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Lockheed Martin is reportedly laying off 65 workers at the Michoud Assembly Facility. Below are two AP articles from different sources (and strangely have different last paragraphs)
"Lockheed officials have said the plant remains a prime candidate to be involved in the manufacture of the spacecraft that will replace the shuttle. The plant has 2,000 employees working on the space shuttle program."
+ Read Article (AP)
"The plant now makes six fuel tanks per year, but NASA has informed Lockheed that the number of tanks needed will be changed. The plant employs about 1,500 people."
+ Read Article (AP)
Sen. Sam Brownback wants to determine whether NASA's Shuttle fleet should be retired earlier than 2011, like NOW.
"The President has unveiled an exciting vision for the future -- an unlimited future for our children beginning with human exploration of the moon and Mars. But we can't begin this journey if we can't get into space. With the space shuttle indefinitely parked in the repair shop, we are like the family with a maxed-out credit card. All our funds go to servicing the account with none left to get out of debt," Brownback said in a statement released Monday.
In his statement, Brownback expressed particular concern about problems discovered in a critical part within the shuttle's tail -- corrosion as well as an installation error that apparently went unnoticed for more than 20 years.
The President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond will hold its fourth public hearing at the Galileo Academy of Science and Technology, 1150 Francisco Street, San Francisco, California, on April 15 and 16, 2024.
Still waiting for the video for last week's hearing... I missed most of it, so I'm anxious to see what was said. It's too bad they take so long to get it out!
On Wednesday, March 24, Mars Society member and MDRS crew member Daniel Hegeman testified to the President's Commission on human Moon and Mars exploration chaired by former Air Force Secretary Pete Aldridge. By all accounts, Hegeman, a student at Georgia Tech, did a spectacular job.
Testifying before the President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond at the Georgia Centers for Advanced Telecommunications Technology in Atlanta, GA, Teal Group senior space analyst Marco Caceres yesterday recommended that one way to improve the long-term sustainability of President Bush's new Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) is to "de-link" the Moon-Mars missions and aim to accomplish each of them in timeframes of within 10 years.
"Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin says the United States needs enthusiasm similar to the "pioneering days" of the first moon landing if it wants to go to Mars."
"Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin told a presidential commission Thursday that the challenge facing NASA today is unlike any other of its past human spaceflight missions.
Despite the space agency's success with programs like Apollo, Skylab and even the International Space Station, NASA must come to grips with the inherent long-term sustainability required by any future human missions to the moon or Mars, the former Apollo astronaut told the President's Commission on the Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy."
As a follow-up to the other day's entry on the Shuttle landing gear system, check out this article from Florida Today, mentioning the hand-sewn nature of the Shuttle's thermal protection system.
The President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond holds their third public hearing today & tomorrow, hearing testimony from space entrepreneurs, other experts, and (tomorrow) Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
+ View Live Stream
+ Witness List
+ Commission Website
"A NASA official says some of the U.S. space shuttles flew for 25 years with flaws in the rudders of the tail section, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
Shuttle Program Manager William Parsons said some gears in the two-part rudder, which also acts as a speed brake, were apparently installed improperly in at least one shuttle when they were built in the late 1970s and early 1980s."
Editor's Note: I don't know what you guys think, but this is really &%$#@* incredible. To think that every single Shuttle flight dodged a bullet on landing... I sure hope that if there is anything else lurking, they will find it before Return To Flight!
"A new Boeing office created this month could eventually lead to a vast database of Earth science data.
After President Bushs new directive for NASA, Boeing was forced to wind down its Orbital Space Plane office in Huntsville, Ala. In its place, the company created a Washington, D.C., office of Space Exploration Systems and a Clear Lake office of Earth Science Applications."
China's state media reported on plans to launch the first Chinese moon rover in 2013. The rover would scout locations for a future manned base.
Astronauts and scientists will discuss everything from extraterrestrial life to passenger flights into outer space at a public meeting this week on space travel to Mars. The experts are gathering on Georgia Tech's campus to tell a presidential commission about the goal of returning astronauts to the moon and flying from there to Mars.
The President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond has invited experts from organized labor, the media, the Aerospace Engineering department of Georgia Tech, and the world of space commerce to testify at a public hearing March 24 and 25, 2024. The hearing will be held at the Georgia Centers for Advanced Telecommunications Technology (GCATT) Auditorium on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
CAN they do it? When President Bush announced a plan early this year to send Americans back to the moon - and beyond, to Mars - skeptics wondered whether NASA, with its decades of tread-water budgets and institutional inertia, was up to the job. Equally important, though, is a companion question: Is the aerospace industry up to the job?
Congressional testimony of Craig E. Steidle, NASA's new Associate Administrator for the Office of Exploration Systems.
