SPACE 'LIFEBOAT' IN WORKS ORBITAL PLANE PROPOSED BEFORE LOSS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Even before the loss of space shuttle Columbia, NASA officials planned to expedite the development of a new spacecraft to take astronauts to and from the International Space Station and to invest in improvements to extend the life of the shuttle fleet.

In the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's proposed 2004 budget released Monday, agency officials said they planned to speed up the development of the orbital space plane that would serve both as a backup to the shuttle and as a ``lifeboat'' for the space station's crew.

``The budget funds design, risk-reduction activities and development of the orbital space plane, which would be launched on commercial rockets to transport astronauts and some cargo to and from the space station,'' authors of the budget document wrote. ``Due to its unique system characteristics, the orbital space plane is expected to be safer and less expensive to fly than the shuttle.''

The document was prepared before the loss of the Columbia, and it is not immediately known how the tragedy will affect budget plans.

The document does not provide a dollar amount for that effort, but NASA officials indicated in the past that they planned to invest $2.4 billion in the orbital space plane through 2007.

NASA officials had been scheduled to give news reporters a briefing Monday on their budget request, but the briefing has been postponed indefinitely.

How NASA will proceed in light of the Columbia tragedy is unclear.

McKeon concerned

Aides of Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, expect Congress to hold meetings with NASA officials about what direction the space agency should take in its manned-space program, including whether it should try to build a more advanced and safer spacecraft.

McKeon was concerned, aide Lou Stultz said, that NASA had no contingency plans for the situation that seems to have happened on Columbia: The spacecraft at launch sustained damage that made returning to Earth dangerous.

``It may take us awhile, but we'll see what we can do,'' Stultz said.

State Sen. W.J. ``Pete'' Knight, a former Air Force test pilot, said he believes NASA should keep flying the three remaining space shuttles while simultaneously developing new spacecraft.

``You can't stop exploring just because there's a little risk involved,'' said Knight, a retired Air Force test pilot who survived one X-15 rocket plane flight in which all his controls lost power at 2,700 mph and another in which heat waves melted holes in the rocket plane's tail at 4,500 mph.

Knight believes the United States has canceled too many research and development projects because government officials could see no tangible product - ``that new refrigerator,'' he said.

In the last few decades, Knight said, the United States halted research into hypersonic aircraft, the X-33 rocket plane, scramjets, an atomic-powered rocket and other programs, he said.

``If we hadn't done basic research, we wouldn't have flown supersonic. We wouldn't have jet engines. We wouldn't have gone to the moon. We wouldn't have computers. We wouldn't have PCs. We wouldn't have the ability for doctors to investigate the body with minimal interference,'' Knight said.

Knight noted that his 4,500 mph speed record, set in 1967 in an X-15 rocket plane, still stands 35 years later, and he calls that unconscionable.

X-37 being assembled

As part of the effort to develop the orbital space plane, NASA awarded a $301 million contract to Boeing's Phantom Works division in November to continue development of the unmanned X-37 test craft, now under assembly in Palmdale, and to build a more advanced version to be tested in space.

The contract calls for a series of approach and landing tests for the engineless, 27 1/2-foot-long X-37 that will be carried out at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, as well as development of a research craft that can orbit the Earth.

Controlled by computer, the X-37s will be used to test technologies needed by the orbital space plane during launch, in orbit and while descending and landing. Scheduled to be tested are guidance, navigation and heat protection systems, among other features.

The high-altitude demonstrator vehicle under construction at Palmdale is about two-thirds complete. The vehicle is expected to be delivered to NASA late this year or early in 2004.

Details awaited

Boeing officials plan to have components of the space test vehicle manufactured at a variety of company plants, but the final assembly work will be done in Palmdale. The orbital flight is scheduled for 2006.

Boeing submitted a concept of an orbital space plane to NASA that resembles a larger X-37, about the size of a business jet.

Companies likely to compete to develop the orbital space plane include Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which was working on the unmanned X-33 rocket plane before NASA canceled the $1.2 billion program in 2001.

According to the budget proposal released Monday, NASA officials intend to order major upgrades to the orbiter fleet to extend its life and to improve safety. The document does not provide any details.

``The budget provides additional funding to extend the shuttle's service life,'' the document authors state. ``However, past management of shuttle investments has suffered from unclear planning and cost overruns. In the coming year, NASA will reform its approach to shuttle investment planning and management.''

Before the Columbia accident, NASA officials had planned a series of major upgrades they believed would double the shuttle's safety by 2005.