National Environmental Policy Act; X-33 Program: Vehicle Design and Flight Demonstration

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[Notice 97-142]

National Environmental Policy Act; X-33 Program: Vehicle Design

and Flight Demonstration

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of the final environmental impact

statement (FEIS) for the X-33 Advanced Technology Demonstrator Vehicle

program.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

(NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Council on

Environmental Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural

Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), and NASA policy and

procedures (14 CFR Part 1216 Subpart 1216.3), NASA has prepared and

issued an FEIS for continuation of Phase II of the X-33 Program, which

involves the development and demonstration of the X-33 test vehicle.

The FEIS addresses environmental issues associated with the testing of

the X-33 technology demonstrator spaceplane, and preparation of the

flight operations (launch) and landing sites. The purpose of the

proposed test program is to demonstrate the feasibility of technology

which could result in commercially viable Reusable Launch Vehicles

(RLVs).

The reasonable alternative launch sites are located within Edwards

Air Force Base (AFB) near Lancaster, California. Reasonable alternative

landing sites evaluated for segments of the flight test activities are

located at Silurian Lake, near Baker, California; China Lake Naval Air

Weapon Station, near Ridgecrest, California; Dugway Proving Ground,

near Tooele, Utah; Grant County Airport, Moses Lake, Washington; and

Malmstrom AFB, Great Falls, Montana. NASA's preferred launch site is

the Haystack Butte site at Edwards AFB. The preferred landing sites are

at Silurian Lake, Dugway Proving Ground, and Malmstrom AFB.

NASA is the lead agency in the preparation of the environmental

impact statement. The U.S. Department of Defense; the U.S. Department

of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management; and the U.S. Department of

Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration are acting as

cooperating agencies.

DATE: NASA will take no final action on the proposed Phase II of the X-

33 Program before November 3, 1997 or 30 days from the date of

publication in the Federal Register of the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency's notice of availability of the X-33 FEIS, whichever

is later.

ADDRESSES: The FEIS may be reviewed at the following locations:

(a) NASA Headquarters, Library, Room 1J20, 300 E Street SW,

Washington, DC 20546.

(b) NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, Library, Building 4200,

Huntsville, AL 35812.

[[Page 51698]]

(c) NASA, Dryden Flight Research Center, Library, Building 4800,

Room 2149, Edwards AFB, CA 93523.

(d) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Visitors Lobby, Building 249, 4800

Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (818-354-5179).

(e) NASA, Spaceport USA, Room 2001, John F. Kennedy Space Center,

FL 32899. Please call Lisa Fowler beforehand at 407-867-2468 so that

arrangements can be made.

(f) Kern County Library, Boron Branch, 27070 Highway 5, Boron, CA

93516.

(g) Kern County Library, Ridgecrest Branch, 131 East Las Flores

Street, Ridgecrest, CA 93555.

(h) Los Angeles County Library, Lancaster Branch, 1150 West Avenue

J, Lancaster, CA 93524.

(i) Palmdale City Library, 700 East Palmdale Boulevard, Palmdale,

CA 93550.

(j) San Bernadino County Library, Barstow Branch, 304 East Buena

Vista, Barstow, CA 92311.

(k) Great Falls Public Library, 301 2nd Avenue North, Great Falls,

MT 59401.

(l) Moses Lake Library, 418 East 5th Street, Moses Lake, WA 98837.

(m) Dugway Proving Ground Library, 5124 Kisstler Avenue, Dugway, UT

84022.

(n) Tooele Library, 47 East Vine Street, Tooele, UT 84074.

(o) Salt Lake City Library, 209 East 500 South, Business/Science

Department, Salt Lake City, UT 84111.

In addition, the FEIS may be examined at the following NASA

locations by contacting the pertinent Freedom of Information Act

Office:

(p) NASA, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (650-604-

4190).

(q) NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (301-

286-0730).

(r) NASA, Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058 (281-483-8612).

(s) NASA, Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23665 (757-864-

2497).

(t) NASA, Lewis Research Center, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland,

OH 44135 (216-433-2222).

(u) NASA, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529 (601-688-2164).

Limited copies of the FEIS are available, on a first request basis,

by contacting Dr. Rebecca McCaleb at the address, telephone number, or

electronic mail address provided below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dr. Rebecca C. McCaleb, NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, AE01/

Building 4201, Marshall Space Flight Center, AL 35812; telephone 205-

544-4367; electronic mail ([email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The X-33 test vehicle is planned as an

approximately one-half scale reusable spaceplane. The vehicle would

launch vertically and land horizontally. The X-33 vehicle would consist

of a lifting body airframe with two cryogenic liquid propellant tanks

(liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX)) placed within the

aeroshell, and would use two linear aerospike main engines. Water would

be the primary product of the LOX/LH2 combustion. The entire spaceplane

(with all fuel tanks and engines) would launch and land as a single

unit.

During the landing sequence, the spaceplane would be unpowered.

Flight tests would involve speeds of up to Mach 15 and altitudes up to

approximately 75,800 meters (250,000 feet). None of the X-33 test

flights would achieve Earth orbit. Ground operations and servicing

(e.g., checkout, refueling, etc.) would be conducted with ``aircraft

like'' procedures and systems. After each test flight, the X-33 would

be ferried back to the flight operations site by a Boeing 747 aircraft

in a manner similar to that used for the transport of Space Shuttle

orbiters. The test program is currently baselined for a combined total

of 15 flights.

Reasonable alternatives considered for this proposed action

include:

Flight operations (launch) sites:

(a) Edwards Air Force Base, California, Space Port 2000 site, and

(b) Edwards Air Force Base, California, Haystack Butte site;

Short-range landing sites:

(a) Armitage Airfield, China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station,

California, and

(b) Silurian Lake, a dry lake bed, north of Baker, California;

Mid-range landing sites:

(a) Michael Army Air Field, Dugway Proving Ground, Utah;

Long-range landing sites (may serve as an alternative mid-

range landing site):

(a) Malmstrom Air Force Base, Great Falls Montana, and,

(b) Grant County Airport, Moses Lake, Washington; and,--``No

action.'' The ``no action'' alternative (i.e., absence of the X-33

Program) would mean that the RLV Program, as planned could not proceed.

NASA's preferred launch site is the Haystack Butte site at Edwards

AFB. The preferred landing sites are at Silurian Lake (short-range),

Dugway Proving Ground (mid-range), and Malmstrom AFB (long-range).

Based on the preferred set of landing sites, NASA analyzed three

potentially reasonable flight test options:

(a) A baseline plan involving all three landing sites,

(b) A plan involving only Silurian Lake and Malmstrom AFB, and

(c) An option only involving Dugway Proving Ground and Malmstron

AFB.

Comments on the draft environmental impact statement were solicited

from Federal, State and local agencies, organizations, and the general

public through: (a) notices published in the Federal Register--NASA

notice on July 3, 1997 (62 FR 36081), and U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency notice on July 3, 1997 (62 FR 36062; (b) notices in newspapers

of general circulation in areas potentially subject to environmental

impacts and (c) a series of public participation meetings. Comments

received have been addressed in the FEIS.

Benita A. Cooper,

Associate Administrator for Management Systems and Facilities.

[FR Doc. 97-26130 Filed 10-1-97; 8:45 am]

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