News NASA's Future: The News and Updates Thread

[Orbinaut Pete]

Aviation Week:
• Houston Space Economy Faces Slow Rebound.
• NASA Partners Await Policy Shakeout.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Some articles of interest from the past week:

NASASpaceFlight: "Replica engines recommended for retired orbiters – Flown SSMEs for HLV".

Aviation Week: "Constellation Is Dead, But Pieces Live On".

Space News: "NASA Deputy Recounts Fight for Commercial Crew Backing".

Parabolic Arc: "Branson: Virgin Galactic to Enter NASA's Commercial Crew Competition".

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

CCDev2 is underway. Go Dream Chaser! :thumbup:

NASA Seeks More Proposals On Commercial Crew Development.

Space News: "NASA Solicits Bids for CCDev 2 Effort".

---------- Post added at 06:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:53 AM ----------

Spaceflight Now: "NASA launches next round of commercial crew program".


Aviation Week: "Virgin Galactic Eyes NASA Commercial Crew Program".

Discovery News: "Virgin Galactic Plans Space Hop, Skip and Jump".

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

SPACE.com: "Spaceships Galore! Commercial Space Race to Orbit Heating Up".

I really want to see Dream Chaser succeed - we need a new spaceplane!

 

[Iberville]

Dreamchaser, Dragon, Virgin, CST-100, anything is fine for me. As long as there is competition and that prices go down!

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Space News: "Election Brings New Leadership to NASA Oversight Committees".

Here we go again....

 

[markl316]

Maybe now that we have a new set of faces in the house of representatives, something will get approved to avoid the shutdown of the US manned space program for the foreseeable future. I too would hate to see the US manned space program outsourced to Russia or any other country.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

SPACE.com:
• Election Results Could Put NASA's Future Under Fire.
• POLL: How Will NASA's New Space Plan Fare Under the New Congress?

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Some CCDev updates:

Parabolic Arc:
• Pictures of Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser Shuttle Under Development.
• Pictures: Paragon's Life Support System in Development.

Aviation Week: "NASA Boosts Commercial Space".

---------- Post added at 09:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:08 PM ----------

NASA: "NASA Selects Companies For Heavy-Lift Launch Vehicle Studies".

NASA has selected 13 companies for negotiations leading to potential contract awards to conduct systems analysis and trade studies for evaluating heavy-lift launch vehicle system concepts, propulsion technologies, and affordability.

The selected companies are:

Aerojet General Corp., Rancho Cordova, Calif.
Analytical Mechanics Associates, Huntsville, Ala.
Andrews Space, Tukwila, Wash.
Alliant Techsystems, Huntsville, Ala.
The Boeing Co., Huntsville, Ala.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Huntsville, Ala.
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Huntsville, Ala.
Orbital Sciences Corp., Chandler, Ariz.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Canoga Park, Calif.
Science Applications International Corp., Huntsville, Ala.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Hawthorne, Calif.
United Launch Alliance, Centennial, Colo.
United Space Alliance, Huntsville, Ala.

The awards total approximately $7.5 million with a maximum individual contract award of $625,000. Each company will provide a final report to help lay the groundwork for the transportation system that could launch humans to multiple destinations, including asteroids, Lagrange points, the moon and Mars.

"These trade studies will provide a look at innovative launch vehicle concepts, propulsion technologies, and processes that should make human exploration missions more affordable," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator of NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington. "If we are to travel beyond low-Earth orbit, industry's collaboration is essential to reduce the cost associated with our future exploration goals and approaches and make the heavy-lift vehicle affordable to build and fly."

The studies will include heritage systems from shuttle and Ares, as well as alternative architectures and identify propulsion technology gaps including main propulsion elements, propellant tanks and rocket health management systems. The reports will include assessments of various heavy-lift launch vehicle and in-space vehicle that use different propulsion combinations. The companies will examine how these combinations can be employed to meet multiple mission objectives.

NASA will use the recommendations to evaluate heavy-lift launch vehicle concepts and propulsion technologies for affordability that will be required to enable robust and sustainable future exploration missions.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Space News: "NASA Awards Heavy-lift Rocket Studies".

