Kraft's right, don't have money for SLS waste---Use Shuttle as Framework for USA program

 
 MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012
SPM CONFIRMS Shuttle got the SHAFT--ROMNEY RESTART Shuttle---Pass this to Romney anyway you can!!
How to evaluate the value of the Shuttle to the nation is a challenge. We see a lot of discussion about cost per pound of payload to orbit and the Shuttle being too expensive on this basis. This is a poor parameter to attempt to use in determining the value of a system like the Space Shuttle. What is important is the value of what it does and is it affordable on an annual budget that is sustainable. The Shuttle fit comfortably within a NASA annual budget of 1% or less of the nation’s budget for 40 years and enabled additional steps in the evolution of manned spaceflight. Hubble and Space Station are two examples of the evolution during this period. We have truly been a space faring nation since Apollo within an affordable cost of ownership. The perception that the Shuttle was too costly and risky should have been corrected. We should have been more thoughtful about how to evolve our manned spaceflight capability within a cost of ownership consideration.
 
Risk
How to evaluate the risk that the Shuttle entailed is also a challenge. The two fatal accidents contributed significantly to the perception of risk and hastened the desire to move on to a “safer” system. Safety is most often accepted as the gain/risk ratio and what the so called safer system does must be considered. It is my observation that current thinking favors the need for a separate launch escape system and a capsule/parachute earth entry configuration. This attempt to lower risk may become counterproductive to an evolving capability and should be carefully reevaluated. In this same issue of risk we seem to want to require a direct return to the earth surface from all regions in space occupied by humans. This will also be restrictive to our evolving move to deeper regions in space. The Shuttle experience will contribute to these considerations perhaps in an unfortunate way. The failures that led to the two Shuttle accidents should be carefully reviewed and objectively understood. The design weaknesses that led to the accidents are typical of the issues that must be corrected during operations in any complex flight system.
In summary my looking back observation is that the Shuttle configuration was a wise choice. The enabling capability that was used gave us a productive 30 year flight activity. The enabling capability for beyond earth orbit flight support was not properly understood by evolving management and essentially destroyed by the two fatal accidents. The decision to retire the Shuttle system made in 2004 by the Bush Administration and subsequently upheld by Obama Administration caused a radical shift in our manned spaceflight evolution path. Where we go from here is unclear at present. The shift to “commercial” for low earth orbit operations may prove beneficial and history may well record this as a wise move at this time. How to approach travel beyond earth orbit is currently vaguely directed toward an asteroid visit and a possible Mars fly by at some future date. We have embarked on a high cost high risk of cancellation program to develop SLS/Orion without a proper understanding of what we intend to accomplish. The so called “Flexible Path” discussion from the Augustine study directed by the current Administration may have value in providing guidance to research activities but does not give adequate focus for formal program planning. Before entering the high cost phase in any program you should have detailed plans on what you want to accomplish and a fair idea of when. Budget support is vital.
 
 
Modular Space Station
In the transition from Apollo to Shuttle a major consideration was the approach to a long term Space Station configuration. After much debate a modular approach was chosen and the desired modular size helped establish the payload bay size for the Shuttle. Modular assembly on orbit drove many of the capability features of the Shuttle. The modular Space Station approach was a wise choice.
 
Why was the program terminated?
My best summary of why the Shuttle program termination was announced in 2005 by President Bush and allowed to occur in 2012 by the Obama Administration would have to combine several factors. No clear rationale for termination was ever given by either the Bush or Obama Administrations that spanned the 7 year phase out leading to the final flight in 2011.
The Bush Administration announced in its “Vision for Space Exploration” that the venerable Shuttle would be terminated at a future date (2010) and that we would embark on a Lunar/Mars program. This Lunar/Mars program decision was not well thought out and proved to be a folly. It spawned a program called Constellation that expired due to poor engineering, poor planning, poor execution and lack of funding support. It was properly cancelled by the Obama administration but pieces linger on due to confused support by the Congress and the Obama Administration.
Clearly the two fatal accidents led to a perception that the Shuttle was unsafe. Most discussion of cost led to the perception that the Shuttle was too costly. The chronological age of the system led to a perception that the Shuttle was too old. These loose perceptions were never properly responded to by NASA. In fact they were instituted by many key NASA officials. For example when Mr. Griffin became the NASA Administrator he quickly proclaimed that the Shuttle and Space Station were a mistake and he was here to correct this mistake. He promptly wasted about 12 Billion dollars and five years. Therefore perception became fact and the Shuttle program was allowed to fade away gracefully over several years with no responsible study as to why. The Nation quietly found its self without a means for launching people into space. Depending on the Russian Soyuz system was the only option available to continue manning the Space Station.
The “Vision for Space Exploration” announcement by the Bush Administration following the second Shuttle accident and the confusion left by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board essentially set the country up for an inadvertent “Bait and switch” situation. Let’s terminate the venerable Shuttle, go back to the moon with an Apollo type throw away system and on to Mars. We can do this within current budget levels. Once the bait was taken the Shuttle was allowed to terminate and the idea of” Apollo on Steroids” disappeared. We are now in a “Down Time” and can hope for commercial to get us back in the space business with some limited capability. This so called “commercial” program started by NASA during the Bush Administration and wisely continued by the Obama Administration should be encouraged and properly supported. It is now May 2012, 42 years after establishing the Shuttle Program as a formal NASA endeavor. We are temporarily out of the manned launch business.
We need an Administration that can plan to use our available Space budget wisely. We should continue with commercial and carefully review the reasoning behind SLS/Orion. The budget level for NASA and all high cost program efforts need careful Executive and Legislative Branch understanding. NASA’S Manned Exploration Program is not effectively planned.  
Posted by keeptheshuttleflying.com at 9:06 AM
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Friday, June 15, 2012
 
JSC TODAY HEADLINES
1.            Reminder: Extensive Computer and Network Outage at JSC -- June 15 to 17
2.            JSC Network Printers and Internal Websites Unavailable This Weekend
3.            Save Your Seat at This Month's NMA Luncheon
4.            Family Space Day at the George Observatory
5.            Men's Health Awareness Month
6.            Can You Think of a Career That Doesn't Require Communication?
________________________________________     QUOTE OF THE DAY
“ All the world is a laboratory to the inquiring mind.”
 
-- Martin H. Fischer
________________________________________
1.            Reminder: Extensive Computer and Network Outage at JSC -- June 15 to 17
There will be extensive center computer and network service outages starting tonight at 10 p.m. CDT on June 15 through 3 p.m. CDT Sunday, June 17, due to a full power and cooling outage of Building 46. All Building 46 systems without an alternative, redundant or fail over capability outside Building 46 will be disrupted. A large number of services will not be available during the outage. For a full list of impacts, go to: http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/ComputerServices/datacenter/Lists/Data%20Center%20Eve...
 
Impacts include loss of connectivity to several NASA and contractor offsite facilities:
- Sonny Carter Training Facility (SCTF)
- Ellington Field
- Source Evaluation Board (SEB) Network
- Gilruth
- Child Care Center
- SAIC (2450 NASA Parkway)
- Jacobs
- JAXA
- Raytheon
- Boeing
- Lockheed
- Honeywell
- Oceaneering
- And more. For a full listing, please go to: http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/ComputerServices/datacenter/Lists/Data%20Center%20Eve...
 
