RESEARCH AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT INTRODUCTION This part of the statement contains the budget request for the manned space flight portion of the research and program management appropriation. In fiscal year 1974, this totals $332.5 million. The research and program management budget pays for the Civil Service salaries and related costs (representing about 72 percent of the total request), for travel of Civil Service personnel, and for installation services. Civil Service personnel provided the program management and technical expertise needed to effectively carry out assigned programs and related activities. They also perform such vital functions as procurement, budgeting, finance, supervision, and contract administration. The Civil Service staff will decrease by 825 positions in fiscal year 1974 to a total strength of 10,525. This reduction is related to the completion of the Skylab mission, the termination of communications lead center activity, and the suspension of High Energy Astronomy Observatory. In the past year, extensive changes have been made to the organizational structure of the Office of Manned Space Flight field centers. These changes are the result of a reassessment of manned space flight's current responsibilities, the projected roles and missions, and the resources to accomplish them. In order to perform planned work at lower cost, we started this year to broaden the scope of in-house capabilities and through management improvements achieve a phasedown of civil service and contractor support manpower. This will continue in fiscal year 1974. Each of the Center's budgets have already been provided in great detail. The following does not augment that detail, but provides an explanation of the activities performed at the Centers to achieve the objectives of NASA's programs. First, the Marshall Space Flight Center. GEORGE C. MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER The fiscal year 1974 research and program management budget request for the Marshall Space Flight Center is $132.9 million. The Marshall Center at Huntsville, Ala., (figure 213) became a part of NASA in July 1960 and serves as NASA's primary Center for the engineering and development of large launch vehicle and propulsion systems. The Center is probably best known and recognized for the highly successful Saturn launch vehicle program. In recent years, however, the Center has applied this same management and technical competence to even more challenging program activity. For instance, Marshall has a major role in Skylab which is now being readied for launch at the Kennedy Space Center. The Skylab is a manned space laboratory with an extensive program of scientific, medical, and engineering experimentations requiring a broad spectrum of engineering, scientific, and management skills. The Skylab program responsibilities at Marshall include engineering, test, and integration of the total systems as well as the major hardware items for the total Skylab cluster. Marshall's major hardware development responsibilities include the orbital workship, the airlock module, the multiple docking adapter, the payload shroud, the telescope mount, and certain scientific, biomedical and technology experiments. The telescope mount engineered and built in-house is a good example of Marshall's technical capability. In addition to being an advanced solar observatory, the telescope mount provides attitude control for the Skylab cluster. To develop and verify this critical control system, Marshall had to first develop a total system simulator for the telescope mount which will continue to be used for real time support during the Skylab mission. In connection with their total telescope mount responsibilities, Marshall civil service personnel monitored the altitude tests conducted in the thermal vacuum facilities at the Johnson Space Center, and are now involved in prelaunch activities at the Kennedy Space Center. The highly successful and versatile Lunar Rover, which served so well on the lunar surface, was also under the management and technical direction of the Marshall Center. Marshall is the responsible Center for the Saturn launch vehicles for Skylab and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project including engineering and postflight analysis. The Center's role in the Shuttle is a major one of project management and technical direction of the booster systems which includes the solid rocket booster, the external tank and the main propulsion for the Orbiter. Marshall will perform structural analysis, define entry controls, thermal requirements, recovery systems, and verify aerodynamic design for the Shuttle solid rocket booster. It is planned to perform these tests at Marshall using modified existing facilities. The preliminary design of the external tank was performed by Marshall. A prime hardware contractor will produce the external tank at the Michoud Assembly Facility. Marshall has program management and technical direction of the design, development and production of the Shuttle main engine, which is under contract with North American Rocketdyne. Optimum use of the unique laboratories and test capability at Marshall is planned in support of the prime contractors' effort. In fiscal year 1974, Marshall will also be developing, investigating, and testing structures, hardware, and environmental sensitive materials for the Shuttle, Tug, and Sortie Lab. In addition to the activities in Huntsville, the Center is responsible for the management of three offsite facilities; the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, La., where the S-1B and S-1C launch stages were built and where the external tanks for the Space Shuttle will be built; the Slidell Computer Complex in Slidell, La., which provides computer services for NASA and a variety of Government customers and; the Mississippi Test Facility. Bay St. Louis, Miss., where development testing of the Shuttle main engine will be carried out by North American Rocketdyne. The existing Saturn engine test stands are being modified to accommodate the new high-pressure design. Other Federal and State agencies engaged in Earth environmental research are located there. The Marshall Space Flight Center is expected to reduce 650 civil service positions by the end of fiscal year 1974. This reduction results from the completion of Skylab, the termination of the communication lead center at Marshall and the cutback of the High-Energy Astronomy Observatory. Although this is a major reduction in terms of numbers of people, we are confident that the Center will retain its overall technical competence and versatility. LYNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER For fiscal year 1974, the research and program management budget request for the Johnson Space Center (figure 214), is $109.2 million. Established in 1961 as the Manned Spacecraft Center, the primary mission of the Center located in Houston, Tex., is the design and development of manned spacecraft, the selection and training of astronaut crews and the conduct of space flight missions. The center mission further embraces an engineering, development, science, and operations capability to support and to generate the knowledge required to advance the technology of manned space flight and related disciplines. In addition to being the lead center in the management and integration of the Space Shuttle system, the Center has been assigned the management and technical direction of the Orbiter Project. This involves utilization of the Center's laboratory and technical capability. For example, an Orbiter Project activity is underway at the Center to develop and evaluate Shuttle avionics subsystem concepts to provide primary technical guidance in flight hardware development. Specifically, "breadboards" of each avionics subsystems have been produced and evaluated. These "breadboards" are now being installed into an integrated system that will provide a test capability for testing integrated avionics investigations. This, in turn, will produce specific inputs to both system and subsystem design by the prime contractor. In addition, this system's effort will provide the initial phase for development of the "in line" Shuttle avionics systems integrated testing. Each activity and product is required for adequate conduct of the Shuttle development and test program. Johnson Space Center is responsible for all crew and manned space flight operations, which include activities associated with astronaut training and proficiency, preflight, and postflight support. The Skylab astronauts are in training now and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project crews have been selected. Astronaut training equipment includes proficiency aircraft, spacecraft mockups, procedures simulators, and mission simulators. The current priority in the crew and flight operations area is the simulation of the Skylab mission. Skylab flight controller and crew training simulations and pad test support began during Apollo 17 and have now reached a plateau which will continue through the Skylab mission. |