin. That is correct, sir. So, we have known of
this gap, we are trying to plan our way through it, it is no
secret.
Now, it is regrettable, the fact that it is not a secret
does not mean I don't regret it--I hugely regret it. But, we've
done the best we can to plan our way through this very
difficult time.
Senator Martinez. Thank you, I have no other questions.
Senator Nelson. And I want to point out that Dr. Griffin
operates within constraints. He's given a budget that he has to
live within, and so his public stance has to be in support of
that budget.
Now, let me just illustrate how difficult this is. When we
launched Challenger over two decades ago, there was a return-
to-flight cost to bring back the Shuttle. That cost was not
only the investigation and the examination of what happened,
but also the recovery of the Shuttle itself off of the bottom
of the Atlantic. But, the Administration and the Congress
supported NASA by replacing those funds that NASA had to use
for the cost of recovery. Not so this time.
In the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia, the costs of
recovery were $2.8 billion. NASA was forced by the Budget
Office to eat that out of its operating revenue. Thus, that was
the reason that last year, bipartisan Senators got into the
NASA funding bill, the Appropriations bill, an additional
billion dollars just to partially reimburse NASA for the money
they had spent on the recovery of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
Of course, at the end of the day, we couldn't get the
support and that effort was not successful. So, we're trying
the same thing again this year.
The problem is that you start to run out of time, as it
gets closer and closer to the time of the shutdown of the Space
Shuttle.
Let me ask you, Dr. Griffin, NASA's report on the economic
impact of NASA in Florida, points out that for every direct job
at KSC, it is multiplied into 2.5 jobs in Florida. The question
is, the reverse of that. Do you anticipate the total loss of
jobs to be 2.5 Florida jobs for every job that is lost at KSC?
Dr. Griffin. Yes, sir, that is the multiplier effect that
we're talking about, so--if those analyses are very difficult
to do, but if you believe the analysis, then the multiplier
effects of government-funded work at KSC is about 2.5 to 1,
either up or down.
Senator Nelson. OK.
Now, let's look ahead. Which Space Center, is going to
manage the Constellation ground processing contract?
Dr. Griffin. That would be here at KSC.
Senator Nelson. OK. That's good to have on the record.
Since the processing is going to be here, that ground
processing contract is going to be managed at the KSC
management level.
Dr. Griffin. Yes.
Senator Nelson. Mr. Cooke?
Mr. Cooke. Yes, sir, that's true. We have the ground----
Senator Nelson. Get a little closer to the mike.
Mr. Cooke. We have the Ground Operations Project Office at
Kennedy Space Center which will manage that.
But irrespective of the management--which I appreciate that
KSC wants to manage its own work, and that is our plan, but the
crucial point, in terms of job losses, is the work would be
done here. I want to get that on the record as well.
Senator Nelson. For the audience, the new rocket, is called
Ares, and the new spacecraft, which is a design like the old
Apollo capsule, only it's a lot bigger, is called Orion.
Together the whole thing is called the Constellation project.
Has there been discussion about locating the Constellation
sustaining engineering work here at Kennedy?
Dr. Griffin. Yes, sir, there has. And we're considering
where we want the split in the work to be. As we transition
from development to routine operations, you then raise the
question of how do you handle the sustaining engineering for
those systems, and where should it go? And it has been our
position that by and large the sustaining engineering work
should wind up here at KSC.
Now, that would be a change in our paradigm from the
Shuttle era, but we're changing what we're doing. In order to
return the United States astronauts and our international
partners to the Moon, we have a suite of development projects
which must take place. And so the development centers--Johnson
and Marshall--will be continuously busy with the development of
new systems, and here at KSC, folks will be continuously busy
with operating systems that have been developed. So, we think,
in large measure, that the balance of sustaining engineering
will probably wind up being here. That will be a difference
from past practice.
Senator Nelson. Whereas, under the Shuttle, that sustaining
engineering was done at other Centers?
Dr. Griffin. That's correct.
Senator Nelson. It was done at Johnson and Marshall?
Dr. Griffin. Primarily.
Senator Nelson. Well, that's some good news. And of course,
you don't want to venture to guess how many jobs that might
entail?
Dr. Griffin. Well, I don't. Because, I mean, to be very
honest, we're trying to give you the best bang for the buck
that we can. The objective that I have always had since we had
an opportunity offered by this President and this Congress to
return to the Moon, the objective that we have is to utilize
the fewest possible number of people for launch operations and
sustaining engineering, because that reduces the cost of it,
and then within the context of a fixed, overall NASA budget,
that allows more money to be made available to do the kinds of
things that I know you want to do, just as much as we do. So,
the less money that we can spend on operations, the more we
have for other things.
It has then been my goal to move some new types of tasks
down here to KSC to make up for other types of work which will
no longer be done.
Therefore, hence the assembly and integration of Orion
being done at the ONC building. Now, we have several more
contracts of a major scope to let. It is my hope that we can
do--it is my hope that the winning contractors will also plan
to do much of their assembly and integration work here at the
Cape. That hasn't been done in the past. So, we're changing
some of the paradigms about how NASA executes its business.
Senator Nelson. Well, I think whoever the next President
is, we're going to request that he keep you as Administrator of
NASA.
Dr. Griffin. Drop me a note and let me know how that works
out.
[Laughter.]
Senator Nelson. Mel will work on one side and I'll work on
the other side.
All right, before I turn it to you, I want to get this in.
You know that here at Kennedy, we have an expertise in
logistics management.
Dr. Griffin. Surely.
Senator Nelson. Have you considered developing a
centralized logistics capability for future programs here at
KSC?
Mr. Cooke. I don't think we've discussed that in great
detail.
Dr. Griffin. We haven't got that far, to be honest with
you.
Senator Nelson. Well, I want to suggest that you consider
that. Kennedy has that expertise.
Dr. Griffin. Yes, sir. Suggestion accepted. We're still
early in our developmental phase, and I'm not dismissing or
minimizing your point, we'll note it down and we'll take it
under action.
Right now, I'm worried about the problems of finishing the
Station and developing new systems, and I have no, in fact,
my--you know, I would love to be in a world where I was worried
about the logistics for supplying Ares and Orion and returning
to the Moon--that's the place I want to get to.
Senator Nelson. Senator Martinez?
Senator Martinez. That's the exciting stuff.
Dr. Griffin. It is, yes, sir.
Senator Martinez. And we really thank you and your team for
all that you're doing to minimize the pain in our community,
and to not only lead the program, but to also be mindful of
those problems and concerns.
And I'd like to ask this question, and maybe one of the
others might prefer to answer, but it's up to you--tell me
about that relationship with the Russians, and tell me about--
the concerns that we have all voiced, and we all have. I
understand that we now have Medvedev as the new President,
Putin has stood in the background.
You know, I have been to Georgia, not the one that grows
peaches, but the other Georgia.
[Laughter.]
Senator Martinez. And these people live in constant fear
that the Russians will cut off their gas. And not because they
haven't paid their bill, but just because the Russians will use
the supplying of gas as an instrument of international
politics, as an instrument of policy. Now, that's kind of
foreign to us, as Americans, but this is the way they play the
game.
Are we concerned that in a moment in time when we might
have no other alternative, that the Russians might decide that
they'll fly someone for us, or provide a mission, if we were to
do something different somewhere else in the world, or whatever
they might come up with? I mean, have these discussions taken
place?
And let me broaden the question a little further--you know,
if you--I remember they had a return to Earth, you know, OK,
but not exactly in the place that they had planned for it to
be. As I recall, they were 700 miles off course, and so
operationally, are we concerned about the capabilities? And,
you know, I understand you all have to continue to work in a
positive atmosphere, but I think we need to ask these questions
today, about what is life going to be like during that 5 year
period, when we're totally dependent upon the Russians for
manned flight?
Dr. Griffin. I do understand, sir. I run NASA, and I need
to stay out of world politics, and will.
Senator Martinez. That's the great thing about being a
Senator, we can build rockets, and do international politics,
and second-guess anybody better than anybody.
[Laughter.]
Dr. Griffin. And you should be very grateful that I will
stay out of world politics.
[Laughter.]
Dr. Griffin. With regards to operating with the Russians as
partners, and the reliability of their systems and all of that,
I'm going to turn that answer over the Bill Gerstenmaier.
Gerst has lived in Russia, and worked with the Russians, in
the course of our Shuttle Mir program. We may have some folks
at NASA who have more experience working with Russians than
Gerst does, but not many.
So, Bill?
Mr. Gerstenmaier. First of all, I can't answer the
political questions, either. But, I can talk from an
engineering standpoint, and from a capabilities standpoint.
We've worked very closely with the Russians, we work with
them daily onboard Space Station today. As you mentioned
earlier, it's an international facility. We have to coordinate
things back and forth--who generates oxygen, when, who removes
oxygen, we provide power to the Russians, they provide re-boost
to the Space Station for us--so, it's truly a cooperative
engineering effort between us and the Russians.
And from a technical engineering standpoint, that's going
extremely well. We're very good partners, we exchange data
every day, we are in constant communication with them, the
Space Station cannot fly with either country in charge, it
requires both countries to work cooperatively together, and as
an engineering team, that's been going extremely well.
You mentioned the Soyuz, that didn't return correctly.
Probably the most--thing that concerns us the most, is that the
instrumentation, or propulsion section did not separate
correctly from that spacecraft, and that forced it to fly a
different entry trajectory than we anticipated.
Two vehicles have done that--the last two vehicles in a row
have done that. There's currently a Commission going on in
Russia, investigating that activity. Their report is due out
sometime this summer. I have made one trip to Russia to go
understand how they were progressing with that analysis, they
were very open with me, they showed me all of the data, they
showed me the drawings, I saw the physical hardware, I went
through a detailed discussion of their engineering processes,
they're the same as ours, they're searching for root cause,
it's not easy flying in space, and they're having problems
understanding that, but they're working through it very well.
I will go, again, to Russia, here in about a week, and I
will, again, get a chance to see.
I think the thing that concerns me a little bit is the fact
that we will have a single transportation system, not that it's
Russian, not that it's another country. You know, when we had
the Columbia, tragedy if it wasn't for the Russians, we would
not have been able to keep the Space Station manned, and we
would not have the Space Station we have today.
So, it's nice having two transportation systems that can
back each other up. And that's where we want to get to--we want
to get this CEV flying as soon as we can. We need stability in
our budget, we need stability in our direction, we need to keep
moving forward, we've made good progress. Doug and his team
have done a great job of moving things forward, we need to keep
that momentum going forward, so we're dependent upon the
Russians for as short a period of time as we can, and then we
can have, back to our dual transportation system, which is what
we really want for Space Station.
Senator Martinez. OK, I appreciate that good answer.
I suppose that what we need to do is to focus on trying to
minimize the potential for the political issues to arise that
might give cause to that. And I know in many spheres, we work
very cooperatively with the Russians, and I know there's a lot
that we do together, frankly, when it comes to trouble spots in
the world. They're greatly cooperating with us on issues
relating to nuclear proliferation and in that regard I know
that is a very, very hands-on cooperative relationship just as
it is on the space program, as you've described.
So, I'm one of those that's, you know, very optimistically
looking for a very good strong relationship as we go forward.
But at the same time, it is a troubled time, it is a troubling
sort of scenario we see that we would be so dependent. And I
guess this issue that you mention, as well, just the fact that
we'll be relying on a single mode of transportation, and it
better all be working or it would be--really not good for the
Space Station.
Relating to the future here at KSC, we haven't touched on
what the second panel will be focusing on to some degree, which
is the alternatives to space exploration, in combining public/
private partnerships.
Dr. Griffin, can you tell us a little bit about where you
see that future, and how do you see that incorporating into
what we do here at the Kennedy Space Center?
Dr. Griffin. Senator, I will have to respectfully say I'm
not an expert on those issues, and we're supportive of them.
But, how work in other sectors of the economy could blend in
with what is done here at KSC to support East Central Florida
is certainly a goal I share with you, but one that I would have
to--I hope to hear some clever ideas from future panel members,
as well. I will be in a listening mode on that, other than a
talking mode.
Senator Martinez. Good deal. Thank you.
Senator Nelson. One of the painful lessons in the layoffs
of Apollo was that when we ramped back up on the Space Shuttle,
it was hard to get some of those technical positions filled,
because people, since there was a big gap there, had packed up
and moved away, and had left NASA. You want to comment on what
you plan to do as we ramp up here?
Dr. Griffin. Well, we are, even now, beginning efforts at
retraining and transition for folks who we think need to
transition on--from Shuttle on to Ares and Orion. Some types of
folks, for example, some types of skills won't be needed. We
won't be having Shuttle tiles anymore. So, we are working with
the companies, and beginning to work with other Federal
agencies and State agencies to try to forecast which folks can
transition over and have that shift happen.
