Columnist Benjamin Grove: Congress’ questions sure to test NASA

Benjamin Grove

Friday, Feb. 7, 2003 | 5:08 a.m.

IN THE IMMEDIATE WAKE of the Columbia space shuttle tragedy, grieving NASA officials and politicians agreed the space program should continue.

But in what ways? As the tears dry and the shuttle investigation unfolds, NASA officials will face increasingly difficult questions about the agency's accountability, usefulness and priorities.

Many members of Congress, while supportive of NASA last week, have been critical of the agency. And the scrutiny will start anew when NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe appears Wednesday in front of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. It will be the first in a series of hearings on the Columbia disaster and NASA's mission.

As a panel member, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., will have a front row seat. Congress oversees NASA, so the hearings are key to the agency's future.

Ensign and other lawmakers plan to re-examine some fundamental issues.

For example, Ensign wants to hear from experts on whether manned missions should be scaled back.

"There will be a place for manned space missions, but there may be an increasingly large role for unmanned," Ensign said.

Another issue is the $35 billion, shuttle-served International Space Station, which is still under construction and over budget.

"We've got a tremendous investment up there," Ensign said. "But I think we are going to examine what the benefits are versus the cost."

Ensign also hopes the hearings cast more light on whether NASA should replace Columbia with a similar shuttle. NASA has three others: Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour (which replaced Challenger).

"That's 1970s technology," Ensign said. "Should we be looking at something newer?"

Ensign is not certain what changes should be made to NASA's budget. But he's certain lawmakers should more closely scrutinize the agency.

"I think we have gotten lax, because things have gone so well," Ensign said. "Sometimes it takes something like this to force us to take a closer look."

Lawmakers who sit on panels with NASA oversight are in the difficult position of scrutinizing the agency while sympathizing with its grieving leaders.

The day of the Columbia disaster, Ensign had left his home in Las Vegas for an early morning bicycle ride to Red Rock Canyon, a Saturday routine. A fellow biker told him about the lost Columbia, and images of the exploding Challenger flashed in Ensign's mind.

"It just felt like someone hit me in the gut," Ensign said. He watched three hours of television coverage when he returned home.

Last week Ensign attended two memorial services, including the one at Johnson Space Center in Houston where the senator caught glimpses of grieving families of the crew.

"All you had to do was to look over at the families," Ensign said. "To know that these children are left without a parent, it just broke your heart."

Those families want NASA to have a future. Lawmakers say they do, too. Even as they prepare to reshape that future, they vow that space exploration will endure.

"The discovery of knowledge," Ensign said, "that constant pushing for knowledge, should go on."