NASA is studying the possibility of accelerating the development of the Orbital Space Plane (OSP), NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe told a House panel Feb. 27.

Agency experts are examining the "permutations" required to speed up the space plane, and their recommendations should be available "in relatively short order," O'Keefe testified before the House Science Committee during a hearing on NASA's fiscal 2004 budget request.

Current plans call for the OSP to provide emergency escape for the International Space Station by 2010 and to ferry crew to and from the station by 2012. The OSP would replace the aging space shuttle as the main crew transporter for the station, allowing the shuttle to focus on shipping heavy cargo to the station.

But the Feb. 1 loss of the Columbia orbiter, which prompted NASA to ground the three remaining orbiters, has prompted the agency and some lawmakers to look at the possibility of an earlier fielding for the space plane. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Science space subcommittee has said that he will push for an acceleration (DAILY, Feb. 7).