"Project Constellation will develop a new Crew Exploration Vehicle for future crew transport. This vehicle will be developed in stages, with the first flight demonstration test in 2009, the first unmanned flight in 2012, and the first crewed flight in 2015. Project Constellation will be discussed at the Partnership Council this spring to ensure that our space partners in DoD are kept fully abreast of the ongoing implementation of our Vision for Space Exploration. "
The new space initiative announced by President Bush has the odd distinction of being criticized both for costing too much and costing too little. Many commentators have denounced Plan Bush an insanely grandiose program that will waste $1 trillion dollars of tax money.
Orlando Figueroa, NASAs director of Solar System Exploration Division, said Monday that NASA could send people to the moon as early as 2016, five years sooner than President Bush required in the NASA directive unveiled in January.
"Boeing Co. has opened two new offices to support the administrations space exploration initiatives, the company said.
The Space Exploration Systems office and the Earth Science Applications office will be run out of Washington and Houston, respectively."
"On March 10, the House Science Committee held a hearing on NASAs new space exploration plan. One of the witnesses testifying before the committee was Michael Griffin, the former NASA Associate Administrator for Exploration in the early 1990s. Griffin had arrived at NASA at the tail end of the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI), after it had become clear that SEI was all but dead. One of Griffins actions while in this job was presiding over a more realistic plan for returning Americans to the Moon. This plan was called the First Lunar Outpost, or FLO. While testifying, Griffin was asked how much his plan would have cost and he responded that in todays dollars it would cost approximately $30 billion."
"Since President George W. Bush introduced his new space initiative two months ago, one of the biggest criticisms about it is the lack of specific details. The plan as presented by Bush lays out some broad goals and deadlinesshutting down the shuttle program by 2011, returning humans to the Moon by 2021but since then NASA has provided few additional details regarding how this would be accomplished."
Just two days after reorganizing their space agency to refocus it, Russian President Putin replaced its head, Yuri Koptev, after a dozen years of service. Koptev oversaw the creation of the space agency following the demise of the Soviet Union.
The new administrator for Russia's space program, Colonel-General Anatoly Perminov, previously the head of the military's space program.
Russia Replaces Space Agency Chief (Reuters)
Space expert's star fades (AP)
The Moon-Mars Commission has now posted downloadable video of last week's hearing in Dayton, OH. The videos are in RealPlayer format, and can be downloaded and played in the player. Also posted on the page are photos of the event.
+ Access Video & Documents
+ Hearing Timeline (PDF File)
"Neil Armstrong, the first human to walk on the moon, endorsed President Bush's proposal to send explorers back to the lunar surface and eventually to Mars while in Houston Thursday night to receive the National Space Trophy."
Congress and NASA began a game of budget chicken Thursday over President Bush's request for a major financial investment in his plan to send people to the moon and Mars.
At a Senate hearing, skeptical lawmakers warned there isn't enough money for the ambitious program this year.
From SpaceToday.net:
"A reshuffling of the Russian government has given the Russian space agency a new name and removed aircraft from its purview, but has left its long-time head still in charge, Itar-Tass reported Wednesday. Since 1999 the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, or Rosaviakosmos, had been responsible for both aviation and space issues. However, on Tuesday the aviation portion of the agency's portfolio was transferred to the Transport Ministry. The agency, now called the Federal Space Agency, will remain responsible for space issues as part of the Ministry of Industry and Energy. Yuri Koptev, who has led the Russian space agency since its formation in 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, will remain in charge of the Federal Space Agency, according to the Itar-Tass report, which cited an unidentified source within the agency. The change is apparently part of a wider reshuffling of the Russian government announced Tuesday by president Vladimir Putin, who consolidated the 30 ministers who had made up his cabinet down to 17 positions."
Koptev remains in charge of Russian space industry (ITAR-TASS)
A few articles written about yesterday's Congressional hearings on the new space vision.
EXPERTS SUPPORT PRESIDENT'S SPACE PLAN, BUT CALL FOR CHANGES (House Science Committee release)
Legislators debate merits of Mars mission (Daily Press)
Are we alone? Where are we going? (Miami Herald)
Experts disagree on vision for space (Orlando Sentinel)
Not just moonwalking (Op-Ed by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher)
Written testimony submitted for yesterday's congressional hearings
Opening Statement by Rep. Sherwood Boehlert
Statement By Laurence R. Young
Statement By Michael D. Griffin
Statement By Norman R. Augustine
"The President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond will hold its third public hearing on March 24 and 25, 2024, at the Georgia Centers for Advanced Telecommunications Technology (GCATT) on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology, 250 14th Street, NW, Atlanta, Georgia.
The first day of testimony will begin at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 24, and continue until 4:00 p.m. that evening. On Thursday, the hearing will reconvene at 9:00 a.m. and adjourn at 3:30 p.m. From 3:00 to 3:30 p.m., the audience is invited to make comments. And at 3:45 p.m., a news conference will be held."
