Happy Flex Friday eve everyone.
| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- Joint Leadership Team Web Poll
- NASA TV to Air Expedition 39's Return from ISS
- Volunteers Needed for HERA Study - Organizations/Social
- Mark Your Calendars! AAPI Heritage Month 1st Event
- RSVPs Due Today for the May JSC NMA Luncheon
- SWAPRA Meeting on May 14 w/ Franklin Chang Diaz
- Open House: Employee Assistance Program
- Mental Health Disorders - Anxiety and Depression
- Space Serenity Al-Anon Meeting May 13
- Environmental Brown Bag: JSC's Wildlife
- Starport Zumba for Kids - Free Class May 23
- Starport Youth Karate Classes - Free Class May 24
- Latin Dance Introduction - Jobs and Training
- Pressure Systems Familiarization - Community
- Volunteers Needed - Houston Pride Parade
- Talk About Yourself (and Inspire Kids) |  |
| Headlines - Joint Leadership Team Web Poll
Mark Twain will be writing your memoirs and he'll be mentioning how much you are looking forward to the new 747 display at Space Center Houston. I think it's going to be way hippy. This week I'd like to hear about what you think your ideal office setup would be. Would you prefer old school four walls and a desktop, or new school no office with maximum mobility? This weekend we celebrate Mother's Day, and you're welcome for the reminder. If you had to pick a new mom (hypothetically), is there one on my list that would work for you? It's an eclectic mom collection, but which one would work the best for you? Mother your Teresa on over to get this week's poll. - NASA TV to Air Expedition 39's Return from ISS
Three crew members currently aboard the International Space Station are scheduled to end more than six months on the orbiting laboratory Tuesday, May 13 (U.S. time), and NASA TV will provide complete coverage of their return to Earth, from farewells to landing. Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA and Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) will undock their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft from the station at 5:33 p.m. CDT. The spacecraft will land southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan at 8:57 p.m. (7:57 a.m. May 14 local time in Dzhezkazgan). Their return will wrap up 188 days in space since launching from Kazakhstan Nov. 7. Under the command of NASA astronaut Steve Swanson, Expedition 40 formally will begin aboard the station when Expedition 39 undocks. Swanson and his crew mates, Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos, will operate the station as a three-person crew for two weeks until the arrival of three new crew members. Reid Wiseman of NASA, Max Suraev of Roscosmos and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency are scheduled to launch from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on May 28 (U.S. time). NASA TV coverage of Expedition 39's return to Earth will begin Monday, May 12, with the change of command ceremony in which Wakata will turn over command of station operations to Swanson. Coverage will continue Tuesday and Wednesday with Expedition 39 landing and post-landing activities. Monday, May 12:
2 p.m. -- Expedition 39/40 Change of Command Ceremony Tuesday, May 13:
2 p.m. -- Farewells and hatch closure (hatch closure scheduled at 2:15 p.m.)
5:15 p.m. -- Undocking (undocking scheduled at 5:33 p.m.)
7:45 p.m. -- Deorbit burn and landing (deorbit burn scheduled at 8:03 p.m. landing scheduled at 8:57 p.m.) 11 p.m. -- Video File of hatch closure, undocking and landing activities Wednesday, May 14:
11 a.m. -- Video File of post-landing activities and interviews with Mastracchio and Wakata in Kazakhstan (pending availability) First-time users will need to install the EZTV Monitor and Player client applications: - For those WITH admin rights (Elevated Privileges), you'll be prompted to download and install the clients when you first visit the IPTV website
- For those WITHOUT admin rights (Elevated Privileges), you can download the EZTV client applications from the ACES Software Refresh Portal (SRP)
If you are having problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367 or visit the FAQ site. For more information on the International Space Station, click here. JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111
[top] - Volunteers Needed for HERA Study
Test Subject Screening (TSS) needs volunteers for a seven- to nine-day study with overnight stays in the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) unit. Subjects will simulate a space exploration mission to evaluate impacts due to isolation, remoteness and confined habitation. Data collected will include evaluation of team cohesion, cognition, communication and affect, as well as sensorimotor assessments. Psychological, human factors and physiological impacts will be studied. Volunteers must pass a Category I physical; be 26 to 55 years old; have a BMI of 29 or less; be 74 inches or less; have no history of sleepwalking or use of sleep aids; and must have a high level of technical skills. Volunteers will be compensated. (Restrictions apply to NASA civil servants and some NASA contractors. Please contact your Human Resources department to determine your company's policy.) If interested, please contact both Linda Byrd, RN, at x37384, and Rori Yager, RN, at x37240 in TSS. Organizations/Social - Mark Your Calendars! AAPI Heritage Month 1st Event
The ASIA Employee Resource Group (ERG) would like to invite you to our first big event for Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, happening next week! Donna Fujimoto Cole, president and CEO of Cole Chemical, will be our keynote speaker for "Diversity and Leadership" on May 14 at 11:15 a.m. in the Building 30 Auditorium, followed by an exciting martial arts showcase from Bushi Ban. The second event, "A Glimpse of Asia," will take place on May 29 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Teague Auditorium lobby. The JSC community will be able to try delicacies from all over Asia while viewing photos and cultural exhibits, accompanied by a second showcase from Bushi Ban. The Hispanic ERG will also be contributing food, and the cultural exhibit will be a joint effort with Boeing's AAPA. If you would like to help organize these events or have questions, please contact Jennifer Turner. Event Date: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 Event Start Time:11:15 AM Event End Time:12:45 PM
Event Location: Building 30 Auditorium
Add to Calendar
Jennifer Turner x48162
[top] - RSVPs Due Today for the May JSC NMA Luncheon
The JSC National Management Association (NMA) invites you to a luncheon featuring Richard Allen, president of Space Center Houston, who will speak on the "Independence Shuttle SCA Exhibit" on May 14 at 11:30 a.m. in the Gilruth Alamo Ballroom. Date: May 14 Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (lunch) Location: Gilruth Alamo Ballroom Speaker: Richard Allen, president of Space Center Houston Topic: Independence Shuttle SCA Exhibit Cost for members: FREE Cost for non-members: $20 Menu Selections: - Chicken picatta
- Almond-crusted salmon
- Cheese-stuffed pasta shells with artichoke
Dessert: cake RSVPs are required by 3 p.m. TODAY, May 8, so don't delay. RSVP now! - SWAPRA Meeting on May 14 w/ Franklin Chang Diaz
On Wednesday, May 14, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., the South Western Aerospace Professional Representatives Association (SWAPRA) is very pleased to be hosting Dr. Franklin Chang Diaz, former astronaut and founder of the Ad Astra Rocket Company. Chang Diaz is a veteran of seven space shuttle flights and a member of the Astronaut Hall of Fame. He also earned a doctorate in plasma physics from MIT. Chang Diaz will be speaking on the VASMIR rocket engine as a transformative and game-changing technology. The SWAPRA event will be held at the Bay Oaks Country Club (BOCC) in Clear Lake. The BOCC luncheon cost for non-members is $35 at the door, or $25 with pre-paid RSVPs by Monday, May 12. Contact David L. Brown at 281-483-7426 or via email to RSVP or get more information, or RSVP directly to Chris Elkins at 281-276-2792 or via e-mail. Event Date: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 Event Start Time:11:30 AM Event End Time:1:00 PM
Event Location: Bay Oaks Country Club
Add to Calendar
David L. Brown x37426
[top] - Open House: Employee Assistance Program
In observance of Mental Health Awareness Month, the JSC Employee Assistance Program is holding an Open House in our new location, Building 45, Suite 110J, on Friday, May 16, from 1 to 4 p.m. Please come meet the staff, see our new offices, pick up information on a variety of mental health and wellness topics and enjoy light refreshments. - Mental Health Disorders - Anxiety and Depression