However, several services WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE during the outage:
- NOMAD - Email system
- Remote network access via Virtual Private Network (VPN) and R2S
- VOIP (Voice over IP) Phones
- JSC Internal Network (Intranet)
- Public Internet access
 
This outage is necessary to upgrade the third floor chilled water distribution system (in support of the new air handlers that will be installed) and to perform maintenance on the facility power distribution system.
 
For information on this specific activity, please contact Bob Brasher at x36465.
 
JSC IRD Outreach x36465 http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov
 
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2.            JSC Network Printers and Internal Websites Unavailable This Weekend
Because of the Building 46 maintenance outage, all institutional network printers, including multi-functional and internal websites such as the JSC internal home page, will be unavailable starting 5 p.m. CST today.
 
Printers will be back up by 6 a.m., Monday, June 18.
 
Internal websites will be back up no later than 8 a.m., Monday, June 18.
 
For more on this activity and a list of other impacted services, go to: http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/ComputerServices/datacenter/Lists/Data%20Center%20Eve...
 
Thank you for your patience during this activity.
 
JSC IRD Outreach x34800 http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/default.aspx
 
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3.            Save Your Seat at This Month's NMA Luncheon
The JSC National Management Association (NMA) Chapter presents Dr. William A. Staples, president, University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL). Staples will share details about UHCL's transformation to a four-year university.
 
Date: June 28
Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Location: Gilruth Alamo Ballroom
 
Cost for members: $0
Cost for non-members: $20
 
Please RSVP by close of business, June 22, at http://www.jscnma.com/Events (Click on June 28 event).
 
For RSVP technical assistance, please contact Lorraine Guerra at lorraine.guerra-1@nasa.gov or 281-483-4262.
 
For membership information, please contact Lorraine Guerra, or visit: http://www.jscnma.com/Members (Click on "Join NMA").
 
Cassandra Miranda x38618
 
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4.            Family Space Day at the George Observatory
The Challenger Learning Center at the George Observatory is holding a Family Space Day, which is open to everyone on Saturday, July 14, from about 3 to 8 p.m.
 
There will be various types of rockets and robots available to play with along with other activities.
 
For purchase are tickets to see "We Choose Space" in the Discovery Dome and a Challenger Center Mission to the Moon!
 
Challenger Center Mission tickets may be purchased for $10 a person online at http://www.hmns.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=404&Itemid=427
 
Discovery Dome tickets will be available at the Gift Shop for $3 a person.
 
After enjoying the day in space, stay for the evening and look at the night sky through our telescopes!
 
George Observatory is located in the heart of Brazos Bend State Park. Admission to the park is $7 for adults, and kids under 12 are free.
 
Megan Hashier 281-226-4179 http://www.hmns.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=404&Ite...
 
[top]
5.            Men's Health Awareness Month
Men's health is not just a men's issue but a family issue as well. Phrases such as "Take it like a man," "Suck it up," "Don't be such a wimp," are still used on how men "should" deal with life. However, following this approach can be dangerous and even fatal. Learn how to change attitudes and behaviors to take charge of your health. Join Takis Bogdanos, MA, LPC, on Friday, June 22, 1 p.m., in the Building 30 Auditorium for a presentation on developing a realistic perspective on men's health.
 
Takis Bogdanos x36130
 
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6.            Can You Think of a Career That Doesn't Require Communication?
Toastmasters can help you improve your communication and leadership skills in a fun and friendly environment. Come visit us any time, and bring a friend! We meet every Friday from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. in Building 30A, Conference Room 1010.
 
Carolyn Jarrett x37594
 
[top]
 
________________________________________
JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. To see an archive of previous JSC Today announcements, go to http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/pao/news/jsctoday/archives.
 
 
 
 
 
NASA TV:
·         7:45 am Central (8:45 EDT) – NEEMO 16 Cdr Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger media interviews
 
Human Spaceflight News
Friday, June 15, 2012
 
HEADLINES AND LEADS
 
Space Exploration Enthusiasts Say US Program Adrift
 
Greg Flakus - Voice of America
 
The U.S. space agency NASA has ambitious plans for exploring Mars with the robotic rover called Curiosity, scheduled to land on the red planet in August.  But NASA's long-range plan to send a human crew there by 2030 is under fire from critics, who include some former NASA astronauts and managers.  The critics doubt such a mission will ever come about and some also question whether it should. A half century ago, NASA sent astronauts to the moon, and for the past three decades used its space shuttle for low-earth orbit missions. But many veterans of NASA's glory years, such as former Johnson Space Center Director Chris Kraft, are critics of the agency's plan to send astronauts to Mars. “That objective is ludicrous. It cannot be done. It cannot be done technically and, more importantly, it cannot be done financially,” Kraft said.
 
Scientists Question Value of Human Spaceflight
 
Mike O'Sullivan - Voice of America
 
In August, NASA's Curiosity rover is set to arrive on the surface of Mars, where, if all goes well, it will begin a wide range of scientific tests. Such missions provide a great deal of scientific data, but the general public is most excited about the prospect of sending humans to Mars, which NASA hopes to accomplish by 2030. As costs soar and budget battles intensify, however, some notable critics in the scientific community are questioning the whole idea of putting humans in space. Experiments run continually on the International Space Station and the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope provides dazzling images of deep space, adding to our knowledge of the universe. But University of Texas professor Steven Weinberg, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979, says humans in space have accomplished little.
 
NASA chief visits SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne
 
W.J. Hennigan - Los Angeles Times
 
Just weeks after SpaceX became the first private company to visit the International Space Station, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden toured the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne. He joined SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk in thanking more than 1,000 employees who helped design, launch and recover the company's Dragon capsule in May following its trip to the space station.
 
Senate Commerce Committee to revisit commercial spaceflight next week
 
SpacePolitics.com
 
Last month’s successful test flight by SpaceX to the International Space Station was a major milestone for commercial spaceflight, and also for public and political perceptions of the industry. The Senate Commerce Committee will reexamine the industry in a hearing Wednesday, June 20, titled “Risks, Opportunities, and Oversight of Commercial Space”. The hearing, according to the committee’s announcement, will examine the commercial space industry and review ISS commercial cargo and crew efforts.
 
China sending first woman in space to test module
 
Ng Han Guan - Associated Press
 
China will send its first woman into space Saturday along with two other astronauts to work on a temporary space station for about a week, in a key step toward becoming the only third nation to set up a permanent base in orbit. Liu Yang, a 34-year-old mother of one and an air force pilot, and two male colleagues will be launched Saturday aboard the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, which will dock with the bus-sized Tiangong 1 space module now orbiting at 343 kilometers (213 miles) above the Earth.
 
China to launch Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft Saturday
 
Xinhua News Service
 
China will launch its Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft at 6:37 p.m. Saturday (8:37 am EDT), sending the country's first female astronaut into space, a spokeswoman said Friday. Three astronauts, two male and one female, will travel aboard the spacecraft to complete the country's first manual space docking test, said Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space program, at a press conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The astronauts are Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang, who is female, the spokeswoman said.
 
China to send its first woman into space on Saturday
 
Claire Cozens - Agence France Presse
 
China said Friday a female astronaut will be among the three-person team on board the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft when it launches on Saturday ahead of the country's first manned space docking. Liu Yang, a 33-year-old major in the People's Liberation Army, will be on board the Shenzhou-9 when it takes off for China's fourth manned space launch, a spokesman for the country's manned space progamme said.
 
