COMMENTS FOR J.R.
THOMPSON
VISIT TO MICHOUD ASSEMBLY FACILITY
MARCH 13, 1987
I want to thank the management of Martin Marietta and MAF for inviting me to visit and talk with you today. Being as far from MSFC as you are here, you might feel we at headquarters are not always accessible or available
--
that we're out of touch with
you and your problems and your successes. I'm here today to tell you it just isn't so!
I'm also here to tell you just how valuable you all are to
our space program and how much we recognize and appreciate the
sacrifices you're making
to keep our national space program
intact.
We ARE going to return to space -- you can bank on that! Shortly after the end of the Apollo program, Dr. von Braun
was asked whether America's space program was over. Dr. von Braun
was horrified at the thought. He compared the space program to
working hard to plant an orchard. After having brought in the
first abundant harvest, he said, only a madman would say, "Well,
we've done it. Now let's cut down the trees for firewood!"
The Challenger accident revealed some weakneses - - but it also revealed many strengths -- one of which is the Michoud Assembly Facility and the team here. As I said, we ARE going to return to space -- and you're going to take us there. You're going to share the glory of that return. I know times are difficult --
the last unemployment
figures I saw for Louisianna put New Orleans up at about 14 per cent. That's almost double the national average. ( MORE )
Many of your friends and co-workers were hit hard by the layoffs last April and October. The cutbacks in the wake of the Challenger disaster hit almost 1,000 members of our MAF team. Up to last Tuesday, when NASA accepted E.T. 44, you all had
manufactured 43 external tanks. (CLARIFICATION: Work on ET7 was
suspended when switch was made to light-weight tank design. ET7
was
never
completed.)
Following
the
loss
of
Challenger,
production of external tanks was reduced by two-thirds, from 12 a
year
to
four.
Once
we
return
to
space
flight next
year,
production is probably going to remain at four per year until we
use up some of the external tank inventory.
Still, if our return to flight stays on schedule, we should
see some increases in the workforce here by the end of 1988. I
know that seems a long way off, but that day will come. Budget
projections
show Martin Marietta
is
slated
to
receive $267
million this fiscal year, $314 million next fiscal year, and to
be back to more than $400 million by 1991.
It seems so unfair that you folks on the external tank team were hit hardest by the 51-L disaster. The Rogers Commission found no fault with any portion of the E.T. program -- in fact, your work was praised as being of the highest quality. We at Marshall are very proud of that -- as you should be as well. Unfortunately, faults were found with a number of other areas
of the shuttle design. The past year has been the worst in the
history of MSFC as we've scrambled to get back on track and back
into space.
( MORE )
RETURN TO SPACE
SSME redesign
SRB redesign
STS design changes (landing gear, etc.)
Management changes
I want to assure you, the shuttle we're going to fly next year will be as safe as we can make it. No one can guarantee 100 per
cent reliability
--
even a surgeon performing
a simple
tonsilectomy won't give a 100 per cent guarantee of success
--
but it will be as good as we can build it -- perhaps I should say it will be as good as YOU can build it. And that's as good as it gets, isn't it? You've established a well deserved reputation for excellence,
a reputation that should pay some handsome dividends for all of
you in the future.
As some of you are aware, we're already looking at follow-ons to the space shuttle. At least two of these designs employ the external tank you're building here. It seems to be the wisest course for NASA, that it should augment its shuttle fleet with expendable heavy lift launch vehicles.
A
number of missions
planned for the shuttle could be accomplished just as easily with an expendable shuttle-derived vehicle -- and at no risk to the lives of a crew of astronauts. ( MORE )
5
The first of these shuttle derived vehicles would replace the
orbiter with
a
large cylinder, about the same size as the
external tank, which would be used as a kind of space boxcar to
carry payloads of up to 150,000 pounds into LEO.
The second design I've seen would use a shortened external
tank fitted with SSMEs at one end and a payload container at the
other. Bulky, lighter payloads of about 50,000 pounds would be
carried aloft using this design.
Both designs would use strap-on solid rocket motors.
The coming decade promises to be busy and exciting for all of
us. Martin Marietta and Boeing are competing, of course, to
produce the proposed Space Station. If it is approved, somewhere
in the neighborhood of seven to 12 shuttle flights will be
required to carry all of the components aloft.
Even more importantly for MAF, both firms have asked to use
the facilities here to construct the modules.
I know you'll
understand when I say a lot needs to be worked out before any
plans announced formally, but, if Congress approves construction
of the space station, much of the Earthside fabrication should be
done here.
( MORE )
A
number of other major current programs also will demand use
of a shuttle or a shuttle derived vehicle. These include: Orbiting
the
first of
the
great
observatories, the
Hubble Space Telescope, thereby making America the world's center
for astronomy.
Spacelab missions.
Developing the OMV.
Work to develop and improve upper stages.
Tethered satellite experiments.
The more distant future also looks promising for you here at
MAF as we work to:
Develop a better balanced manned/unmanned heavy lift launch capability. Develop Orbital Transfer Vehicles. Conduct the Gravity Probe B experiments to prove a major premise of Einstein's theory of relativity. Build geostationary facilities. Build the Solar Terrestrial Facility. Far down the road, of course, we're going to use the space station as a logical stepping stone for our return to the Moon, visit Mars, and head out into the cosmos. Earth is only the cradle of mankind
--
now he has begun to walk -- and his path
leads throughout the Universe. (MORE )
You
are key players on the team which
is building
the
vehicles we will use to pursue our destiny in space. There's a glorious future ahead if only we'll keep the faith during these trying times. Those who keep the faith -- those who persevere -will deserve the undying thanks of generations yet unborn
--
and
my thanks today. Good bye you !
--
good luck
--
and hang tough, we need every one of