In observance of Mental Health Awareness Month, please join Takis Bogdanos, LPC-S, CEAP, with the JSC Employee Assistance Program, for a presentation on anxiety disorders and clinical depression as part of the psycho-educational series: "Mental Health Disorders, Causes and Treatment." He will be discussing causes, prevalence, symptoms and impact in everyday life, as well as the latest treatments being implemented. Additionally, the Employee Assistance Program has set up three dates and times to provide free, five-minute short screenings for anxiety and depression. The screenings will be held in the Employee Assistance Program offices in Building 45, Room 110, at the following dates/times: - Tuesday, May 13, from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, May 14, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Thursday, May 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Space Serenity Al-Anon Meeting May 13
"Progress, not perfection" reminds Al-Anon members to look to the positive side of incremental improvements and change. Our 12-step meeting is for co-workers, families and friends of those who work or live with the family disease of alcoholism. We will meet Tuesday, May 13, in Building 32, Room 135, from 12 to 12:45 p.m. Visitors are welcome. - Environmental Brown Bag: JSC's Wildlife
Meet JSC's resident wildlife expert, Matt Strausser, and hear him talk about some of the fascinating aspects of his job at JSC. He'll discuss the varied wildlife at JSC, how they interact with employees and what we do when we'd rather not have such interaction (skunks!). Would you like to find out about JSC's efforts to prevent deadly bird strikes at Building 4? He'll also give advice on how to handle wildlife at your home. There will be vibrant pictures and captivating stories. Bring your questions, but please leave your raccoons at home. Come to Building 45, Room 751, on Tuesday, May 13, from noon to 1 p.m. - Starport Zumba for Kids - Free Class May 23
Zumba for Kids is back by popular demand! This program is designed exclusively for kids. Zumba for Kids classes are rockin', high-energy fitness parties packed with specially choreographed, kid-friendly routines. This dance-fitness workout for kids ages 5 to 10 will be set to hip-hop, salsa, reggaeton and more. TRY A FREE CLASS ON MAY 23! Please call the Gilruth Center front desk to sign your child up for the free class (only 25 available spots). Five-week session: May 30 to June 28 Fridays: 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. Ages: 5 to 10 Cost: $55 Register online or at the Gilruth Center. - Starport Youth Karate Classes - Free Class May 24
Let Starport introduce your child to the exciting art of Youth Karate. Youth Karate will teach your child the skills of self-defense, self-discipline and self-confidence. The class will also focus on leadership, healthy competition and sportsmanship. TRY A FREE CLASS ON MAY 24! Please call the Gilruth Center front desk to sign your child up for the free class (only 25 available spots). Five-week session: May 31 to June 28 Saturdays: 10 to 10:45 a.m. Ages: 6 to 12 Cost: $75 | $20 drop-in rate Register online or at the Gilruth Center. - Latin Dance Introduction
Latin Dance Introduction: June 13 from 8 to 9 p.m. This class is mostly an introduction to Salsa, but it also touches on other popular Latin dances found in social settings: Merengue, Bachata, and even a little bit of Cha-Cha-Cha. Emphasis is on Salsa and then Bachata. For the first-time student or those who want a refresher course. You will go over basic steps with variations and build them into sequences. Discounted registration: - $40 per person (ends May 30)
Regular registration: - $50 per person (May 31 to June13)
Salsa Intermediate: June 13 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. This class continues teaching Salsa beyond what is taught in the introduction class. You should be comfortable and confident with the material from the introduction class before moving on to the intermediate class. This is a multi-level class where students may be broken up into groups based on class experience. Jobs and Training - Pressure Systems Familiarization
This course gives the student an overview of NASA policy, center policy and center requirements for Pressure System Certification. The five JSC categories of certified systems are presented. The roles of pressure and pressure systems are defined as well. - ASME boiler and pressure vessel codes
- ASME B31 pressure piping codes
- ASME performance test codes
- National Board Inspection Code (ANSI/NB-23)
- Code of Federal Regulations Title 49
Date/Time: May 14 from 8 a.m. to noon Where: Safety Learning Center - Building 20, Room 205/206 Registration via SATERN required: Community - Volunteers Needed - Houston Pride Parade
The 35th annual Pride Parade and Festival is June 28 in the Montrose area of Houston. The Out & Allied @ JSC Employee Resource Group (ERG) will walk behind a banner that identifies us as protected federal employees of NASA. Gather by 7 p.m. for the parade. We invite all supporters to come out and walk. Last year, more than 400,000 people attended the festival/parade, providing an incredible opportunity to reach the public by showcasing NASA as an inclusive and supportive place to work. To all interested in participating, please contact Robert Blake, Kim Reppa and Roger Galpin for meeting arrangements. Sign up to walk in the parade and order mandatory glow sticks/optional parade items via this link by May 16. To volunteer to support the Festival NASA Booth on June 28 between noon and 7 p.m., please sign up in V-CORPS under "Houston Pride Festival." See you there! - Talk About Yourself (and Inspire Kids)
Sure, maybe aerospace is your favorite subject, but can you spare some time to talk about a topic near and dear that you are also an expert in? As in … talk about yourself? You see, schools are looking to wrap up their academic year with a focus on careers. We need YOU to talk about YOUR career—how you got here, what you do and what it takes to be part of the JSC family—to an audience ranging from kindergarten to high school students. There's more than just one opportunity, so look at the V-CORPs calendar for May and June to see when it's convenient for you to inspire the youth of today. May 16 - Jennie Reid Elementary School May 21 - Lomax Middle School May 22 - Stehlik Intermediate School May 28 - Dunn Elementary School May 30 - Jewell Houston Academy May 30 - Barbers Hill Middle School | |
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| JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. Disclaimer: Accuracy and content of these notes are the responsibility of the submitters. |
NASA and Human Spaceflight News
Thursday – May 8, 2014
HEADLINES AND LEADS
NASA Now Streaming Live HD Camera Views of Earth from Space (Video)
Daydreaming about being an astronaut just got a whole lot easier.
NASA Budget Bill Would Boost Commercial Crew, Keep SOFIA Flying, Kill Hosted Climate Instrument
Dan Leone – Space News
A report accompanying the roughly $17.9 billion NASA budget the House Appropriations Committee is set to vote on May 8 shows the bill would set a new high-water mark for commercial crew funding, nix NASA's plan to get a climate sensor to space as a commercially hosted payload, and continue funding a telescope-equipped 747 the White House has proposed grounding.
U.S. House Spending Panel Favors Planetary Science at NASA
Eric Hand - Science Insider
NASA science programs—and in particular planetary science programs—would receive a funding boost under a proposed House of Representatives spending bill for fiscal year 2015. The measure would also block a White House proposal to shut down an airborne telescope and give NASA enough money to avoid having to shut down any of its aging planetary explorers.
Sequestration's shocking job toll: One measly bureaucrat in entire government
Stephen Dinan – The Washington Times
Only one employee in the entire federal government lost a job due to sequestration, according to a government audit that found the only permanent cut came at the U.S. Parole Commission, which eliminated one position.
CJS report offers more details on proposed NASA spending
Jeff Foust – Space Politics
In advance of Thursday morning's markup of the Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) appropriations bill by the full House Appropriations Committee, the committee released the report accompanying the bill, which offers more details on the spending levels for NASA and other agencies in the bill. First, an updated version of the table comparing the President's budget request (PBR) for fiscal year 2015 with the spending levels in the bill:
NASA to Fund 26 Proposals for Investigating Astronaut Health in Deep Space Environments
David J. Barton – ExecutiveGov
NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute are funding 26 proposals that intend to research the effects of future deep space exploration missions on astronauts, NASA said Tuesday.