China to send first woman astronaut Liu Yang into space
 
BBC News
 
China has named the female astronaut who on Saturday is set to become the nation's first woman in space. Liu Yang, 33, an air force pilot, will join two male colleagues on board the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, state-run news agency Xinhua says. The spacecraft will dock with the Tiangong 1 space station module, as China bids to establish a permanent space base in orbit.
 
China Chooses Liberation Army Pilot as First Woman Astronaut
 
Bloomberg News
 
China picked 34-year-old Liu Yang as its first female astronaut, tapping a People’s Liberation Army pilot once hailed as a hero for performing an emergency landing after her plane was struck by a flock of birds. Liu will be one of three astronauts aboard the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft when it blasts off tomorrow ahead of the country’s first manned orbital docking with the Tiangong-1, or “Heavenly Palace” module, the Xinhua News Agency reported. She was chosen over another female candidate, Wang Yaping.
 
Astronauts are so smart they can generate electricity in space using Legos
 
Gizmodo.com
 
Astronaut Don Pettit has a knack for making life on the space station seem like more fun than you can ever have on Earth. And recently he used the station's Lego collection for some entertaining makeshift experiments with static electricity. Using nothing more than the colorful bricks and some high-tech looking tinfoil scavenged from the station, Pettit built a functional Van der Graaf generator capable of generating an impressive 30,000 volts. Of course, that's not enough current to cause any serious damage, but it's certainly more than enough to shock and annoy his fellow orbital passengers. (NO FURTHER TEXT)
 
NASA’s NEEMO: Bringing Space to the Deep
 
Brian McLaughlin - Wired.com
 
The name “Nemo” automatically brings to mind visions of the deep for many people. From the infamous anti-hero captain in Jules Vernes’ Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea to the lovable lost clown fish in Pixar’s Finding Nemo, the name has become linked to life in the ocean. For a dedicated team from a number of backgrounds, interests, and organizations, the name is linked to both the ocean and space exploration. There is a project, coordinated by NASA, called the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO. I have spent the past week working in the NEEMO environment and it has been amazing. My work here was related to capturing part of the link NASA provides to monitoring the oceans along with the satellite program I am working on now called the Joint Polar Satellite System. I captured a great deal of incredible information and footage for my project but I want to take the time to educate our readers on NEEMO, the incredible work being done on the project, and the other amazing teams I was working alongside.
 
Lunar Base or Space Station? (1983)
 
David Portree - Wired.com
 
In Dec. 1983, the National Science Foundation’s Division of Policy Research and Analysis enlisted Science Applications Incorporated (SAI) of McLean, Virginia, to compare the science and technology research potential of an Earth-orbiting space station and a base on the moon. In its report, which was completed on Jan. 10, 1984, SAI cautioned that, because its study was performed “in a very short two-week period,” it could offer only “a preliminary indication” of the relative merits of a space station in low-Earth orbit (LEO) and a lunar base. Though SAI did not say so, its study had a short turnaround time because its results were meant to be made available to the White House ahead of President Ronald Reagan’s planned announcement of a NASA space station program during his Jan. 25, 1984 State of the Union Address.
__________
 
COMPLETE STORIES
 
Space Exploration Enthusiasts Say US Program Adrift
 
Greg Flakus - Voice of America
 
The U.S. space agency NASA has ambitious plans for exploring Mars with the robotic rover called Curiosity, scheduled to land on the red planet in August.  But NASA's long-range plan to send a human crew there by 2030 is under fire from critics, who include some former NASA astronauts and managers.  The critics doubt such a mission will ever come about and some also question whether it should.
 
A half century ago, NASA sent astronauts to the moon, and for the past three decades used its space shuttle for low-earth orbit missions.
 
But many veterans of NASA's glory years, such as former Johnson Space Center Director Chris Kraft, are critics of the agency's plan to send astronauts to Mars.
 
“That objective is ludicrous. It cannot be done. It cannot be done technically and, more importantly, it cannot be done financially,” Kraft said.
 
Kraft says the new Space Launch System proposed by NASA at a cost of around $5 billion is too expensive and that it would be better to utilize existing rocket systems for exploration beyond earth's orbit.  He also says an ambitious goal like sending humans to Mars requires a detailed plan with intermediate, preliminary steps, like establishing bases on the moon.
 
“We know how to go back to the moon; it is a reasonable program; it is a feasible program; it can be done with today's capabilities.”
 
NASA's Constellation program did include such steps, but President Barack Obama cancelled it in 2010 with approval from many scientists, who wanted a more ambitious goal.
 
Among those who now think that was a mistake is the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, Neil deGrasse Tyson.
 
“I understand the rhetoric that we have been to the moon, so why go back? But the real answer is that we have not been to the moon in 40 years,” Tyson said.
 
Tyson says the current Mars plan is too vague.
 
“I think we have lost our way, in the real world. What works on paper does not always work in the real world and, in the real world, we have lost our way,” Tyson said.
 
David Alexander, director of the Space Institute at Rice University, puts the blame for NASA's current predicament on the politicians who tightly control the funding.
 
“A lot of people blame NASA for not having a plan or not having this and that, but, actually, they have lots of plans based on what they have been told to do by Congress and by various Congresses over the years,” Alexander said.
 
But Congress has many enthusiastic supporters of space exploration, says NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver.
 
“We work closely with appropriators and authorizers and we believe there is broad support for a stable NASA budget,” said Garver.
 
And Garver believes Congress will fund the new launch system and other technology NASA needs to get humans to Mars, fulfilling a goal that she says NASA has had in mind for decades.
 
“It is finally getting to the point where we are investing in the capabilities that will get us there in a time frame when people are really beginning to talk about it realistically,” Garver said.
 
But before that can happen, David Alexander thinks NASA administrators and the nation's leaders need to answer some fundamental questions.
 
“The biggest issue that a lot of critics are saying is 'why? Where are we going, what are we doing there, and what are we going to do with this big thing we have developed?,'” Alexander said.
 
As the U.S. Congress struggles with the national debt and how to maintain vital federal programs, it could be tempted to cut funding for a trip to another planet set many years in the future.
 
Scientists Question Value of Human Spaceflight
 
Mike O'Sullivan - Voice of America
 
In August, NASA's Curiosity rover is set to arrive on the surface of Mars, where, if all goes well, it will begin a wide range of scientific tests. Such missions provide a great deal of scientific data, but the general public is most excited about the prospect of sending humans to Mars, which NASA hopes to accomplish by 2030. As costs soar and budget battles intensify, however, some notable critics in the scientific community are questioning the whole idea of putting humans in space.
 
Experiments run continually on the International Space Station and the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope provides dazzling images of deep space, adding to our knowledge of the universe. But University of Texas professor Steven Weinberg, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979, says humans in space have accomplished little.
 
“When you have a facility that involves people, like the International Space Station, which is an order of magnitude more expensive than these unmanned observatories, no important science comes out of that,” Weinberg said.
 
NASA has developed a long-range plan to send a human crew to Mars, following up on robotic missions.  But Weinberg says robots can do a lot more than humans on Mars.
 
“For the $1 trillion cost of sending human beings to Mars, perhaps to just one location on Mars, we could have unmanned rovers wandering all over the planet,” Weinberg said.
 
