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Thursday, March 16, 2000 | 1:57 a.m.

bc-SPACESTATION

Key Russian component failures could further stall space station

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By LARRY WHEELER

Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON - Construction of the International Space Station could be delayed further because Russian-built components fail to meet NASA safety standards in four key areas, the General Accounting Office reported Thursday.

The findings of Congress' watchdog agency came less than four months before Russia is supposed to launch its much delayed and apparently flawed Service Module.

The GAO findings:

- The Service Module lacks adequate shielding from orbital debris. NASA requires the pressurized vessel to have no more than a 2.4 percent chance of penetration by orbital debris over a 15-year period. The Service Module is rated as having a 25 percent chance of penetration.

- Neither the Service Module nor Zarya - the functional cargo block component already in orbit - would function if cabin pressure is lost. NASA requires equipment inside pressurized modules be capable of functioning if pressure is lost.

- NASA has not verified that the Service Module windows meet space station requirements because Russian engineers have not provided sufficient test data until very recently.

- Excess noise on the Service Module and Zarya pose a health and safety hazard to astronauts and cosmonauts. NASA already relaxed its 55 decibel standard to 60 decibels, but noise levels on the Service Module are expected to average 70 to 75 decibels over a 24-hour period. NASA plans to require that astronauts and cosmonauts wear earplugs, but they don't yet know if the devices will prevent the station crew from hearing caution and warning signals.

Before the Service Module can be approved by NASA for launch by the Russians, the U.S. civilian space agency must either certify all safety standards have been met or grant the Russians a "waiver," said Allen Li, a GAO associate director.

"The lack of approval currently stands in the way of the Service Module July launch," Li said.

The troubling GAO report came just one day after NASA Administrator Dan Goldin assured a panel of congressional appropriators that astronauts and cosmonauts would be living on the $60 billion station later this year.

The GAO report was presented at a hearing of the House Space and Aeronautics subcommittee. Some members of the panel have been highly critical of the Clinton administration's decision to give Russia a major role in the space station project.

Thursday's hearing was no different.

"NASA's management of this program has all the appearances of a Keystone Cops movie," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., chairman of the subcommittee.

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In recent weeks, NASA has been hit with a series of critical reports, missteps and near-mishaps that have raised serious questions about whether the agency is trying to do too much with too little.

Among the disquieting developments:

- Expensive oxygen tanks intended for the space station were dumped into the trash at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

- Wednesday, NASA officials announced they will replace a main engine on shuttle Atlantis because it could have faulty parts that should have been scrapped.

- Last week, the Space Shuttle Independent Assessment Team concluded NASA's rapid work force cuts might have compromised the continued safe operation of the shuttle fleet.

Later this month, a special panel of experts looking into the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Polar Lander is expected to release its findings and recommendations.

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The task of responding to congressional criticism Thursday fell to Joseph Rothenberg, associate administrator of space flight.

NASA is working closely with its Russian partners to resolve the safety issues identified in the GAO report, Rothenberg said.

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The agency also is tracking down 49 incidents termed "escapes" and "diving catches" aboard the space shuttles to identify their root causes and make appropriate changes to ensure they don't happen again, Rothenberg said.

The incidents were identified by the Space Shuttle Independent Assessment Team. An "escape" is something that flew aboard a shuttle that could have caused a failure but luck or providence prevented it. A "diving catch" is a problem caught before launch by an individual who performed a "heroic effort" not through the standard safety net procedures, according to the assessment team's report.

"We shouldn't rely on luck," said Henry McDonald, the assessment team's chairman and director of NASA Ames Research Center in California.

Rothenberg assured lawmakers that NASA's goal was zero "escapes" and "diving catches."

Despite the recent headlines, Rothenberg said the shuttle fleet got safer as its work force declined.

In-flight anomalies averaged 40 to 50 per flight in 1991. Since 1996, the anomaly average has dropped to below 10, Rothenberg said.