See the universe form before your eyes: Most accurate re-creation yet
Deborah Netburn – Los Angeles Times
Researchers at MIT and Harvard have created the most accurate model yet of how our universe formed, and you can watch it right here in the beautiful, trippy video below.
Mars excavation yields unexpected color
Drilling in a new location, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has extracted an intriguingly un-Martian pile of steely grey dust, which it is now analyzing for evidence of a more watery planetary past.
Fabien Tepper – The Christian Science Monitor
NASA's Curiosity rover has extracted its third sample of Martian dust, this time from a windswept patch of rockscape that geologists hope will divulge new insights into the Red Planet's past. News of the successful drilling arrived on Earth Tuesday, via a Mars-orbiting satellite that keeps in touch with the rover.
The 10-man Raleigh startup that NASA hopes will power spaceships
Lauren K. Ohnesorge - Triangle (NC) Business Journal
Fresh off its selection as one of 18 companies selected for a Barack Obama- announced energy consortium, 10-man startup GridBridge has its eyes on the skies – having inked a new deal with NASA.
Russian Rocket Ban in Boeing-Lockheed Suit Fought by U.S
Andrew Zajac – Bloomberg News
The U.S. asked a federal judge to lift an order temporarily blocking a Boeing Co.-Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) venture from buying Russian-made rocket engines for the Air Force, saying the purchases don't violate sanctions imposed after Russia's takeover of Crimea.
Amid SpaceX Protest, USAF Defends Sole-Source EELV Strategy
Amy Butler – Aviation Week
The U.S. Air Force is defending is sole-source buy of launches from the United Launch Alliance (ULA) as a "good deal" for the taxpayer amid a lawsuit from upstart Space Exploration Technologies, who claims to have been unfairly excluded from competing and potentially providing a better price.
US government asks court to lift ban on Russian rocket engine purchases
ITAR-TASS
US Government and United Launch Alliance (ULA) requested the Court of Federal Claims on Wednesday to lift its temporary ban on purchasing Russian-designed rocket engines RD-180 for the US Atlas V launch systems.
Russia Plans to Colonize Moon by 2030, Newspaper Reports
Anna Dolgov – The Moscow Times
Russia is planning to put a manned colony on the Moon as soon as in 2030, and is racing to dispatch the first robotic rovers to explore the lunar surface two years from now, a media report says.
SpaceX update: Launch set for Saturday; US seeks halt to Russian engine injuction
Joseph Abbott – Waco (TX) Tribune- Herald
In the fastest time between its launches yet, SpaceX is targeting Saturday for the launch from Florida of six satellites designed for machine to machine communication, just 22 days after it launched its Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station.
Bill H. Dana, NASA Pilot Who Outflew Bullets, Dies at 83
Paul Vitello – The New York Times
Bill H. Dana, a NASA research pilot who flew the X-15 rocket plane at record supersonic speeds and tested many of the most innovative and dangerous aircraft ever developed, died on Tuesday in Phoenix. He was 83.
COMPLETE STORIES
NASA Now Streaming Live HD Camera Views of Earth from Space (Video)
Daydreaming about being an astronaut just got a whole lot easier.
NASA is now live-streaming views of Earth from space captured by four commercial high-definition video cameras that were installed on the exterior of the International Space Station last month. The project, known as the High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment, aims to test how cameras perform in the space environment. You can see the live HD views of Earth from space here.
"The cameras are enclosed in a temperature-specific housing and are exposed to the harsh radiation of space," NASA officials write in an online description of the HDEV experiment. "Analysis of the effect of space on the video quality, over the time HDEV is operational, may help engineers decide which cameras are the best types to use on future missions.
Some of the cameras' components were designed by high school students as part of the High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware, according to a NASA description of the experiment. The students are also operating the experiment.
You can follow NASA's stream directly here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iss-hdev-payload. If the screen is black, don't worry — the space station is likely just on Earth's night side. (The station completes one orbit every 90 minutes, so you won't have to wait too long for our gorgeous planet to roll into view once again.)
The HDEV gear arrived at the orbiting lab aboard SpaceX's robotic Dragon capsule, which blasted off on its third contracted cargo mission on April 18. (SpaceX holds a $1.6 billion deal with NASA to make 12 such resupply flights.) Astronauts then installed the cameras on the space station, and they became operational on April 30.
HDEV isn't the only Earth-imaging project aboard on the International Space Station.
The Vancouver-based company UrtheCast (pronounced "Earthcast") has two HD cameras on the orbiting lab. One of them, known as Theia, takes pictures with a resolution of 16.5 feet (5 meters), while the other camera records video that can resolve details as small as 3 feet (1 m) across.
These two cameras, which together cost $17 million, were installed by spacewalking cosmonauts in January. UrtheCast released the first images from Theia last month and plans to begin streaming near-realtime views of Earth from orbit soon, bringing lots of viewers to their website.
UrtheCast also aims to sell its imagery to a variety of customers, including government agencies interested in tracking resource use and private companies that want to keep tabs on their operations (and perhaps the operations of their competitors).
This story was updated on May 8 to include details on the student participation in the HD Earth Viewing experiment.
NASA Budget Bill Would Boost Commercial Crew, Keep SOFIA Flying, Kill Hosted Climate Instrument
Dan Leone – Space News
A report accompanying the roughly $17.9 billion NASA budget the House Appropriations Committee is set to vote on May 8 shows the bill would set a new high-water mark for commercial crew funding, nix NASA's plan to get a climate sensor to space as a commercially hosted payload, and continue funding a telescope-equipped 747 the White House has proposed grounding.
The report, released May 7 to explain in greater detail the $52.1 billion spending bill the House Appropriations commerce, justice, science subcommittee approved April 29, would also prescribe new spending restrictions for a proposed mission to send humans to an asteroid by 2025. Report language, unlike bill language, does not carry the force of law, but agencies usually comply with such provisions in order to maintain good relations with appropriators.
According to the report, the 2015 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) appropriations bill would give NASA's Commercial Crew Program $785 million for 2015. While that is about 7.5 percent below what the Obama administration is requesting for its signature human spaceflight program, it is nearly 13 percent above the 2014 appropriation, the program's current high-water mark.
The Commercial Crew Program seeks to yield by late 2017 a commercially designed, crewed space system to replace the Russian Soyuz spacecraft as NASA's means of sending astronauts to the international space station. NASA has been paying Russia up to $70 million per seat for astronaut round trips on Soyuz since the space shuttle fleet was retired from service in 2011.
House appropriators, in their report, also take aim at another White House favorite, the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). ARM, unveiled in April 2013, would use a small robotic spacecraft to nudge a boulder-sized space rock into a lunar storage orbit where astronauts could visit it by 2025 using the congressionally mandated Space Launch System and Orion crew capsule NASA is spending roughly $3 billion a year to develop.
The report says NASA should stop spending money on ARM-related technologies, unless they "are also applicable to other current NASA programs, clearly extensible to other potential future exploration missions, such as to the Moon, [Mars' moons] Phobos/Deimos or Mars, or have broad applicability to other future non-exploration activities, such as in-space robotic servicing."
This may not slow the agency down much; NASA has claimed all along that ARM will use technology such as high-power solar electric propulsion that is required for a horde of other space missions, including humans to Mars. However, the report language might skew the competition between the two asteroid retrieval spacecraft concepts NASA is set to choose between this year by effectively banning development of one of them.
The possibly troubled concept is one proposed by engineers at the California Institute of Technology as part of the 2012 paper NASA used as the blueprint for ARM. Engineers at the school, which manages NASA's Pasadena, California-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory, called for developing an inflatable bag to envelop a target asteroid and tractor it to a lunar storage orbit. NASA has not publicly discussed any other use for this bag.