Doug, do you have any more comments on that, or Gerst?
Mr. Gerstenmaier. We have a couple of training
opportunities for employees to go begin training for some of
the new skills, as we anticipate the work that's coming, the
new type of work we describe may be less processing, more--not
quite as much hands-on, getting ready to go launch kinds of
things as you describe, some of the other skills.
We've got some training opportunities for folks to go do
that. We're trying to make those available to employees. We've
worked with the companies some flexibility in terms of time
off, things for employees to do, the State's been also
supportive in helping us with some education classes along
those lines.
So, we're trying to take our existing workforce that knows
how to fly complicated space hardware, take that basic
knowledge, and then apply it in a slightly different manner by
giving them some skills on top of that.
So, we've been working pretty actively with the various
companies to try to prepare for that activity, for the ramp up.
Senator Martinez. Mr. Cooke?
Mr. Cooke. Yes, sir.
Senator Martinez. We do have USA processing for Ares I-X
test launch next spring, so that's using a workforce that has
been working Shuttle to come over and begin getting skills in
what we're doing, and we have worked very closely with Bill's
organization, Space Ops, to figure out where we can get
synergies between what their skills are, and what work we need
to have done, so that is a part of the transition effort--
something that we've put a lot of effort into and continued to
look for opportunities to begin to get the employees working in
areas where we will be going on Constellation, so that they'll
have those skills. And I know that Bill's also working--has
worked a couple of retention activities in order to keep
critical skills going on the Space Shuttle program.
Dr. Griffin. And further, we've looked at some procedures,
you know, today we use a lot of paper products to process our
vehicles here. We're going to some wireless systems where we no
longer need to have paper products, we're actually putting
those in place today in the Shuttle program, and that's
allowing employees to actually participate and use the system
that will be the system of the future. So, they're actually
getting real skills today processing Shuttle hardware with the
same kind of paperless systems that they will be using to
process the next generation of vehicles. So, we're looking
forward, and we're trying to actually use those systems and
skills today, so they'll be more seamless when we transition to
the new systems in the future.
Senator Nelson. Well, this is good, I want to suggest,
additionally, that you take the experience of the Base
Realignment and Closure Commission, BRAC. Specifically, the
Department of Defense worked with the Department of Labor and
the Department of Commerce in order to minimize the disruptions
and to help in the workforce transition as they shut down
military bases.
And so the Department of Commerce, and the Department of
Labor, having done this, this is another opportunity for you to
reach out.
Dr. Griffin. We have begun to do that, specifically, with
those two agencies, and we will continue.
Senator Martinez. I just have one last question when you're
done.
Senator Nelson. Go ahead.
Senator Martinez. I was just going to ask about the current
Shuttle missions. I know we just had a fabulous mission that
concluded. I know we had a little hiccup in some debris,
apparently, was visible in the--which apparently turned out to
be of no consequence. Just give me a word on where we are on
finishing out the Shuttle program, I know it's been terrific,
how we got back to flight, and things seem to be going very
well, but I just wanted to hear from you on that.
I know this last mission, in terms of what it accomplished,
had to have been very satisfying to all of you.
Dr. Griffin. It was, sir, and Bill Gerstenmaier is the guy
whose job it is to get those missions executed, so I'll let him
comment.
Mr. Gerstenmaier. And the next mission we have will be the
Hubble Servicing Mission, so we're going to go back to the
Hubble Space Telescope again, and to put a brand new set of
optics and upgraded cameras on it, repair some gyroscopes on
it, so that's a very exciting mission--that will be this fall
on October 8.
Again, because that's the first flight where we're not
going to the Space Station, we have to have another Shuttle
ready, in case a rescue is needed for the Shuttle that's
serving the Hubble, so we'll have two vehicles out on the
launch pads--one out on 39B and one on 39A.
And then after that flight occurs, that vehicle from 39B
will roll over to 39A and will carry logistics up to the Space
Station, and the cargo that it's carrying up are systems that
will allow the Space----
Senator Martinez. When will that be?
Mr. Gerstenmaier. That will be November 10th. And the idea
there is to carry up the equipment that's needed to increase
the crew size onboard Space Station to 6. You know, currently
we have three crew members that stay onboard Space Station, but
we're going to increase that to three----
Dr. Griffin. Increase that to 6.
Mr. Gerstenmaier. Increase that to 6, increase it by 3, I'm
sorry. And then we'll bring our water reclamation system up on
that Shuttle flight. We'll bring some crew sleep stations up,
some galley equipment, some extra exercise equipment, and an
additional bathroom for the Space Station.
So, we'll be prepared, then, to increase the crew size in
the spring of next year, probably around May of 2009.
The next flight will be roughly, we think, in February, and
we have a change request out now that's being reviewed, that
will bring up the last solar array, the last big solar panels
on Space Station, and that will get added out on the starboard
side of the Space Station, out on the S-6 side, or solar
starboard side 6, solar arrays will be added to Space Station
early next year.
Then, the flight after that will be a Japanese-exposed
facility, it'll be the third piece of their laboratory they had
a little pressurized section, and then the big lab which was
just launched this last flight, and then have an exposed
facility, and that will be in kind of the April time-frame of
next year.
And then there's--beyond that there are about 7 more
Shuttle flights to carry logistics up, and essentially outfit
Station, so it's ready to, essentially, be built, be completed
and then be serviced by commercial cargo transportation,
serviced by the Soyuz and serviced by the CEV, or commercial
crew transport, whenever it comes online.
Senator Martinez. Very good, thank you.
Senator Nelson. Dr. Griffin, one of our problems in the
past is that Kennedy has been pigeonholed as an operations
center. And you know how I have talked to you about bringing
research and development here, to expand the role.
So, is it possible, from your leadership standpoint, to
expand KSC's charter, and include R&D as part of its charter?
Dr. Griffin. Sir, I--with respect, I would not urge that we
try to make Kennedy a development center. We need development
centers at NASA, and we need operations centers. Where I am
trying to move the boundary a bit, back--because development
work would be removed from places that have it, and brought
here.
And second of all, it really would do nothing to address
the job loss of the people whose jobs from Shuttle would be
cut. All you would be doing is importing development engineers
from other areas, or hiring them locally, but it would not
ameliorate the job losses of the people who would not be doing
Shuttle operations.
Senator Nelson. Well, you know my opinion. We've got
150,000 acres here, and expand the role, other than being an
operations center. And indeed, you have had some good news
about the Constellation ground processing, and about the
sustaining engineering. And I brought up the question of our
overall logistics management.
Once Ares and Orion become operational, could the program
shift here to Kennedy Space Center?
Dr. Griffin. Well, that depends on what you mean by program
management. And again, I'm not----
Senator Nelson. Tell me what you mean.
Dr. Griffin. The overall program management will include
developmental efforts for succeeding block upgrades, you know,
we--our equipment can't stay static in time, as well as
improvements and also the overall Constellation program work
will include the development of Ares V, the heavy lifter and
the Altair Lunar Lander, and then later on, surface systems for
the Moon.
The overall program management for those things needs to be
at the development centers. I'll call it a sub-set of that
program management--the operational, the execution of
operational could well reside here at KSC.
Senator Nelson. Well, that would be interesting. When might
you come to a conclusion on that?
Dr. Griffin. Too soon to tell, to be straightforward with
you, it was a significant topic of discussion at my last
management monthly.
Senator Nelson. What is that technical term again,
operations, what?
Dr. Griffin. Well, the operational program of flying the
existing vehicle, you know, when it is developed, within the
envelope of its flight regime could well be managed here at
KSC, and it is my view that it probably should be. But there
are a number of subtleties to it that we need to work out, and
so I would not want to give the impression that those decisions
have been finalized yet--it is a current topic of discussion
within NASA, as we seek to manage our affairs efficiently.
Senator Nelson. I know you don't want to get tied down on
these details, because you just have it under discussion, but
the overall operational program, are we talking about Ares and
Orion and its future, or are we talking about all the way to
Ares IV?
Dr. Griffin. It's too soon to tell, sir, and I just have to
leave it at that.
The first thing on our plate is getting Ares and Orion
developed and working, and that is clearly a Developmental
Center activity, in conjunction with our contractor's on this,
Boeing and Lockheed, and ATK.
When that development program is done, then we have to
address, I think, the transition of a development program to an
operational program. I would like to see the operational side
of the program managed here at KSC, and I've been quite
forthright about that.
As I said a few moments ago in questioning, that represents
a change in how we do business at NASA, I think it's a
productive change, but it is a change. That's as far out on
that limb as I want to go right now, or I risk saying something
that would commit us to a path that would prove later to be
stupid, and I don't want to do that. I want time to study the
issues to make sure that we get it right.
But we are leaning in the direction of including some new
roles and missions here at KSC that haven't been done before.
But we want to do it right, and we want to think about it
carefully before we commit to it.
Senator Nelson. I was asking Orbital Space to study the
issues, as well, in the launch here from the Cape, and they
chose, instead, to go and launch from Wallop's Island.
Dr. Griffin. We did, sir.
Senator Nelson. And I will continue to ask those questions.
Do you have included in the President's budget request for
NASA, the contractor retention programs?
Mr. Gerstenmaier?
Mr. Gerstenmaier. Yes.
Senator Nelson. Thanks. The answer is yes. OK. And tell me,
as you project out over the years in the chart that showed the
high of 6,400 lost by 2011, nevertheless the civil service
employment with regard to the Shuttle Program, stayed level at
1,000 at each of the years, even in 2011, 2012, 2013. Explain
that, please?
Dr. Griffin. I guess in the Civil Service side, we have a
core side of folks that are going to be doing the new work we
just talked about, you know, we have the test programs that are
going to be done down here, we have some development associated
with that. The Ground Processing contract management that we
talked about earlier, that's going to be managed here by civil
servants. So, that's where that workforce is going to be
utilized in the future.
The Safety Group sits here, and stays the same. We now have
common engineering down at the Kennedy Space Center like we do
at other places where the engineering team supports more than
just one program, they support all programs, so as the Shuttle
ramps down, that same engineering team that supports those
activities, will continue to support engineering activities,
but now for the new vehicles. So, so that's the basis of why
that stays flat through that period, in terms of civil
servants.
Senator Nelson. All right, thank you.
Now, as you know, we have a difference of opinion about
flying one additional Space Shuttle flight. You have responded
in your letter to the House Chairman. They've passed the
authorization for one additional Space Shuttle flight.
You're operating within the constraints of what you're told
your budget can be, and I understand, you don't want to take
money out of Constellation in order to put it into an
additional Shuttle flight.
But, under a new Administration, if we were able to get the
additional money for another Shuttle flight, over and above
what you have already built into the budget, can you venture an
additional cost for that additional Space Shuttle flight that
would be to get a whole bunch of scientific experiments up to
the Space Station that you don't have room for now?
Dr. Griffin. We have said, I believe, in that report, and I
know that, you know, I've been on the record publicly on this,
that the marginal cost of that additional flight would be a few
hundred million dollars, $300 to $400 million. I don't have a
more precise estimate than that for you at this time.
Senator Nelson. Will we be beyond the point of no return by
the time we get a new Administration in place in early 2009?
Dr. Griffin. No, sir. The--we have an 18-month, basically,
integration and operations template for a given Shuttle
mission, it's approximately that. So, we need to know--I do
understand that the House has authorized that additional
flight. You do understand that the Administration considers it
not to be necessary. In the end, of course, we will obey the
laws that are passed. If decisions are made by approximately
February of 2009, that sort of a timeframe--we could execute
such a mission, then, in the late summer of 2010, and we would
be able to do that.
Senator Nelson. OK. Well, we'll continue to work with you
on that.
Now, the critical piece of hardware that's got to be
decided as to whether or not you continue to build additional
hardware is the external tank. That's making the assumption
that on the last Space Shuttle flight, this extra one we're
talking about, that you have to have another external tank that
would be used for a rescue Shuttle. At that point, would you
necessarily need that extra ET, since the last Space Shuttle
flight would be going to the safe harbor of the International
Space Station?
Dr. Griffin. And that's exactly the point. First of all,
let's all recognize that there does, at some point have to be a
last Space Shuttle flight.
Senator Nelson. But right now, manifest on the last Shuttle
flight in October of 2010, you're still having a spare,
external tank, are you not?
Dr. Griffin. Yes, we have a contingency flight beyond the
last Shuttle flight. And we're looking at the things that you
just described to see what makes technical sense, we're looking
at the capability of the Space Station to support an extended
crew for a long period of time, we're looking at the robustness
of the Shuttle system, by that time we will have flown some
more flights, we'll continue to look and we'll make the right
trades at the right time to go support what we need to go
support in the future.