The Director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, Neil deGrasse Tyson, agrees with Weinberg on the cost-effectiveness of robots for pure science, but he says having humans in space fulfills another need.
 
“The issue is what does it mean culturally to send a robot versus send a person? We don't give ticker-tape parades to robots, we don't name schools after robots, we don't build statues to robots,” Tyson said.
 
Tyson says human beings have an inherent need to explore and that many people would sacrifice their lives to do so.
 
“If I said I need astronauts to go on a one-way mission to explore Jupiter, I am going to get a line wrapped around the block. There are people out there who want to explore,” Tyson said.
 
Weinberg understands the appeal of sending humans on short space flights, but he says astronauts cannot stay long in a hostile place like Mars.
 
“We cannot even do that on Antarctica. There is no economically self-sustaining colony on Antarctica and, compared to Mars, Antarctica is heaven,” Weinberg said.
 
But such prominent scientific figures as Steven Hawking argue that humans need to explore space because the earth cannot sustain them forever.  While this is not an immediate concern, it is something that informs long-range thinking, according to NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver.
 
“As we can go further, I believe we will, and what we learn will be critical to the future of our very survival,” Garver said.
 
Weinberg says humans probably will develop the capability to travel far into space someday, but they have plenty of time.
 
“In the long run, the sun will become a red giant and will swallow the earth and we had better get off the earth before that happens; (but) that is billions of years from now,” Weinberg said.
 
Weinberg and other scientists say that humans should limit fantasies of living on another planet and put more effort into protecting the environment that sustains them here on this planet.
 
NASA chief visits SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne
 
W.J. Hennigan - Los Angeles Times
 
Just weeks after SpaceX became the first private company to visit the International Space Station, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden toured the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne.
 
He joined SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk in thanking more than 1,000 employees who helped design, launch and recover the company's Dragon capsule in May following its trip to the space station. 
 
"The International Space Station is the key to our human spaceflight efforts right now and SpaceX's successful resupply demonstration mission helped ensure it can achieve its full potential," Bolden said. "We look forward to Dragon becoming a regular visitor to the station."
 
Bolden also came to see a prototype of a spacecraft that the company is designing to carry astronauts to the space station.
 
On Wednesday, Bolden and Musk visited SpaceX’s rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas, where the Dragon space capsule that visited the space station is located.
 
The capsule made history May 31 when it splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after delivering supplies to the space station.
 
The mission was considered the first test of NASA's plan to outsource space missions to privately funded companies now that the U.S. fleet of space shuttles has been retired.
 
Senate Commerce Committee to revisit commercial spaceflight next week
 
SpacePolitics.com
 
Last month’s successful test flight by SpaceX to the International Space Station was a major milestone for commercial spaceflight, and also for public and political perceptions of the industry.
 
The Senate Commerce Committee will reexamine the industry in a hearing Wednesday, June 20, titled “Risks, Opportunities, and Oversight of Commercial Space”. The hearing, according to the committee’s announcement, will examine the commercial space industry and review ISS commercial cargo and crew efforts.
 
Scheduled witnesses include:
 
·         Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations
·         Pam Melroy, a former NASA astronaut who now works at the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation
·         Gerald Dillingham of the Government Accountability Office
·         Mike Gold of Bigelow Aerospace
·         Michael Lopez-Alegria, another former astronaut who is now president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation
 
This likely won’t be the only hearing on commercial spaceflight this summer. Last week, in a statement praising the agreement between NASA and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), a key House appropriator, on the future of NASA’s commercial crew program, Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX), chairman of the House Science Committee, said his committee would hold an oversight hearing on that program “later this summer”.
 
China sending first woman in space to test module
 
Ng Han Guan - Associated Press
 
China will send its first woman into space Saturday along with two other astronauts to work on a temporary space station for about a week, in a key step toward becoming the only third nation to set up a permanent base in orbit.
 
Liu Yang, a 34-year-old mother of one and an air force pilot, and two male colleagues will be launched Saturday aboard the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, which will dock with the bus-sized Tiangong 1 space module now orbiting at 343 kilometers (213 miles) above the Earth.
 
"Arranging for women astronauts to fly is not only a must for the development of human spaceflight, but also the expectation of the public," space program spokeswoman Wu Ping said. "This is a landmark event."
 
Two of the astronauts will live and work inside the module to test its life-support systems while the third will remain in the capsule to deal with any unexpected emergencies. State media have said the mission will last about 10 days before the astronauts travel back to Earth in the capsule, landing on Western Chinese grasslands with the help of parachutes.
 
The rocket began fueling Friday at the Jiugquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi desert in northern China, Wu told reporters at the center. The launch is scheduled for 6:37 p.m. (1237 GMT) Saturday, she said.
 
Joining Liu is veteran astronaut and mission commander Jing Hai and newcomer Liu Wang.
 
"You could say this mission is a combination of the old and the new and coordination between the male and female," Wu said.
 
Success in docking - and in living and working aboard the Tiangong 1 - would smooth the way for more ambitious projects, including the creation of a permanent space station and missions to the moon, and add to China's international prestige in line with its growing economic prowess.
 
China is hoping to join the United States and Russia as the only countries to have sent independently maintained space stations into orbit. It already is in the exclusive three-nation club to have launched a spacecraft with astronauts on its own.
 
The mission demonstrates China's commitment to "long-term human spaceflight" and marks a test of "the technological capabilities requisite for a future permanent space station," said Joan Johnson-Freese, an expert on the Chinese space program at the U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island.
 
Still, that is some years away. The Tiangong 1 is only a prototype, and the plan is to replace it with a permanent - and bigger - space station due for completion around 2020.
 
The permanent station will weigh about 60 tons, slightly smaller than NASA's Skylab of the 1970s and about one-sixth the size of the 16-nation International Space Station.
 
Analysts say China's exclusion from the ISS, largely on objections from the United States, was one of the key spurs for it to pursue an independent program 20 years ago, which reaches a high point with Saturday's launch.
 
The three astronauts will perform medicals tests on the effect of weightlessness on the human body, as well as other scientific and engineering tasks on Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace, which was put into orbit in September.
 
Wu said the capsule would first dock by remote control, then later separate and dock again manually, to prepare the technology for a permanent space station.
 
"After we have realized both the auto and manual docking technology, we can completely master this technology," she said.
 
China first launched a man into space in 2003 followed by a two-man mission in 2005 and a three-man trip in 2008 that featured China's first space walk.
 
In November 2011, the unmanned Shenzhou 8 successfully docked with the Tiangong 1 by remote control - twice to show the durability of the system.
 
While operating with limited resources, China's space program is a source of huge national pride and enjoys top-level political and military backing. This has left it largely immune from the budgetary pressures affecting NASA, although China doesn't say what it spends on the program.
 
The selection of the first female astronaut is giving the program an additional publicity boost. State media have gushed this week about Liu, pointing out that she once successfully landed her plane after a bird strike disabled one of its engines.
 
As with China's other female astronaut candidates, Liu is married and has a child, a requirement because the space program worries that exposure to space radiation may affect fertility.
 
China to launch Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft Saturday
 
Xinhua News Service
 
China will launch its Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft at 6:37 p.m. Saturday (8:37 am EDT), sending the country's first female astronaut into space, a spokeswoman said Friday.
 