On the other hand, a competing asteroid retrieval spacecraft concept proposed by engineers at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, would use robotics tools derived from a Goddard-built set already flying aboard the international space station as part of an active satellite-servicing demonstration project.
NASA has not formally committed to doing ARM at all, but estimates the asteroid retrieval portion — which excludes launch costs and the price of the follow-on crewed expedition with SLS and Orion — would cost about $1.25 billion.
Meanwhile, the CJS spending bill would provide $70 million in 2015 for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, an infrared telescope-equipped Boeing 747 jetliner operated by NASA and the German Aerospace Center, DLR, in an 80-20 partnership that has NASA paying the bulk of mission costs. The White House proposed grounding the observatory in the budget request it sent Congress in March, asking only $12 million in 2015 for closeout costs.
In the report released May 7, House appropriators said they did not accept NASA's "request" to terminate the international flying telescope and directed the agency to keep looking for someone to pay its bills. DLR has already said it is not interested in becoming the primary operating partner on the mission. NASA was planning to put the observatory into storage by Sept. 30, 2015, according to NASA Astrophysics Director Paul Hertz.
On the Earth science side of things, the proposed spending bill would alter NASA's plans to begin making a series of climate measurements transferred to it in January from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The CJS bill "does not include funds requested for the procurement of the Total Solar Irradiance Sensor 2," according to the report. That would put a dead stop to NASA's plan to fly the sensor to geostationary orbit as a hosted payload aboard a commercial communications satellite.
NASA has not identified a host satellite for the yet-unbuilt Total Solar Irradiance Sensor 2, but agency Earth Science Division Director Michael Freilich said last year the instrument was to be delivered to its host by Sept. 30, 2019.
The reason NASA was planning a commercially hosted Total Solar Irradiance Sensor 2 is because the agency was given responsibility in January as part of the $1.1 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2014 (H.R. 3547), for a series of climate measurements historically gathered by NOAA, and which would have been performed entirely by the Joint Polar Satellite System series of spacecraft that will begin launching in 2017, and by the Suomi NPP satellite that launched in 2011.
NASA had planned to fulfill its new climate obligations by launching a series of instruments including the commercially hosted solar irradiance package and the planned Radiation Budget Instrument, which would have been carried to space aboard NOAA's Joint Polar Satellite System-2 in 2021. A predecessor instrument, the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System, will be launched aboard the Joint Polar Satellite System-1 in 2017.
However, the CJS bill now before the House Appropriations Committee would direct NASA to prepare for the possibility that the Radiation Budget Instrument might not be permitted aboard a NOAA satellite. Appropriators say they are concerned that putting the Radiation Budget Instrument aboard the Joint Polar Satellite System-2 spacecraft could introduce risk into the program, delay its launch and create a gap in U.S. weather coverage from the polar orbit.
Reducing the possibility for such a gap was the reason Congress and the White House transferred climate measurements from NASA to NOAA in the first place.
House appropriators are seeking to direct NOAA to report, within 60 days of their CJS bill becoming law, on whether including the NASA-developed Radiation Budget Instrument on the Joint Polar Satellite System-2 spacecraft is unduly risky. If NOAA determines it is, NASA would then have to stop work on the instrument altogether until it figures out another way to launch it, and reports the cost of that plan to Congress.
U.S. House Spending Panel Favors Planetary Science at NASA
Eric Hand - Science Insider
NASA science programs—and in particular planetary science programs—would receive a funding boost under a proposed House of Representatives spending bill for fiscal year 2015. The measure would also block a White House proposal to shut down an airborne telescope and give NASA enough money to avoid having to shut down any of its aging planetary explorers.
The draft bill, released today and scheduled to be voted on Thursday by the full Committee on Appropriations, would bump NASA's science directorate to $5.2 billion in the fiscal year that begins 1 October. That is a roughly 1%, or $220 million, jump over President Barack Obama's request released in March.
NASA's Planetary Science Division would receive $1.45 billion of the total—enough, the panel writes in a report accompanying the bill, to ensure the "extension of all healthy operating missions that continue to generate good scientific output." That language is reassuring for planetary scientists, who have been worried that tight spending caps will force the agency to end one or more of six operating missions that still have life in them. The White House had essentially proposed defunding two of the missions—the Opportunity Mars rover and the 5-year-old Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter—in its request.
The restoration is "a good opening salvo that many in the planetary community support," says Jim Bell, president of the Planetary Society, an advocacy organization based in Pasadena, California, and a planetary scientist at Arizona State University, Tempe.
Within the science division's astrophysics budget, the House would also rescue the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint mission between NASA and the DLR, Germany's space agency. SOFIA, an infrared telescope that rides in the back of a modified jumbo jet, holds appeal to both astronomers and planetary scientists, but its large operating expenses and long history of problems and delays had made it prime target for budget cutters. In the president's request, NASA had called for cuts that would effectively ground the mission. But the House would provide $70 million for SOFIA.
Reinstating SOFIA would renew other governments' faith that NASA can maintain its share of international partnerships, says Bell, noting that planetary scientists are still smarting from NASA's departure from the European ExoMars mission, a planned rover. "SOFIA is a unique resource," he says. "The last thing we need is yet another disappointment for our international partners."
Within NASA's human exploration division, the committee has questions and concerns about the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM)—a planned deep space mission to visit an asteroid and bring it closer to Earth. It's not clear, the panel says in its report, whether ARM represents an important steppingstone en route to the human exploration of Mars. "A lot of support for ARM has been conditional on understanding more about what it's going to cost," Bell says. "I'm waiting to see more details come out. It seems that Congress is as well."
The spending bill is likely to be approved by the committee tomorrow and will then go to the full House. The Senate is just beginning its parallel appropriations process. Many observers expect that final spending levels won't be decided by Congress until after elections in November.
Sequestration's shocking job toll: One measly bureaucrat in entire government
Stephen Dinan – The Washington Times
Only one employee in the entire federal government lost a job due to sequestration, according to a government audit that found the only permanent cut came at the U.S. Parole Commission, which eliminated one position.
Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, said Wednesday that the audit — performed by the Government Accountability Office and released last month — shows that the worries over sequestration's impact on jobs was overblown.
"Despite relentless warnings about the dire consequences of sequestration's budget cuts, it appears sequestration resulted in only one layoff," he said. "While that's good news for federal employees and other workers, it is devastating to the credibility of Washington politicians and administration officials who spent months — and millions of dollars — engaging in a coordinated multi-agency cabinet-level public relations campaign to scare the American people."
A year ago at this time, sequestration was a major part of the political conversation in Washington. The cuts, which kicked in March 1, 2013, reduced spending at nearly every federal department and agency and President Obama and Democrats on Capitol Hill warned of devastating impacts on government services, and a major dent to the economy.
Congress blunted some of the impacts, passing legislation to keep air traffic controllers and meat plant inspectors on the job, but most agencies ended up coping with the cuts, which ran as high as 7 percent.
The White House famously closed itself to public tours, while other agencies took deeper actions.
Seven departments or agencies did furlough employees, but even that was less than a third of government agencies and departments surveyed by the GAO. Instead, those 15 departments and agencies that didn't furlough employees ended up using leftover savings or cutting other programs.
"NASA slowed down development of the program that will allow the U.S. to stop relying on Russia for trips to the International Space Station. At the same time, NASA — like most agencies — did not furlough any employees," Mr. Coburn wrote in a letter to the White House budget office.
He asked Director Sylvia Burwell to explain why some programs were cut, but federal employees were spared.
The budget office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.
According to the GAO, nearly every agency or department affected by sequestration canceled or limited bonuses, cut travel and training, and limited overtime.
Nearly half of agencies and departments offered employees early retirement or bonus payments to get them to leave early. But most managed to avoid furloughing or cutting jobs altogether.
