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A two-day hearing in the House left no doubt that committee members are eager to re-authorize NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) despite a new round of cost overruns and delays. NASA has escaped serious criticism, perhaps out of deference to its new director, who has only been working for three months (and is a former member of the committee). The most outspoken critics have been addressed to the telescope's main contractor, Northrop Grumman (NG), and its president and CEO has agreed to set aside the profits that the company was to make on the project up to ### 39 that JWST is in operation. The hugely popular Hubble Space Telescope and the allure of more exciting astronomical discoveries seem to immunize it against cancellation. This and the more than 7 billion dollars already spent on the construction of the spacecraft and its suite of instruments. As NASA's director Jim Bridenstine explains, "we are on the 5-yard line and are trying to hit the end zone."
The program has a troubled history dating back to 1996. At the opening of The Hearings on July 25 and 26, Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chair of the Committee on Science, Space and Climate Technology (SS & T), have shown that JWST is now 19 times higher than its original cost with a 14-year launch delay.
JWST was the subject of an independent review and a rebaselining in 2010-2011. At the time, NASA announced that the development would cost $ 8 billion with a launch in October 2018. Congress set the cost ceiling at $ 8 billion.
The satellite and the suite of instruments are now complete, but NG has encountered problems. during the phase of integration and testing (I & T) that began last year. In March 2018, NASA created another Independent Review Panel (IRB), chaired by Tom Young, a veteran of NASA and industry, who often chairs the reviews of government space programs that are familiar difficulties. In its May 2018 report, released last month, the IRB explained what is wrong with this and what needs to be done to make the telescope work properly once it is launched. Young people repeatedly point out that at this stage of the program, all that matters is the success of the mission.
It will take more time and money. As a result of the IRB's review, NASA has re-evaluated the development costs. It rose 10 percent to $ 8.803 billion, in violation of the cost ceiling. (The life cycle cost, including commissioning and operations for 5 years, is now $ 9.663 billion instead of $ 8.835 billion.) Free launch for NASA by the European Space Agency, partner of the program.)
must reauthorize the project and take over the extra money if JWST is to proceed.
The hearings of the SS & T Chamber are the beginning of this process. NASA's new director, Jim Bridenstine, testified on July 25. Young returned on July 26 to testify alongside Wesley Bush, CEO of NG. Bush announced that he would resign from his position as CEO on January 1, 2019 and president on July 1, 2019.
The three witnesses insisted that the money would be well spent and JWST "worth worth the wait ". that the members of the committee accepted. The key questions were who should be held accountable and what would be the impact on other NASA science projects.
Smith claimed that no one is held responsible when government contractors make mistakes, but "in any case, bill." Rep Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) admonished Bush: "The Jim Webb telescope is going Is it worth all this money? This is not what the question is. The question is, is it worth all those other projects that we have been unable to fund … because you have failed your job "
Bridenstine admitted that overruns may force NASA to" cannibalize "other projects and affect the balanced portfolio of medium and large astrophysics projects that NASA is pursuing. In fact, he proposed to delay the next of the series, the Wide Field Infrared Exploration Telescope (WFIRST), until "we were moving forward with JWST. development now, I'm not saying that we should close WFIRST, "but the key is to follow the recommendations of the decennial surveys, which badumed that JWST would work before WFIRST.
The science of NASA's programs are guided by ten-year surveys published by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine every 10 years (a decade). JWST was the first priority for a flagship space telescope in the 2001 Decadal Survey. WFIRST the absolute priority of space in the decennial survey of 2011. This report came out just when the cost of JWST skyrocketed because of past overruns. The money that would have been spent on WFIRST has been reallocated to JWST. WFIRST has finally started slowly, but the Trump Administration has proposed to cancel it in the fiscal year 2019 request.
The House and Senate rejected this proposal, but both have recommended very different funding levels for WFIRST. No room has yet pbaded the credit bill and the need for more money JWST could have an impact on the outcome, although Bridenstine said that no additional funding will be forthcoming. is needed for the 2019 fiscal year. Funds to cover the $ 800 million overrun will begin with the budget request for the 2020 fiscal year.
Smith asked Bush if NG should pay for the overrun .
The IRB identified "human errors" in the company as the main reason for the overrun. . Two examples often cited relate to the thrusters of the spacecraft and its sun visor. The technicians used the wrong solvent to clean the valves on the thrusters, ruining them. They had to be returned to the manufacturer and refurbished, a process that took 9 months. The sun visor will protect the telescope's instruments from the Sun's radiation, which would interfere with the observations of the universe in the infrared bands. It is the size of a tennis court and must be folded to be integrated into the rocket fairing before being deployed once it is in space. . During the shock and acoustic tests simulating the launch environment, more than 70 fasteners fell.
Bush said that the company would not pay the extra costs because it has a contract with NASA and not a fixed price contract. Under fixed-price contracts, contractors badume the risk that the final cost may exceed the agreed price and absorb any overruns. In cost contracts, the customer badumes the risk. It pays whatever the final cost, no matter what turns out to be. The NG-NASA contract is a cost price contract plus a price when the contractor also receives fees (profit) at various intervals. The amount of the premium is determined by the customer, in this case NASA, based on the performance of the contractor.
Bridenstine says that because of all of JWST's problems, the fees for NG are not as good as they would otherwise have been and currently the company does not have them. According to him, $ 60 million could be paid during the commissioning process after the launch of the telescope, but we have already withdrawn $ 28 million from this amount and the contract allows the government to recover the fees already paid.
Young proposed at the hearing of the first day that "all existing fees that currently exist" be grouped together "in a single installment" and "criteria to obtain [would be] the quantity and quality of data returned by JWST after orbit. I would change every dollar to be awarded. "
The next day, Bush agreed." We are ready to jeopardize all the fees we have already earned and the fees we could earn in the future based on the activation and the successful demonstration of the telescope in orbit. "
2021 followed by several months of deployment and commissioning, this means that the money will remain in abeyance for at least four years.
And that badumes that the launch will take place, in fact, in March 2021. When the IRB report In June, Young called this launch date a probability of success of 80%, and only if NASA and NG fully applied the 32 IRB Recommendations.
Even then, the risks will remain.A young message to audiences was that space is "a hit and you're in business."
Unlike Hubble, who is in Earth orbit and could be served by astronauts on the spa shuttle tial, JWST will be at Sun. -Leg place Lagrange point a million miles from the Earth. Once it is launched, there is no way to fix it.
"The complexity and risk of JWST can not be overstated," Young said in his written statement. "The launch date recommended by the IRB in March 2021 badumes the successful implementation of the recommendations in our report.No tolerances have been provided for:
- Additional I & T errors or problems [sic] encrusted with impacts over several months
- Additional sunshade deployments during I & T beyond the two currently planned schedules Despite these warnings, Young added that the IRB was "unanimous Recommending that JWST proceed because of its "extraordinary scientific potential and crucial role in maintaining US leadership in astronomy and astrophysics."
On this point, there was no disagreement. [19659029] Last updated: Jul 27, 2018 6:26 pm ET
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