Three astronauts, two male and one female, will travel aboard the spacecraft to complete the country's first manual space docking test, said Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space program, at a press conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
 
The astronauts are Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang, who is female, the spokeswoman said.
 
CHINA'S FIRST WOMAN IN SPACE
 
Liu Yang, 33, is a People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force major. She was a veteran pilot with 1,680 hours of flying experience and the deputy head of a flight unit of the PLA's Air Force before being recruited as a potential astronaut in May 2010.
 
After two years of training, which shored up her astronautic skills and adaptability to the space environment, Liu excelled in testing and was selected in March this year as a candidate for the Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft mission.
 
"Generally speaking, female astronauts have better durability, psychological stability and ability to deal with loneliness," Wu said.
 
More than 50 female astronauts from seven countries have gone into space to date. The longest space flight by a female astronaut lasted 188 days.
 
All countries that have completed manned space missions have attached great significance to their respective first female astronauts' maiden space flights, Wu said, citing the former Soviet Union's first female astronaut Valentina Tereshkova and Sally Ride, the first U.S. woman in space.
 
Since this mission marks the first time for China to send a female astronaut into space, the training, medical monitoring, security and equipment designated for female astronauts will also be tested for the first time, Wu said.
 
Jing, 46, was one of three crew members aboard the Shenzhou-7 in 2008. He will serve as the commander of the Shenzhou-9's crew and become the first Chinese astronaut to travel into space twice.
 
Liu Wang, 43, also a former pilot, was selected to be trained as an astronaut in January 1998.
 
The main task of the upcoming mission will be the manual docking procedure conducted between the Shenzhou-9 and the orbiting space lab module Tiangong-1, Wu said.
 
A successful manual docking will demonstrate China's grasp of essential space rendezvous and docking techniques. It will be a significant step in the current stage of the country's three-phase manned space program and help to establish a solid foundation for the future of the program, Wu said.
 
It will also mark the country's first attempt to ship supplies and personnel from Earth to the orbiting module, she said.
 
"We will fully examine whether the Tiangong-1 can meet the needs of our astronauts," she said.
 
The mission will further test the functions of spacecraft, carrier rocket and orbiting module, as well as the coordination of different systems, she added.
 
Elaborating on mission procedures, Wu said the spacecraft will separate from the carrier rocket 9 minutes and 45 seconds after the launch and stay on an oval-shaped orbit before attempting an automatic docking procedure with the Tiangong-1 lab.
 
With the completion of the automatic docking, astronauts will live and work in the Tiangong-1.
 
The manual docking attempt will take place several days after the automatic docking, the spokeswoman added.
 
The Tiangong-1 has been lowered to docking orbit and is operating normally, the spokeswoman said.
 
The space lab module conducted an automatic docking procedure with the unmanned Shenzhou-8 spacecraft late last year.
 
The spokeswoman also said the Shenzhou-9's upgraded Long March-2F carrier rocket started to be fueled at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
 
"The final full-system drill has been completed. The astronauts are in a good state and all preparations are in place," Wu said.
 
The mission is part of preparations for the construction of a space station around 2020. Several components will be sent into space separately before being assembled into a space station through a variety of docking procedures.
 
China to send its first woman into space on Saturday
 
Claire Cozens - Agence France Presse
 
China said Friday a female astronaut will be among the three-person team on board the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft when it launches on Saturday ahead of the country's first manned space docking.
 
Liu Yang, a 33-year-old major in the People's Liberation Army, will be on board the Shenzhou-9 when it takes off for China's fourth manned space launch, a spokesman for the country's manned space progamme said.
 
"From day one I have been told I am no different from the male astronauts," Liu, a trained fighter pilot who is married but has no children, told the state broadcaster CCTV in an interview broadcast after Friday's announcement.
 
"I believe in persevering. If you persevere, success lies ahead of you," added Liu, interviewed wearing her blue astronaut's uniform.
 
Liu and her two male colleagues, Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang, will take off at 6.37 pm (1037 GMT) from the Jiuquan space base in north China's Gobi desert.
 
They will perform China's first manned space docking -- a highly technical procedure that brings together two vessels in high speed orbit.
 
The mission to dock with the Tiangong-1 module currently orbiting Earth is the latest step in a plan aimed at giving the country a permanent space station by 2020.
 
China sent its first person into space in 2003 and has since conducted several manned missions, the latest in 2008, but has never yet included a woman.
 
Liu's mission, which has been heavily trailed in the Chinese media, will make China the third country after the Soviet Union and United States to send a woman into space using its own technology, and represent another propaganda coup for the one-party communist state.
 
Relatively little is known about her life, although she initially trained as a cargo pilot. She has been praised for her cool handling of an incident when her jet hit a flock of pigeons but she was still able to land the heavily damaged aircraft.
 
China sees its space programme as a symbol of its global stature, growing technical expertise, and the Communist Party's success in turning around the fortunes of the once poverty-stricken nation.
 
The current programme aims to provide China with a space station in which a crew can live independently for several months, as at the old Russian Mir facility or the International Space Station.
 
China was the third country to send humans into space after Russia and America, and it is now also looking into sending astronauts to the moon, although nothing has been set in stone.
 
A white paper released last December outlining China's ambitious space programme said the country "will conduct studies on the preliminary plan for a human lunar landing".
 
No one has been back to the moon since the last US Apollo landing in December 1972.
 
China to send first woman astronaut Liu Yang into space
 
BBC News
 
China has named the female astronaut who on Saturday is set to become the nation's first woman in space.
 
Liu Yang, 33, an air force pilot, will join two male colleagues on board the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, state-run news agency Xinhua says.
 
The spacecraft will dock with the Tiangong 1 space station module, as China bids to establish a permanent space base in orbit.
 
Liu will work on the mission with astronauts Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang.
 
"From day one I have been told I am no different from the male astronauts," Ms Liu was quoted by state broadcaster CCTV as saying before her assignment was announced.
 
"I believe in persevering. If you persevere, success lies ahead of you," she said.
 
Xinhua, which describes her as a veteran pilot who enlisted in the People's Liberation Army in 1997, said she was recruited to be an astronaut in May 2010.
 
Space mission
 
The Shenzhou 9 mission, China's fourth manned space flight and its first since 2008, is expected to blast-off at 18:37 local time (10:37 GMT) from the Jiuquan launch centre in China's north-west Gansu province.
 
The astronauts aboard the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft will dock with the Tiangong 1 - an experimental module currently orbiting Earth - and carry out scientific experiments on board.
 
Last year, China completed a complicated space docking manoeuvre when an unmanned craft docked with the Tiangong 1, or Heavenly Body, by remote control.
 
This is China's first manned space docking mission, Xinhua says.
 
Women in space
·         As of April 2012, 54 women had flown in space
·         Six went up as part of the Russian/Soviet programme and the rest have flown with Nasa
·         The first was Russian Valentina Tereshkova in June 1963
·         In the early 1960s the US trained 13 female astronauts, but cancelled the programme at the last minute
·         It was another 20 years before the first American woman, astrophysicist Sally Ride, would go into space
·         Peggy Whitson became the first female commander of the International Space Station in April 2008
 
China Chooses Liberation Army Pilot as First Woman Astronaut
 
Bloomberg News
 
China picked 34-year-old Liu Yang as its first female astronaut, tapping a People’s Liberation Army pilot once hailed as a hero for performing an emergency landing after her plane was struck by a flock of birds.
 