CJS report offers more details on proposed NASA spending
Jeff Foust – Space Politics
In advance of Thursday morning's markup of the Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) appropriations bill by the full House Appropriations Committee, the committee released the report accompanying the bill, which offers more details on the spending levels for NASA and other agencies in the bill. First, an updated version of the table comparing the President's budget request (PBR) for fiscal year 2015 with the spending levels in the bill:
| Account | FY15 PBR | House CJS Draft | PBR-House Diff |
| SCIENCE | $4,972.0 | $5,193.0 | $221.0 |
| - Earth Science | $1,770.3 | $1,750.0 | -$20.3 |
| - Planetary Science | $1,280.3 | $1,450.0 | $169.7 |
| - Astrophysics | $607.3 | $680.0 | $72.7 |
| - JWST | $645.4 | $645.0 | -$0.4 |
| - Heliophysics | $668.9 | $668.0 | -$0.9 |
| SPACE TECHNOLOGY | $705.5 | $620.0 | -$85.5 |
| AERONAUTICS | $551.1 | $666.0 | $114.9 |
| EXPLORATION SYSTEMS | $3,976.0 | $4,167.0 | $191.0 |
| - SLS/Orion | $2,784.4 | $3,055.0 | $270.6 |
| - Commercial Spaceflight | $848.3 | $785.0 | -$63.3 |
| - Exploration R&D | $343.4 | $327.0 | -$16.4 |
| SPACE OPERATIONS | $3,905.4 | $3,885.0 | -$20.4 |
| - ISS | $3,050.8 | $3,040.0 | -$10.8 |
| - Space and Flight Support | $854.6 | $845.0 | -$9.6 |
| EDUCATION | $88.9 | $106.0 | $17.1 |
| CROSS AGENCY SUPPORT | $2,778.6 | $2,779.0 | $0.4 |
| CONSTRUCTION | $446.1 | $446.0 | -$0.1 |
| INSPECTOR GENERAL | $37.0 | $34.0 | -$3.0 |
| TOTAL | $17,460.6 | $17,896.0 | $435.4 |
What attracted the most attention was the funding for planetary science: $1.45 billion, an increase of nearly $170 million over the administration's request. "NASA's request for Planetary Science once again represents a substantial decrease below appropriated levels and would have a negative impact on both planned and existing missions," the report states. The report calls on NASA, which is ramping up plans to issue an announcement of opportunity (AO) for its Discovery program of low-cost planetary science missions later this year, to plan to release another Discovery AO during fiscal year 2016.
The committee is also skeptical of NASA's interest in a lower-cost (no more than $1 billion) Europa mission, for which NASA issued a request for information (RFI) last week. "[T]he Committee has not seen any credible evidence that such a cost cap is feasible and directs NASA not to use further project resources in pursuit of such an unlikely outcome," the report states.
That proposed increase was warmly welcomed by The Planetary Society, which has been lobbying in Washington this week for more planetary science funding. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a member of the CJS appropriations subcommittee, also praised the increase in a statement. "With this funding increase, we will be able to keep Mars 2020 on track and begin an exciting new mission to Europa, two of the science community's highest priorities," he said. "We should also be able to continue the operation of craft that have exceeded their estimated lives but continue to produce valuable science," a reference to the pending senior review of ongoing planetary science missions, including Cassini and Curiosity.
In astrophysics, the bill provides $70 million to the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), an airborne observatory that the administration sharply cut in its FY15 proposal, threatening to put the aircraft into mothballs. The $70 million provided is less than the $84.4 million SOFIA received for FY14, but the committee said in the report that the funding it offers should be enough to support its fixed costs and "a base level of scientific observations" while allowing NASA to continue seeking new partners to fill in the rest.
Elsewhere in the NASA section of the report, the committee criticized NASA for "requesting arbitrarily reduced funding levels" for the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket, resulting in "an inefficient flat-line budget profile." The committee rectifies this by funding SLS at the same level as the final FY14 appropriations bill: also a flat line, but at a higher level.
The committee continued its skepticism of NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) plans, arguing that it "still has outstanding questions and concerns about the ARM's costs and feasibility, as well as its strategic relevance and potential to generate external support from the public and international collaborators." The bill directs NASA to spend money appropriated for ARM only "on those portions of the ARM mission that are also applicable to other current NASA programs, clearly extensible to other potential future exploration missions, such as to the Moon, Phobos/Deimos or Mars, or have broad applicability to other future non-exploration activities, such as in-space robotic servicing." In a provision similar to one in the NASA authorization bill recently passed by the House Science Committee, the report calls for a study of the "Mars Flyby 2021″ concept for the EM-2 mission, currently the first crewed SLS/Orion flight.
The bill would provide commercial crew with $785 million, less than 10% below the administration's request of $848 million. That generosity, though, comes with conditions, notably, a call for NASA to select only a single company in the next round of the competition, Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap), for which NASA is now evaluating proposals with a selection due in August. "The Committee believes that this recommendation strikes the appropriate balance between support for the program's underlying goal and caution against management approaches that many in the Congress do not endorse," the report states, also pressing NASA to "incentivize further private investment in the program" and provide the committee with the prices the companies would charge NASA for ferrying astronauts to and from the station once the contract selection blackout ends.
NASA to Fund 26 Proposals for Investigating Astronaut Health in Deep Space Environments
David J. Barton – ExecutiveGov
NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute are funding 26 proposals that intend to research the effects of future deep space exploration missions on astronauts, NASA said Tuesday.
The proposals for research come from 16 different institutions that will receive a total of $17 million in funding over a one to three year period from NASA's Human Research Program and NSBRI.
The projects were chosen from 123 proposals that were submitted in response to the Research and Technology Development to Support Crew Health and Performance in Space Exploration Missions announcement.
The projects will focus on visual impairment, behavioral health, bone loss, cardiovascular alterations, human factors and performance, neurobehavioral and psychosocial factors and sensorimotor adaptation of astronauts in space.
The projects are also intended to find ways of minimizing health risks to astronauts by developing medical systems and technology.
Click Here, to see the full list of investigative teams that were picked for the joint research program. They represent eight different states.
See the universe form before your eyes: Most accurate re-creation yet
Deborah Netburn – Los Angeles Times
Researchers at MIT and Harvard have created the most accurate model yet of how our universe formed, and you can watch it right here in the beautiful, trippy video below.
"Watching the video is like flying through the universe way faster than the speed of light and watching galaxies as they are assembling," said Paul Torrey, an astronomy graduate student at Harvard who helped develop the model known as the Illustris simulation.
Illustris is significant not just because it looks cool, but also because it is the first model to accurately predict the gas and metal content we see in the universe, as well as the variety of different types of galaxies we observe through our telescopes. It is so accurate, in fact, that a mock observation of galaxies from the Illustris model could pass for an image taken by the Hubble Ultra Deep Field Space Telescope. (See for yourself in a side-by-side comparison.)
To create the simulation the researchers considered the laws of physics, of course, but also how stars evolve, how gases cool, the explosive energy of supernovae, how heavy chemical elements get produced and the way gas accretes around super-massive black holes.
The model is so complex that it would take a regular desktop computer 2,000 years just to run the simulation once. To create the simulation you see above, the researchers used two super-computers -- one in France, the other in Germany.
At the start of the video you will see blue ephemera start to clump together and form a web-like structure. This is the cosmic web--a network of dark matter, drawn together by gravity. The pink areas are where the dark matter is the most dense.
As time goes on, the view switches from the blue and pinks of dark matter to the greens, reds and whites of the gas field. At about 4.9 billion years after the big bang you will start to see what look like explosions. This is feedback from super-massive black holes that scientists believe are at the center of nearly all the nearby galaxies.