---------- Post added 10th Nov 2010 at 07:55 PM ---------- Previous post was 9th Nov 2010 at 10:15 PM ----------

Space News: "SpaceX Raises Another $50 Million".

---------- Post added at 11:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:55 PM ----------

Spaceflight Now: "ATK sets rocket priorities under continuing resolution".

 

[orb]

Florida Today - The Flame Trench: Senate panel to hold hearing on NASA's new course.

Space Travel: Republicans could scale back US science budgets.

The American Spectator: Big Government's Final Frontier.

---------- Post added at 11:32 ---------- Previous post was at 04:29 ----------

Florida Today: Senate to review NASA funding.

---------- Post added at 19:21 ---------- Previous post was at 11:32 ----------

The Huntsville Times Deficit commission targets $6 billion commercial spaceflight plan.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Maybe now that we have a new set of faces in the house of representatives, something will get approved to avoid the shutdown of the US manned space program for the foreseeable future. I too would hate to see the US manned space program outsourced to Russia or any other country.

http://www.commercialspaceflight.org/?p=1381

Deficit Commission Errs, “Illustrative Cut” Would Outsource Human Spaceflight to Russia
By John Gedmark, November 10th 2010

Washington, D.C. – The Commercial Spaceflight Federation, representing 37 companies employing thousands of Americans nationwide, released a statement opposing in the strongest possible terms the “illustrative cut” to commercial spaceflight put forth today by the co-chairs of the Deficit Commission.

“This proposed cut would have disastrous consequences for NASA and the Nation. Commercial Crew now represents the primary means of transporting U.S. astronauts to orbit following retirement of the Space Shuttle. Commercial Crew will in fact result in substantial cost savings to the U.S. taxpayer. Eliminating Commercial Crew would result in total reliance on Russia to get to the Space Station and result in the loss of thousands of high-tech jobs here in the United States,” stated Bretton Alexander, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.

Alexander added, “The bottom line is that elimination of NASA’s Commercial Crew program will cede human spaceflight to Russia. Commercial Crew is the fastest way to reduce the gap following Shuttle retirement, minimizing the time we are dependent on buying seats from the Russians. Some commercial providers have publicly committed to significant cost savings on a per-seat basis as compared to the Russian alternative.

“Moreover, the Deficit Commission also appears to misunderstand the very nature of the Commercial Crew Program. Rather than being ‘a subsidy to the private sector,’ the Commercial Crew program is fulfilling an essential national need by developing the next U.S. spacecraft to take astronauts to the Space Station, while stimulating markets beyond government as well. It is, in fact, a win-win for the American taxpayer.

“Last year, an independent blue-ribbon commission headed by Norm Augustine recommended to President Obama that NASA partner with the private sector on the development of its next manned spacecraft. Since then, groups including 25 former NASA astronauts and 14 Nobel laureates have all endorsed the Commercial Crew Program. The deficit commission couldn’t have gotten this more wrong – this is a program NASA cannot afford to do without,” Alexander concluded.

And a defense:

http://www.americaspace.org/?p=5784

Commercial Spaceflight Subsidies To Be Cut
Jim Hillhouse, November 11th, 2010

Today, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation posted, Deficit Commission Errs, “Illustrative Cut” Would Outsource Human Spaceflight to Russia. The title, along with the premise, of this post is purely rhetorical. Because the Federation forgets that NASA is developing its own crewed transport system, the Bowles-Simpson proposed deficit reduction will not outsource human spaceflight to Russia, merely cut programs such as the authorized, but not yet appropriated, program within NASA to promote and pay for the development of commercial crewed spacecraft.

Today’s New York Times editorial, Some Fiscal Reality, supports the Bowles-Simpson deficit reduction plan while noting the tough fiscal circumstances facing our nation. As the Times notes, a time of belt-tightening and tax-increases is coming in an effort to keep our nation’s debt from rising to over 90% of our country’s GNP. Demanding that government financial support by the billions for commercial crewed spacecraft development continue when so many agencies, NASA in particular, are facing cuts and so many people are facing either real benefits cuts or less-than-trivial tax increases, is politically tone deaf. Such an argument will fall on very deaf ears in the halls of Congress and within the White House.