Senator Nelson. OK. The reason I wanted to get that out is
the fact is that if there were a change in policy in the new
Administration, we would have that additional external tank, so
that if the choice were made by the new Administration to fly
that additional flight of scientific experiments, we could, in
fact, do it?
Dr. Griffin. We're not limited on hardware. This was----
Senator Nelson. We're not limited on hardware, exactly.
Dr. Griffin. This is a policy difference that you have with
this Administration, which I represent, and it's a fiscal
matter. It does cost three or four hundred million dollars that
is not appropriated in our budget today, and that we--I cannot,
in good conscience, sit here and tell you I could fly that
flight and just absorb that hit. Three or our hundred million
dollars worth of content, that you have already approved, would
have to go away. And so we don't have that money in the budget.
Senator Nelson. And we understand that. You would have to
be provided that additional money by the new Administration.
Dr. Griffin. That would be correct, sir.
Senator Nelson. Yes, sir.
Senator Martinez. And that new Administration could be a
Republican Administration or it could be a Democratic
Administration.
[Laughter.]
Senator Martinez. And, by the way, it has to pass both
houses of Congress, including the Senate, which has not yet
passed this.
Senator Nelson. Right.
Senator Martinez. But, anyway.
Senator Nelson. And speaking of that, the extra money that
you want to put in this year, even in authorization, as we've
got the authorization bill coming up sometime in July, it's not
a done deal to pass it through the Senate, because one Senator
can ball up the whole works, and grind the Senate to a halt.
So, unless you have unanimous consent in the Senate, it
might be tough sledding, even to get an authorization bill for
NASA passed.
Dr. Griffin. Which was, in part, why I made the point that
within the context of our current authorization and
appropriations--and especially appropriations--I don't have the
money for that flight.
Senator Martinez. Well, the new Administration budgets the
Congress appropriates----
Dr. Griffin. That is true, sir.
Senator Martinez. And so, it's going to take a lot more
than just a new Administration that is willing to do that, it's
going to also take a Senate, particularly, that's willing to do
it.
Dr. Griffin. I regret more deeply than I can say, that when
we agree on so many things that we have this continuing
controversy over this AMS flight. I deeply regret it. But at
this point, I simply don't have the resources to execute that
mission, without removing resources from projects that have
already been approved by the Congress.
Senator Nelson. This has been an excellent discussion, it
has laid the predicate, for now, the discussion of specifics as
to how we can transition the workforce.
Dr. Griffin, you, as usual, are candid, and you are doing a
good job.
So, we thank you, we will ask the second panel to come up,
and as we are bringing them up, we will take a three-minute
recess.
[Recess.]
Senator Nelson. Before we resume with our second panel--if
we can have your attention back there--I'm going to ask Dr.
Griffin if he would make one additional clarification on the
last question that was asked of him.
Dr. Griffin?
Dr. Griffin. Yes, thank you, Senator Nelson.
In hearing what was said in my mind, and talking with my
NASA colleagues, I realized that we might have left some
confusion in place in talking about whether or not this last
flight is flown.
In the draft authorization bill that you've offered up,
there are provisions that require us to keep Shuttle production
contracts open. That's extremely expensive to do, and that
leads us into the $3 to $4 billion range to preserve the
program for another year, which we--and this is the point of
clarification--do not need to do to fly a final flight.
Once the hardware has been delivered, if we are allowed to
continue shutting down the program on schedule, as we planned,
the launch team can launch that last flight on the monies that
have been appropriated, even if it comes after the fiscal year
boundary, because the money has already been appropriated, and
normally you give us two-year money. And it would not require
us to keep Shuttle production contracts open, thus allowing us
to save considerably more money.
Senator Nelson. And that's where you come up with the
estimate of $300 to $400 million, extra?
Dr. Griffin. Exactly, exactly. It's only if we retain the
opportunity to produce more Shuttle hardware by keeping
contracts open that we get into the multi-billion dollar range,
and I would really, really want to avoid doing that.
Senator Nelson. All right, thank you very much, Dr.
Griffin, for that clarification.
Dr. Griffin. Thanks for asking.
Senator Nelson. Yes, sir.
We want to welcome the next panel.
Lynda Weatherman, the President and CEO of the Economic
Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast, Ms. Lisa Rice,
President of the Brevard Workforce Development Board, Mr. Randy
Berridge, President of the Florida High Tech Corridor Council,
and Mr. Steve Kohler, President and CEO of Space Florida. We
certainly welcome you all.
What we're going to do is ask you to keep your remarks to 5
minutes, and is it OK with you that we just let them go, all,
and then we'll get into the questions. And there is a clock
before you, so you can watch your time.
Ms. Weatherman?
STATEMENT OF LYNDA L. WEATHERMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION OF FLORIDA'S SPACE COAST
Ms. Weatherman. Thank you. Thank you, Senators.
The Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space
Coast is seriously concerned of the economic and business
impact of retirement of the Shuttle, and the impending gap of
lost jobs due to transition. Earlier this year, NASA released
preliminary estimates of the expected employment changes, as a
result of the upcoming shifts in the workforce.
Through 2010, the Agency projects between 5,700 and 6,400
workers will be displaced. An internal EDC analysis of the
higher job loss figure, using a widely accepted economic impact
model, estimated that the cumulative economic impact to Brevard
County over the next 3 years, at approximately 13,000 jobs
lost, and $650 million in direct revenue.
Since the announcement of the Vision for Space Exploration,
the EDC worked to develop a plan of action to mitigate the job
loss.
The first, and successful, effort, was to attract and build
the Crew Exploration Vehicles, Orion, in Brevard County. This
was an immense undertaking, as in the 50 years of space
exploration in the State of Florida, the state has never been
successful in attracting the manufacturing and/or assembly of a
launch vehicle of a major component of such size.
On February 22, 2006, Lockheed Martin announced plans to
assemble the CEV in Brevard County, contingent on securing
final CEV contract.
This will result in 400 direct jobs, and at minimum, $35
million capital investment, a first successful--however,
initial--step in mitigating the job loss due to the Shuttle
transition.
Now, for the plan of action to mitigate the job gap. The
EDC strategy is centered around 4 initiatives--number one, work
derived from exploration program, mostly our Constellation-
oriented programs; number two, commercial opportunities tied to
COTS, CRS, supply chain business opportunities, satellite and
assembly manufacturing facilities; three, space tourism; four,
emerging opportunities.
Initiative number one, exploration. Key one, keep the
Constellation Program sold during the change in Administration.
This involves educating the Presidential candidates, shaping
platforms, and informing selected House and Senate members and
staffers, related to the importance of Constellation to the
state and Brevard County.
Key two under the exploration program: get work tied to
that and bring it here. Participate in a development and
implementation of a plan for incumbent contract workers during
a transition period from Shuttle to Constellation.
Key three, make widespread distribution of Central Florida
supply chain study results, which identify several hundred
high-tech companies capable of satisfying Federal requirements,
this will be spoken more by my colleague, Mr. Berridge.
And finally, key four, identify and bring Constellation
programs here to KSC, not as a sense of entitlement, but in the
same spirit, Senator Nelson, and Senator Martinez, as we did
with BRAC--identifying what can we do as a local community to
enhance programs being brought here, what we do as a
partnership, and certainly not a sense of entitlement.
Initiative number two, commercial. Key one, identify and
make contact with each potential contractor associated with
COTS and CRS, and International Space Station.
Key two, maintain KSC as the gateway to space, promote the
use of utilizing existing launch infrastructure for support of
the International Space Station for cargo, and leverage
existing workforce inherent in the use of Atlas and Delta.
Key three, promote and support the use of launch
capabilities of crew support for ISS out of KSC, the United
States of America, and to address the U.S. human spaceflight
gap.
Key four, identify and characterize all support facilities
that may be of use to COTS, or CRS contractors.
Key five, identify and characterize those incumbent
contract employees that may be available to support commercial
launch and processing opportunities.
Key four, under commercial, identifying and promote to
domestic and international satellite and relevant component
manufacturers, the competitive advantages of locating plants in
Brevard County.
Initiative number three, space tourism--establish and
maintain a flight operations capability in Brevard County,
maintain awareness of the evolving space industry and promote
the competitive advantage of Brevard County, and work with our
tourist industry to promote this area--both in economic
development and tourist initiative.
In emerging opportunities, key one, maintain an awareness
of those opportunities that involve exploiting KSC-developed
technology, tracking newly assigned R&D tasking for KSC,
promote KSC as a gateway to International Space Station, and
the National Laboratory, market the national Shuttle Logistics
Depot as the Depot for continuing support of Shuttle, ISS, and
all Constellation programs.
Number four, key number two under emerging opportunities,
lobby for closer cooperation between all Federal agencies that
have an interest or need for space-based operations, including
DOD, NIH, DOA, DOE.
The EDC will work with Space Florida, Enterprise Florida,
Workforce Florida, and the Brevard Workforce Development Board,
and other state and county organizations.
Senator Nelson. I need you to wrap up, Ms. Weatherman.
Ms. Weatherman. Yes.
Senator Nelson. And each of your written testimonies will
be put in and become as part of the record.
Ms. Weatherman. OK, and one sentence and I'm done. Thank
you, sir.
While the challenges of our area are indeed serious, the
passing successful actions will provide a template for future
actions, however, the current potential recessionary economy,
the need for support via Federal, State and local agencies is
critical, and will determine the degree to which we mitigate
the impending job loss at the Space Coast.
Thank you, sir.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Weatherman follows:]
Prepared Statement of Lynda L. Weatherman, President and CEO,
Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast
Economic Impact
The Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast
(referenced in document as EDC) is seriously concerned of the economic
and business impact of the retirement of the Shuttle and impending
``gap'' of lost jobs due to the transition.
Earlier this year, NASA released preliminary estimates of the
expected employment changes at each of its centers as a result of
upcoming changes to the agency's program of work.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ ``Workforce Transition Strategy--Initial Report'', National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, March 2008.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Through 2010, the agency projects between 5,700 and 6,400 KSC
workers will be displaced as NASA transitions from the Shuttle Program
to that of the Constellation, before the center regains some employment
as it ramps up in preparation for the new vehicle.
An internal EDC analysis of the higher job loss figure, using a
widely-accepted economic impact model and the opinions of our
contracted Space Consultants, estimated the cumulative economic impact
to Brevard County over the next 3 years at approximately 13,000 lost
jobs and $650 million in lost income:
Estimated Economic Impact of Proposed KSC Job Losses*
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Direct \1\ Indirect \2\ Induced \3\ Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2008-FY 2009
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employment 700 301 419 1,420
Labor Income $44,800,000 $14,224,290 $12,236,400 $71,260,690
Output $210,693,460 $48,808,770 $37,767,010 $297,269,240
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2009-FY 2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employment 900 387 538 1,825
Labor Income $57,600,000 $18,288,370 $15,732,520 $91,620,890
Output $270,891,580 $62,754,130 $48,557,590 $382,203,300
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2010-FY 2011
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employment 4,800 2,062 2,871 9,733
Labor Income $307,200,000 $97,537,960 $83,906,760 $488,644,720
Output $1,444,755,070 $334,688,630 $258,973,790 $2,038,417,490
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cumulative
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employment 6,400 2,750 3,828 12,978
Labor Income $409,600,000 $130,050,620 $111,875,680 $651,526,300
Output $1,926,340,110 $446,251,530 $345,298,390 $2,717,890,030
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* All numbers negative; analysis assumes average annual wage of $64,000, per EDC Space Consultants.
\1\ Captures the impact the initial job loss has on the KSC population.
\2\ Captures the impact of decreased inter-industry purchases as KSC responds to decreased activity.
\3\ Refers to the impact of the decreased activity that occurs across the Brevard economy because of the lost
income paid by all of the businesses involved, directly or indirectly (diminished household spending).
Source: Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast (using IMPLAN economic software).
Background and Early Success
Since the announcement of the Visions for Space Exploration the EDC
worked to develop a plan of action to mitigate the job loss. The first
and successful effort was to attract and build the Crew Exploration
Vehicle (Orion) in Brevard County. This was an immense undertaking--as
in the 50 years of Space Exploration in the state of Florida, the state
has never been successful in attracting the manufacturing and/or
assembly of a launch vehicle of such a major component. On February 22,
2006 Lockheed Martin announced plans to assemble the CEV in Brevard
County contingent on securing the Final CEV contract. On August 31,
2006, NASA announced the award of the contract to build the CEV to
Lockheed Martin. This will result in 400 direct jobs and $35 million
capital investment--a successful initial step in mitigating the job
loss due to the Shuttle transition.