"Black holes do swallow material, but when they are doing that they also release a lot of energy that can lead to large-scale outflows," said Torrey. "The presence of these black holes substantially alters galaxy formation."
The simulation does not start until 12 million years after the big bang, because before then the universe didn't have any structure to see, explained Torrey. And it spins so that viewers can get a better sense of the 3-D nature of the model.
The Illustris model is not an exact replica of the universe. It is smaller, for one--about 350 million light-years across. And though the 40,000 galaxies it created share the same properties as the ones in our universe, they are not in the exact same places as the galaxies we see in our telescopes.
The video at the top of this post is just one way of representing the data from the Illustris simulation. If you want to dig deeper, check out the website created by the Illustris team that gives both professional astronomers and curious lay people more access to the Illustris model. Especially fun is the Illustris explorer, which lets you zoom in on different parts of this mock universe.
"Our work here has only just begun," said Torrey. "Now that we have this model, our job is to understand it in as much detail as possible."
Mars excavation yields unexpected color
Drilling in a new location, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has extracted an intriguingly un-Martian pile of steely grey dust, which it is now analyzing for evidence of a more watery planetary past.
Fabien Tepper – The Christian Science Monitor
NASA's Curiosity rover has extracted its third sample of Martian dust, this time from a windswept patch of rockscape that geologists hope will divulge new insights into the Red Planet's past. News of the successful drilling arrived on Earth Tuesday, via a Mars-orbiting satellite that keeps in touch with the rover.
"Sample on board! Drilling complete on my 1st sandstone target, analysis underway," chirped Curiosity's Earthly Twitter feed on Tuesday afternoon.
After drilling a two-and-a-half inch hole into the surface of a flat rock dubbed "Windjana," the vehicle's external drilling apparatus passed the dust into its on-board laboratory, which uses X-ray powder diffraction, spectrometry, and gas chromatography to analyze the samples' elemental composition, mineral content, and possible organic materials.
The two previous samples, drilled last year at a location called Yellowknife Bay, yielded evidence of clay minerals containing water – not quite proof that Mars can nurture life, but tantalizing encouragement to keep looking. The rover set up camp on April 2 at its current location, in a windy formation known as "the Kimberly."
Even before seeing lab results for this new sample, which drew a pile of steely-grey powder out of a rock whose surface is a rustier, more familiarly Martian color, NASA scientists are enthusiastic that it could yield new information.
"The drill tailings from this rock are darker-toned and less red than we saw at the two previous drill sites," said Jim Bell of Arizona State University, Tempe, deputy principal investigator for Curiosity's Mastcam, in a NASA press release. "This suggests that the detailed chemical and mineral analysis that will be coming from Curiosity's other instruments could reveal different materials than we've seen before. We can't wait to find out!"
In Mars' current climate, surface temperatures rarely rise above freezing, making the discovery of liquid water unlikely yet possible. But the planet's potentially warmer and wetter past remains a mystery, which Curiosity was sent to crack. None of the three extractions it has conducted thus far were part of mission's original plan – they have all been inquisitive detours along the path to its ultimate destination, Mount Sharp.
The wide mountain, which is taller and broader than Mount Ranier, looms on the horizon relative to Curiosity's current position in the Kimberly. NASA geologists hope that its layered formations will yield exciting information about Mars' past, and its ability – or not – to support the kind of microbial life forms from which Earthly life evolved.
"Think Grand Canyon, only a bigger stack of layered rocks," Joy Crisp, the Curiosity mission's Deputy Project Scientist, told The Monitor last week, when the rover arrived at Windjana. "We felt compelled to want to go there with our rover, to really figure out what that is telling us, what were those conditions. Was water around? Was it warm or cold? Was it acidic or not? Was it favorable for life?"
The 10-man Raleigh startup that NASA hopes will power spaceships
Lauren K. Ohnesorge - Triangle (NC) Business Journal
Fresh off its selection as one of 18 companies selected for a Barack Obama- announced energy consortium, 10-man startup GridBridge has its eyes on the skies – having inked a new deal with NASA.
For CEO Chad Eckhardt – the kid who never got to go to Space Camp – it's a giddy validation.
"It's nice to say at this age that I'm working with NASA," he laughs.
The name of the contract is pretty technical, "Isolated Bidirectional DC Converters for Distributed Battery Energy Applications." But Eckhardt, whose technology may soon look down on all of us from the International Space Station, assures me the idea is pretty simple.
On the phone from the airport, he gives me the exclusive details: "The crux of it is, distributed generation," he says.
Just as GridBridge's technology ensures smartgrid backup – so that power can be redirected during a power outage – it's being applied to do the same thing in the aerospace industry. Imagine a plane, he says. You want more than one power generation source.
"We hear about all sorts of things in the news associated with power systems, and sometimes catastrophic results," he says. GridBridge technology provides a backup, redistributing the power in the same way as a smartgrid – just this time it would be in the air. "If you lose one source of power and you need to reroute power very quickly, you can."
And there are a lot of ways NASA could use the technology, be it in exploration probes, rovers or the International Space Station.
The size of NASA's contribution is still being negotiated, "typical grants of this size are more than $100,000," Eckhardt says, and could increase as applications are proven.
While former space geek Eckhardt admits that the idea of his technology discovering life on Mars or the next habitable planet makes it all the more intriguing, he says that's not the only thing NASA has in mind.
"Many people forget that NASA is working to improve earth conditions as well," he says.
"They'll send probes into the orbit to really dig into the ozone to explore different aspects ... And that's just one condition."
And GridBridge isn't shirking responsibilities on its other contracts, such as its part in that $140 million Raleigh-based White House initiative alongside tech giants such as Cree (Nasdaq: CREE) and John Deere (NYSE: DE). Negotiations for that continue later this week, he says.
In the meantime, Eckhardt, whose startup was the smallest company selected to be a part of that Department of Energy-funded consortium, has gone from early-stage entrepreneur to the guy that fields calls from NASA at the airport.
"It's pretty incredible," he says.
Russian Rocket Ban in Boeing-Lockheed Suit Fought by U.S
Andrew Zajac – Bloomberg News
The U.S. asked a federal judge to lift an order temporarily blocking a Boeing Co.-Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) venture from buying Russian-made rocket engines for the Air Force, saying the purchases don't violate sanctions imposed after Russia's takeover of Crimea.
U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Susan Braden in Washington halted the transactions until she receives assurances from three departments that they don't run afoul of President Barack Obama's March 16 sanctions against Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who heads the country's defense and space industries.
The government request to lift the ban includes a letter from a senior Treasury Department lawyer stating that "to the best of our knowledge" purchases from rocket maker NPO Energomash, which is owned by the Russian government, "currently do not directly or indirectly contravene" the sanctions against Rogozin.
The State Department concurred with the Treasury finding and the Commerce Department deferred to the other agencies, according to the government's filing late yesterday.
Braden's order came as part of a lawsuit filed April 28 by billionaire Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. The company accused the Air Force of illegally shutting it out of the military satellite-launch business by giving a monopoly to the Boeing-Lockheed venture, known as United Launch Alliance LLC.
ULA also filed papers late yesterday asking the judge to lift the ban.
SpaceX Argument
SpaceX, in a filing today, urged Braden to keep the prohibition in place, arguing that the Treasury letter doesn't clear the NPO Energomash transactions.
"Rather than make a determination one way or the other, Treasury's letter only states that 'as of today,' they have not yet done so," the Hawthorne, California-based company said.
The SpaceX suit is a protest of the ULA contract. The company didn't request a halt to the Russian rocket sales.
The case is Space Exploration Technologies Corp. v. U.S., 14-cv-00354, U.S. Court of Federal Claims (Washington).
