Senator Brownback on the Space Shuttle Columbia

Turning now to the questions of what happened to the Shuttle Columbia and what impact this will have on the U.S. space program. Questions being asked around the world and in Congress. Senator Sam Brownback from Kansas is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space, and has just met with NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe. He joins us from Capitol Hill. Senator, good evening to you.

SEN. SAM BROWNBACK (R), KANSAS: Good evening.

HOLT: Can you tell us you bit about that meeting, what you have learned so far about this investigation?

BROWNBACK: Well it was a very serious and somber meeting, as you might guess, because of the situation that we're in. It's a very difficult and very humbling time. There isn't a whole lot more that's out there that he knows about that isn't out in the public.

People were asking questions about, could we have caught this earlier? Were there options to pull out? And all those really don't have many answers just yet.

HOLT: Senator, it was only hours after this disaster became apparent we began to hear the reports that those who claim that there have been spending cuts within NASA, that there's been short changing safety, you've clearly heard those things before in your subcommittee. Do you think it may have played any role into this tragedy?

BROWNBACK: I don't think it did in this one. NASA, at the top of NASA, a number of former astronauts. And their first mission is safety. That's job one.

And we heard that again today from the director of NASA. There has been concerns about in the future if we don't adequately invest in the shuttle program, that we're getting on the edge and you could have problems. But they were saying on this mission, there was not concern about safety. And safety continues and always will be job one for NASA.

HOLT: There was a very, very long period of review and reflection after the Challenger incident. Do you think that all these questions that have come up over the last several days will lead to a very long delay before the next shuttle launch?

BROWNBACK: That's a good question. You know I don't know that we have all that much luxury. We have two astronauts. And there's a cosmonaut as well up at the international space station now. Somehow those people will need to come back some time this year, maybe the middle part of this year.

Now there are other vehicles, other ways to do it other than the space shuttle. I think what this will entail, though, is there's going to be a period of time we're going to ask questions about why did this happen, how did this happen, how do we prevent it in the future. There's also going to be a series of questions about where do we go from here in our space program.

We all support manned space travel. We support the space program. But what's the best direction for us to go? And I think you may see some serious long-term questions asked at this juncture right now.

HOLT: Well, that makes me wonder, might this be an incentive for NASA and the U.S. to being exploring newer technologies to continue with manned space travel?

BROWNBACK: Absolutely. I mean I think you really hit the nail on the head there. Is the space shuttle, the vehicle that takes us on down the road, 10 to 20 years, or is it time that we really invest in the newer technology and try move forward differently? Even if we take the newer technology, remember that's going to take you five to seven years at best to develop, put together and be able to put into use.

HOLT: But could the space program take a step backwards while all that is explored, the fact that shuttles aren't launching? You mentioned the three astronauts on board the space station. Could all that suddenly stop?

BROWNBACK: Well it could, but you have to get those three people down at some point in time. Now there is the Russian vehicles that can be used for that purpose. But I don't know that you would look at a stop overall. But I do think you're probably looking at an acceleration of a period where we develop the next generation of vehicles that we use for manned space travel.

HOLT: Senator Brownback, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

BROWNBACK: Thank you.