"Word has it that Code T AA Craig Steidle is working on a plan whereby there would be a fly-off of two competing CEV designs sometime in CY 2009. No word yet as to when the RFP for such a program would be released but one would assume that having hardware in 2009 would require some swift procurement activity starting ... yesterday."
This is another unconfirmed report from the NASA Watch website.
"On Wednesday, March 10 at 10:00 a.m., the Science Committee will hold a hearing with non-governmental witnesses regarding the President's recently announced space exploration initiative. The Committee will focus on the following overarching questions: What are compelling justifications for sending humans into space? What scientific research on the Moon or Mars is aided by a human presence? What criteria should be used to determine whether robots or humans should conduct particular science and exploration missions on the Moon and Mars?"
+ Read Announcement
+ Live Webcast
Ohio Congressman and Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich today called for a tripling of NASA's budget.
Kucinich, co-sponsor of the Space Exploration Act of 2023, said the current budget for NASA "is far from adequate. Our shuttle fleet is based on 30-year old technology and this is only because of a lack of funding. Although the shuttle program requires $4 billion a year to operate, NASA has been forced to operate the shuttle with a budget of only $3 billion a year."
"NASAs new Office of Exploration Systems, known in the jargon as Code T, has already given rise to a number of wisecracks about the agencys new space race. Which will come first, astronauts beyond low Earth orbit or the end of the alphabet? In any case, the idea behind Code T seems logical enough if one accepts the premise that human and robotic exploration must be complementary."
"President Bush's ambitious plan to launch a new era of space exploration is adrift on Capitol Hill. With critical questions about the initiative still unanswered, some key lawmakers have publicly declared themselves undecided about the proposal -- or are not talking about it at all."
"NASA's celebration last week of gritty evidence that Mars once had enough water to support life has spawned more questions:
Where's the water now? When did it disappear? Are there any fossils of living creatures, or even microbes?
But prominent scientists outside the space agency are beginning to ask a harder question: Does Mars represent what is out of whack in American science and exploration?"
"House and Senate democrats are talking of putting the President's space Initiative on hold for at least a year. Some would like to wait for the election to be over. Other Democrats (and many Republicans) have problems with the lack of detail in the budget numbers and overall schedule milestones NASA has been presenting. Talk of holding NASA's budget in FY 2025 to FY 2024 levels with some $60-80 million in additional study money is being discussed among Democrats. Overall, Republicans are a bit more enthusiastic, but there are some deficit hawks who would like to pay off the deficit sooner than the President has suggested and proposed budget increases such as those sought for NASA are a tempting target."
This is an unconfirmed report from the NASA Watch website.
"NASA will have to inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists, while still maintaining the integrity of its science programs over the next 40 years, in order to meet President George W. Bush's challenge to send astronauts back to the moon and, eventually, Mars."
Thanks,
James Burk
Editor, MarsNews.com
and ProjectConstellation.US
"U.S. space pioneer John Glenn said Thursday that President Bushs space exploration plan 'pulls the rug out from under our scientists' and might waste too much money to ever put astronauts on Mars."
"NASA has begun to plot out its escape route from low Earth orbit, putting itself on a return journey back to the Moon, planting footprints on Mars, and heading off to other targets beyond."
+ Read Article (Space.com)
Stream of coverage on today's Moon-Mars Commission Hearing in Dayton, OH. A live feed was provided on the Commission's Website. Day two of the hearing begins tomorrow.
+ Space commission comes to Air Force Museum (Dayton Daily News)
+ Hearings Held On Space Exploration (WHIOtv.com)
+ Moon, Mars may yield information on human physiology (Canoe.ca)
+ Zuber Talks to Tech About Space Exploation Goals (MIT Tech)
+ Educators: Missions to Mars, moon would fire up students (USA Today)
Article by Frank Sietzen reviewing the first comprehensive document released by NASA about its Office of Exploration Systems enterprise. (see link below)
"NASA's plan to implement President George W. Bush's moon-Mars-beyond space vision will use small incremental steps called space policy building blocks, according to documents just released by the agency."
+ Read Article
+ Office of Exploration Systems - Program Overview
This big-picture article from respected space journalist Marc Carreau from the Houston Chronicle indicates that the Moon-Mars Commission will largely stick to the previous vision outlined, and that their mission is mainly "to foster support for President Bush's plan" by scheduling public hearings in four cities, and will leave "the nagging issue of cost largely unaddressed."
A stream of coverage (mostly from local newspapers) about this week's meeting at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH.
+ First Steps To Moon, Mars Pass Through Valley (Dayton Daily News)
+ Dayton to host presidential commission (Dayton Business Journal)
+ Experts lined up for space panel
(Dayton Daily News)
+ Dayton Region Ready to Serve as the Next Step in the Journey to the Moon, Mars and Beyond (Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce)
+ Presenters Chosen for President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond Dayton Public Hearing (President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond)