The second Continuing Resolution (CR) for FY2010 cleared Congress yesterday as Division B of the FY2010 Interior-Environment appropriations bill (H.R. 2996). The CR funds agencies whose regular appropriations bills have not yet been enacted. The President will need to sign the bill by midnight tomorrow — Halloween — to keep those agencies operating until December 18, 2009. They include DOD, NASA, NOAA, and NSF.
President Obama signed the Department of Defense (DOD) authorization bill (H.R. 2647) into law today despite an earlier veto threat. The veto threat was prompted by Congress’ inclusion of funding for an alternative engine for the F-35 joint strike fighter that the Administration did not want. The President said the bill “wasn’t perfect” and “There’s still more waste we need to cut….”
He also signed into law the Energy-Water appropriations bill (H.R. 3183) that, among other things, rejects the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) request to fund a restart of production of plutonium-238 that is needed for some of NASA’s lunar and planetary spacecraft.
Not sure of the difference between an appropriation and an authorization? See our “What’s a Markup?” fact sheet.
The weather cooperated today, allowing NASA to launch the Ares 1-X test vehicle at 11:30 this morning. The two minute powered flight reached an estimated altitude of about 28 miles. The first stage splashed down in the ocean about four minutes later and will be recovered. The mock upper stage was not intended to be recovered.
The fate of the Ares 1 program is still under consideration in Washington as policymakers deliberate on the results of the Augustine committee.
Update: 9:10 am
Latest launch time is 10:30 based on weather. The clock is stopped at T-4 minutes, so if the weather unexpectedly improves before that, it could launch earlier, but the expectation is that 10:30 is the next best chance.
Original Story
Today’s launch window for Ares 1-X extends until noon, but weather continues to be a problem. The most recently announced launch time is 9:15 am. Live coverage is available on NASA TV and SpaceflightNow.com, and both are posting messages on Twitter.
Bad weather and other glitches forced NASA to scrub the Ares 1-X launch today. It will try again tomorrow. The launch window is the same as today: 8:00 am to noon.
The other glitches were a recalcitrant instrument cover that the ground crew struggled to detach from a 5-hole probe atop the launch vehicle minutes before launch. Pulling and pulling on the tether attached to the cover finally dislodged it, but not before missing the targeted launch time. Weather cooperated briefly, but not a cargo ship that entered prohibited waters off the launch site. Though Eastern Test Range officials estimated it would take 90 minutes to clear the range, it actually took less than 10 minutes, but by then the weather violated the “triboelectrification rule” and deteriorated further.
Results from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument on the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft and preliminary results from one-month of operations of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter were briefed to a panel of the National Research Council’s Planetary Science Decadal Survey on Monday. View those Powerpoint presentations and others to the Inner Planets panel, as well as presentations to the Giant Planets panel, that were made on October 26. They are available on our National Research Council page on our left menu.
The following presentations were made at the meeting of the Inner Planets panel of the National Research Council’s Planetary Science Decadal Survey on October 26, 2009 at the Beckman Center in Irvine, CA. Adobe Reader 8.0 or higher is needed to read most of these files. Some of them are quite large and take a few moments to open; please be patient. The titles are taken from the agenda for the meeting.
(The presentation by Clive Neal on LEAG Goals and Priorities was too large to upload)
The following presentations were made at the meeting of the Giant Planets panel of the National Research Council’s Planetary Science Decadal Survey on October 26, 2009 at the Beckman Center in Irvine CA. Adobe Reader 8.0 or higher is needed to read most of these files. Some of them are quite large and take a few moments to open; please be patient. The titles are taken from the agenda for the meeting.
UPDATE: As of Monday evening, the forecast remains the same, with a 40% chance of favorable weather during the launch window that opens at 8:00 am tomorrow morning (Tuesday).
The Ares 1-X two-minute suborbital test flight is on track for launch tomorrow morning (Tuesday, October 27), though weather may be a problem. As of yesterday, forecasters were saying there is only a 40% chance for launch due to clouds and precipitation. The four-hour launch window extends from 8:00 am – noon. If it slips to Wednesday, the window is the same.
The following events next week may be of interest. For more information, look on our calendar on the right menu or follow the links below. Note that congressional activities are always subject to change.
During the week
Sunday-Wednesday, October 25-28
Monday-Wednesday, October 26-28
Tuesday, October 27
Wednesday-Friday, October 28-30
Thursday, October 29