Tag: spaceflight

Last shuttle mission could be delayed until fall of 2011

10:35 pm

If Congress does end up appropriating money for that last extra shuttle mission, NASA managers are considering delaying it as long as possible, until the fall of 2011. Key quote:

[Shuttle Program Manager John] Shannon said if the shuttle is retired prematurely, the ISS will not be properly supplied.

In other words, Congress and the President should never have retired the shuttle in the first place, at least not until a replacement was ready to go.

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The state of NASA’s commercial crew program

10:05 am

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.

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X-37B goes missing.

10:07 am

Spaceweather.com noted yesterday that the amateur astronomers have reported the X-37B space plane missing. It did not show up when expected, based on its known orbit. Key quote:

It’s possible that the X-37B has landed. More likely, the space plane has maneuvered into a new orbit and will be recovered again in the nights ahead.

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