Thursday’s CSExtra includes the latest reports and commentary on a contentious House hearing over Administration plans to cancel NASA’s Constellation Program. Constellation manager Jeff Hanley is reassigned. Shuttle Atlantis touches down safely in Florida for perhaps the final time, a signal the shuttle program is ending.
1. From the New York Times: Congress greets President Obama’s plans for NASA with more bipartisan skepticism on Wednesday, as NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and former Apollo astronauts testify before the House Science and Technology Committee. It looks as though the latest plan faces the same long term underfunding as Constellation, the back to the moon program that the White House wishes to cancel.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/science/space/27nasa.html?scp=2&sq=NASA&st=cse
A. From the Wall Street Journal: NASA Administrator Charles Bolden places the cost of reviving Constellation’s Orion crew exploration vehicle as a space station life boat at $4.5 billion — which must come from NASA’s five year budget run out. Agency officials say the Orion funding will not come from plans to foster commercial crew launch services, which will cost an estimated $6 billion over the next five years. Bart Gordon, Chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee and others, indicate large portions of the President’s plans for NASA will be rejected.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704717004575268240248301502.html?KEYWORDS=NASA
B. From Spacepolicyonline.com: Bart Gordon, Chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, notes that the price tag for Orion as a life boat is more likely to cost $5 to $7 billion, excluding operating costs.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=917:congress-still-waiting-for-answers-on-obama-plan&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
C. From the Houston Chronicle: Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong overcomes his aversion to politics to criticize the Obama Administration’s decision to cancel Constellation at a House hearing. He’s joined by Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan and Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell. The three men hatched their campaign to oppose plans to cancel Constellation while on a State Department tour of the Middle East to support American soldiers in March.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7023938.html
2. From Space News: NASA’s Constellation program manager Jeff Hanley is re-assigned to another position at the Johnson Space Center. An acting manager, Lawrence Dale Thomas, is named. “I’ve been advised by [headquarters] that my services as [Constellation program manager] are no longer required, effective immediately,” Hanley wrote in a May 26 e-mail sent to the Constellation program’s senior staff.
http://www.spacenews.com/civil/hanley-leaves-constellation-program.html
A. From the Orlando Sentinel: Constellation Program manger Jeff Hanley had become a lightning rod for controversy in NASA’s bid to transition away from Constellation, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says in remarks following a House authorization hearing on the agency’s direction. “When you find that you are as attached to a program as Jeff is [to Constellation], then you become the focus of attention and not the program,” Bolden said.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-constellation-chief-sacked-20100526,0,7773602.story
B. From the Houston Chronicle: Constellation Program manager Jeff Hanley was faced with keeping Constellation afoot, while Congress acted on the President’s decision to cancel the back-to-the-moon initiative. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, calls on NASA’s inspector general for an investigation of the re-assignment.
http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2010/05/constellation_program_manager_reassigned.html
C. From the Huntsville Times: U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, says Hanley’s re-assignment is a sign that NASA is suppressing dissent over Constellation.
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2010/05/shelby_says_nasa_trying_to_sup.html
D. From Spacepolicyonline.com: U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords, Chair of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, says Hanley’s departure is a sign NASA is not complying with legislation that prevents changes to Constellation until Congress signals its approval.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=915:constellation-program-manager-replaced&catid=68:hearing-summaries&Itemid=61
3. From Spaceflightnow.com: Atlantis glides to a landing, likely returning from space for the final time. Wednesday’s touchdown was at 8:48 a.m., EDT.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts132/100526land/
A. From Florida Today: NASA faces a ‘flightless summer’ as NASA managers assess launch dates for two remaining shuttle missions. Discovery could launch in mid-September, Endeavour in late November. Atlantis may fly again. ”We need to really get some plans in place so people can make some real decisions with what they’ve got to go do with careers and other things,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator for Space Operations. “We can’t stay in limbo forever.” http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100527/NEWS02/5270324/Stellar-trip-stokes-hope-for-extra-flight
B. From the Orlando Sentinel: Atlantis touches down safely in a bitter sweet moment.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/2010/05/atlantis-lands-at-kennedy-space-center.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+news%2Fspace%2Fspace_blog+%28Space+Blog+The+Write+Stuff%29
C. From Florida Today: U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, urges President Obama to permit Atlantis to launch one more time next year. http://flametrench.flatoday.net/2010/05/nelson-wants-atlantis-to-fly-again.html
D. From Spacepolitics.com: Nelson’s letter says the flight could help ease a workforce transition. Nelson pledges to ask for no more than one additional mission.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/05/26/nelson-officially-begins-push-for-additional-shuttle-flight/
E. From Space.com: Atlantis could launch again.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/missionlaunches/space-shuttle-atlantis-extra-flight-100526.html
F. From the New York Times: “For Atlantis, A Flight Path to Retirement.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/science/space/27shuttle.html?adxnnl=1&ref=science&adxnnlx=1274954493-OzUoMvDe411b9OXyo/QzG
4. From the Los Angeles Times: A report on the X-51 Waverider, a US Air Force project to develop a hypersonic aircraft. An unmanned test version hits speeds of 3,500 miles per hour. An operational version could travel between Los Angeles and New York in 30 minutes
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hypersonic-20100527,0,764506.story
To subscribe to CSExtra via RSS feed click here.
If you would prefer to receive CSExtra in e-mail format, e-mail us at Info@space.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
Brought to you by the Coalition for Space Exploration, CSExtra is a daily compilation of space industry news selected from hundreds of online media resources. The Coalition is not the author or reporter of any of the stories appearing in CSExtra and does not control and is not responsible for the content of any of these stories. The content available through CSExtra contains links to other websites and domains which are wholly independent of the Coalition, and the Coalition makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site or domain and does not pre-screen or approve any content. The Coalition does not endorse or receive any type of compensation from the included media outlets and is not responsible or liable in any way for any content of CSExtra or for any loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of any content appearing in CSExtra. For information on the Coalition, visit www.space.com or contact us via e-mail at Info@space.com.