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.

Two weeks after the House passed the conference report on the FY2010 Energy-Water Appropriations bill (H.R. 3183) the Senate finally followed suit. Senate action had been held up by objections by Senator Coburn (R-OK) because an amendment he had sponsored was not included in the final version.

This is the third of the 12 appropriations bills to clear Congress (the other two are Legislative Branch and Agriculture). The current Continuing Resolution (CR) expires on October 31. A second CR will be needed to cover any agency whose appropriations bill has not been enacted by then. Senate Democrats charge that Republicans are deliberately slowing passage of funding bills.

The Energy-Water bill contains a provision that unfortunately denies requested funding for DOE to restart production of plutonium-238 for use in NASA space science missions. See our earlier report.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report today recommending that NASA “take steps to mitigate control vulnerabilities and fully implement a comprehensive information security program.” In its summary of the report, “NASA Needs to Remedy Vulnerabilities in Key Networks,” (GAO-10-4) the congressional auditing agency said that:

“Although NASA has made important progress in implementing security controls and aspects of its information security program, it has not always implemented appropriate controls to sufficiently protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the information and systems supporting its mission directorates. Specifically, NASA did not consistently implement effective controls to prevent, limit, and detect unauthorized access to its networks and systems.”

GAO wrote the report in response to congressional direction in the 2008 NASA Authorization Act. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN), chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, issued a statement saying that the committee takes the issue of cybersecurity across the board very seriously and noted several hearings his committee has held and 12 pieces of legislation passed since 1987. He concluded, “However, regulation and legislation alone will not suffice. Agencies and departments must follow through with corrective actions to mitigate identified vulnerabilities. GAO has performed an invaluable service to NASA by identifying weaknesses and recommending needed improvements.”

The headline in this evening’s Congress Daily (subscription required) says it all: “Bid To Cut Off Debate on C-J-S Bill Fails, Rancor Ensues.”

The Senate had been expected to complete debate on the FY2010 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill (H.R. 2847) this afternoon, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) was able to muster only 57 votes in favor of his cloture motion instead of the 60 required. Three Democrats were not present for the vote according to the publication, which quoted Senator Reid as saying “The Republicans are legislating out of spite. Anything that slows things down, confuses, diverts from the business at hand, they are happy to do that.”

The current dispute is over agreement — or lack thereof — between the two parties on the list of amendments that will be considered to the bill. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was quoted by Congress Daily as saying that no one on his side of the aisle is trying the prevent the bill from passing. None of the amendments reported to be in dispute concerns the space program.

Yvonne Brill has been elected to the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame for her innovations in rocket and jet propulsion. While working at RCA Astro-Electronics in Princeton, NJ on satellite propulsion systems, she invented the hydrazine resistojet propulsion system that is widely used on communications satellites. Among her many honors, she is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA’s highest honor), and a Fellow of the Society of Women Engineers, which recently recognized her with the prestigious John Fritz medal. She also is a tireless mentor for women in the aerospace profession. Congratulations, Yvonne!

Renewed interest in NASA’s technology development activities has been spurred by several recent studies calling attention to the faltering status of basic technology development at the agency. The topic was the focus of today’s meeting of the National Research Council’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) and next week the House Science and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on “Strengthening NASA’s Technology Development Program.”

Budgetary constraints have sharply curtailed spending on technology development that is not directly related to a specific mission. This is often referred to as “low TRL” research in reference to the Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) that indicate whether a technology is ready to be incorporated into a flight mission. The higher the TRL, the more ready it is to be used.

Among the studies calling attention to the issue are the recent Augustine Committee summary report and at least three National Research Council (NRC) studies:

• America’s Future in Space; Aligning the Civil Space Program With National Needs
• Fostering Visions for the Future: A Review of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts
• A Constrained Space Exploration Technology Program: a Review of NASA’s Exploration Technology Development Program

Bobby Braun, co-chair of the “Fostering Visions for the Future” study, and Ray Colladay, ASEB chair and vice-chair of the “America’s Future in Space” study, are scheduled to testify at the House hearing, along with NASA’s Chris Scolese.

Synopses of the three NRC studies were presented at today’s ASEB meeting as a prelude to NASA presentations about ongoing agency activities reviewing the state of technology development at the agency. The presentations on the three NRC reports by NRC staffer Brant Sponberg and Brian Dewhurst, who recently left the NRC to join NASA, highlighted what the studies recommended about the need to invest in technology development.

Dr. Laurie Leshin, Deputy Director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and Benjamin Neumann, Director of the Advanced Capabilities Program in NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, briefed the ASEB about ongoing reviews of NASA’s technology development activities.

