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Nearly 100 space law experts from major space nations, including the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany, Japan and India, gathered here Monday to discuss ways to enact or improve laws on human space activities.
At the two-day International Space Law Conference, Jeffery Maclure, a noted space law expert with the State Department of the United States, presented a report on the country's formulation of laws and policies on space-related activities.
Mistaken as gospel and spread around the country by countless news outlets outside of Brevard County, an oft-quoted but flawed trillion-dollar cost estimate is coloring public opinion on President Bush's plan to send astronauts back to the moon by 2021, and it's swaying election-year political debates.
A more realistic estimate: $229 billion over the next 16 years.
The President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond will hold its fifth and final public hearing at the Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, New York City, on May 3 and 4, 2024.
The first day of testimony will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, May 3 and continue until 4:00 p.m. On Tuesday, May 4, 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. At 3:45 p.m., a news conference will be held. At 4:30, the Commissioners will discuss their findings; and this discussion is open to the public.
The Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) affords an exciting and unprecedented opportunity to explore a part of the solar system identified by the National Academy of Sciences as critical in the search for life's origins and the understanding of planetary evolution. The Science Definition Team for JIMO consisted of 38 scientists representing the community interested in the exploration of the Jupiter system, with a focus on Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
NASA "Request for Information" (asking contractors for white papers, etc) for the Project Constellation initiative. As we've said in the past, it's discouraging this is only coming out now, 3 months after the President's announcement of the program.
Video has been released from the fourth Moon-Mars Hearing, last week in San Francisco. Testimony has heard from Ray Bradbury, SpaceDev's James Benson, "Red" Whittaker, and many others.
I am somewhat shocked that NASA turned town this proposal. It was seemingly "right up the alley" for the plans of future long-term human space missions, and while it would have entailed some amount of risk, it would also have advanced the cause. At the same time, it was not a very pioneering proposal, since several Russian cosmonauts (including past ISS crewmember Sergei Krikalev) have already spent over a year in orbit. But at least it would have put the U.S. program in the same class as the Russian's long duration research program.
I think this decision, coupled with the decision not to maintain Hubble, coupled with the lack of concrete CEV plans, coupled with other recent risk-averse policies, coupled with comments made by NASA managers & administrators, shows that NASA is still a risk-averse culture and shows the agency isn't serious about the new initiative to return to the Moon and go on to Mars. If we are to get to these destinations, is new leadership of the U.S. space program in order?
Incidientally, I really hope I'm wrong.
+ NASA Response to Russia's Request to Extend Next ISS Expedition to One Year in Length (NASA Release)
+ NASA says no to 12-month space mission (MSNBC)
+ NASA Rejects Russia Plan for Longer Space Missions (Reuters)
In taking a long-term view of how to move ahead with NASAs vision for exploration, "all the options for structuring human spaceflight need to be considered," Bille said. "It depends a great deal on whether any additional problems that could delay return to flight are found in the shuttle fleet," he explained.
+ Read Article (Space.com)
Today's public hearing in San Francisco for the President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy will begin today at 1pm Pacific(4pm Eastern) & will air on NASA TV.
1:00 - 1:15 p.m. PDT Welcome and Introductions
Chairman Pete Aldridge
1:15 2:00 p.m. PDT Entertainment and Space Exploration
Ray Bradbury, Writer
John Bernardoni, Ancient Mariner Media
Lawrence Holland, Totally Games
2:00 2:15 p.m. PDT BREAK
2:15 3:00 p.m. PDT Educating Tomorrow's Astronauts
Barbara Morgan, Educator/Astronaut
Dr. Jerry Wheeler, Executive Director, National Science Teacher's Association
Jim McMurtray, Executive Director, National Alliance State Science and Mathematics Coalitions
Dominic Farrar, Odyssey Program
3:00 4:00 p.m. PDT Sustainability for the Long Haul
Reecie Giesecke, President UAW Local 848
Dean Zvorak, President UAW Local 887
David Goodreau, Chairman and Co-founder Small Manufacturers Association of California
4:00 p.m. PDT Commission adjourns
The Bush administrations redirection of U.S. space efforts to emphasize manned missions to the Moon and possibly to Mars has unleashed an avalanche of questions in the former Soviet state, leaving partners deeply confused about how to make constructive proposals for future cooperation...
The article also discusses Russia' Kliper spacecraft.
SpaceDev's founding Chairman and CEO, Jim Benson, has been invited, by President Bush's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond, to testify at a public hearing on April 16, 2024 at the Galileo Academy of Science and Technology, 1150 Francisco Street, San Francisco, California.
On this day 43 years ago, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the earth aboard Vostok 1.
On this day 23 years ago, the first Space Shuttle flight STS-1, utilizing the orbiter Columbia, launched John Young and Bob Crippen into space.
Today, as part of the celebrations in Russia, President Putin called for the demilitarization of outer space. I can think of no better way to honor the memory of these achievements than for the United States to accept the proposal to demilitarize space for all time.
+ Yuri's Night Celebrations Worldwide
+ Yuri's Night - Seattle (I will be there!)
The contractor shall undertake work and other expert duties in support of the Marshall Space Flight Center's Propulsion Research Centers...The contractor will support R&D; efforts in:
1) the testing, evaluation and modification of antiproton trapping devices, and
2) evaluation and layout of potential antiproton propulsion experiments,
3) fundamental physics research in additional areas as needed.
+ Read NASA Announcement of Opportunity
NASA selected Garry M. Lyles as Deputy Director of Project Constellation and Charles J. Precourt as Program Director of the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV).
"I am very excited about the addition of these two excellent managers to the Office of Exploration Systems' team," said Craig Steidle, Associate Administrator for the Office of Exploration Systems. "Their experience and skills will be critical as we begin developing plans for extending human presence to the moon by 2016," he added.
Video is now (finally) available of the third hearing of the President's Commission on Moon, Mars, and Beyond. The hearing in Atlanta, GA featured testimony from space entrepreneurs Elon Musk, Peter Diamandis, and Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
+ Access Video
+ Commission Website
Two interesting paragraphs:
"Sean O'Keefe, NASA's administrator, and several senior aides met with the so-called Blue Dog Democrats...The group vented their concerns about NASA's budget and got in return what one attendee called a detailed review of how the space agency plans to pay for the new space effort. The result was the Blue Dogs agreed to support an amendment to the House version of the budget resolution granting the full NASA request."
AND
"According to congressional sources, several House members complained Bush has failed to say anything more about the moon-Mars plan since his Jan. 14 speech, and his silence has been interpreted as a cooling of support. The group was told the White House was silent, not because Bush was rethinking his grand space plan, but was instead trying to avoid further politicization."
+ Read Article (UPI)
Scientists are divided about the use of the Moon as a base to develop ways to travel to Mars, according to reports given to the US government. Some have said the possibility of water-ice existing at the lunar poles would allow a moonbase to use the ice as rocket fuel for a Mars mission.
+ Read Article (BBC)
Future astronauts returning to the moon will most certainly have a lunar rover to fulfill their tasks. How different would it really be from the 1972 model? To get the answer, a bit of history is in order first.
+ Read Article (The Space Review)
NASA may borrow a development approach from the U.S. Air Force and seek to build multiple prototypes of its proposed new moon landing craft, and then test competing designs against one another in a celestial version of an airplane designers' fly-off.
"We could have (CEV) prototypes flying as soon as 2010, possibly 2009," Steidle said. Under a development plan now under review at NASA headquarters in Washington, a request for industry proposals for the first automated test versions of the CEV may be released early next year.
+ Read Article (UPI)