Human space access is a national priority. Subsidizing commercial crewed spacecraft development is not. We have our national human space flight capability through NASA. The development of NASA’s Orion and Heavy Lift Launcher will assure that the U.S. will not only maintain its leadership in human space flight access, but in human space exploration as well. If commercial space companies wish to join NASA in orbit, perhaps they should find private investors willing to fund their dreams, just as Burt Rutan did in developing SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo. SpaceShipOne made it into space; so can the other commercial space companies.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

A very interesting new blog post from Wayne Hale.

The coming train wreck for Commercial Human Spaceflight.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA: "NASA Financials Get Clean Bill Of Health".

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration received a much-improved financial statement audit opinion for the 2010 fiscal year.

"I am pleased to receive this qualified audit opinion that reflects the fact NASA is fairly stating our financial position to our stakeholders," NASA Chief Financial Officer Elizabeth Robinson said. "We are working hard to provide useful, accurate information about our financial results, and this audit opinion is an important achievement in that effort."

It marked the first time since the 2002 fiscal year that independent auditors issued a qualified opinion, with no material weaknesses, rather than a disclaimer of opinion on NASA's financial statements. The agency's independent auditors also reported that, in their opinion, NASA's fiscal 2010 financial statements fairly represent the financial position of the agency as of Sept. 30, 2010, and its budgetary resources for the year that ended. This significant achievement is clear evidence of NASA's progress in financial management during the past decade.

As a result of successful efforts to fully integrate the financial accounting system, the auditors concluded for the first time since the 2000 fiscal year that NASA is now substantially compliant with federal financial management systems requirements of the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act.

----------

SpaceRef: "NASA Administrator's Internal Memo: FY 2010 Performance and Accountability Report".

----------

OIG Report: NASA's Top Management and Performance Challenges (PDF, 115.18 KB).

 

[orb]

Florida Today - The Flame Trench: Senate reschedules hearing on new NASA policy:

A Senate hearing on the implementation of NASA's new policy, originally planned Thursday, has been delayed to Dec. 1.

An announcement by the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee didn't site a reason for rescheduling the hearing titled "Transition and Implementation: The NASA Authorization Act of 2010."

{...}

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA: "NASA Awards Space Shuttle Reusable Solid Rocket Motor Contract Modification".

NASA has signed a $42.1 million contract modification to space shuttle reusable solid rocket motor manufacturer ATK Launch Systems Inc. of Brigham City, Utah, to provide continued prelaunch through postlaunch support from Oct. 1, 2010, through Dec. 31, 2011.

The modification is based on an extension to the current Space Shuttle Program launch schedule, which shifted the last two scheduled missions into fiscal year 2011. The extension also covers the completion of contract activities associated with the processing of flight hardware after the last scheduled shuttle flight, STS-134, and postflight activities for cleaning and preserving the reusable solid rocket motors.

This modification brings the total potential value of the cost-plus-award fee/incentive fee contract to $4.13 billion. The principal location of the work to be performed is ATK Launch Systems Inc. in Brigham City.

The space shuttle's solid-propellant motors are the first designed for reuse and the only solid rocket motors approved for human flight. They operate in parallel with the shuttle's main engines during the first two minutes of flight and provide the additional thrust needed for the orbiter to escape Earth's gravitational pull.

 

[orb]

Spaceflight Now: NASA, White House officials share budget concerns.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Orlando Sentinel: "Astronauts considered in NASA budget cuts".

Nooo, cut anything you like, but not the Astronaut Office!

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Space News: "Draft Spending Bill Increases NASA's Budget by $186M over 2010".

Unlike the NASA authorization act, however, the draft appropriations language does not call for an additional shuttle mission.

 

[orb]

Orlando Sentinel: NASA budget funds third shuttle launch:

{...}

Draft legislation obtained by the Orlando Sentinel shows that NASA is set to get all but $90 million of the $19 billion proposed by President Barack Obama, more than enough to fund a third shuttle flight and ensure that about 4,000 Kennedy Space Center workers stay on the job likely into June when the orbiter fleet is scheduled to retire.

{...}