The United States needs to boost NASA's budget by $1.5-billion (U.S.) to fly the last seven shuttle missions and should extend International Space Station operations through 2020, members of a presidential panel reviewing the U.S. human space program said on Tuesday.
A subcommittee of the 10-member board also proposed adding an eighth shuttle flight to help keep the station supplied and narrow an expected five- to seven-year gap between the time the shuttle fleet is retired and a new U.S. spaceship is ready to fly.
A third option would keep the shuttle flying through 2014 as part of a plan to develop a new launch system based on existing shuttle rockets and components.
At the very least, NASA's budget - $18-billion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2009 - should reflect the reality that it is highly unlikely to complete seven remaining shuttle missions by Sept. 30, 2010, as planned, board members said.
"We have come to believe very firmly that it's important to have a realistic view of what the existing program, as it will realistically unfold, most likely will cost and not put any smoke and mirrors to the budget to make it look like it will fit under the budget profile," Sally Ride, a committee member and former astronaut, told her colleagues during a public meeting in Houston televised by NASA.
With NASA averaging about 115 days between shuttle missions over the past five years, the more likely time frame for completion of the space station and the retirement of the fleet is March, 2011, panel members said.
"But, of course, there is no funding for that possibility," Ms. Ride said. "That's setting you up right away for a budget problem."
NASA has estimated it would need $1.5-billion to accommodate the delay. Adding an eighth flight would require an additional $2.7-billion over that.
The panel, headed by former Lockheed Martin Corp. chief executive Norm Augustine, was convened by President Barack Obama to come up with options for the U.S. human space program. It is expected to issue a report in August.
The United States' partners in the $100-billion program - Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada - unanimously support maintaining the station beyond 2015, said panel member Lester Lyles, a former Air Force vice-chief of staff.
"The politicians are looking for a return on investment," he said.