Liu will be one of three astronauts aboard the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft when it blasts off tomorrow ahead of the country’s first manned orbital docking with the Tiangong-1, or “Heavenly Palace” module, the Xinhua News Agency reported. She was chosen over another female candidate, Wang Yaping.
 
Chinese state media have touted Liu’s accomplishments over the last week, framing her selection as part of the country’s broader push to expand its space program while those of other countries have contracted. Tomorrow’s launch may bring China a step closer to its goal of operating a permanent manned space station and putting a person on the moon by 2020.
 
Under the headline “Female astronaut was a hero pilot,” the state-run China Daily newspaper reported on June 11 how Liu had “successfully dealt with a mid-air emergency” after her plane hit 18 pigeons, splattering the windshield with blood and filling the cockpit with a “burning smell.”
 
“In China, pilots with the experience of dealing with emergencies are preferred for astronaut selection,” the newspaper said. Liu is 34 years old, according to China Daily.
 
Space Module
 
In case of emergency after the launch, one of the astronauts will stay aboard the Shenzhou-9 while the other two enter the space module, Xinhua reported June 9. Chinese state media didn’t say if Liu would remain on the craft or go into the orbiter.
 
Selection requirements demand that the female astronaut be married and have given birth, according to a story in the newspaper of the Shaanxi Province Communist Party committee. She also must have no scars, bad breath or tooth decay, the newspaper said.
 
“Female astronauts are more sensitive and better at communication, which will be beneficial in long, arduous spaceflights,” the Global Times said this week, quoting Pang Zhihai, managing editor of Space International.
 
In a 2002 profile of Liu, the People’s Liberation Army Daily reported that Liu had studied English and computers as well as flying. It said that she wrote a poem for an English contest that included the line: “As a female pilot, the motherland’s blue sky is my sacred rose garden.”
 
‘Mutual Respect’
 
China sent its first man into orbit and conducted its first spacewalk decades later than the U.S. and Russia. The Global Times article said China’s manned station would become operational when other space stations are likely to shut down, “possibly leaving China as the only country with a space station.”
 
“China is ready to have international cooperation including with the U.S. side in the space program, on the basis of equality and mutual respect,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said today. “The achievement China has made in its space program is the result of the Chinese people’s hard work and innovation.”
 
The U.S. plans to operate the International Space Station, a research laboratory that orbits about 240 miles above Earth, through 2020. In 2010, President Barack Obama scrapped plans to return to the moon, setting a goal instead of making a “leap into the future” of deep-space travel. The U.S. ended its space shuttle program last year.
 
NASA’s NEEMO: Bringing Space to the Deep
 
Brian McLaughlin - Wired.com
 
The name “Nemo” automatically brings to mind visions of the deep for many people. From the infamous anti-hero captain in Jules Vernes’ Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea to the lovable lost clown fish in Pixar’s Finding Nemo, the name has become linked to life in the ocean. For a dedicated team from a number of backgrounds, interests, and organizations, the name is linked to both the ocean and space exploration.
 
There is a project, coordinated by NASA, called the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO. I have spent the past week working in the NEEMO environment and it has been amazing. My work here was related to capturing part of the link NASA provides to monitoring the oceans along with the satellite program I am working on now called the Joint Polar Satellite System. I captured a great deal of incredible information and footage for my project but I want to take the time to educate our readers on NEEMO, the incredible work being done on the project, and the other amazing teams I was working alongside.
 
NEEMO is what NASA calls an Analog Mission. During an Analog Mission, a crew is put into a simulated mission under an environment simulating some of the conditions of a space mission while a Mission Control team works with the crew in a Mission Control Center, or MCC. The fact that this is an Analog Mission is an important distinction. There are a number of ways to test in conditions specifically analogous to spaceflight such as g-forces in a centrifuge or different pressure conditions in test chambers. The Analog Missions are important in that they are a simulation of the full end-to-end space mission. The crew is working for multiple days in an extreme environment and communicating with Mission Control in a way that is very similar to working on flying mission.
 
The NEEMO Analog Missions are centered around the Aquarius Reef Base off the coast of Key Largo, Florida. The Aquarius Reef Base is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and operated by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. The Aquarius Base is an 85-ton habitat that supports a crew of up to six Aquanauts. Aquarius sits in about 62 feet of water in a sandy section of Conch Reef in the protected Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The habitat is pressurized to over twice normal atmospheric pressure both to keep the Aquanauts equalized to the water pressure at that depth and to allow for a moon pool where the Aquanauts can enter and leave the habitat without airlocks or hatches. Remember The Abyss? It is kind of like that but at 62 feet. On the surface, there is a large buoy called the Life Support Buoy, or LSB, which provides power generation, air compressors, communications, and other support equipment. At the end of a stay on Aquarius, since the Aquanauts are saturated at the pressure of 2.5 atmospheres, they undergo an almost 16 hour decompression process to bring them safely back to normal atmospheric conditions.
 
When the NASA NEEMO team uses Aquarius for a mission they send a crew down consisting of astronauts and other personnel to work in the extreme environment and simulate a space mission. The extreme environment provides conditions where the crew lives in isolation and have to appropriately equip themselves for work outside the habitat. NEEMO places additional equipment around Aquarius to aid in the mission simulation. Back in Key Largo, a large, well-equipped trailer is brought in for the Mission Control end of the simulation. Called the Mobile Mission Control Center, or MMCC, the trailer provides an amazingly accurate Mission Control atmosphere. During mission operations, additional divers also go down to support different aspects of the mission, making for an amazing sight with the support divers and Aquanauts all working together in an well-choreographed dance.
 
The current mission is NEEMO 16 and runs from this past Monday till the end of next week. During NEEMO 16, the team is simulating a mission to land on an asteroid. They are practicing a number of techniques for moving around the asteroid environment, such as moving from workstation to workstation, testing tools for different uses, and other activities. The communications loop with the MMCC is delayed to simulate the communications lag due to the speed of light a mission will encounter working on an asteroid. What makes NEEMO such a great place to run tests described above is the ability to provide feedback on a particular tool or procedure to the surface team, make modifications, and try the modifications the next day. It is an amazing rapid prototyping environment that is like a Hackathon on the ocean floor.
 
I was invited to participate in NEEMO 16 by the Open NASA team. We all saw the opportunity to highlight other aspects of the work done at Aquarius and during NEEMO missions relating to ocean and reef health that is complemented by the work done by the weather monitoring satellites. The Open NASA team incorporates the following principles into the core NASA mission:
 
·         Increase Agency transparency and accountability to external stakeholders.
·         Enable citizen participation in NASA’s mission.
·         Improve internal NASA collaboration and innovation.
·         Encourage partnerships than can create economic opportunity.
·         Institutionalize Open Government philosophies and practices at NASA.
 
I first became involved with the Open NASA (@OpenNASA) team during the recent International Space Apps Challenge where I helped kick off the activities in Jakarta via Skype and coordinated Antarctica participation. The Open NASA team is truly a friend in NASA for the Maker, Open Source, and Open Hardware movement. They support and coordinate widely popular hackathons, summits, and other events and efforts such as the International Space Apps Challenge and Random Hacks of Kindness. The two Open NASA team members I have been working with, Nick Skytland and Chris Gerty, are also awesome geek dads. The NEEMO 16 participation with Open NASA is a direct result of the International Apps Competition. One of the teams at the San Francisco event was the OpenROV team.
 