Dr. Leshin and Dr. Neumann indicated that the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and NASA leadership have a very strong interest in rejuvenating NASA’s technology development portfolio to enable long-term capabilities rather than focusing only on the near-term. Although no decisions have been made, establishing a “DARPA-like” office within NASA is one possibility, a recommendation made in the NRC’s “America’s Future in Space” study. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is often cited as a successful example of investing in low-TRL technology development. Utilizing the International Space Station (ISS) and engaging the external community would be two elements of expanded NASA investment in technology development.

A more complete summary of the ASEB meeting will be posted soon on SpacePolicyOnline.com under “Our Meeting Summaries.”

Jon Morse, Director of NASA’s Astrophysics Division, told the National Research Council’s Astro2010 Decadal Survey Committee last week that it should plan on having only about $2.3 billion available to spend on new astrophysics missions at NASA. Astro2010 is tasked with recommending priorities for new NASA astrophysics missions, associated research and analysis, and related activities for the next decade within a budget envelope identified by NASA.

He also hinted that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) may need additional funds before it is finished. JWST’s current budget is based on a 70% confidence level in the program’s cost estimate. Dr. Morse reminded the committee that “70% is not 100%” and indicated that JWST may come in closer to the 80% confidence level. He did not specify that cost, but it obviously is higher than the 70% confidence level. According to NASA’s FY2010 budget request documentation, JWST’s current life cycle cost estimate is just under $5 billion, with launch scheduled for June 2014.

Dr. Morse emphasized that under one scenario (shown as the blue portion of the chart on page 9 of his presentation) about $4 billion would be available for new NASA astrophysics activities. However, a different scenario emerges (shown as the blue portion of the chart on p. 10 of his presentation) after reducing the $4 billion by additional potential JWST requirements and other potential costs. The latter include funding that will be needed to deorbit the Hubble Space Telescope eventually, and extended missions for current spacecraft. Under the second scenario, available funding for new missions is only $2.3 billion for the decade.

In response to a question about the status of the Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM), Dr. Morse turned the discussion to whether a new class of moderately-sized astrophysics spacecraft, “Probes,” should be created that would parallel the New Frontiers program in NASA’s Planetary Science Division. Like New Frontiers, specific missions would be chosen competitively at three year intervals. Dr. Morse seemed to suggest that if the Decadal Survey recommended creating such a class of astrophysics spacecraft, JDEM could compete for one of those opportunities. JDEM is a NASA-DOE spacecraft mission to investigate dark energy in the universe. It was previously rated by the National Research Council as the top priority of NASA’s Beyond Einstein program, but now is being reconsidered as part of the broader astrophysics program.

Dr. Morse spoke at a public session of the Astro2010 Survey Committee’s meeting last week along with representatives of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE). The three agencies are sponsoring the study. All three answered questions previously submitted to them by the committee. NSF and DOE also provided budget guidance for what is expected to be available in their agencies. NSF funds ground-based astronomy. DOE’s High Energy Physics office participates in some space missions related to high energy physics, including Fermi (formerly GLAST), JDEM, and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) that is scheduled to be launched to the International Space Station next year.

Astro2010 is one of three Decadal Surveys ongoing at the National Research Council in different space science disciplines. See our National Research Council page for more information.

A Russian cosmonaut, an American astronaut and a Canadian spaceflight participant landed safely in Kazakhstan at 12:32 am EDT this morning aboard Soyuz TMA-14. Their return from the International Space Station (ISS) ended a 199-day tour of duty for Gennady Padalka and Michael Barrett, and 9 days for Guy Laliberte, CEO of Cirque du Soleil, who reportedly paid Russia $35 million for his trip to space.

According to Bill Harwood of CBS News, in an interview earlier in the week Barrett said he would miss the ISS, but was looking forward to seeing his wife and five children, while Padalka referred to their “very, very long and very productive, and, I would say, very eventful” mission and said he was
“ready to go home.”

Six crew members, under the command of ESA astronaut Frank De Winne, remain aboard the ISS as reported earlier on SpacePolicyOnline.com.

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Frank De Winne of Belgium will become the first non-U.S., non-Russian commander of the International Space Station (ISS) today, October 10, 2009. A change of command ceremony was held yesterday where Expedition 20 commander Gennady Padalka handed command over to De Winne to lead Expedition 21, but according to NASA the reins officially transfer to De Winne later today when Padalka, U.S. astronaut Michael Barrett, and Canadian spaceflight participant Guy Laliberte undock from ISS to head back to Earth. The undocking is scheduled for 9:07 pm EDT, with landing in Kazakhstan at 12:31 am EDT Sunday.

De Winne will command a six-person crew. The other five astronauts who are now aboard ISS and will remain are: Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk, Russian cosmonauts Roman Romanenko and Maxim Suraev, and U.S. astronauts Nicole Stott and Jeffrey Williams.