After investing $273 million, NASA is canceling a cutting-edge launch-control computer system for the space shuttle that is over budget, behind schedule and too expensive to operate.

The move will affect about 570 civil servants and contract employees and almost certainly will result in some layoffs. NASA is expected to announce details today.

It had been predicted that the still-unfinished computer upgrade -- dubbed CLCS for Checkout and Launch Control System -- would be 50 percent cheaper than the 25-year-old system currently used at Kennedy Space Center. Last month, however, an assessment team from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's headquarters in Washington concluded that the project could be $15 million more expensive each year.

The CLCS program originally was scheduled to cost $206 million and be completed in time to support its first shuttle mission in December 2000. The new assessment put the price of finishing the system at up to $533 million and the completion date around 2005.

The spiraling costs and uncertain time frame led NASA on Monday to finally pull the plug.

"The assessment team recommended cancellation of the project," according to an internal NASA document obtained by the Orlando Sentinel. "NASA management evaluated the team's conclusions and agreed with the recommendation."

Announcement due today

About 110 NASA civil servants and 460 contract employees from United Space Alliance and Lockheed Martin work on the launch program. NASA workers are expected to be transferred to other shuttle operations at KSC.

Some contract employees may be reassigned as well, but layoffs are considered inevitable. A senior official at United Space Alliance said NASA planned to notify workers of the program's cancellation at a meeting today.

Monday's decision reaffirmed the willingness of the Bush administration and NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe to ax projects chronically over budget and behind schedule despite investments of millions of dollars.

A projected increase of more than $4 billion in NASA's international space station costs led to the elimination of two modules and a crew-return vehicle in February 2001. A day after the station cuts were announced, the space agency scrapped the X-33 program -- an effort to build a prototype of a next-generation reusable launch vehicle -- after spending almost $1 billion on the effort during a five-year period.

Old system holds up

The latest casualty, CLCS, was designed to test, launch, control and process the shuttle at KSC using off-the-shelf computer hardware.

A few parts of the system, including a control room used to process the shuttle's small maneuvering thrusters, already had opened. Ultimately, however, the monumental task of developing more than 3 million lines of computer software and adapting hardware pushed the project years behind schedule and threatened to erode any potential savings.

The CLCS program began in 1997 as an effort to upgrade KSC's 1970s-vintage system. Many components of the present system no longer are manufactured and its software is archaic. Nevertheless, the NASA assessment expressed confidence that the old system will be more than adequate to do the job for the estimated 20 years or so the shuttle could continue flying.

"The current Launch Processing System [LPS] has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to safely and reliably support shuttle processing," the NASA document said. "The LPS receives annual reliability and maintenance checks. Also, the LPS will continue to be modernized to improve safety."

Much of the CLCS work had focused on transforming Firing Room 4 at KSC's Launch Control Center into a state-of-the-art facility. New teal-green terminals housing the latest computers line the room's carpeted floor. NASA and CLCS logos are etched into the glass on one of the room's twin doors. The other says "The Greatest Launch Team in the World enters through these doors."

In sharp contrast, one of KSC's two older launch-control rooms sits a few yards away with its 1960s tiled floors, ancient computer consoles and a maze of pipes running along the ceiling. It's unclear how much, if any, of the new CLCS hardware, equipment and facilities can be incorporated into the old system.

Costly disappointment

Cancellation of the project is estimated to cost about $10 million. Any remaining CLCS money will used to upgrade the old system. All work on CLCS is expected to be wrapped up within 60 days.

Monday's decision was a setback for longtime KSC Director Roy Bridges.

Bridges had been a vocal champion of CLCS and helped lead the program. As recently as last week, he extolled its virtues during a meeting with reporters.

"I've been a very big advocate for CLCS since I've been here," Bridges said. "I've done everything I know in order to make the program viable and healthy."

Orlando Sentinel

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2002