The OpenROV (@OpenROV) team is developing an submersible Remotely Operated Vehicle and keeping the whole project in the Open Source/Open Hardware world and doing a great job of keeping the build cost to under $1,000. Up until this week, the OpenROV prototypes have only seen trials at limited depths and in freshwater. The Open NASA team provided the OpenROV team the opportunity to submerge and operate around the Aquarius habitat during NEEMO 16. Check out the picture below as a preview of the results and keep a weather eye on the OpenROV website for some big upcoming announcements. I’ve featured one of the OpenROV team members in a previous GeekDad post. I wrote about David Lang and his Zero to Maker series that ran on Make. I would say he is doing very well in his transition to a Maker.
 
What has been so amazing this week is to see all of the teams working together. NASA NEEMO, the Aquarius Reef Base team, Open NASA, OpenROV, Navy and Coast Guard Divers, a One World One Ocean film crew working with IMAX cameras, and two one-person mini-subs all working together to accomplish a series of objectives in a well orchestrated sequence. This is one of those places where you see the best of humanity and what we can do when we all work together. As I said before, the NEEMO 16 mission runs until the end of next week. I recommend strongly that you check it out via the many paths where the general public can gain insight to the mission. You can check out the NEEMO website, the Aquarius Reef Base website, either of the associated Twitter accounts (@NASA_NEEMO, @ReefBase), or follow the #NEEMO16 hashtag on Twitter. There are also live cameras of the operation available via the Aquarius Reef Base website or the Reef Base Vimeo feed.
 
It has been an honor to be a small part of NEEMO 16 and i will wear my mission patch with pride.
 
Lunar Base or Space Station? (1983)
 
David Portree - Wired.com
 
In Dec. 1983, the National Science Foundation’s Division of Policy Research and Analysis enlisted Science Applications Incorporated (SAI) of McLean, Virginia, to compare the science and technology research potential of an Earth-orbiting space station and a base on the moon. In its report, which was completed on Jan. 10, 1984, SAI cautioned that, because its study was performed “in a very short two-week period,” it could offer only “a preliminary indication” of the relative merits of a space station in low-Earth orbit (LEO) and a lunar base. Though SAI did not say so, its study had a short turnaround time because its results were meant to be made available to the White House ahead of President Ronald Reagan’s planned announcement of a NASA space station program during his Jan. 25, 1984 State of the Union Address.
 
SAI explained that its study had used a four-step approach. First, the study team had judged which science and technology disciplines could best be served by an LEO space station and which by a lunar base. Next, the team had developed a lunar base conceptual design capable of serving the disciplines it identified. It then had developed a transportation system concept for deploying and maintaining its base. Finally, the team had estimated the cost of developing, building, and operating its lunar base.
 
The team identified five science and technology disciplines that would best be served by a base on the moon. The first was radio astronomy. Bowl-shaped radio telescopes might be built in bowl-shaped lunar craters, SAI wrote. Radio astronomers might take advantage of the moon’s Farside (the hemisphere turned permanently away from Earth), where up to 2160 miles of rock would shield their instruments from terrestrial radio interference. The 238,000-mile separation between lunar and terrestrial radio telescopes would enable Very Long Baseline Interferometry capable of detecting minute details of galaxies far beyond the Milky Way.
 
High-energy astrophysics and physics was SAI’s second lunar base discipline. The team noted that, because the moon offers “a large, flat area, a free vacuum, and a local source of refined material for magnets,” it might serve as the site for a large particle accelerator.
 
Lunar geology (which SAI called “selenology”) would obviously be better served by a lunar base than by a space station. SAI noted that, despite 13 successful U.S. robotic lunar missions and six successful Apollo landings, the moon had “barely been sampled and explored.” Lunar base selenological exploration would focus on “understanding better the early history and internal structure of the Moon” and “exploring for possible ore and volatile deposits.” Selenologists would rove far afield from the base to measure heat flow and magnetic properties, drill deep into the surface, deploy seismographs, and collect and analyze rock samples.
 
SAI’s fourth lunar discipline was resource utilization. The study team noted that samples returned to Earth by the Apollo astronauts contained 40% oxygen by weight, along with silicon, titanium, and other useful elements. Lunar oxygen could be used as oxidizer for chemical propulsion spacecraft traveling between Earth and moon and from LEO to geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). Silicon could be used to make solar cells. (SAI pointed out, however, that the two-week lunar night would make reliance on solar arrays for electricity “somewhat difficult.”) Raw lunar dirt – known as regolith – could serve as radiation shielding. If water ice were found at the lunar poles – perhaps by the automated lunar polar orbiter that SAI advised should precede the lunar base program – then the moon might supply hydrogen rocket fuel as well as oxidizer.
 
SAI’s fifth and final lunar base science discipline was systems development. The team expected that lunar base technology development would be “devoted to improving the efficiency and capabilities of systems that support the base,” such as life support, with the goal of “reduced reliance on supplies sent from Earth.” Transport system development might include research aimed at developing a linear electromagnetic launcher of the kind first proposed by Arthur C. Clarke in 1950. Such a device – often called a “mass driver” – might eventually launch bulk cargoes (for example, lunar regolith, liquid oxygen propellant, and refined ores) to sites around the Earth-moon system.
 
The team noted that some disciplines might be served equally well by a lunar base or an Earth-orbiting space station. Large (100-meter) telescopes for optical astronomy, for example, might be equally effective on the moon or in Earth orbit. The moon, however, would offer a stable, solid surface that might enable the “pointing stability and optical system coherence” necessary in such a telescope.
 
SAI acknowledged that its report proposed “research and development activities. . .too numerous and often too difficult for a first-generation lunar base.” It thus divided activities within the five lunar base disciplines into two categories: those suitable for its first-generation base and those that would need a more elaborate second-generation facility. First-generation radio astronomy, for example, would use two small dish antennas on Nearside (the lunar hemisphere facing Earth). In the second generation, a 100-meter-diameter antenna would operate on Farside.
 
Having defined its lunar base science program, the SAI team moved on to the second and third steps in its study. The team assumed that NASA’s Space Shuttle, which at the time they wrote had just completed its ninth flight (STS-9/Spacelab 1, Nov.-Dec. 8, 1983), and its LEO space station would form part of the lunar base transportation infrastructure. The Shuttle would cheaply and reliably deliver lunar base crews, spacecraft, and cargo to the space station, where they would be brought together for flight to the moon. SAI also proposed reapplying hardware developed for the LEO station to the lunar base program.
 
SAI’s lunar transportation system would include three different spacecraft. The first, the reusable Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV), would be a two-stage spacecraft permanently based at the LEO station. SAI assumed that NASA would develop OTVs for moving cargoes between the LEO station and higher orbits (for example, GEO), and that this basic OTV design would then be modified for lunar base use. The OTV, which would operate as a piloted spacecraft through addition of a pressurized “personnel pod,” would be capable of delivering up to 16,950 kilograms of crew and cargo to lunar orbit.
 
