SHUTTLE SAFENESS RAISED BOEING WARNS AGAINST INSPECTION DELAYS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Boeing Co. advised NASA on Tuesday to continue to bring space shuttles to Palmdale for modifications and to forget a proposal to defer work on the orbiter fleet until after 2005.

Boeing has recommended against the National Aeronautics and Space Administration proposal, saying the planned installation of new cockpit instrument displays, along with the wiring and structural inspections, are safety issues that should not be deferred. Boeing is also advocating that work continue to be done in Palmdale.

``We, Boeing, have taken the position the orbiter modifications need to be executed and executed now and that they should be done in Palmdale,'' said Mike Mott, vice president and general manager of Boeing's Human Space Flight and Exploration division.

Palmdale will continue to be a viable shuttle work site during the life of the orbiter fleet, Boeing officials said. Palmdale is also being spared in a company plan to relocate 1,100 Southern California space shuttle and International Space Station jobs to Texas and Florida.

``I believe we're going to be flying the shuttle for a long time - 25, 30 years. To do that you're going to need major, major modifications,'' Mott said. ``I'm very confident NASA and USA (United Space Alliance, the contractor supporting NASA's operations of the shuttle fleet) will support doing the work in Palmdale.''

Facing budget problems, including a $4.7 billion overrun on the development of the International Space Station, NASA is looking to postpone any shuttle modifications until the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, 2005.

Orbiter Discovery is scheduled to arrive in Palmdale in December, but that work is now in doubt.

Typically, Boeing brings in about 300 workers to conduct the modifications and inspections on orbiters. The work typically lasts nine to 10 months and can cost upward of $75 million.

NASA asked the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel to review the proposal. The panel is expected to decide within a few weeks as to whether such a deferment would be a safety concern.

The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel is an independent panel of technical experts that reports to NASA and Congress. The panel was formed in 1967 after the Apollo I command capsule fire that killed three astronauts.

NASA is in the middle of updating shuttle cockpits, replacing 32 of the 1970s-vintage gauges with 11 new touch-screen displays. The modification cuts about 75 pounds of weight and the new display uses less power.

NASA now wants to couple those upgrades with its planned ``smart cockpit'' upgrades, which involve installing electronic equipment that will do much of the deductive reasoning for pilots during critical periods of a mission.

While NASA examines deferring the modification work, Antelope Valley legislative leaders are pushing a bill urging the space agency to retain its shuttle modification work in Palmdale and look at the possibility of building even more shuttles.

Assembly Joint Resolution 9 - introduced by Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, and Assemblyman Phil Wyman, R-Tehachapi - was unanimously approved by the Assembly.