Plan of Action to Mitigate the Job Gap
The EDC's strategy is designed around four key initiatives: (1)
Worked derived from Exploration Programs (mostly Constellation oriented
programs; (2) Commercial opportunities tied to COTS, CRS, Supply Chain
business opportunities and Satellite Manufacturing and Assembly
facilities; (3) Space Tourism; and (4) Emerging opportunities. The
overall goals of the key initiatives is focused on generating new (and/
or retaining existing) high skill high wage jobs in Brevard County).
Those Key Actions associated with each of the four major areas of
interest are listed below.
Initiative 1--Exploration
Key 1. Keep the Constellation program(s) sold during the change in
administrations. This involves educating the Presidential candidates,
shaping party platforms and informing selected House and Senate members
and staffers relative to the importance of Constellation to the State
and to Brevard.
Key 2. Participate in the development and implementation of a plan
for incumbent contractor workforce during the transition period from
Shuttle to Constellation.
Note: At the same time the space workforce is likely to decline,
the demand for aviation workers in Brevard is expected to increase.
Hence, it is critical that training programs be put in place to effect
a smooth transition between these two sectors of the aerospace
industry. It is also extremely important that the potential aviation
employers be identified together with a characterization of their
workforce requirements (skills, quantities and need dates).
Key 3. Make widespread distribution of the Central Florida Supply
Chain Study results which identified several hundred Florida High Tech
Corridor companies capable of satisfying Federal requirements for small
business participation in the Constellation program(s).
Initiative 2--Commercial
Key 1. Identify and make contact with each potential contractor
associated with COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services) and
CRS (Commercial Resupply Services (of the International Space
Station)). Identify needs and demands of these contractors associated
with COTS and CRS so that we can respond to their specific business,
investment and workforce needs.
Key 2. Maintain KSC as the ``gateway'' to Space. Promote the use of
utilizing existing launch infrastructure to support the International
Space Station (ISS) for cargo and leveraging existing workforce
inherent in the use of Atlas and Deltas.
Key 3. Promote and support the use launch capabilities of CREW
support for ISS out of KSC to address the U.S. Human Space Flight Gap.
Key 4. Identify and characterize all support facilities that may be
of use to a COTS/CRS contractor.
Key 5. Identify and characterize those incumbent contractor
employees that may be available to support commercial launch and
processing opportunities. This effort includes making available the
Supply Chain information referenced above.
Key 6. Identify and promote to domestic and international Satellite
and related component manufacturers the competitive advantages of
locating plants in Brevard County. As this industry sustains and grows,
the need for additional sites in key markets such as the U.S. and
Florida will be needed. The EDC will aggressively seek out this new
diverse investment opportunity.
Initiative 3--Space Tourism
Key 1. Support Zero G in establishing and maintaining a flight
operations capability in Brevard.
Key 2. Maintain an awareness of the evolving space tourism industry
and identify potential flight operators and related ground based
service providers.
Key 3. Market Brevard's technical and tourism capabilities to the
several space tourism operators.
Initiative 4--Emerging Opportunities
Key 1. Maintain an awareness of emerging opportunities to include
but not limited to:
a. Exporting KSC developed technology to Brevard businesses and
conversely promote technologies and capabilities of those same
Brevard businesses to NASA and the Constellation prime
contractors.
b. Tracking newly assigned R&D tasking for KSC.
c. Promote KSC as the ``gateway'' to the International Space
Station National Laboratory.
d. Market the NSLD (National Shuttle Logistics Depot) as the
depot for continuing support of Shuttle, the ISS, and all
Constellation programs. Additionally, promote NSLD in support
of commercial and space tourism hardware elements.
Key 2. Lobby for closer cooperation between all Federal agencies
that have an interest or need for space-based operations (to include,
NASA, DOD, NIH, DOA, DOE, NOAA, FAA, etc).
Note: The most common product associated with the activities
surrounding ``emerging opportunities'' is likely to be a series of
position papers suitable for education and lobbying.
Key 3. Identify and attract diversified industries to Brevard
County. These industries, not directly associated or inherent in space,
will contain high tech methods and kindred skill mix classifications
associated with potential loss workers tied to Transition. This key
initiative is best noted in the recently successful location of Embraer
on May 13, 2008. The assembly of the Very Light Jet (VLJ) Class Phenom
100 and 300 in Melbourne, Florida will hire 200 technically skill
workers. Some of these workers may be absorbed from the job loss tied
to Transition.
General and Closing Comments
1. The EDC will work with Space Florida, Enterprise Florida, Inc.,
Workforce Florida, Inc., the Brevard Workforce Board, and other state
and county organizations together with companies from the aerospace
community to accomplish the intent of the Space Plan.
2. Many of the companies expressing interest in doing business in
the county have need for financial assistance and/or incentives.
Accordingly, part of our action plan is to develop a capability to
define sources of financial support and to serve as a ``broker''
between the parties.
3. Virtually all-prospective employers are interested in workforce
quality and availability as well as available facilities to house their
employees and operations.
While the challenges for our area are indeed serious, the past and
successful efforts provide a template for future actions. However with
the current potential recessionary economy, the need for support via
Federal, state and local agencies is critical and will determine the
degree to which we mitigate and at best nullify the impending job loss
on the Space Coast.
Senator Nelson. Thank you.
Ms. Rice?
STATEMENT OF LISA RICE, PRESIDENT,
BREVARD WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD, INC.
Ms. Rice. Thank you for allowing us to come before you and
address the efforts the Brevard Workforce Development Board is
taking in regards to the Aerospace Workforce Transition.
It has certainly been a collaborative effort, and I thank
all of those who have been involved. We're very anxious to
serve the community, and mitigate that impact of the changes,
as you mentioned, Senator Nelson.
In August 2007, the Workforce Board released the Aerospace
Workforce Outlook Report, which actually talked about 3,500
jobs being lost, at this point. And in it, we also address the
need to gather stakeholders to determine the path that we would
take in this workforce transition. Those stakeholders were
brought together, and form the Aerospace Career Development
Council. They set up work teams, and the result is $1.25
million coming in general revenue from the State of Florida in
funds.
It's the implementation plan of those funds that I'm going
to speak about in just a minute, however, I'd like to tell you
very quickly about a bridge.
In 1989, the Oakland Bay Bridge top deck collapsed onto the
lower deck. Normally, it would have taken months to bring that
bridge back into full operation. However, it was just closed
for over 30 days. The amazing reason that it was--had a quick
rebuild, is directly relevant to the upcoming changes from
Shuttle to Constellation. The winning contractor embedded his
city's workers, and the city inspectors into the production
plans, to allow for a quick design to development to
implementation cycle. This is exactly the type of forward
thinking that needs to be applied, and it is what the Workforce
Board is taking, with respect to retooling and retraining of
the aerospace workforce.
The Board's Transition Plan begins with a communication
effort, focused on lifelong learning. We know that we need to
engage the workforce in skills upgrades for both Constellation
activities, and for those who may venture into totally new
phases of their careers. We look at this as both retooling for
the aerospace phase, and also retraining for new careers.
Additionally, we know we have to communicate with
businesses, to understand the emerging skills that they have,
and that will translate into skills training for our workforce.
Our second component involves an assessment of workers,
again understanding where their skill levels, and what type of
training needs to occur, in order to bring them to the skills
levels needed for Constellation activities, or for new
occupations. So, obviously, training is the largest component
of our plan.
We have already started with retooling of workers with
Lockheed Martin and the Orion production activities. We were
able to sit early with Lockheed Martin, and determine the needs
that they have, and this has really given us a jumpstart with
their workers.
The retooling activities are essential, if we want to model
that proactive stance that was taken with that bridge in
California. Our workforce has been through a lifecycle of a
space flight system, they are ready for a new challenge.
Following NASA's Systems Engineering Framework, our
training is focused on common technical processes, we
incorporate tools and methods, and we know we have to engage
the workforce early. We have to recognize that the U.S. has not
had a new space flight system since Shuttle, and it is
incumbent upon us to undergo a corresponding organizational and
skills transformation, one that has not been seen since Apollo.
We have the talented workforce, now we can build upon
skills by embedding their training into the design, the
development, the production, and the implementation phases that
are critical to Constellation's success. Embedded training is
not a new concept, by the way, it was used with the
International Space Station, where operations people were
embedded with the design and development, and that allowed them
both to share ideas and perspectives.
Our fourth component, and final component, addresses the
human factor of the plan. It's about the life changes that are
occurring with this workforce, already. We will provide career
transition mentoring that's designed to motivate workers, by
moving through the phases of transition, helping them
understand challenges, define goals, and develop realistic
action plans.
In closing, Wayne Gretszky was often recognized as the very
best hockey player ever, and when asked why, Wayne replied that
he goes to where the hockey puck is going to be, not to where
it is. Well, that's exactly the same approach that this
Workforce Board is taking. We're working now to increase the
workforce proficiency, at the earliest possible stage, while in
complete support of the beginning of a new systems engineering
life cycle.
Thank you for your time.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Rice follows:]
Prepared Statement of Lisa Rice, President,
Brevard Workforce Development Board, Inc.
Thank you for this opportunity to address your committee regarding
the efforts of Brevard Workforce Development Board (BWDB) related to
the aerospace workforce transition. This has been an ongoing
collaborative effort and I thank all of those who were involved. We are
anxious to serve the community and mitigate the impact of the changes
as much as possible.
In August 2007, the Board released the Aerospace Workforce Outlook
Report, which addressed several recommendations including gathering
stakeholders to determine the path for the workforce transition. The
Aerospace Career Development Council (ACDC), set up work teams around
workforce, education and economic development activities, which
resulted in securing $1.25 million in general revenue funds for
retooling and retraining the aerospace workforce. It is the
implementation plan for these funds I will focus on in the next few
minutes. However, before I begin outlining the plan, I'd like to
quickly tell you about a bridge.
In October 1989, the Oakland Bay Bridge top deck collapsed onto the
lower deck. Normally it would take months to bring such a structure
back into full operation; however, the bridge was closed for just over
30 days. The amazing reason for this quick rebuild is directly relevant
to the upcoming changes from Shuttle to Constellation. The winning
contractor embedded his workers and the city's inspectors into the
production plants to allow for a quick-design to development to
implementation cycle for rebuilding the bridge. This forward thinking
approach is the same one the Board is taking with the retooling and
retraining of aerospace workers.
The Board's transition plan begins with a communication effort
focused on life long learning. Engaging the workforce in skills
upgrades is necessary for those going to work on Constellation and for
those who may venture into totally new careers. We view this as either
retooling their skills for the next phase of aerospace work or
retraining them for their next phase of life.
Additionally, communication with businesses will provide us
information about emerging skills which then translates to training
requirements for the workforce.
Our second component involves a workforce assessment to understand
where workers need to improve to be competitive for Constellation
activities. This will ensure that NASA and contractors take full
advantage of the current workforce skills for the new spaceflight
system.
However, not all workers will remain with Constellation and for
those who are ready for the next phase of their life the workforce
assessments will be valuable in pointing the way to high demand, high
wage occupations in the area.
Training is the largest component in the transition plan. We're
already retooling workers with Lockheed Martin's Orion production
activities. The ability to sit with Lockheed Martin at an early stage
to identify these training needs gave a jumpstart to the training
processes.
These retooling activities are essential if we want to model the
proactive approach used on that bridge in California. Our workforce has
been through the life cycle of a spaceflight system and they are ready
for the challenges of a new system. Following NASA's systems
engineering framework, training is focused on common technical
processes, incorporates tools and methods, and engages the workforce
early. We must recognize that the U.S. has not had a new spaceflight
system since the Shuttle and it is incumbent upon us to undergo a
corresponding organizational and skills transformation that's not been
experienced since the end of Apollo.
We have the talented workforce, now we can build upon their skills
through training embedded in the design, development, production and
implementation phases critical to Constellation's success. Embedded
training isn't a new concept as a similar approach was used with
International Space Station allowing operations people to learn the
system first-hand and offer operations perspectives from the start.
The fourth component addresses the human factor of the plan. This
is about life changes the workforce is already experiencing and will
provide career transition mentoring designed to motivate workers by
focusing on moving through the phases of transition. Our staff will be
there to help the workers understand challenges, define goals and
develop realistic action plans.
Additionally, staff will analyze customer education and work
experience to provide direct information on occupations that match
closely to their skills. As training needs are identified staff will:
provide information on available courses; enter into individual
training agreements with financial support; and follow up with
individuals throughout the training process.