The three vehicle types would support two flight modes. One-way cargo missions would use Direct Descent. The OTV first stage would ignite and burn nearly all of its propellants, then would separate, turn around, and fire its engines to slow down and return to the LEO station for refurbishment. The OTV second stage would then ignite, burn most of its propellants, and separate from the Logistics Lander. The second stage would swing around the moon on a free-return trajectory, fall back to Earth, aerobrake in Earth’s atmosphere, and rendezvous with the LEO station. The Logistics Lander, meanwhile, would descend directly to the lunar base site with no stop in lunar orbit.
 
For two-way crew sorties, a personnel pod bearing up to four lunar base crewmembers and an OTV pilot would replace the Logistics Lander. The OTV first stage would operate as in the Direct Descent mode. After a three-day flight, the OTV second stage/personnel pod combination would capture into lunar orbit, where it would dock with a LEM carrying lunar base astronauts bound for Earth. They would trade places with the new base crew. In addition to the new crew, 12,750 kilograms of propellants (sufficient for a round trip from lunar orbit to the base and back again) and up to 2000 kilograms of cargo would be pumped from the OTV second stage/personnel pod to the LEM.
 
The OTV second stage/personnel pod and the LEM would then separate. The former would fires its engines to depart lunar orbit for Earth, and the latter would descend to a landing at the lunar base. The OTV second stage/personnel pod combination would aerobrake in Earth’s atmosphere and return to the LEO station for refurbishment.
 
SAI’s base buildup sequence would begin with a pair of Site Survey Mission flights. The first would see an unpiloted LEM with empty propellant tanks placed into lunar orbit through a variant of the crew sortie mode. An automated OTV second stage bearing the LEM in place of a personnel pod would enter lunar orbit, undock from the LEM, and return to Earth.
 
The second Site Survey Mission flight would employ another variant of the Crew Sortie mode. Five astronauts would arrive in lunar orbit in an OTV second stage/personnel pod and dock with the waiting LEM. The four astronauts of the base site survey team would transfer to the LEM along with propellants and supplies. They would then undock and land at the proposed base site, leaving the OTV pilot alone in lunar orbit. After completing their survey of the site, they would return to the OTV second stage/personnel pod, then would undock from the LEM and return to Earth orbit.
 
Assuming that the base site checked out as acceptable, Flight 3 would see the start of base deployment. A Logistics Lander would employ Direct Descent mode to deliver to the base site an Interface Module and a Power Plant. The Interface Module, which would be based on LEO space station hardware, would include a cylindrical airlock, a top-mounted observation bubble, and a cylindrical tunnel with ports for attaching other base modules. SAI’s proposed Power Plant was a nuclear source capable of generating 100 kilowatts of electricity.
 
Flight 4 would deliver two “mass mover” rovers, two 2000-kilogram mobile laboratory trailers, and a 1000-kilogram lunar resource utilization pilot plant. The rovers would tow the mobile labs up to 200 kilometers from the base on selenologic excursions lasting up to five days. The mobile labs would carry instruments for microscopic imaging, elemental and mineral analysis, and subsurface ice detection. They would also carry a radio sounder for exploring beneath the lunar surface, stereo cameras, and a soil auger or core tube for drilling up to two meters deep. The first-generation lunar resource utilization Pilot Plant would process 10,000 kilograms of regolith per year to yield oxygen, silicon, iron, aluminum, titanium, magnesium, and calcium.
 
Flight 5 would deliver the Laboratory Module, the first 14-foot-diameter, 40-foot-long cylindrical base module based on the pressurized module design used on the LEO station. Flight 6 would deliver the Habitat Module, which would provide living quarters for the seven-person base crew, and Flight 7 would deliver the Resources Module, which would include a pressurized control center and an unpressurized section containing water and oxygen tanks and life support, power conditioning, and thermal control equipment. The final base deployment flight, a duplicate of Flight 1, would deliver a backup LEM to lunar orbit.
 
Long-term occupation of the moon would begin with Flight 9, a crew sortie mission that would deliver a four-person construction team. A three-person construction team would join them on Flight 10, bringing the total base population to seven. The OTV pilots for these flights would return to Earth alone after the construction teams undocked and landed at the base in their respective LEMs.
 
Using the mass mover rovers, the base crew would unload the Logistics Landers and join together the base components. They would attach the Lab, Hab, and Resource Modules to the Interface Module, then would link the resource utilization pilot plant to the Lab Module. The Power Plant would be placed a safe distance away from the base and linked by a cable to the base power conditioning system. The crew would link the Power Plant and base thermal control system by hoses to a heat exchanger/heat sink, then would activate the Power Plant. Finally, the astronauts would use bulldozer scoops on the rovers to cover the pressurized modules with regolith radiation shielding. The completed base would provide seven astronauts with 2000 cubic feet of living space per person.
 
Flight 11, the first base crew rotation flight, would see the four-person construction team that arrived on Flight 9 lift off in a LEM and return to lunar orbit, where they would dock with an OTV second stage/personnel pod combination just arrived from Earth. The Flight 9 lunar base team would trade places with them and, following LEM refueling and cargo loading, would descend to a landing at the base. The first construction team and the Flight 11 OTV pilot would then return to the LEO station. On Flight 12, a three-person base team would replace the Flight 10 team.
 
Lunar base teams of three or four astronauts would rotate every two months. The typical base complement would include a commander/LEM pilot, an LEM pilot/mechanic, a technician/mechanic, a doctor/scientist, a geologist, a chemist, and a biologist/doctor, SAI wrote.
 
SAI then estimated the cost of its lunar base and three years of operations based on NASA’s cost estimates for the Space Shuttle and the LEO station. At the time SAI conducted its study, NASA placed the cost of its proposed LEO station at between $8 billion and $12 billion. This was an underestimation calculated to make the station more politically palatable. NASA placed the total cost of LEO station Logistics, Habitat, Laboratory, and Resource Modules and other structures at $7.1 billion, so SAI estimated the total cost of the lunar base Resource, Habitat, Laboratory, and Interface Modules at $5.8 billion.
 
Although the OTV would find uses in LEO and GEO, SAI charged all of its development and procurement costs (a total of $7.2 billion) to the lunar base. The expendable Logistics Lander and reusable LEM would cost $6.6 billion and $4.8 billion, respectively. The LEM, though structurally beefier and more complex, would cost less because the Logistics Lander would bear the development cost of systems common to both landers.
 
Based on optimistic NASA pricing, the SAI team assumed that a Shuttle flight would cost $110 million in 1990. The 89 Shuttle flights in the lunar base program would thus cost a total of $9.8 billion. The LEO station, by contrast, would need only 17 Shuttle flights at a cost of $1.9 billion. SAI placed total LEO station cost plus three years of operations at $14.2 billion. Lunar base cost plus three years of operations came to $54.8 billion.
 
To conclude its report, SAI noted that both the LEO station and the lunar base could be completed in about a decade. The LEO station would, however, serve a broader science user community and would provide an OTV base in LEO for eventual lunar base use. The SAI team argued that the LEO station was a reasonable near-term (for the next 10 years) objective, while the lunar base would yield obvious benefits in a long-term (50 years) space program. It added that the
 
Space Program will function best if it has both near-term objectives and long-range goals. The near-term objectives assure (sic) that we progress with each year that passes. The long-range goals provide direction for our annual progress. The Space Station and Lunar Base appear to serve these respective roles at the present

read The Case to Save the Shuttle
Thompson paper
Abbey Paper

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