Amid SpaceX Protest, USAF Defends Sole-Source EELV Strategy
Amy Butler – Aviation Week
The U.S. Air Force is defending is sole-source buy of launches from the United Launch Alliance (ULA) as a "good deal" for the taxpayer amid a lawsuit from upstart Space Exploration Technologies, who claims to have been unfairly excluded from competing and potentially providing a better price.
The service broke its silence on the matter in an interview with Aviation Week since SpaceX filed its lawsuit April 28 in Federal Claims Court. "The only reason we have taken any of the actions we have goes back to the fact that we have one single mission, which is getting these payloads on orbit to defend the nation," says Lt. Gen. CR Davis, military deputy to the Air Force procurement chief. "As we were getting to that point where we had to negotiate that contract [with ULA] and obligate that money, I will remind everybody there was no certified [new] entrant. There were no documents submitted. There were no three launches. There was nothing we could do to anticipate that that would work out other than get a worse deal for the taxpayer through buying less cores from the company that has gotten us there 70 times before." ULA's Atlas Vs and Delta IVs have delivered 70 payloads to orbit.
In order to be certified to compete against ULA s, SpaceX was required to execute three successful launches of its Falcon 9v1.1 and deliver required documentation to the Air Force for review. Davis says SpaceX has now met that requirement and is eligible to receive a request for proposals for forthcoming launch competitions. Though eligible to bid, the company cannot win a contract until the Air Force certifies it. Davis says the service expects that will be certified by March of 2015.
The National Reconnaissance Office is planning to award a launch next year for a 2017 mission. Davis says the Air Force and NRO are trying to schedule the award to allow for a competition. "We'd love to have them done by the end of December of this year. Our best guess that we think we'll end up with is March of next year," he says. "If we can work to slip the award to March or April of next year … we are trying to go through that debate right now." The service is spending $250 million to conduct the certification work, Davis says.
The service is also conducting an audit of the company's engineering, accounting and other process; since SpaceX is a commercial launch service provider, it does not adhere to the onerous paperwork requirements set up by the Pentagon.
The Falcon 9 v1.1's maiden flight was Sept. 29. Though it successfully delivered the primary payload, a Canadian CASSIOPE satellite into Polar orbit, an upper stage restart failed due to an embarrassing design oversight. Engineers forgot to insulate propulsion lines; they froze in space. They have since fixed the issue.
SpaceX's claims basically hinge on two factors: the timing of the bulk award to ULA and the number of cores included in the deal. Signed less than a month before the third of its three required certification launches, Musk argues the Air Force could have waited to award the bulk buy until SpaceX delivered its materials earlier this year.
The Air Force's launch strategy was hatched, however, in 2011, and Davis says the service was eager to get the deal inked and garner the anticipated savings. "If we had delayed that [we would] award a lot less and pay a lot more," Davis said.
The service has been forced in recent years to substantially cut its budget in light of sequestration and other spending plans. The contract cost $1.2 billion less than an independent cost estimate over five years of work and the budget allocated toward the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program decreased by $4 billion over five years due to a variety of cuts. "[Some of] these are launches that we had to get on contract to be able to launch on time … There was no way to just sit and wait around to be able to sign a contract," he says.
Davis defends the decision to guarantee ULA 36 cores worth of work – 28 launches (as some require multiple cores) – over five years despite common knowledge that SpaceX – and eventually Orbital Sciences with its Antares – were breaking into the market.
"When we realized there was no way at the time as we looked at it for new entrants to pick up additional launches, there was no reason to go below 36 [cores]. The more you buy the better price break we are going to get." Davis says studies prompted the Air Force to originally plan for a 50-core deal; however, Pentagon procurement chief Frank Kendall directed the service in a November 27, 2012 acquisition decision memorandum to "procure up to 36 EELV core across five years" and "introduce a competitive procurement environment in the EELV program by competing up to 14 cores with initial contract awards as early as fiscal 2015."
Musk, however, asserts that the Falcon 9v1.1 could be capable of performing 12-24 of those missions and he wants a chance to bid. Davis acknowledges that in at least one case, the launch of a Space-Based Infrared System (Sbirs) missile warning satellite was pulled from the 14 originally set aside for competition and handed to ULA to fulfill its 36-core commitment. "It was a satellite that -- granted the new entrant is capable of launching -- but it can't because we got the good deal," Davis says.
Though Air Force planners had expected those 14 launches to be open for competition in December, half of them evaporated in the fiscal 2015 budget request that went to Capitol Hill only months later. This underpins Musk's worry that he will not have ample opportunity to compete in the near term. "Our fear with future launches [is] these seven launches are very much in question," he says. Five of them are GPS launches that have been slipped beyond the five-year defense plan.
Another that was not identified was deemed not suitable for the Falcon 9 v1.1. The remaining satellite was that Sbirs bird shifted to ULA's work plan. "We still were trying to give the new entrants everything they could launch at the time -- plus or minus one or two satellites -- to keep the [ULA] contract whole," Davis says.
This constraint in the contract is at the crux of SpaceX's complaint. "The fundamental mistake with the contract is that the 36-core number cannot go below 36," Musk says. "This is the fundamental mistake Correll made…If we are fully able and capable…we still would not be able to compete if ULA has not gotten their 36."
The Air Force is exploring an option to possibly pull one of the missions included in ULA's deal and put it up for competition; that would require the Air Force to come up with about $130 million should SpaceX win the work. "We'd have to buy another core to put into the ULA buy that we could allocate to SpaceX but it would be potentially a '15 award [and] we are working our way through that." He did not say what the spacecraft would be for that mission.
Musk said May 4 in an interview with Aviation Week that he is open to an out-of-court settlement. Davis declined to outline any settlement options, citing sensitivity with the ongoing litigation. However, he said that it is not advisable to break the deal with ULA. "For ULA to be able to continue to be able to deliver at the price that they gave us we over that period of years, we have to buy 36 launch cores worth of service," Davis says. "If we don't buy that, ULA will have the opportunity for ULA to say we have to readjust the prices … there is probably a cost increase that would occur in there…Anything you pull out of the contract suddenly results in us reopening the contract, which drives more cost that has been negotiated on a very competitive quantity."
US government asks court to lift ban on Russian rocket engine purchases
ITAR-TASS
US Government and United Launch Alliance (ULA) requested the Court of Federal Claims on Wednesday to lift its temporary ban on purchasing Russian-designed rocket engines RD-180 for the US Atlas V launch systems.
The ban ruled by judge Susan Braden a week ago is temporary and may be cancelled if the Department of the Treasury, Department of Commerce and Department of State provide a paper that RD-180 supplies do not breach the President's sanction law. The document, saying that the use of these rocket engines in the US is not in direct or indirect contravention of the sanction legislation, was presented to the judge on the ULA's request on Wednesday.
It is not only the ULA, a joint venture of the aerospace industry giants Boeing and Lockheed-Martin, that is keen to see the ban lifted but also the Pentagon, or rather the US air force, on whose commission the ULA launches military and spy satellites under exclusive billion dollar contracts.
According to the Pentagon's Press Secretary, Rear Admiral John Kirby, this program will not be harmed in the foreseeable future, as the US has a stock sufficient for the following two years and contracts for RD-180 supplies from the Moscow region town Khimki for another couple of years. Besides, the temporary ban does not include the contracts already signed.
However, it is not politics that really led to the court trial but the fierce competition within the US. Vying for its share of the pie, Californian SpaceX Corporation that has its own rocket Falcon-9 made use of the favorable political environment to challenge the ULA's monopoly for military satellites launches. The company filed a lawsuit against the competitor and the air force, explaining it with the ULA's violation of the US sanctions.
Meanwhile, space experts predicted from the very start the temporary ban would be lifted, and judge Braden is expected to revise her verdict in the near future.