In closing, Wayne Gretsky was often recognized as the best hockey
player ever. When asked why, Wayne replied that he goes where the
hockey puck is going to be, not where it is now. We are taking this
same approach in order to, increase workforce proficiency at the
earliest possible stage while in complete support of the beginning of a
new systems engineering life cycle.
Thank you for your time.
Senator Nelson. Thank you.
Mr. Berridge, of the Florida High Tech Corridor Council?
STATEMENT OF RANDY BERRIDGE, PRESIDENT,
FLORIDA HIGH TECH CORRIDOR COUNCIL
Mr. Berridge. Chairman Nelson and Senator Martinez, thank
you, on behalf of UCF President John Hitt, USF President Judy
Genshaft and UF President Bernie Machen, thank you for the
opportunity to share a brief overview about our Florida High
Tech Corridor Council and our mission to attract, retain, and
grow high tech industry, and the workforce to support it in the
23 counties in the central part of the great State of Florida.
We invest in research projects with companies, we invest in
marketing projects with economic development organizations, and
we invest in workforce projects with workforce boards, and
community colleges.
In our first 12 years, we have partnered with more than 250
companies on 900 research projects, where we have put $50
million of Florida High Tech Corridor funds on the table, and
the success of the program is that those companies have put
more than $450 million on the table, either in their funds, or
in Federal grants, to do the research--think about it--with the
very companies and the very industries that we're all working
to attract, retain, and grow.
In that process, we engaged 1,500 doctoral and graduate
students, and 300-some professors to do those research
projects. A co-ed came up to me last year and said, ``This is
really a retention program,'' and I said, ``Yes, go to the head
of the class, it certainly is.''
We also invest in marketing projects, to market our entire
region as a high-tech region, and were recognized last year by
Core Net Global as one of the top 5 innovative high-tech
regions in North America.
We do that by partnering with our economic development
partners and creative folks, like Lynda Weatherman, who come up
with ideas, in terms of getting more contracts for existing
companies and new companies, in terms of the very subject we're
talking about today. So, we're proud to invest in the program
that, that Lynda came forth with.
We also invest in workforce projects with our community
colleges, and I'd like to single out Jim Drake, with Brevard
Community College. We invested--thanks to Tom Gamble, God rest
his soul--we invested more than $100,000 in a recertification
program for their existing, nationally recognized aerospace
technician recertification program--think about that, helping
re-certify a recertification program.
I'd like to share with you in this setting--I realize it's
a public setting--Enterprise Florida hosted a gathering of the
CEO and members of his team, of a rather large company that was
looking to do an expansion in our great state. We had dinner
with the CEO. And in that dinner, he indicated that Florida was
not on the top 3 states that he was considering for that
expansion. And one of the members of the team at that dinner
asked him why, and he said, ``Well, I'm really concerned that I
can't find the engineers, some 200 that I need out of the 600
employees that I'm going to hire for this expansion, I don't
believe I can find the engineers in Florida that I need to do
this project.''
I asked him if he was familiar with the imminent transition
of the Shuttle to the new--I didn't get past the word ``new,''
Chairman Nelson, he cut me in mid-sentence--he said, ``You've
just come to the top 3 in terms of states we're considering.''
It hit him that the potential for this entire region is to help
Brevard County and help others in terms of mitigating the
results of this surplus.
So, the Florida High Tech Corridor Council is here to
serve, through research projects, helping our marketing
friends, and helping our workforce friends, in this charge that
you have.
Thank you for the time.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Berridge follows:]
Prepared Statement of Randy Berridge, President,
Florida High Tech Corridor Council
On behalf of UCF President John Hitt, USF President Judy Genshaft,
UF President Bernie Machen, co-chairs of the Florida High Tech Corridor
Council, thank you for the opportunity to present a brief summary of
our 23-county Florida High Tech Corridor Council (FHTCC). Our mission
is to attract, retain and grow high tech industry through our Matching
Grants Research Program (MGRP) as well as through our marketing and
workforce initiatives. On behalf of our three research universities,
our council, our core team, our economic development, workforce,
academic, corporate, governmental and community partners we hope that
we can add value to the region's efforts during this time of
transition.
Let me first start by providing a very brief background about the
Florida High Tech Corridor Council (FHTCC). A dozen years ago, the
presidents of the two major research universities on the I-4 Corridor,
Dr. John Hitt at the University of Central Florida and then University
of South Florida President Betty Castor, recognized the benefits of
working together to provide research and other support needed by high
tech, high wage industry. Through designation by the Florida
Legislature the Florida High Tech Corridor Council was formed in 1996.
The University of Florida joined the Corridor Council in 2005.
Our Council recently commissioned a study to analyze the impact of
our unique public-private partnership that engages university
researchers with corporate entities seeking technological
breakthroughs.
The results are outstanding: During the first 12 years of
operation, the FHTCC, through its Matching Grants Research Program,
delivered an incredible 9-fold return on investment . . . $450 million
on an initial investment of just $50 million.
The basics are this: From July 1996 to June 2008, FHTCC invested
$50 million in 900 applied research projects with more than 250
Corridor companies . . . attracting $450 million in corporate and
Federal matching grants. Importantly, these figures do not include the
application of a 3 to 1 multiplier commonly used in economic
development assessments.
The sheer numbers and return on investment are impressive, but the
real story is what's behind them. Each applied research project
involved the keen minds of professors and students at the Corridor's
three renowned universities (the University of Central Florida, the
University of South Florida and the University of Florida) and their
corporate partners at companies large and small. Let me give you just a
few highlights:
20 participating companies leveraged our grants to attract
60 Federal SBIR/STTR grants worth $12 million.
&One such company is Rini Technologies Inc. Its scientists and
engineers, along with UCF professors, have conducted applied
research on a new system to cool laser weapons. Let me quote
Dan Rini: ``Without a doubt, the FHTCC matching grants research
program had a measurable impact. The structure of the program
is well thought-out, and it pays dividends. Without the
program, more than likely I would not be in business.''
More than 100 patents have been awarded to participating
partners and more than 130 additional patents are pending.
8 new companies have been created.
7 new centers of research have evolved, thanks in part to
our FHTCC support.
1,500 graduate students have been engaged in these applied
research projects.
More than 120 of those students have been hired by the
participating companies.
300 faculty members from the three universities have guided
the research.
These applied research projects have generated countless
technological breakthroughs, ranging from improved medical therapies
and treatments, to vastly more efficient lasers, satellite
communications, computing ability and power generation. Whether for
military, industrial or consumer applications, there are far too many
technological accomplishments to list here.
The study clearly demonstrates that the Matching Grants Research
Program (MGRP) produces vast, tangible benefits for the companies that
UCF, USF, and UF partner with in Florida's High Tech Corridor and for
the state's economy as a whole. Whether it's developing new
intellectual property, building a highly skilled workforce, obtaining
specialized equipment for our universities, creating new companies to
commercialize emerging technologies . . . or achieving technological
breakthroughs that improve the human condition . . . the MGRP, through
the leadership of our three universities, has consistently delivered a
tremendous return on investment through this unique partnership with
corporations, the state and the Federal Government.
As we have noted earlier, with the mission to attract, retain and
grow high tech industry in our 23-county Corridor, FHTCC invests the
majority of its state funds in its MGRP, benefiting companies in the
varied industries we are working to attract, retain and grow. FHTCC
focuses matching grants on the following industries targeted for
growth: Agritechnology; Aviation and Aerospace; Digital Media/
Interactive Entertainment; Financial Services; Information Technology;
Life Sciences and Medical Technologies; Microelectronics/
Nanotechnology; Modeling, Simulation and Training; Optics and
Photonics; and, Sustainable Energy.
In addition to a recognized successful research program, FHTCC also
invests in marketing and other programs with more than two dozen
economic development partners throughout our 23-county Corridor. So, as
you would expect, we invest in advertising, trade shows and conferences
across the state, the Nation and the globe as a way of promoting our
Corridor as a high tech region. We also invest with EDO partners in
programs designed to help companies in our various industry clusters. A
prime example is our partnership with the Lynda Weatherman, President
of the Space Coast EDC, and her associates, wherein we have invested in
a program which she is managing to benefit not only Brevard County, but
the other 22 counties in the Corridor. This initiative is designed to
help companies obtain contracts to produce components and sub-
assemblies associated with the new crew vehicle as well as the
manufacture of components for a variety of military equipment.
The third major area of FHTCC investment is associated with
workforce programs. We have invested in the development of associate
degree programs by our community college partners in the areas of:
Microelectronics; Biotechnology; Modeling, Simulation and Robotics;
Photonics; IT Security; Wireless Technologies; and Digital Media.
FHTCC, in partnership with Brevard Community College (BCC), invested
$100K in a project designed to update the components of BCC's
nationally recognized aerospace technician recertification program.
In addition to research, marketing, and workforce projects and
programs let me conclude by showcasing an example of how I believe we
can help Brevard County and the region mitigate the impact of the
surplus of employees associated with the transition from the Shuttle to
the new crew vehicle.
I recently attended a gathering at which Enterprise Florida and
regional economic development leaders hosted a major corporate
relocation prospect. At that dinner, the CEO of this prospect
corporation shared with us that our state was not in the top three
locations he was considering for the expansion of his company. The
reason he gave was his concern over his ability to hire some 300
engineers. I asked him if he was aware of the surplus of some 6,000
highly trained engineers, technicians and other personnel associated
with NASA's transition from the Shuttle to . . . the CEO did not let me
finish the sentence. He realized the potential solution to his problem
and told us that we had just made it into the top three.
This community of state, regional, county and city governmental,
academic, corporate, workforce, economic development, and community
leaders have and will continue to work together with NASA to resolve
issues associated with the imminent surplus of some truly outstanding
employees.
Senator Nelson. Thank you.
Mr. Kohler, of Space Florida?
STATEMENT OF STEVE KOHLER, PRESIDENT, SPACE FLORIDA
Mr. Kohler. Thank you, Senator Nelson, Senator Martinez.
It's our pleasure to be here.
As you are aware, Space Florida is a special district
created by an Act of the Florida legislature in 2006, which is
focused, as an entity, on the aerospace industry across 3
sectors, civil, military and commercial.
We're heard a lot of discussion this morning up to this
point on the--with a great deal of appropriate focus on the
civil side, with the detailed description of the activities at
KSC and NASA.
One of the points that I wanted to bring up at the moment
was the NASA bill that has made its way through for
authorization and appropriations, although--as we heard--it may
or may not survive in whole or in part through the process.
There were some relevant items in that bill that I think were
appropriate to draw attention to.
One, there was an inclusion of reference to the development
of $150 million toward a commercial space crew vehicle. Another
one was a reference to the support of COTS-D development, which
is a commercial competition that would add to the current COTS
competitive environment.
There were several references to the International Space
Station, including a specific reference to the Life Sciences
Lab that the State of Florida invested over $30 million in
developing on the campus at KSC, and the relevance to that
relationship between the ISS, now designated as a National Lab,
and the lab that the State of Florida invested in.
Also, there was a reference to the need for the development
of enhanced-use lease policy renewal, which is a critical tool
that the state, Space Florida, and other entities would have to
utilize in order to develop properties on that 150,000-acre
tract of land that currently is held by NASA.
In addition, there was a specific reference to the need for
an interagency study on range options, and range access, and
then finally a reference to the need for export control issues.
As you know, this has become a competitive challenge for us--
not only in Florida, but in the Nation, in order to have an
effective space launch capability, and commercial development
capability.
From the state's perspective, and Governor Crist's
leadership as the Chair of Space Florida Board, and his
designee, Lieutenant Governor Kottkamp, the legislature in a
tough budget year in the State of Florida, managed to
appropriate directly, $20 million toward space-related
activity. In addition, through S.B. 2310, directed 1.5 percent
of the state's net pension assets to be used for R&D, advanced
technologies--including space--and that is almost $2 billion
worth of potential.
And then, finally, in an informed consent legislation at
the state level, which was a key piece in order to maintain a
competitive edge, if you will, to entice commercial space
interests for the State of Florida.
Last week, our Board of Directors met, and we talked
specifically on three--among many--elements. One was the
assignment of Launch Complex 36 to the state through Space
Florida, for the purposes of developing commercial space
capability for multiple users. I can report to you that the
delivery of that presentation to the 45th Space Wing was made,
where the Space Wing has now moved up the chain of command, and
last week was presented to General Shelton, and we expect it to
move on through to the 4-Star for consideration. It is critical
to have that piece of infrastructure to add to the capacity
that NASA provides here at KSC.
We also continue to pursue horizontal launch access
options, and our relationship with NASA KSC included the
signing of a recent MOU to enable us to pursue these kind of
opportunities for development of assets that exist on the
campus.
