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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shuttle-Centaur | 7/9 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle-Centaur | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:20:55.194283+00:00 | kb-cron |
The future of the Lewis Research Center was uncertain in the 1970s and early 1980s. The cancellation of the NERVA nuclear rocket engine had caused a round of layoffs in the 1970s, and many of the more experienced engineers had elected to retire. Between 1971 and 1981, staff numbers fell from 4,200 to 2,690. In 1982, the staff became aware that the Reagan administration was considering closing the center, and they mounted a vigorous campaign to save it. The staff formed a committee to save the center, and began lobbying Congress. The committee enlisted Ohio Senator John Glenn and representatives Mary Rose Oakar, Howard Metzenbaum, Donald J. Pease, and Louis Stokes in their efforts to persuade Congress to keep the center open. McCarthy retired in July 1982, and Andrew Stofan became the director of the Lewis Research Center. He was an associate administrator at NASA Headquarters, whose involvement with Centaur dated back to 1962 and who had headed the Atlas-Centaur and Titan-Centaur Offices in the 1970s. Under Stofan, the Lewis Research Center budget went from $133 million in 1979 (equivalent to $462 million 2024) to $188 million in 1985 (equivalent to $464 million in 2024). This permitted an increase in staff for the first time in 20 years, 190 new engineers being hired. In the process, the Lewis Research Center drifted away from fundamental research and became involved in the management of major projects like Shuttle-Centaur. William H. Robbins was appointed the head of the Shuttle-Center Project Office at the Lewis Research Center in July 1983. Most of his experience was with NERVA, and this was his first experience with Centaur, but he was an experienced project manager. He handled the project's administration and financial arrangements. Vernon Weyers was his deputy. USAF Major William Files also became a deputy project manager. He brought with him six USAF officers who assumed key roles in the Project Office. Marty Winkler headed the Shuttle-Centaur program at General Dynamics. Steven V. Szabo, who had worked on Centaur since 1963, was head of the Lewis Research Center's Space Transportation Engineering Division, responsible for the technical side of the activities related to the integration of the Space Shuttle and Centaur, which included the propulsion, pressurization, structural, electrical, guidance, control and telemetry systems. Edwin Muckley was in charge of the Mission Integration Office, which was responsible for the payloads. Frank Spurlock managed trajectory mission design, and Joe Nieberding took charge of the Shuttle-Centaur group within the Space Transportation Engineering Division. Spurlock and Nieberding hired many young engineers, giving the Shuttle-Centaur project a mixture of youth and experience.
The Shuttle-Centaur Project had to be ready to launch in May 1986, which was just three years away. The cost of a delay was estimated at $50 million (equivalent to $121 million in 2024). Failure to meet the deadline meant waiting another year until the planets were properly aligned again. The project adopted a mission logo depicting a mythical centaur emerging from the Space Shuttle and firing an arrow at the stars. Larry Ross, the Director of Space Flight Systems at the Lewis Research Center, had the logo emblazoned on project stationery and memorabilia like drink coasters and campaign buttons. A special Shuttle-Centaur project calendar was produced, with 28 months on it, covering January 1984 to April 1986. The cover sported the logo, with the project motto, co-opted from the movie Rocky III: "Go for it!" When it came to integrating Centaur with the Space Shuttle, there were two possible approaches: as an element or a payload. Elements were components of the Space Shuttle like the external tank and the solid rocket boosters; whereas a payload was something being carried into space like a satellite. The 1981 Memorandum of Agreement between the Johnson Space Center and the Lewis Research Center defined the Centaur as an element. The engineers at the Lewis Research Center initially preferred to have it declared a payload, because time was short and this minimized the amount of interference in their work by the Johnson Space Center. Centaur was declared to be a payload in 1983, but the drawbacks soon became evident. Payload status was originally conceived as being for inert pieces of cargo. Complying with the requirements of this status resulted in a series of safety waivers. The difficulty of compliance was compounded by the Johnson Space Center, which added more for Centaur. Both centers wanted to make the Centaur as safe as possible, but differed over what trade-offs were acceptable.
== Preparations ==