Russia Plans to Colonize Moon by 2030, Newspaper Reports
Anna Dolgov – The Moscow Times
Russia is planning to put a manned colony on the Moon as soon as in 2030, and is racing to dispatch the first robotic rovers to explore the lunar surface two years from now, a media report says.
Newspaper Izvestia said Thursday it had gained access to a draft government program, prepared by the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Roscosmos federal space agency, Moscow State University and several space research institutes, outlining a three-step plan toward manning the moon.
A robotic craft would be sent to the Moon as early as in 2016 and through the following decade, and by 2028, Russia would be ready to send manned missions to orbit the Earth's satellite, Izvestia said, citing the report.
In the final stage, planned for 2030, humans would be sent to the lunar surface to set up the infrastructure for an initial colony using local resources, the report said. The program also envisages building a space- and Earth-monitoring observatory on the Moon.
The Russian document underlined the need for speedy lunar exploration, saying "leading space powers will expand and establish their rights to convenient lunar footholds to ensure future opportunities for practical use," in the next 20 to 30 years, Izvestia cited the document as saying.
The price tag of the mission is uncertain, but the first stage of the program is expected to cost around 28.5 billion rubles ($815.8 million), while earlier estimates indicated that developing and building a piloted spaceship would add 160 billion rubles or so, though Russia hopes to attract private investors to help bankroll the project, the report said.
But while the program envisages international cooperation on the project, it stresses that the "independence of the national lunar program must be ensured regardless of the conditions and the extent of the participation in it by foreign partners."
Lunar resources may present a "treasure-trove" of rare and valuable minerals of substantial strategic importance, according to NASA, but the concentration and the distribution of those elements remain uncertain.
The Moon can also be used as a launchpad for future missions into deep space, said the research chief of the Institute of Space Policy, Ivan Moiseyev, Izvestia reported.
China, India and Japan are also developing lunar exploration projects, and a California-based company Moon Express is planning to send its first robotic spacecraft to the satellite next year, according to the company's website.
SpaceX update: Launch set for Saturday; US seeks halt to Russian engine injuction
Joseph Abbott – Waco (TX) Tribune- Herald
In the fastest time between its launches yet, SpaceX is targeting Saturday for the launch from Florida of six satellites designed for machine to machine communication, just 22 days after it launched its Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station.
But, just as with that launch, the real news is what happens after the Orbcomm OG2 satellites are sent on their way. SpaceX will again try to bring the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket back to an Atlantic Ocean splashdown, part of the same push toward reusable rockets that drives the F9R Dev flights in McGregor.
Data sent back from last month's launch indicated that the splashdown succeeded, but rough seas did a number on the stage while keeping boats from being able to reach it. But seas are supposed to be calm — and more and bigger boats available — for Saturday's attempt.
Launch time (according to Orbcomm) is currently set for 8:47 a.m. CDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Unlike the ISS launch, which required a launch precisely on time, the satellites can be launched at any time up to 9:40 a.m. CDT if something comes up to delay liftoff. The stage is expected to splash down around 10 minutes after launch, though word on whether it was successful could take significantly longer. SpaceX hopes to be able to return the stage to land, instead of water, by the end of this year.
Rockets, lawsuits and trampolines
Meanwhile, as reported by NBC's Alan Boyle, federal and United Launch Alliance officials are asking a federal judge to lift an injunction against the purchase of Russian rocket engines used by ULA's Atlas V rocket.
The injunction followed a lawsuit filed last week by SpaceX that challenged a block purchase by the Defense Department of ULA rocket cores largely using those engines, arguing that the deal blocked SpaceX from competing for those launches — and, more to the point of the injunction, that purchase of the engines violated sanctions against Russia imposed after its takeover of the Crimean peninsula.
At issue is whether Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin — who is in charge of the country's space industry and is among Russian officials specifically targeted by sanctions — personally profits from the sale of NPO Energomash's RD-180 engines. Filings by the Treasury and State Departments say the deals do not violate sanctions; as I write this, space writer Jeff Foust has just tweeted SpaceX's response, which is that the State and Treasury responses are inadequate because they don't sufficiently say why sanctions aren't violated — that is, they don't show that Rogozin doesn't control Energomash.
No ruling has yet been issued, Foust reports. But he says a hearing is set for Thursday morning on the government's request (the SpaceX case follows a couple of others so timing is uncertain, but it should come up around 9 a.m. CDT).
Rogozin's reponse to the sanctions was somewhat testy: "After analysing the sanctions against our space industry I suggest the US delivers its astronauts to the ISS with a trampoline." That brought about a natural response (well, for Randall Munroe values of "natural"): How big a trampoline would you need? Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics worked out the math: a trampoline made of unobtanium and stretched downward 1 kilometer would get you to the ISS. What it wouldn't do is get you to the ISS in a matching orbit, so you'd basically go splat as it smashed into you at 18,000 mph — assuming you were somehow able to survive the 22,000-times-the-force-of-gravity ascent.
Generally, a Falcon 9 would be a better idea.
Bill H. Dana, NASA Pilot Who Outflew Bullets, Dies at 83
Paul Vitello – The New York Times
Bill H. Dana, a NASA research pilot who flew the X-15 rocket plane at record supersonic speeds and tested many of the most innovative and dangerous aircraft ever developed, died on Tuesday in Phoenix. He was 83.
His death, from complications of Parkinson's disease, was announced by NASA.
Mr. Dana was a West Point-educated aeronautical engineer and military pilot in 1958 when he became one of the first people hired by the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration. As one of 12 pilots selected for the X-15 program, he flew 16 flights from 1965 to 1968 in the bullet-shaped rocket plane, reaching speeds of close to 4,000 miles an hour (about twice as fast as a bullet) and altitudes of 300,000 feet — nearly 59 miles above ground, where Earth's last layer of atmosphere meets the edge of outer space.
"The horizon appeared as a ring of bright blue around the shell of the Earth, with darkness above," he said in a 2007 interview.
The X-15 program was created to test the limits of human flight endurance and spacecraft maneuverability. Mr. Dana and his fellow pilots were among the first to test pressurized spacesuits, to study the effects of zero gravity on pilot performance, and to test jet controls and other mechanical devices for orienting vehicles in outer space.
The program's most important mission was determining whether a rocket with stubby wings could re-enter the atmosphere, turn off its engines and glide to a landing on an airfield as a plane would, rather than being dropped into the ocean for retrieval by ship, as the Gemini and Apollo craft were.
Such landings, which Mr. Dana and the other pilots accomplished hundreds of times, would make it possible for NASA to begin developing its space shuttle program, sending flights back and forth to manned space stations in orbit.
"Prior to the X-15 flight program, there was considerable reservation about the pilots' ability to consistently land a power-off, low lift-drag ratio airplane," Mr. Dana said in a 1998 speech for the Charles A. Lindbergh Memorial Lecture Series at the Smithsonian Institution. But glide-landing the X-15 — which would be the way shuttles were landed — "proved easy," he said.
All a pilot had to do was start circling at about 50,000 feet, get a good bead on the runway "and descend onto a nominal glideslope."
Michelle Evans, author of "The X-15 Rocket Plane," a history published last year, called Mr. Dana one of the space program's most important pioneers.
"He was a very good test pilot, and one of the 12 fastest men in history" at that point, she said.
William Harvey Dana was born in Pasadena, Calif., on Nov. 3, 1930, and raised in Bakersfield, Calif. After earning a master's degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Southern California, he joined NASA as an aeronautical research engineer at the High-Speed Flight Station at Edwards Air Force Base (now NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center) in the Mojave Desert.
He flew more than 8,000 hours in more than 60 aircraft, including helicopters and wingless experimental rocket planes, during his 48-year career.
He is survived by his wife, Judi; three daughters, Jan Dana, Sidney Sparks and Leslie Kirby; and a son, Matt.
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