And we continue to work, through your efforts, as you might
recall, the assignment of Launch Complex 40, and one of the
COTS competitors, and we work hard to develop continuing
efforts with that company as it completes its obligations to
NASA.
And then finally, we continue to work toward the
development of a Logistics Center, as well. We recognize the
importance of this skill set that exists that is unique to this
range, and this base, and in fact is unique to the marketplace.
And many of the commercial providers have a distinct interest
in that capability.
Finally, on the military side, we are supporting research
at UF, to develop a Blue Force tracking capability that would
involve situational satellite awareness development, and
potentially commercial market application.
We think that these are the kind of issues, and the point
of drawing the attention to the relevance of those bill
sections is that there is a connection between what is being
considered in Congress, and hopefully, eventually, enacted in
law, and what we can do at the state level to leverage, in
order to improve these opportunities.
Thank you, and I would be willing to answer any questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Kohler follows:]
Prepared Statement of Steve Kohler, President, Space Florida
Introduction
Thank you Chairman Nelson and Senator Vitter:
I am Steve Kohler, President of Space Florida. Space Florida is a
special district responsible for promoting and developing Florida's
space and aerospace industry. More specifically we were created by the
Florida legislature and the Governor's office for the purpose of
advocating for the space industry in Florida.
I want to thank you for holding this hearing here at the Kennedy
Space Center to address and bring attention to the issue of Shuttle
workforce transition. As you all know, with the retirement of the Space
Shuttle in 2010 approximately 6,400 jobs will be lost as a result.
I would also like to thank you for working to get an additional
$200 million in funding for NASA added to the Iraq Emergency
Supplemental package. The added funding is critical for NASA's ability
to return to flight activities associated with the Space Shuttle. This
funding is also critical to help close the ``gap''--the anticipated
time between the Shuttle retirement and the launch of the new
Constellation program. As you know, the longer the gap, the more stress
is placed on the Florida space and aerospace workforce. We need a
strong retention program so that the skilled labor is in place when the
new Constellation program is in full swing.
Securing this funding will be a very significant achievement in
such a tight fiscal year. Space Florida is pleased to be able to work
with you and your colleagues on such an important issue. We will
continue to support your efforts for additional NASA funding to help
shape the budget for the incoming administration.
Additionally, your work on the NASA Authorization bill is to be
commended. While we realize the Senate version has yet to be
introduced, your committee's leadership on this issue has been
significant. We believe the House of Representatives has done a very
nice job in working on a NASA Authorization bill that includes
additional funding for NASA as well as important range study and
enhanced use lease language. I would also like to applaud the Space,
Aeronautics Subcommittee for working in a bipartisan manner to provide
NASA with the tools to move from the Shuttle program to the
Constellation program.
However, I do think it is important to note that there are other
options of returning to the Moon, and in the future, Mars, namely
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) D. COTS-D focuses on
manned spaceflight and would work toward creating that capability in
the commercial sector in addition to what NASA has undertaken with the
Constellation program. The job creation from a COTS-D program would fit
very well with the type of jobs that are currently held by NASA
contract employees.
Actions by Space Florida
While the space industry in Florida is enduring a difficult period
of time with the Shuttle transition it is important to note that
Governor Crist and the Florida legislature have done a tremendous job
of promoting the overall space industry in Florida. Florida is not
sitting back during the Shuttle transition; we are working to support
your leadership and are bringing the Florida delegation together in
support of the space industry, which as you know is vital to the
economy of Florida.
Space Florida is uniquely positioned to advocate for the space
industry especially because of the tools the State of Florida has given
us. Space Florida has the ability to work with the commercial space
industry along with the Governor's office, the Florida legislature, the
regional economic development groups, Congress, and many others. This
flexibility gives us the capability to do tremendous things when
working and advocating for the space industry in Florida.
Space Florida's workforce initiatives are focused on bringing new
government and private sector opportunities to this area of the state.
We have partnered with the Florida legislature, Workforce Florida, the
Brevard Workforce Development Board, the regional economic development
groups, and many others to help to bridge the gap between Shuttle
retirement and the advent of the Constellation program. We have taken
the lead to collaborate with the Florida delegation in a national
leadership role to secure funds that NASA has lost due to the Columbia
accident and Katrina setbacks and to acquire future funding that is
vital to the space program here in Florida.
Direct Action
The workforce, as it relates to the Shuttle, has over time
developed a very unique skill set that we are working to keep
entrenched here in Florida. While many of Space Florida's initiatives
to improve the workforce are indirect in fashion (i.e., introduction of
new businesses and business growth to stimulate job growth), Space
Florida has worked with the Brevard Workforce Development Board on
projects to address the Shuttle retirement in a more direct fashion.
For instance, Space Florida has awarded the Brevard Workforce
Development Board with funding to assist in providing aerospace
workforce services in Brevard County regarding the transition of the
aerospace workforce from Shuttle program activities to the
Constellation program. Importantly, Space Florida provided a $50,000
grant to the Brevard Workforce Development Board to conduct an analysis
of Space Shuttle retirement implications with respect to the aerospace
industry workforce in Florida. This report was completed in August 2007
and provided a forward-looking analysis of the Brevard County and
statewide aerospace workforce that will be impacted by the planned
retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2010.
Indirect Efforts
Additionally, we are engaged in projects related to improving
future range development, enhanced use lease agreements with vertical
and horizontal capabilities, prospective trade and enterprise zones,
and particularly future commercial space development. For example,
Space Florida has worked with companies, including SpaceHab and SpaceX
on different projects to deliver valuable cargo to the International
Space Station (ISS) in the future. Further, our most recent project
with SpaceHab will establish a space-based, biotech corridor that
stretches from the ISS to the Space Life Sciences Lab here at NASA's
John F. Kennedy Space Center.
It is important to note that all of these investments being made by
Space Florida for different projects, as well as research and
development, will help to mitigate the effects of the Shuttle
retirement. These research and development opportunities lead to job
and new commercial partnerships at the Kennedy Space Center. For
instance, our collaborative effort with the University of Florida on
Blue Force Tracking Satellites will contribute most importantly to
saving the lives of our troops in harm's way. As you all know, projects
like this can lead to additional research, manufacturing, and thus new
job opportunities in Florida.
While many jobs will be lost as a direct result of cutbacks to NASA
with the Shuttle retirement, I think it is important to keep in mind
the many indirect jobs that will also be lost as a result. Many NASA
employees will likely transfer to elsewhere in the country or at the
very least move away from Florida to find opportunities in a similar
field. When these direct jobs leave Florida, and particularly Cape
Canaveral, businesses such as restaurants, hardware stores, and other
``mom & pop'' establishments will be forced to close. As you well know,
this will lead to very difficult economic times in Florida, which could
be especially difficult considering the current economic troubles our
Nation faces. However, you have a great opportunity to help turn things
around.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we will continue to partner with the Air Force,
NASA, our industry stakeholders and other states, when appropriate, to
compete to attract business to Florida. We know we have the workforce,
infrastructure, and overall mission capabilities that will best serve
the national interest of space research and exploration.
We thank you again for coming and look forward to continuing to
serve as a full-time resource to the Committee and our Florida
delegation whenever and wherever you need us. I look forward to
answering any questions you may have of me today.
Senator Nelson. I was deeply disappointed in the Orbital
Sciences Corporation decision to launch in Wallop's Island,
Virginia, instead of utilizing so many tremendous assets of
pads that can be converted at the Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station. You mentioned going up the command of the Air Force,
I've gone all the way to the new Four Star Head of Air Force
Space, talking to him about making it easy for you guys to work
with them so that we can convert some of those pads, just like
we're doing for SpaceX right now. Convert them for commercial
launches, other than what's out there with the Atlas and the
Delta.
Thank you for your presentation.
Senator Martinez?
Senator Martinez. Thank you. Well, you know, Mr. Kohler, I
want you to know that Senator Nelson and I will be working as a
team, and anything we can do to make sure that Congress is
there for these kinds of appropriations as time goes on.
And following up, as well, I'm going to be visiting the
Patrick Air Force Base after we finish here today, on the very
topic that you've discussed--the need for us to have a strong,
cooperative partnership, so that the--the seeds have been
planted over the last half century or more, here, of space
exploration, can begin to now flourish as part of a broader
participation by the private sector, which I think is really
where the future ultimately lies.
I just wondered if I could get a comment on those of you
focused on workforce, as well as economic development, in
reaction to what we heard today, which might be a substantially
lower workforce loss than what we had been anticipating, and
what your reactions are to that?
Ms. Rice. I would start out by again, going back to the
fact that the Workforce Board did do an Aerospace Workforce
Outlook report in August 2007. And when we did that report, we
actually looked at some things that NASA didn't. We sat down
with the prime contractors, with the subcontractors, and we
talked to them very privately, and we aggregated their
information to come up with historic retention rates, their
retirement rates, and then we talked about new business
packages. And what they, as a company, thought they would be
bringing, or could bring, and estimates about the manpower that
they thought they'd use.
And that's how we got to about a third of the workforce--
not including NASA's workforce, I might add--we're looking at
about 3,500 to 4,000 people or about one-third, retirement,
normal attrition. Another third, to new packages, new business
work that these companies expect to be bringing in.
Now, when I talk about new business work, it could very
well be the kinds of things that NASA is releasing, or it could
be new--completely new--business work that the company has in
mind.
So, that leaves us with around 3,000-3,500 that we see are
without a job. And that doesn't mean that that's the only place
that we focused, because as I say, we have to look at the
retooling, as well. Even if they're going to go to new business
packages, the skills that they have at a mature level of a life
cycle, which is where they're at, have to have some upgrading
to match with that new infancy level, shall we say, of a life
cycle of a new spaceflight system.
So, we see it as both pieces--we're looking at retooling
for about 3,500, and we're looking at retraining, so there
isn't a job loss, for another 3,500.
Senator Martinez. Very good, I noticed in Mr. Griffin's
testimony, he mentioned there won't be a need for tiles. And
obviously there is a workforce there that is going to need to
be looking at--obviously skilled, obviously talented, obviously
needed--but they're going to be doing something different going
forward than what they were doing in the past, and that's an
interesting, sort of, realization.
Ms. Rice. Absolutely.
It is a challenging realization.
Senator Martinez. Yes.
Ms. Rice. Because obviously one of the things that we don't
want to create is any type of a panic, where people feel like
they need to be leaving right now, find that job now, thinking
what's going to happen to me? That's really why it's very
important that everyone here at this table works together, and
we make sure that the workforce understands that we're there to
help them prepare today for 2010, but that we're also very
cognizant of certain--occupations, like tile workers, who
really need to focus on what's going to be their next effort.
And actually, there are quite a few efforts that we've been
in conjunction with--EDC, as well as Enterprise Florida--the
Workforce Florida Board, which I do have to thank them very
quickly, they've put in some dollars, as well, and we also have
one of the Workforce Florida Board members, Belinda Keiser,
here with us today.
But we've been working on different industries that can use
those same kinds of skills.
Did you want to say something there?
Senator Martinez. No, we--go ahead, please.
Ms. Weatherman. I was just going to say, the difficulty is
knowing what tomorrow the skills are going to be, a challenge.
But we could actually start identifying now, the CEV that we
referenced was 2 years ago, it seems like a lifetime ago, just
within the last 6 weeks, we have announced Embraer locating
here in Brevard County.
Aviation, not aerospace, but technically similar
nonetheless. So, we're starting to develop that skill mix train
as we go on and be more successful.
Senator Martinez. It's really encouraging to me to see what
you're doing locally, and how you're pulling all of this
together. Because, we know, in Washington, we don't have all
the answers. In fact, we have darn few answers, and it really
does take a community coming together and working together with
all of these various component parts to ensure that this
workforce has a place to go, and a future, and a hope.
And I think what you're saying is exactly right--we don't
need the discouraging words to now, all of a sudden, panic
folks and so forth. Remaining here, giving them a way where
they can see a future for themselves and a future workforce,
really is a terribly important part of the process.
Well, I want to thank all of you for what you do. Randy,
great to see you, and your continuing work is very, very
exciting, what you do in that High Tech Corridor initiative is
so important to our future. We wish you well, and if we can be
of help, I'm sure that both Senator Nelson and myself would
love to hear from you as to how we can be helpful.
But, anyway, thanks to all of you.
Mr. Berridge. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Nelson. And I thank Dr. Griffin for remaining here
so that he can hear this discussion on how we're going to try
to take care of our people. So, thank you very much.
Ms. Rice, what particular industries outside of space, and
particularly, spaceflight, do you think that could readily
utilize these kind of workers?
Ms. Rice. Actually, there are a lot of them. First of all,
I would definitely echo onto aviation. That is a very key
industry. The aerospace technicians that we have, going through
Brevard Community College and SpaceTEC, have a lot of similar
skills that flow along with the aviation industry.
