Congress To Look At Shuttle Safety

Washington DC - September 29, 1997 - In addition to its ongoing and more politicized review of the safety of U.S. astronauts aboard the Russian MIR space station, the U.S. House of Representatives this week will also look at safety of the Space Shuttle fleet. The House will convene a public hearing Wednesday on the impact upon the Shuttle program of recent transfers of funds from the Shuttle to the International Space Station Alpha. It will also receive testimony on effects on the Shuttle of slippage of the International station assembly sequence. Budget issues in the Shuttle program will also be reviewed, with the matter of uncosted carryovers getting the politicos attention.

Testifying will be Wilbur Trafton, Associate NASA Administrator for Human Spaceflight at NASA Headquarters, Paul M. Johnstone, Chair of the NASA Aerospace Safety Review Panel, Jim Adamson, former Shuttle astronaut and now Chief Operating Officer of the United Space Alliance, and Allen Li, Associate Director of the General Accounting Office in Washington. The hearing is set for 10am Wednesday.

Next week also marks a major milestone in the history of space exploration: Saturday October 4th is the 40th anniversary of the Russian Sputnik launch, the flight of the world's first artificial satellite. NASA is holding a 2-day conference to explore the significance of the event, beginning on Tuesday.

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