A “Launch-on-Need” (LON) shuttle mission after what is currently scheduled as the final space shuttle launch is under evaluation by NASA according to the website NASASpaceFlight.com. Currently the last shuttle mission is STS-133. The additional mission is designated either STS-135 LON or STS-335 according to the report.

Such a mission would provide a rescue capability should STS-133 suffer damage that would prevent the crew from using it for the flight back to the Earth and they must use the ISS as a “safe haven” while awaiting a rescue flight. ISS crews have Soyuz spacecraft available to take them back to Earth in an emergency, but there are only enough seats for the ISS crewmembers, not a shuttle crew.

STS-133 is a utilization flight to the ISS. STS-134 is scheduled to take the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the space station and originally was to have followed STS-133. NASA switched places for those last two flights (see NASA’s list of upcoming ISS missions).

STS-133 is currently scheduled for launch on September 16, 2010. NASA announced the six-person STS-133 crew last month. NASASpaceflight.com states that the STS-335 mission would launch in December 2010 if it were needed.

Only six shuttle flights formally remain on NASA’s schedule:

• STS-129, Atlantis, Nov. 12, 2009, ELC 1 and ELC 2
• STS-130, Endeavour, Feb. 4, 2010, Tranquility Node 3 and Cupola
• STS-131, Discovery, Mar. 18, 2010, MPLM and LMC
• STS-132, Atlantis, May 14, 2010, ICC and MRM1
• STS-134, Endeavour, July 29, 2010, AMS and ELC 3
• STS-133, Discovery, Sept. 16, 2010, MPLM and ELC 4

ELC = Express Logistics Carrier
MPLM = MultiPurpose Logistics Module
LMC = Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier
MRM = Mini Research Module

The Augustine committee on the future of the human space flight program concluded in its summary report that a more prudent schedule would assume that the remaining flights are “likely to stretch into the second quarter of 2011.”

NASA managers are assessing whether they can hold to the scheduled October 27 launch of Ares 1-X following a decision to delay roll-out to the launch pad by one day. Roll-out will now take place on October 20 instead of October 19. The delay was caused by a nitrogen gas leak in an accumulator in the aft skirt of the rocket, according to the NASA press release. The accumulator has been replaced.

Ares 1-X is designed to simulate the first two minutes of an Ares 1 launch. It will use a simulated Ares 1 rocket and simulated Orion crew capsule and its launch abort system. Ares 1 and Orion are part of the Constellation program designed to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020. The future of the U.S. human space flight program, including Constellation, is under review by the Obama Administration. The final report of the Augustine committee that was created by the White House and NASA to develop options for human space flight is expected to be released imminently.

The following events may be of interest next week. See our calendar on the right menu for more information or click on the links below. Note that congressional activities are subject to change. For hearings, check with the relevant committee for up-to-date information. For floor action, check the websites of the House and Senate.

During the Week

• The Senate may resume consideration of the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill, H.R 2847 (which includes NASA, NOAA and NSF)
• Conferees may meet on the DOD appropriations bill, H.R. 3326
• The Senate may vote on the conference report on the DOD authorization bill, H.R. 2647

Sunday-Wednesday, October 18-21

• GeoINT 2009 Symposium, San Antonio, TX

Monday-Tuesday, October 19-20

• Committee on Earth Studies, Space Studies Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C. Some sessions of this meeting may be closed.

Wednesday, October 21

• Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing on The Case for Space: Examining the Value of Space Exploration, 253 Russell Senate Office Building, 2:30 pm

Thursday, October 22

• House Science and Technology subcommittee hearing on Strengthening NASA’s Technology Development Programs, 2318 Rayburn House Office Building, 10:00 am

Saturday, October 24

• American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA), panel on Satellite Collisions, Space Debris and the Liability Convention. Fordham University School of Law, New York City, 2:15-3:45 pm

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) looked at a variety of NASA programs to determine if they duplicated work in other agencies and found none that did. The study was requested by Congress in the 2008 NASA Authorization Act.

The Act directed GAO to look at all NASA programs and activities with a FY2009 funding level of $50 million or above. GAO identified 33 of 38 NASA programs that met that threshold and then focused on areas within the Science Mission Directorate, the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, and the Office of Education. It excluded “space operations and exploration missions that are unique to NASA.” It then “judgmentally selected” a subset of projects and activities to compare with similar activities in other organizations. GAO’s conclusion was that:

“We found no apparent duplication among the selected projects or activities. Although we did not look at all programs within NASA, policies, procedures and mechanisms are in place that facilitate the avoidance of duplication by engaging in collaboration and coordination between NASA and other federal agencies.”

Representative Bart Gordon (D-TN), chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, released a statement saying that:

“While I strongly believe that NASA should be given the resources and tools necessary to do all the things this nation has asked it to do, I don’t view investing in NASA as a blank check. This Committee is cognizant of its responsibility for ensuring that NASA is being a good steward of the resources given to it by American taxpayers…” “”This GAO report provides concrete confirmation that NASA is not engaging in duplicative activities and is appropriately coordinating with other federal agencies.”

Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, opened a nomination hearing yesterday by saying that NASA “is trailed around with a bit of public skepticism … particularly in the question of fiscal responsibility and accountability….” He added “NASA has gone without an effective Inspector General for too long…. I think there is a lot of waste, fraud and abuse at NASA.”

The hearing included the nominations for Beth Robinson to be NASA’s Chief Financial Officer and Paul Martin to be NASA’s Inspector General. The Senate Commerce committee oversees NASA and authorizes NASA activities. The Senator’s comments come at minute 32:50 on the webcast, available on the committee’s website. His written statement is also available there.

Senator Hutchison (R-TX), ranking member of the committee, disagreed, saying that she does not think people are skeptical about NASA (36:45). She said that NASA’s operations are very constrained by a limited budget. Senator Hutchison is one of NASA’s strongest supporters in the Senate, but has announced her plans to resign from the Senate soon to run for Governor of Texas.

During Q&A later in the hearing (94:36), Senator Rockefeller pointed out that it is not just that NASA cannot pass a financial audit, but cannot even prepare its financial records to allow its independent auditor, Ernst & Young, to do its job. He asked Dr. Robinson how she would fix that. She said that discovering the root causes and putting in place mechanisms that lead to success are her top priorities. Still later (121:15), he cited the waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and wondered about how much there is at NASA that could be recovered and used for activities NASA wants to pursue. He quoted the Government Accountability Office (GAO) as saying that NASA’s IG office recovers less than 40 cents for every budget dollar it receives, well below the average of $9 that other agency IG’s recover. Martin said he would assess the auditors and investigators in the NASA IG office and reprioritize and reposition people if needed to go after important issues and high dollar issues. In wrapping up the hearing, the Senator referred to “constituencies in the world of NASA” who are “very ambitious” and that he goes “blooey” hearing about plans to “pay $1 million and travel to the Moon” and doesn’t know how to react. (127:15).

Senator George LeMieux (R-FL) — appointed by Florida Governor Crist last month to replace Mel Martinez, who resigned after serving four years of his six year term — also expressed concern about “irregularities” at NASA and emphasized the need to “get 100 cents worth of every dollar” spent at the agency. (102:50) Senator LeMieux is Governor Crist’s former chief of staff and is not expected to run for the Senate seat; Governor Crist is running for that position.