In addition to that, alternative energy, especially with
solar, since we have the Florida Solar Energy Center here, it's
a Banner Center through WFI, Workforce Florida funding, there
are many opportunities that will be coming out of that area.
Across the Corridor, we see biomedical growing in leaps and
bounds, and the skills that come into play there are, again,
very technical in nature. They require, not only people who are
interested in life sciences, but people who are also mechanical
in nature.
There's additionally, digital media that is taking on a
whole new leap and bound, and I heard a wonderful presentation
at the last Florida High Tech Corridor Workforce and Education
Council meeting around digital media, and what it is going to
entail. And it's going to have a lot of the same kinds of
things, as far as technicians, engineers--we have the
capability to walk these people into other jobs.
The primary point that I think that we need to focus on, is
how do we embed that training as early as possible? And when
you're talking about it with Constellation activities, then
you're talking about something I heard very encouraging here
today, which is the fact that we need to be having more of that
production, more of that design and development--yes, I'm going
to push the envelope there and say that we're not just
operations and launch--and bring those activities, or at least
embed our workers into those activities, so that they're
working faster and harder together. That's the primary piece
that I think we need to focus on.
Mr. Berridge. Senator Nelson, if I might--compliments to
Lisa and her team for using a few Corridor dollars, and others
that you've managed to scrounge from various places, to do a
study--not just in the Corridor, but around the state, in terms
of potential openings that might fit the skills set. Don't want
to lose them from Brevard, for sure, we're going to lose some,
potentially. Why not be prepared to see where we might find
opportunities for them in Orange or Osceola, or Lake or
Volusia, or other surrounding counties? Perhaps the family
could remain intact, and the talent could be kept as close to
possible where it is located now.
Senator Nelson. Mr. Berridge, any other particular
industries, companies that you think would be attracted here
because of this pool of trained employees that will be
temporarily laid off?
Mr. Berridge. We've seen some recent reports showing the
increase in IT employment in our region, perhaps bucking some
national trends. So, there's an opportunity.
The digital media mentioned by Lisa, modeling simulation
and training, a number of us in this room are part of the
Military Affairs Commission in the Metro Orlando area, designed
to protect the some $5 billion investment that we have there,
in terms of modeling simulation and training industry. That
industry seems to be growing.
So, there's some potential of, I would submit, of cross-
pollinization.
And then you have the State of Florida investing close to a
billion dollars in the likes of Scripps and Torrey Pines, and
Burnham and SRI, and what we're trying to do to grow that bio-
life sciences industry. So I'm--I've got to believe from a
background at AT&T over 30 years, there's got to be some
potential synergy there, as well.
But I would echo the comment--if our state and our region
is willing to invest as much as we have in research, my gut is
that today, perhaps, didn't give us the opportunity for a full
vetting, there's got to be some research opportunities that we
can partner on together.
Senator Nelson. And with the announcement that Embraer is
coming, and will be assembling the very light jet. Then
depending on the Air Force tanker contract, that now looks like
it's going to be re-competed, were that ultimately to be
awarded as it was, originally, that would have been 500
sustaining engineering jobs over several decades, the life of
that contract. But, it looks like that will be completely re-
competed.
So, there are these opportunities, if we stay on top of it.
Ms. Rice, do you have a particular message here today to
all of those workers that are concerned about getting laid off,
on what they need to do to prepare for the transition?
Ms. Rice. Yes, I do--thank you very much for allowing me to
do that.
The very, very first message is about lifelong learning.
They have got to take advantage of coming out, meeting us, we
have a Brevard Job Link Express coming out, thanks to our Space
Act Agreement that we have with NASA, we're bringing that out
onto NASA facilities, onto the Kennedy Space Center. There are
multiple places, they can come in and can access our services--
they can learn about other occupations, they can learn about
what kind of training, we'll have workforce assessments out
there--they have to take advantage of that. If they don't walk
in there, they need to walk into one of our one-stop locations.
They've got to do something to increase their skills. Assess
where you're at, take advantage of the training dollars that
are available for you, and increase your skills.
Senator Nelson. Thank you. And if all of those folks here
who are reporting this meeting will help us get that word out,
and if this meeting is still being televised by the NASA
Channel, those who are within the sound of our voices, please
take Ms. Rice's suggestions to heart. Go and apply for that
additional training.
Mr. Kohler, I wanted to ask you, General Kehler, and
Brigadier General Helms, the Air Force has had a new attitude
in working, it hadn't been all so rosy in the past, but it
seems to be a new attitude of working, and trying to free up,
particularly some of those abandoned pads. Do you have any
additional suggestions for what we ought to be doing?
Mr. Kohler. And that's correct, Senator, you're right, it's
had a history--it's a very difficult process as you know. You
have a military range, a Federal property in NASA KSC, and
actually, two different missions, as you well know--the U.S.
Air Force's mission for national security has requirements and
priorities that sometimes don't necessarily complement well
with the commercial access to space.
And so, what we have found--and you're correct--both at the
command level, here with General Helms, and right up through
the chain of command, an awareness of the need to be able to in
some way, integrate viable commercial space activity with an
active military range. And somehow, there needs to be a way to
be able to operate effectively and competitively on a global
scale, in those environments. And I think that the work that's
been done with respect to LC40 and SpaceX and their COTS award,
has been a great pathfinder for our efforts to seek an
assignment for LC36.
And as a consequence, the 45th Space Wing has actually
operationally arranged for--as customers come to the range,
looking for pad assignments, they engage Space Florida
immediately, in order to allow a combination of business case
evaluation to be completed on our side, with range technical
access evaluation on the military side.
This needs to continue, and actually needs to be more
formalized, and I think you're correct--my presumption is that
General Kehler and the entire command structure is recognizing
that, and taking active steps to arrange for that kind of
support.
Senator Nelson. You mentioned in your testimony a space-
based biotech corridor.
Mr. Kohler. Yes.
Senator Nelson. Talk to us about that?
Mr. Kohler. Certainly. We had--and this is in concert, in
cooperation with NASA, actually, the STS 123 and 124, exampled
by our support of SpaceHab, and their effort to do some
salmonella research on Station in the last mission. We
supported that financially, and authorized an additional amount
for that.
And what I mean by that, conceptually, is that we have the
International Space Station as a National Lab. We have what we
feel are very unique, differentiating capabilities at the SLSL,
Space Life Sciences Lab, in that you have technical skills that
are able to integrate science into payload processing, which
then the complicated matter of making that move from a
laboratory to a launch vehicle in a timely fashion, so as not
to compromise the science, and then be able to launch it.
The concept, basically, is to be able to connect, in a real
sense, the lab and that work at the ground level with what
exists on Station, and could go so far as to even incorporate
things that are relevant in free trade zone, foreign trade zone
activity, in terms of being able to create that kind of
economic opportunity for things that are done on-orbit.
Senator Nelson. Mr. Berridge, the High Tech Corridor--you
and University of Central Florida--are looking at these space-
related research and development opportunities.
You want to comment on that?
Mr. Berridge. I spoke briefly on that just a minute ago,
Senator Nelson, in terms of if you have the state investing
close to a billion in major entities, including, in this metro
area, the Burnham Institute.
And I believe, Lynda, you've got a meeting coming up with
the Burnham folks in about a month?
And then you have, thanks to Dr. M.J. Soileau, and Dr. Eric
Van Stryland and others, UCF as being recognized as one of the
leading laser photonics research facilities in the world.
You have the investment that University of Florida, and
University of South Florida and UCF have made in meeting the
state's investment in terms of bio-life sciences. You have all
of these synergies going on in terms of Brevard, and the
Universities--UCF and UF, in particular--and I think the goal
on the table today is, we ought to have an opportunity to
explore other research capabilities.
We didn't exist 12 years ago, as an organization. We've
invested in 900 research projects through our 3 universities
with companies up and down the Corridor in a host of
technologies. I just think there are some opportunities that
could be explored.
And you and I served together on the Founding Board of the
Astronauts Memorial Foundation, I'm proud of that fact. I just
think there's some opportunity with some very intelligent
people in this room, to look for ways that we could partner
together--the state, the region, and do some additional
research.
Thank you.
Senator Nelson. Senator Martinez, any further word?
Senator Martinez. Well, just to conclude, let me thank the
Administrator and the people of NASA, as well as the panelists
here in the second panel.
I want to tell you that in my view the Space Coast and the
whole space program, as well as the people who work here could
not have a more knowledgeable and passionate advocate than
Senator Nelson. I think we all know how his life has been
driven by the space program, and I think by bringing this
hearing here today, he has taken one more step in fulfilling
that tremendous commitment that he has to the people that have
made space exploration a part of their lives.
So, anyway, I want to thank you, Senator, for bringing the
hearing here to Central Florida, right here to the heart of the
space program, and for your continuing commitment to this
effort.
Senator Nelson. Thank you, Senator Martinez.
We want to thank everybody, particularly Rosalind Harvey
here at the Port Authority, who has set up all of this meeting
today. We want to thank everybody for coming, and all those
folks that braved the heat out there, and the thousand folks in
the rally, and certainly we added a dimension to this hearing
that we wanted to.
Because what Senator Martinez and I wanted to do was to
give people hope and that's what you all have done along with
the testimony of Dr. Griffin, and Mr. Gerstenmaier, and Mr.
Cooke.
We also wanted to give them a glimpse into where we can go
in the future so that we can continue to soar in the heavens.
Part of our character as a people, is to be an adventurer, an
explorer. That's part of our character as Americans.
And so, thank you all for having made this possible today.
The meeting of the Committee is adjourned.
[Whereupon at 11:45 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
Prepared Statement of Alan Bergman, Republican Candidate,
U.S. House of Representatives, Florida 15th District
Members of the Committee, Staff, and guests: I would like to
express my gratitude to you for letting me address you today. These are
important matters, and the input of those of us here in Florida is, and
must be, a vital part of your decisionmaking process.
I have been a resident of the Space Coast for seven exciting years.
Just as all of you, I have seen the growth of our space program and the
socioeconomic rewards it has brought to our world. As a direct spin-off
of the space program we are healthier, able to live longer, more exact
in storm prediction, and safer, to list but a few of the advances we
have garnered from the Space Program. The many thousands of patents
developed out of the Space Program attest to these facts.
As a candidate for the U.S. Congress, 15th District, I have a deep
concern for the welfare of my country as well as my district. I have
met with Steve Kohler of Space Florida, Linda Weatherman of the
Economic Development Corporation, and Brevard County Commissioners,
among others, to seek insight on these matters.
Drawing from my experiences as a community leader and in the
financial marketplace, as well as the education that I have received at
the feet of the various experts I have heard on the subject, I have
reached the following conclusions:
1. The government should not bear the entire responsibility for
the launch facilities at NASA. I know we have been trying to
bring in private entrepreneurs to Florida, as exemplified by
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX).
2. I have spoken to Fortune 500 companies about using our
launch facilities and designing and developing programs for the
manufacture of compounds that can only be created in the unique
environment of space. They are interested! I would be happy to
share more information with you regarding the companies and the
products, but I am bound by the confidentiality of these
discussions.
3. I would suggest a division of Space Florida be established
for the purpose of procuring commercial contracts with the
private sector, to continue the work I undertook in this area.
Several corporations are interested, and when their competitors
learn of their interest, the competitors will be interested as
well. This is one of the advantages of our capitalist system,
and should be respected as such.
4. I have been reviewing the International Traffic in Arms
Regulations (``ITAR''). These regulations must be revised if we
are to allow foreign corporations and/or governments
streamlined access to these services without threatening our
national security. Efforts must be made to convince the various
Executive Branch officials with the power to revise these
regulations to agree to the need for ITAR revision in order for
Florida to remain competitive as a launch site for private
sector space ventures. These ventures would include both
commercial manufacturing and space tourism. The possibility of
subcontracted work from the governments of foreign states also
exists.
5. The allocation of budgetary responsibility must also be
revisited. Full cost accounting seems unfair to private
enterprises, since NASA would be maintaining these facilities
whether they would be used by private entities or not. Marginal
cost accounting for costs above NASA's ordinary expenses
without private sector access and launches seems a much more
appropriate allocation of cost, and would make our Florida
launch site much more attractive to the private sector. At the
same time, all additional costs, including without limitation
heightened security and additional maintenance, would be passed
through to the private sector.
