MOON GOAL BENEFITS A.V. REGION'S AEROSPACE LEADERS OPTIMISTIC.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - President George W. Bush's announcement of a goal of returning man to the moon generated excitement and optimism among Antelope Valley officials, even though there are no details yet as to what it will mean to the region's aerospace industry.

Officials are optimistic that work such as testing rocket engines would be done at Edwards Air Force Base, and said the initiative will also be inspiring for National Aeronautics and Space Administration employees and for a new generation of engineers.

``This is a pretty fantastic opportunity for the agency,'' said Bob Meyer, acting deputy director at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. ``Without knowing details on this exploration vehicle it's hard to know what technologies we are working that can be directed towards that.''

The president's announcement that the NASA budget would be boosted by $1 billion over the next five years is good news, a state space official said. Besides Dryden at Edwards, California has two other NASA research centers: the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena and the Ames Research Center in Northern California.

``In general, it seems like there should be more jobs for California,'' said Janice Dunn, director of federal government relations for the California Space Authority, the state's spaceport authority. ``We are the only state in the nation that can do the work end to end. We can come up with the concept; we can come up with the design; we can manufacture the spacecraft; we can launch it; and when it has been launched, we have the control and tracking capability.''

Meyer said the new initiative will be inspiring to both existing employees and a new generation of engineers.

``It's a clear mission and it is an exciting mission,'' Meyer said. ``I think it will have a tremendous impact on the next generation of engineers and scientists. It's going to encourage young people in high school and junior high school to go into technical fields.''

Meyer said he expects a few details will emerge with the release of the president's budget proposal in February.

The president's plan for a new spacecraft will end the effort to build the orbital space plane, envisioned as a space taxi, taking astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Contractors vying for that project, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, had people in the Antelope Valley working on that effort.

It was not immediately clear what the announcement means for the X-37 program, which was aimed at proving technologies for the orbital space plane. The first of two X-37s, the one intended for drop tests in the atmosphere, is nearing completion in Palmdale. The schedule called for it to be tested later this year.

A second X-37, intended for spaceflight of up to nine months, is in the design stage.

It is also not clear what, if any, of those technologies could be used for the new spacecraft.

In a briefing following the president's announcement, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe offered no other details about the initiative. O'Keefe said that as the space shuttle is retired, there will be more funding available for the development and operation of the new manned spacecraft as well as for robotic vehicles.

O'Keefe offered no details as to what programs might be scrapped or altered to fit the initiative's budget.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com