Shuttle disaster may put space program at risk.(The Orlando Sentinel)

Byline: Gwyneth K. Shaw and Sean Mussenden

WASHINGTON _ The destruction of the space shuttle Columbia and the death of its seven astronauts may put the very core of the U.S. space program at risk.

The shuttle program, more than two decades old, was already facing a slew of expensive safety upgrades and the tragedy may make it harder for NASA to squeeze more money out of Congress.

The international space station, clawing its way back from a financially troubled past, depends solely on the shuttle for an ambitious construction schedule that was supposed to end next spring.

Also in jeopardy is the recently renewed teachers in space program, which called for sending Barbara Morgan into space this fall. Morgan was Christa McAuliffe's backup for the ill-fated Challenger flight in 1986.

John Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, said the accident will inevitably bring the viability of the program to the forefront.

"It seems to me that there has to be a national discussion, a national debate about why we're putting people in space and is it worth the risks and the costs," Logsdon said.