6. The Committee would do well to note that Florida's Space
Coast has an existing trained and ready spaceflight workforce
that is about to become seriously underemployed. At the same
time, we possess a physical infrastructure that is ideal for
this type of program. Further, our geographic latitude allows
for a higher total lift payload than do more northern
latitudes. Our position on the Atlantic Ocean further increases
our payload ability. Our weather allows the opportunity of many
launch days per year. Any one of these features alone makes us
a highly desirable launchsite. All these features together make
us uniquely qualified for this type of private-public
cooperation.
7. An added benefit of bringing these private ventures to
Florida's Space Coast is the reinforcement of this area's
economy. Rather than uproot the uniquely trained workforce that
NASA has developed in this area, with the consequent disruption
of family life, children's educational experiences, and
lifelong friendships built in longstanding neighborhoods by
moving these ventures to another, less astrophysically
desirable, part of the country, I contend that it is in the
best interests of the Nation, industry, and our citizens to
keep Florida as the physical hub of America's space program.
I thank you for your time, and for the opportunity you have given
me to share my views. God Bless America!
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Mary L. Landrieu to
Hon. Michael D. Griffin
Question 1. Can you generally describe the impact that the Ares V
Program will have on the employment numbers at both the Kennedy Space
Center (KSC) and Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF)?
Answer. NASA plans to conduct Ares V final manufacturing and
assembly of the both the Ares V core and earth departure stages at
NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in Louisiana. This is due to the
unique capabilities at MAF such as the physical capacity of the
facility, experienced local workforce in large, human-rated cryogenic
stages and access to the inter-coastal waterway and NASA's Stennis
Space Center for testing. After delivery of the core and Earth
departure stages to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), stacking and final
integration of the Ares V vehicle will be performed in KSC's Vehicle
Assembly Building. Transport to launch pad 39A and conduct of launch
operations will utilize unique KSC facilities and local workforce
experienced in integration and launch of NASA's human rated space
vehicles. Specifics of workforce numbers for either KSC or MAF will not
be known until contracts have been awarded. Initial contracts for
ground processing operations are currently planned for award for FY
2010; however, the scope of Ares V content for that contract has not
been explicitly determined. Final prime contracts for development and
production of Ares V are currently planned for award in FY 2012. Ares V
will be the largest, most capable launch vehicle ever built.
Question 2. It is my understanding that in the FY09 Commerce.
Justice, Science Appropriations, the Senate has added $30 million to
the Ares V budget for Early Risk Reduction Efforts. If this funding is
retained in the bill, what impact would that have on the long term
schedule for Ares V?
Answer. The additional $30M reflected in the FY 2009 Commerce,
Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. as reported
by the Senate Committee on Appropriations on June 19, 2008, would not
change the currently planned flight milestones for Ares V. However,
this additional funding would reduce risk and add confidence in meeting
schedule and will aid the transition to development for Ares V in FY
2011.
Question 2a. If this funding is retained in the bill, how would
that impact the workforce at both MAF and KSC?
Answer. Workforce impact at NASA locations would depend on the
specific tasks and contracts that are yet to be awarded.
Question 3. What type of schedule impact would you expect on the
Ares V program from a 6-month Continuing Resolution from Congress?
Answer. There will be no schedule impact to the Ares V Project
resulting from a six-month Continuing Resolution.
Question 3a. What type of schedule impact would you expect on the
Ares V program from a one-year Continuing Resolution from Congress?
Answer. Given the relatively small amount of funds in the FY 2009
request for Ares V work ($7.0M), there would be no impact to the Arcs V
schedule.
Question 4. As a result of the retirement of the Space Shuttle,
NASA and its contractors could soon begin issuing Worker Adjustment and
Retraining Notification (WARN) Act letters impacting thousands of
workers at these facilities. With the current live year gap until the
Orion/Ares system is operational, NASA and its contractors would then
turn around in about 2 years and start hiring workers for the
Constellation Program. This approach would essentially involve laying
off skilled workers one year, then staffing up 2 years later for the
same type of skilled workers--workers who, at that time, may or may not
be readily available.
Instead of the traditional WARN and rapid response protocol, it
would seem to benefit NASA: the States of Florida and Louisiana;
regional employers; contractors; and employees if funds were invested
to keep workers employed during the gap to ensure skilled workers
remain available.
Would NASA support a request to allow both states a waiver from the
Department of Labor to utilize Workforce Investment Act funds to help
find contract employment for impacted workers? If not, please explain
why.
Answer. Retention of civil servant and contractor critical skills
necessary to safely fly out the Space Shuttle Program manifest and
enable the success of the Constellation Program is a top NASA priority.
As the Agency transitions from Shuttle to Constellation, NASA plans to
maintain approximately the current civil service workforce levels.
NASA expects the nature of near-term human spaceflight work to
shift from operations to engineering design. development, and test soon
after the Space Shuttle's last mission, and that the new Constellation
vehicles will require less manpower to process and prepare for each
mission than Shuttle. Reducing manpower levels on the new vehicles is
critical to the success of the Nation's exploration efforts. Given that
the Constellation program is a ``pay as you go'' construct with
milestones based upon time-phased activity within the available budget
provided by Congress, Constellation program requirements drive required
workforce levels. From 2009 to 2011, NASA will hold competitions and
award future Constellation contracts for ground operations and
processing of Orion and Ares I, as well as the design and manufacturing
of Ares V and Altair.
NASA purchases products and services, not direct labor hours, from
contractors, so NASA does not directly manage the contractor workforce.
Accordingly, NASA does not issue WARN notifications to the contractor
workforce, but rather the prime contractors who employ the contractor
workforce take that action, only if needed and according to their own
policies. NASA continually seeks innovative solutions to the workforce
challenges associated with the transition from Shuttle to
Constellation. We understand that the Workforce Investment Act (WIA),
under certain circumstances, authorizes the Department of Labor to
allocate funds to state and local workforce investment boards for
youth, adult and dislocated worker training services. There are also a
number of restrictions on use of such funds, to include eligibility
requirements, time limits, funding limits, employer match requirements,
etc., which the Department of Labor has the authority to waive. It is
difficult to judge the merits of any proposed waivers under WIA without
knowing the specifics of what is to be waived and for what purposes.
although it appears to be a matter between the Department of Labor and
state and local workforce investment boards. However, should the
Department of Labor seek NASA's view on a waiver request under the WIA;
NASA would be pleased to review such a request.
Accordingly, while NASA does not seek, or advocate, additional
retraining, placement or short-term work efforts by contractors funded
within the NASA budget, in general, NASA supports efforts to help the
Shuttle contractor workforce negotiate the transition between the
Shuttle and Constellation Programs, whether that is to prepare for
Constellation or other NASA programs, migrate to other aerospace work,
or even pursue other fields. As part of this effort, NASA has broadly
communicated a summary of the Agency's future contract acquisition
plans--to the limit allowed by the Federal Acquisition Regulations--so
that potential bidders and their employees can see what future work
will be competed for Constellation.
Question 5. NASA receives Federal funding for its Institutional
Assets. Unlike other NASA locations, the Michoud Assembly Facility
(MAF) has not traditionally been considered an Institutional Asset, and
thus, has not received those funds. Facility costs at MAF have instead
been borne by program tenants. These costs are high because of the
small number of tenants (the lower the number of programs/ contractors,
the higher their percentage of cost). As a member of the Senate
Appropriations Committee, I would be interested to know additional
information on facility costs at MAF. Has NASA conducted any studies to
review the cost of doing business at MAF compared to market value? If
so, please provide any completed studies. If not, will NASA agree to
conduct such a study?
Answer. Currently, the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) is operated
for NASA by Lockheed Martin as a part of the Shuttle External Tank (ET)
production contract. NASA decisions to use MAF to support Constellation
projects, in addition to the ET, drove an acquisition strategy which
separates the facility operations, maintenance, and manufacturing
support into a separate contract. The diversification of the MAF to
support multiple projects, using multiple prime contractors, led to a
NASA Request for Proposal (RFP) in June 2008 for a multi-program,
mission independent contract for MAF operations. NASA currently
anticipates making a selection for this contract in December 2008. The
use of MAF for Constellation activities and this particular multi-
project acquisition approach are intended to improve the transition
from Shuttle ET production to Constellation activities (skill
retention, capability preservation), while minimizing costs. Once in
place. this contract is designed to allow increased penetration of
facility operating costs and incentivize efficiencies in facility
operation, maintenance and manufacturing support. The efficiencies
anticipated will be informed by NASA's plans to conduct a study, after
the new contractor is in place, to compare NASA MAF facility costs to
market rates.
Question 6. As you know, there will be a new operations contractor
at Michoud. It is my understanding that there is currently a
maintenance backlog for the facility. The maintenance backlog is due to
many factors including Hurricane Katrina, the upcoming retirement of
the Space Shuttle and local economic conditions. What is the current
status of maintenance projects at Michoud? Does NASA need additional
funding to address the maintenance backlog at Michoud? (Yes/no) If yes,
how much funding would be needed? If no, why not?
Answer. No, NASA does not need additional funding to address the
maintenance backlog. The current status of deferred maintenance at MAF
is consistent with all NASA installations. In addition, Congressional
approval of the Katrina supplemental funding was significant in re-
storing the facility to a good condition after the damage caused by
Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The supplemental funds provided to MAF for
Katrina recovery and repair at MAF totaled $181.0M. This supplemental
funding allowed repairs to the facility to be made ($69.0M). as well as
implementation of important asset protection measures ($70.0M) which
hardens and safes the facility.
NASA's approach to facility management is to achieve an appropriate
balance among facility maintenance, capital revitalization,
construction of facilities and the retirement and elimination of
facilities that have no future requirement or have become antiquated.
Question 7. Administrator Griffin, in your previous statements and
in the initial NASA request for proposals (RFP), there was a commitment
that Ares I was to be produced at MAF. The language was softened in the
final RFP, allowing alternatives to be proposed. No language about
design was included in the RFP language. However, it is my
understanding, that at this time the first two Ares I development units
are being built at the Marshall Space Flight Center, not MAF. These
units require large investments for infrastructure and each unit will
cost millions to produce. Once this investment has been made, there
would seem to be a disincentive to move production to MAF.
For Ares V, you have also verbally committed that Ares V would be
developed and produced at MAF. Like Ares I, however, it is being
planned for the first two Ares V development units to also be designed
at the Marshall Space Flight Center, not MAF. This will mean additional
investments in infrastructure and production. Again, there seems to be
little incentive for NASA to duplicate the capacity at MAF once it
exists at Marshall.
Just as NASA showed a strong commitment to MAF in the aftermath of
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, it is essential to keep this strong
commitment from NASA that work on Orion, Ares I and Ares V will stay at
MAF.
Is NASA still committed to develop and build Orion, Ares I and Ares
V at MAF? Would NASA support codifying this commitment in future
legislation?
Answer. NASA has been consistent in its commitment to complete
final manufacturing and assembly of the Ares I Upper Stage and
Instrument Unit, and Ares V core and Earth departure stages, at MAF.
This is due in part to the unique capabilities MAF offers, such as an
experienced and abundant local workforce with considerable expertise in
human-rated cryogenic stages, the physical capacity of the facility,
and access to the nearby Intercoastal Waterway and the NASA Stennis
Space Center for testing.
With regard to future legislation, NASA would defer to the next
Administration for guidance with respect to legislative proposals for
NASA.
Question 7a. Please explain why the first two Ares I and Ares V
development units could not be designed and produced at MAF instead of
Marshall.
Answer. For Ares I, NASA is currently planning to manufacture and
assemble only one full-scale, integrated Upper Stage test article at
the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)--the Main Propulsion Test
Article and other partial articles for developmental structural
testing. The ground vibration test article and all subsequent
production articles will be manufactured at MAF. NASA has made no
decisions as to the location of final manufacturing and assembly of the
Ares V developmental units--this is forward work to the Ares V
Preliminary Design Review (PDR). NASA is following the very successful
Saturn model, where critical manufacturing processes are worked out
prior to completion of design in physical proximity to vehicle
designers and unique test facilities. This is also in keeping with best
practices of industry. In addition, there are schedule conflicts within
the MAF facility due to on-going Shuttle External Tank production which
hamper earlier Ares manufacturing. It is also important to note that
MSFC facilities arc not capable of ongoing, full-scale production--they
are sized to support non-recurring development activities.
The MAF production flow has been optimized for low-cost
manufacturing based on lessons learned from the development work at
MSFC. The optimized approach will be implemented at MAF and not
retrofitted at MSFC. The Upper Stage manufacturing assets at MSFC are
used for process development and production of early development test
articles. These assets cannot support flight production due to the
developmental nature of their design. The MSFC manufacturing capability
will be used for problem resolution after the Upper Stage production
system is established at MAF and will later transition to Ares V
development activities. This plan is still undergoing finalization and
will be completed this fall as NASA concludes the Ares I PDR.