Although most of the debris from the recent Columbia space shuttle disaster has been found far from the University, effects of the accident are much closer. Within the University, the accident may affect research funding and opportunities for the astronomy department and the Engineering School.
Astronomy department research likely will be affected by the Columbia accident because professors and students can get grants for their research projects through programs affiliated with NASA.
At the time of the accident, there were no University research projects being conducted on the shuttle. A great deal of University astronomy research, however, has been conducted through use of the Hubble Space Telescope, which the space accident may hinder. Approximately 65 percent of astronomy department faculty do research using the Hubble Telescope, Astronomy Department Chair Robert Rood said.
Columbia was instrumental in servicing and changing the instruments on the telescope. Columbia was the only shuttle equipped to service the telescope, Rood said.
Rood added that he thought another shuttle eventually would be configured so it could be used to service the telescope. But he said he was concerned about the delays the space accident would cause.
When the Challenger accident occurred in 1986, I "was upset at how long [it] delayed a lot of stuff NASA was doing," Rood said.
This was a special concern in the case of Columbia, as a Hubble Telescope maintenance mission was scheduled to start in 2005, Astronomy Prof. Robert O'Connell said.
Officials also are concerned about effects the accident may have on NASA's budget, especially for research funding.
"Any stress on the NASA budget does affect [the astronomy] department and the University in general," O'Connell said.
Faculty members and graduate students interested in doing research with the telescope can submit proposals to use it for their research. If their proposal is accepted, they usually are awarded 40-50 hours of time in which they can control the telescope.
Once a researcher is awarded time to use the telescope, "NASA has 'a fairly generous policy' of supporting them by providing them with the money to analyze their data," O'Connell said.
NASA affiliated research, particularly with the Hubble Telescope represents an "important educational aspect" of how students are trained to be astronomers, O'Connell added.
The Engineering School also does a great deal of research through the National Institute of Aerospace, which was formed as a joint venture between NASA's Langley Research Center and the National Institute of Aerospace Associates. The University is one of the six universities that are part of the NIAA.
Bob Lindberg, National Institute of Aerospace vice president for research and program development, said he does not believe the Columbia disaster will effect greatly research opportunities or funding.
"I don't anticipate the Columbia's failure will have a direct impact on the research that [the University and NIA] are conducting," Lindberg said.
In terms of research opportunities, Lindberg said he thought the situation could have both negative and positive effects. He speculated that the accident might cause officials to redirect research emphasis to matters like flight safety and orbital debris.
But for the most part, research is "going to continue on pretty much as before," he said.
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