[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18712-18713]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                          SPACE TRANSPORTATION

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I rise today with two purposes in mind. 
The first is to compliment the men and women who labor on behalf of the 
nation at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, 
Alabama on the occasion of Marshall's 40th Anniversary. My second 
purpose is to share some thoughts on the importance of Space 
Transportation in light of the VA/HUD Appropriations Bill that will 
come before this body in the not too distant future. These two issues 
are inextricably linked in that Marshall Space Flight Center is the 
world leader in space transportation yet ever dependent on the funding 
that the VA/HUD appropriators provide. For that reason, I compliment 
Senator Kit Bond, and his superlative staff in advance of the bill 
being debated for all they continue to do on behalf of NASA and the 
nation. Their foresight will ultimately make the difference as we 
continue to move forward as a nation of explorers.
  In September, 1960 President Dwight Eisenhower dedicated the Marshall 
Space Flight Center which soon began making history under the 
mentorship and direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun. From the Mercury-
Redstone vehicle that placed America's first astronaut, Alan B. 
Shepard, into sub-orbital space in 1961, to the mammoth Saturn V rocket 
that launched humans to the moon in 1969, Marshall and its industry 
partners have successfully engineered history making projects that 
gave, and continue to give, America the world's premier space program.
  We in Alabama and across America have so much to be thankful for and 
in a small way Marshall and its scientists, engineers and support 
personnel have carved out a niche of excellence that brought history to 
the community, state and nation. From Skylab, to the space shuttle to 
the lunar roving vehicle, America has looked to Marshall for experience 
and leadership. They were the right stuff, and they continue today to 
be the best with over 30 world-class facilities and test facilities. As 
NASA's Center of Excellence for Space Propulsion the men and women of 
Marshall are not simply dreamers of what may be, but are working hard 
in research and development to provide the propulsion systems that will 
enable NASA to provide the nation safe, reliable, low-cost access to 
space, rapid interplanetary transportation, and the hope of exploration 
beyond the solar system. This is not folly, Mr. President, this is 
reality.
  These initiatives require us to make new investments in Space 
Transportation and this is what I believe Senator Bond and his 
committee are trying to do. Investments are being made and must 
continue to be made in the years to come in the Space Launch 
Initiative, the Third Generation technology program, and in Shuttle 
upgrades if we are going to achieve our collective space destiny.
  I would like to take a few moments today to discuss these initiatives 
and the promise they hold for our country. I would also like to talk 
about some of the technology spin-offs these investments will yield for 
other parts of our economy.
  The Space Launch Initiative is intended to dramatically reduce the 
cost of access to space by an order of magnitude over the next 10 years 
and to increase the reliability of space launch vehicles.
  This initiative will result in the creation of a ``highway to space'' 
that will enable increased commercial activity in Earth orbit and 
beyond. The impact for our nation's economy will be dramatic, I 
believe. We need only to look at the past to understand the 
possibilities associated with opening new frontiers. Throughout our 
history, commerce and growth have been fueled when boundaries have been 
pushed back.
  Let me briefly describe the elements and the purpose of NASA's Space 
Launch Initiative. The Space Shuttle remains the world's only reusable 
launch vehicle and continues to be a workhorse for NASA and the 
American public. You may have been watching the recent activities in 
space surrounding STS-106 (which landed this morning in Florida), our 
first shuttle mission to the International Space Station since the 
arrival of its newest component, the Russian supplied service module--
Zvezda. The Shuttle is the first generation of reusable launch systems, 
but it has its faults and we must improve on this system. It is a very 
expensive system to operate and requires thousands of people and months 
of work to prepare the system for launch. In order to meet the goals of 
the Space Launch Initiative, NASA and its partners must develop systems 
that only require around 100 people and about one week for turnaround.
  The Space Launch Initiative will focus on reducing technical and 
programmatic risks as well as the business risks associated with the 
development of new space launch technologies. While the goal will be to 
develop a Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle that increases crew 
safety by a factor of 10 and decreases cost by the same amount, the 
technology we develop along the way will only serve to enrich the 
economy. Let me provide an example--its NASA's X-33 program.
  The X-33 is a sub-scale flight demonstrator designed to test many 
technologies that will drive a full-scale Second Generation vehicle. 
Like many developmental programs, the X-33 has had its share of 
setbacks. However, even with setbacks the X-33 program has actually 
spun off technology that will improve the lives of many newborn 
children.
  Let me explain. The X-33's original composite tank contained fiber 
optic sensing technology embedded along the edge to monitor the health 
of the system. Realizing the potential of this

[[Page 18713]]

