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Wednesday’s CSExtra finds offers the latest reporting and commentary on a potential break in the impasse between the White House and some in Congress over NASA’s future. That could come Thursday as the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee meets to consider a draft compromise that is gathering increased attention and scrutiny. Also, NASA’s inspector general moves quickly to determine there was no retribution in the late May decision by NASA leadership to re-assign the Constellation Program manager. Scientists raise a red flag over costly space project cost over runs.
1. From the Houston Chronicle: A look at the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee’s draft authorization bill. This measure undoes much of President Obama’s initiative by accelerating work on a heavy lift rocket from 2015 to 2011. It re-assigns Orion to deep space missions rather than limiting the capsule to service as a space station life boat. The measure provides funding to develop commercial space transportation services but establishes new conditions that slow the investment. Like the White House initiative, it extends International Space Station operations until 2020. The shuttle gets at least one more mission in mid-2011. It prevents NASA job losses as well.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7106978.html
A. From Spacepolitics.com: The Senate measure appears to be a compromise between the White House initiative and congressional opponents. Spacepolitics.com notes that while the legislation “enables” missions to the lunar surface, it sets Mars as the long term exploration goal.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/07/14/a-quick-review-of-the-senate-nasa-authorization-bill/
B. From Florida Today: An editorial addresses the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee’s unfolding authorization plan. The newspaper raises concerns that Central Florida’s strategy for diversifying its economy after the shuttle program’s retirement could be derailed by plans to slow NASA’s investment in commercial space transportation services. “But at this point, a compromise measure that might start breaking the impasse and open the door to further negotiations is no small thing,” according to Florida Today.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100714/BREAKINGNEWS/307140004/1086/Our+views++Compromise+space+bill+offers+promise++problems+for+KSC++Brevard
2. From the New York Times: NASA’s inspector general finds NASA did nothing wrong in re-assigning its Constellation Program manager, Jeff Hanley, in May.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/science/space/14natbrfs-NASANOTFAULT_BRF.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=NASA&st=cse
A. From Spacepolitics.com: The tone of Hanley’s e-mail defense of Constellation to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Doug Cooke, NASA’s exploration systems director, during May, led to the re-assignment decision. Bolden considered making the change a month sooner than he did.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/07/13/nasa-ig-hanley-reassignment-proper/
B. From Florida Today: There was no reprisal, Hanley informs the NASA inspector general.
http://space.flatoday.net/2010/07/watchdog-no-wrongdoing-in-constellation.html
3. From Science Insider: A new National Research Council study urges NASA to avoid costly project overruns by developing a strategy to spot early, overly optimistic cost estimates for science missions. The report finds that a relatively small percentage of poorly monitored missions can be responsible for cost increases ultimately affecting all projects.
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/07/tighten-those-purse-strings.html
A. From Discovery.com: This week scientists are meeting in Washington under the sponsorship of the National Research Council’s Planetary Science Decadal Survey to recommend the next major space mission. There appear to be two favorites, a choice limited by their great expense. They would team NASA and the European Space Agency for missions to either the Jovian moons Europa and Ganymede or to Mars to collect soil samples and bring them back to Earth. Each represents an attempt to find life beyond the Earth. http://news.discovery.com/space/whats-the-next-big-step-in-solar-system-exploration.html
4. From The Hill: NASA offers $5 million in another round of Centennial Challenges for advances in robotics, small satellites and solar-powered spacecraft.
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/108435-nasa-offers-5-million-in-contests-for-robots-satellites
5. From Spaceflightnow.com: Orbital Science Corp. considers launching missions from Cape Canaveral, Fla., as well as Wallops Island, Va. OSC, like SpaceX, is receiving NASA funding to develop a commercial transportation service to deliver cargo and perhaps astronauts to the International Space Station.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1007/14orbital/
6. From Space.com: The non-profit Secure World Foundation urges the UN’s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space to consider a legal framework and protocol to address orbital debris, a growing political issue.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/news/space-debris-political-issues-100706.html
7. From MSNBC and Cosmic Log: NASA joins with Microsoft Research Telescope to offer a half billion high resolution images of the Martian terrain, including rover tracks and potential landing sites for future human missions.
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/07/12/4663199-nasa-delivers-mars-in-high-definition
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