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CNN Live At Daybreak

Are Money Issues Compromising Safety of Space Program?

Aired February 04, 2003 - 05:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get back to the Shuttle Columbia now. The tragedy raises this troubling question -- are money issues compromising the safety of the space program?
Our John Zarrella takes a look for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Columbia tragedy may turn out to be a freak accident that would have happened no matter how much money NASA had to work with.

MITCH DANIELS, WHITE HOUSE BUDGET DIRECTOR: If there's a lesson in the last couple days, it's, I suppose, another sad example that more money alone can't always avoid very sad setbacks.

ZARRELLA: But clearly tight budgets have been an issue at the space agency ever since the Challenger accident. And the international space station project further stretched NASA's resources. A recent General Accounting Office report found that development costs for the station had "soared to the point where NASA has had to cut back the program substantially, including reducing construction, the number of crew members and scientific research."

But even with the scale backs, NASA, members of Congress say, was diverting dollars from the space shuttle program to bolster the space station project.

REP. JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R), WISCONSIN: I complained for 10 years when I was on the Science Committee against robbing the shuttle budget to pay for Russian delays in the international space station. And the Clinton administration combined the shuttle and the station accounts as a way of hiding these fund transfers.

ZARRELLA: Ever since NASA rebuilt from the ashes of Challenger, its mantra has been to never compromise safety, no matter the launch pressures. Never to fly if it wasn't right.

But some experts say the space agency has been trying to do too much with too little.

ALAN LADWIG, FORMER NASA DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR: NASA has been somewhat under funded over the past decade. The budget had been either declining or fairly steady. It didn't keep up with inflation. And we asked NASA to do an awful lot for us in the space program. And it becomes a question, how much can they do with these limited resources? ZARRELLA: Not since the Apollo days has NASA had a blank check to do whatever it needed.

(on camera): Some space experts and members of Congress say there must now be a national commitment to revitalize NASA, echoing the words that were being spoken 17 years ago after Challenger shook our consciousness.

John Zarrella, CNN, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired February 4, 2003 - 05:24   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get back to the Shuttle Columbia now. The tragedy raises this troubling question -- are money issues compromising the safety of the space program?
Our John Zarrella takes a look for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Columbia tragedy may turn out to be a freak accident that would have happened no matter how much money NASA had to work with.

MITCH DANIELS, WHITE HOUSE BUDGET DIRECTOR: If there's a lesson in the last couple days, it's, I suppose, another sad example that more money alone can't always avoid very sad setbacks.

ZARRELLA: But clearly tight budgets have been an issue at the space agency ever since the Challenger accident. And the international space station project further stretched NASA's resources. A recent General Accounting Office report found that development costs for the station had "soared to the point where NASA has had to cut back the program substantially, including reducing construction, the number of crew members and scientific research."

But even with the scale backs, NASA, members of Congress say, was diverting dollars from the space shuttle program to bolster the space station project.

REP. JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R), WISCONSIN: I complained for 10 years when I was on the Science Committee against robbing the shuttle budget to pay for Russian delays in the international space station. And the Clinton administration combined the shuttle and the station accounts as a way of hiding these fund transfers.

ZARRELLA: Ever since NASA rebuilt from the ashes of Challenger, its mantra has been to never compromise safety, no matter the launch pressures. Never to fly if it wasn't right.

But some experts say the space agency has been trying to do too much with too little.

ALAN LADWIG, FORMER NASA DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR: NASA has been somewhat under funded over the past decade. The budget had been either declining or fairly steady. It didn't keep up with inflation. And we asked NASA to do an awful lot for us in the space program. And it becomes a question, how much can they do with these limited resources? ZARRELLA: Not since the Apollo days has NASA had a blank check to do whatever it needed.

(on camera): Some space experts and members of Congress say there must now be a national commitment to revitalize NASA, echoing the words that were being spoken 17 years ago after Challenger shook our consciousness.

John Zarrella, CNN, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com