The telescope that ate astronomy. My just finished Sky & Telescope article (expected out early next year) covers some of the same ground, describing how the cost overruns on the James Webb Space Telescope has badly damaged much of NASA’s space astronomy budget, for this and possibly the next two decades.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the likely budget cuts expected from the next Congress are almost certainly going to threaten the extra shuttle flight that Congress authorized several weeks ago.
NASA is begging money from billionaires for an interstellar travel project. Sounds cool I know, but wouldn’t it be more worthwhile right now for those billionaires to invest their money in developing low cost rockets so we can simply get into space cheaply?
The commercial half of NASA’s future manned program is moving foward. The agency today began soliciting bids for “launchers and spacecraft that would transport astronauts to and from low Earth orbit destinations on a commercial basis.” Contract awards are expected by March 2011.
The leak on the space shuttle Discovery appears fixed, and NASA managers have confirmed the launch date as Monday, November 1, 4:40 pm (Eastern). This will be Discovery’s last flight.
Engineers are trouble-shooting a fuel leak on the space shuttle Discovery. At the moment NASA does not expect this to delay the planned November 1 launch.
More criticism of NASA administrator Charles Bolden emerges as he heads to China. Key quote:
Since taking charge of NASA in July 2009, the 64-year-old Bolden has visited 14 countries and has been missing at critical moments. Last year, he skipped one of the first shuttle flights under his watch to visit Japan and most recently was on a trip to Europe and the Middle East when the U.S. House nearly defeated the NASA vision endorsed by the Obama administration. “How about saving the manned space program — in America?” said U.S. Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas).
United States may outsource lightweight satellite launches to India.
NASA administrator Charles Bolden is off to China, despite opposition in Congress and new rumors that his future in this administration is shaky.
According to this Nature article, competing political interests spell a troubled future for NASA, despite Obama’s signing of the authorization bill on Monday. Didn’t someone already predict this, months ago?
The state of NASA’s commercial crew program. Key quote:
The Obama administration requested $3.3 billion for commercial crew services over the next three years, but a so-called compromise bill forged in the Senate slashed the proposal in half. After months of heated contention, the House of Representatives finally agreed to the Senate authorization bill in late September, calling for $1.6 billion for the commercial program.
Obama signed the NASA authorization bill today.
Update and bumped: This Spaceflight Now article includes this quote from Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida):
“What is in this bill is $11.5 billion over the next six years, anticipated, even though it’s a three-year authorization, for development and testing of a heavy lift rocket. Now if we can’t develop a new rocket for $11.5 billion, building on a lot of the technologies that were already developed in spending $9 billion (on the Constellation program’s Ares rockets), if we can’t do it for that, then we ought to question whether or not we can build a rocket.”
Based on NASA’s track record in trying to build a replacement to the shuttle, I remain very skeptical indeed whether NASA can build this rocket. I do hope, however, that my skepticism is proven wrong.
Note also that the funding for this authorization bill is as yet not appropriated. Plans to do so during the lame duck session of Congress after the elections remain fraught with problems.
The effort of NASA administrator Charles Bolden to increase cooperation with China is apparently in direct conflict with the wishes of Congress.
JPL scientists demand correction of White House statements before Supreme Court over privacy suit.
Confusion at NASA: Layoffs continue as NASA slows Constellation spending. This despite a budget in 2010 that requires the program’s continuation, and a Congressional authorization for 2011 that requires NASA to build a comparable heavy-lift rocket.
Digitally remastered footage of the original television recordings from the Apollo 11 mission have been unveiled in Australia.
NASA’s technology chief said today that despite the specific demands Congress included in its authorization bill, NASA will make its own decision on the kind of heavy-lift rocket it wants to build.
The confusion at NASA is reverberating throughout the globe. Didn’t someone predict this would happen? More than once?
More layoffs yesterday at NASA, this time at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Also, this report gives a good overview of all the layoffs so far.
One question: The authorization bill that passed Congress on Wednesday night specifically required NASA to continue construction of a heavy-lift vehicle, quite similar in concept to Constellation. Why then is NASA management laying off all these Constellation workers? Granted, the authorization did not provide Constellation with as much money as previously budgeted, but the layoffs seem greater than necessary at this time, considering the budget differences. Also, the lack of a final budget from Congress might require these layoffs to occur temporarily, pending a new budget, but NASA is not making it clear that this is the case. Instead, they are letting a lot of people go without giving them any guidance about NASA’s future plans.
If the Obama administration was serious about fulfilling Congress’s legal requirement to build a heavy-lift vehicle (as deputy administration Lori Garver said they were on Thursday), I would have expected them to be more forthcoming to these NASA employees, if only to encourage them to remain available for rehiring, for at least a short time. That they have not is very telling.
Do not expect this heavy-lift vehicle to be built.
