KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - Kennedy Space Center has a bright future - the was the message from center Director Bob Cabana during this morning's annual Community Leaders Breakfast at the KSC Visitor's Center. However, Cabana was also blunt in pointing out the tremendous challenges facing Kennedy over the next several years as the space center embarks on an ambitious plan for the most comprehensive restructuring since the inception of the space shuttle program over 30 years ago.
(Photo Credit: Lloyd Behrendt / Blue Sawtooth Studio) WATCH FREE VIDEO BOB CABANA'S MORNING TALK • WATCH QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION • WATCH HI-QUALITY VIDEO DOWNLOADS FOR ALL-ACCESS MEMBERS BOB CABANA'S MORNING TALK • DOWNLOAD QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION • DOWNLOAD "This is a really challenging time we have in front of us," Cabana told the crows of assembled politicians, legislative staff, mayors and business leaders. "None of this is for the faint-hearted." Along with the transition and modernization of KSC into what the Obama Administration's space policy proposal calls a "21st Century Launch Complex", NASA faces the task of safely flying out the remaining space shuttle flight manifest, retiring the three operational orbiters and then deconstructing much of the vast shuttle program support infrastructure. Space shuttle retirement also involves demobilizing - laying off - thousands of skilled workers who process and launch the space shuttle. In total, Kennedy Space Center expects to lose as many as 9,000 of its 15,000 employee base once the shuttle program is phased out. Of all the hurdles facing the space agency, and KSC in particular, the loss of so many high-tech workers and its effect on the surrounding community may be the biggest challenge of all. During a speech resembling a pep rally as much as an update briefing, Cabana said everyone on the Space Coast seems to have finally accepted the fact that the space shuttle program is coming to an end and that no long-term extension is in the offing. However, he also stressed that the end of the shuttle program doesn't mean the end of KSC's role in human spaceflight and exploration. Stepping through points already laid out in President Obama's FY 2011 NASA budget request and the recently-released National Space Policy, Cabana pointed out the new roles for KSC and, in very loose terms, how the center is planning to transition from its current business model to one that doesn't include the shuttle or its once-upon-a-time replacement Constellation. Central to Kennedy Space Center's new focus, he said, will be supporting increased commercial launch operations as NASA relies more on transportation services from the commercial sector to resupply the International Space Station with cargo and crew. KSC will also be tasked with supporting the research and development of a new heavy-lift rocket that both the President's and Congressional proposals call for initiating sometime in the next 5 years. Along this path, Launch Complex 39, the Vehicle Assembly Building and Launch Control Center as well as the newly constructed Ares I Mobile Launcher would be modified and upgraded into a state-of-the-art facility able to accommodate a variety of commercial or NASA launch vehicles. However, Cabana warned that time is running out for KSC to finalize planning and begin moving forward with post-shuttle transition activities. For about the last year-and-a-half, NASA, the White House and Congress have been wresting back and forth to come up with a plan for the agency's future. The Administration favors a plan that cancels the troubled Constellation program, now on life support, an redirects money to supporting the commercial launch industry, development of a new large liquid-fuel first stage rocket engine, technology research and development and modernization of Kennedy Space Center. Congress, however, mindful of jobs in districts with NASA field centers, is fighting for a plan that would preserve some aspects of Constellation's Ares launch vehicles and possibly extend the life of the shuttle program - at the expense of R&D and the commercial launch providers. Regardless of which path NASA is eventually directed to follow, Kennedy Space Center will play a crucial role in spacecraft processing and launch support. But each path follows a different operating model which will drive the restructuring of the space center. With Washington trapped in a political stalemate, it makes it extremely difficult for KSC to move beyond basic planning activities until a firm direction is established for NASA and the center. (The Spacearium / SpaceflightNews.net)
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