technology could be far reaching, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center 
partnered with Dr. Jason Collins of the Pregnancy Institute in Slidell, 
Louisiana and with Prism, a San Antonio manufacturer of medical 
products, to improve obstetric forceps used to position an infant in 
the mother's womb prior to delivery, and in some cases used to assist 
with the delivery. Obstetrical forceps have been in use for over 300 
years with more than 700 variations of the design, however, none of 
these allowed the physician to assess the force the instrument placed 
on the infant. An improvement was definitely needed that would minimize 
the risk to newborns delivered by forceps. NASA's solution: forceps 
made of polymeric material which flexes under pressure with fiber optic 
sensors from the X-33 program embedded in the material during the 
manufacturing process that indicate strain.
  It is predicted that the fiber optic forceps will reduce the number 
of cesarean section deliveries, reduce the risk of injury to the 
mother, and significantly lower the occurrence of fetal injury caused 
by ordinary forceps, thus reducing overall health care costs.
  Another part of the Space Launch Initiative is a program called the 
Alternate Access to the Space Station. This is an extremely important 
part of the Initiative for several reasons. The Alternate Access to 
Space Station effort will provide our country with more than one way 
service to the Space Station. As you may recall, Mr. President, in the 
aftermath of the Challenger disaster, the Shuttle program was down for 
several years. However, once the International Space Station is on 
orbit with a permanent crew on board, we cannot afford to face a time 
in which the Shuttle or any one launch vehicle is out of service for an 
extended period of time.
  We must have a very robust method of keeping the Station re-supplied. 
We cannot afford to be tied to one or even two launch systems, but must 
have access to several launch vehicles. The Alternate Access program is 
designed to develop some of the most innovative launch vehicle concepts 
that exist today in industry for the purpose of providing resupply 
capability to the Station. This effort will give many up-and-coming 
aerospace companies and entrepreneurs the ability to break into the 
market by using NASA's requirements as the baseline on which to build 
their business case and attract investors.
  While the Space Launch Initiative is designed to reduce the cost of 
access to space from $10,000 a pound to $1,000 a pound, in order to 
make space travel truly routine for the average citizen, we must do 
more. NASA is also planning to invest in Third Generation technologies 
to further reduce the cost of putting a pound of payload in orbit. The 
goal of the Third Generation activities is to get launch costs down to 
$100 a pound within 25 years. At that point, routine access to space 
for a variety of activities will become possible.
  NASA's Third Generation program has been dubbed Spaceliner 100--the 
idea being that the technology advancements would result in a launch 
vehicle with commercial airliner reliability and again, a cost of 
around $100 a pound for launch. I was pleased last year to jump-start 
this investment. In a bipartisan effort, I along with Majority Leader 
Trent Lott, Senators Shelby, Breaux, Landrieu, Voinovich, DeWine, and 
Cochran pressed for the inclusion of $80 million dollars in the FY 00 
VA-HUD bill for Spaceliner 100.
  I am glad to see that this action did not go unnoticed by the 
Administration. In this year's FY 2001 budget submission, the White 
House included $1.2 Billion for NASA's Third Generation effort over the 
next five years. This funding will support research in earth-to-orbit, 
in-space, and interstellar transportation technologies.
  Earlier in my comments, I mentioned the Space Shuttle and the 
tremendous contribution it has made and will continue to make to our 
nation's space program. As we move towards these advanced launch 
vehicles, NASA must not take their eye off of the launch vehicle we 
depend on today. I am pleased to see that this is not the case, in fact 
the agency is taking steps to ensure that the Shuttle continues to be a 
robust vehicle. In fact, NASA is actually advocating upgrades for the 
Shuttle and the Administration proposed to spend $1.4 Billion dollars 
over five years in upgrades to the Shuttle. However, in light of the 
investments in Second and Third Generation technologies, you might 
wonder if Shuttle upgrades are worth it. The answer is yes and here's 
why:
  First, we are dealing with a crew safety issue. Today the Shuttle 
performs on the edge of its capabilities. Statistically speaking, the 
Shuttle system will encounter a catastrophic failure once in every 450 
launches. However, with the proposed upgrades, the Shuttle would have a 
much better safety margin.
  With the upgrades, for every launch of the Shuttle, the catastrophic 
failure rate would be one in every 1,000 launches. Although this is not 
even close to the one in 2 million safety margin we enjoy on commercial 
airliners, it is a vast improvement. And when you are dealing with 
human lives, every little bit helps.
  Second, every upgrade proposed for the Shuttle will be a candidate 
for use on Second Generation systems. In other words, not only is NASA 
improving safety for Shuttle crews, they are getting the opportunity to 
``road test'' many new technologies.
  I have briefly described NASA's Space Launch Initiative as well as 
the Agency's Third Generation efforts. I have provided an example or 
two of spin off technologies we are receiving and will continue to 
receive from this significant investment. These efforts are important 
to our nation's economic future as well as our continued National 
security. I believe these efforts will amount to a defining moment in 
our nation's space program in the day's ahead.
  I am proud of the lead role NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in 
Huntsville, Alabama is taking in these efforts. But as anyone at 
Marshall will tell you, this will take the combined efforts of many of 
NASA's other Field Centers, along with the full participation of 
America's aerospace industry, and the help of many academic partners.
  I began my remarks today by describing the 40 year effort at Marshall 
and the hard work that we have witnessed by Senator Bond's committee. 
We should not be lured into a false sense of security that we will 
always have the talent in our field centers we have today, or the great 
support we enjoy from the authorization and appropriations committees. 
As we look into the future, access to space will be as important to us 
as civil aviation is today. However, we all have a lot of work ahead of 
us, and this is an endeavor we must educated ourselves on and monitor 
closely that it doesn't stray off course. There is simply too much at 
stake to allow that to happen.
  In the mid-1970's, the U.S. dominated the worldwide commercial space 
launch market. Today, we launch only 30 percent of the world's 
commercial payloads. Our re-emergence into the commercial market place 
will depend on bold investments, and on the boldness of our leaders who 
wish for America to remain a Nation of Explorers.
  I urge my colleagues therefore to study carefully the upcoming NASA 
appropriation bill and suggest to them that they support the VA/HUD 
Appropriations Bill, and the investments in the Space Launch 
Initiative, Third Generation technologies, and Shuttle upgrades. These 
investments will truly be the keys to our future success in space and 
in the future global marketplace.
  They also guarantee that the men and woman at the George C. Marshall 
Space Center have the tools to unlock the technological mysteries that 
lie before us, and in doing so make planet Earth a better place to 
live.

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