NASA will hold another media teleconference tomorrow, September 12, about the adventures of the Mars Curiosity rover.
The event is scheduled for 2:00 pm ET and will be streamed live on NASA’s news audio site (http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio).
The following events may be of interest in the coming week. Congress returns to work this week and the space policy world resumes its usual busy pace.
During the Week
The public memorial service for Neil Armstrong at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC on Thursday will be a time for celebrating not only his life but the invigorating days of the Apollo program. For those who cannot attend in person, NASA will carry the event live on NASA TV.
Committees in both the House and Senate will hold hearings on the future of the human spaceflight program on the days before and after Armstrong’s memorial service. The House Science, Space and Technology Committee has hearings on Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday’s hearing will get an update on the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft that NASA is building to take astronauts beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for the first time since the end of the Apollo lunar program. Friday’s will focus on the nearer term effort to build new crew transportation systems to LEO as essentially a public-private partnership though it is dubbed “commercial crew.” Meanwhile, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday that looks at the future of both robotic and human space exploration, with leaders of the Mars Curiosity rover team, the chair of the NASA Advisory Council, the chair of the National Research Council’s Space Studies Board, and a leader of the rocket propulsion industry.
All of that is on top of a bevy of other events, including five conferences in the United States or abroad, that will keep the space policy community hopping all week. To make it easier to use this long list, we have separated the conferences from the other events.
Last but not least, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) should submit to Congress its report on the specifics of how a sequester would impact federal spending, including for DOD, NASA and NOAA. The report was due last week, but White House press secretary Jay Carney said Friday it would not be released until “late next week,” but did not say exactly when. It is sure to dampen any enthusiasm about the future of the space program that arises from the Armstrong memorial service and congressional hearings, but OMB’s point is to demonstrate the catastrophic impact a sequester would have if Congress does not act to avoid it.
SINGLE EVENTS
Wednesday, September 12
Thursday, September 13
Friday, September 14
CONFERENCES
Monday-Thursday, September 10-14
Tuesday-Thursday, September 11-13
Tuesday-Sunday, September 11-16
Thursday, September 13
Thursday-Sunday, September 13-16
Anyone anticipating that President Obama’s visit to the Space Coast of Florida today signaled renewed presidential interest in the space program would have been disappointed today. Though he did mention NASA, it was a tiny part of his half hour speech.
The President spoke in Melbourne, FL, just south of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), which is trying to reinvent itself with the end of the space shuttle program, a shift to commercial spaceflight for trips to low Earth orbit, and a long wait for launches of NASA’s new Space Launch System. KSC is the poster child for the reinvention of the nation’s human spaceflight program under President Obama. Fans of the President’s policies believe human spaceflight to LEO will cost less and be available to many more people. Critics complain that America has lost its leadership in space and many high tech jobs as a result.
Stumping along the Space Coast could have been an opportunity for the President to clarify his policies and build support for them, but he did so only to a small extent. Florida Today has posted a video of his entire speech. Beginning at about minute 12:08, the President, after talking about reinventing a dying auto industry, says —
“Here on the Space Coast we started a new era of American exploration that is creating good jobs right here in this county. We’ve begun an ambitious new direction for NASA by laying the groundwork for 21st century spaceflight and innovation and just last month we witnessed an incredible achievement that speaks to the nation’s sense of wonder and our can do spirit — the United States of America landing Curiosity on Mars. (applause) So this is an example of what we do when we combine our science, our research, our ability to commercialize, new products, making them here in America. So this is where we’ve got a choice.”
He goes on to criticize Republican plans to cut back on research and technology and says “instead we can be at the cutting edge … spark new discoveries, launch new careers, inspire the next generation to reach for something better. You’ve got that choice.”
With that he returns to the theme of making products in America, jobs, and the full gamut of issues in this campaign.
Perhaps the real significance of his speech is highlighting that the space program simply is not a compelling political issue. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney similarly is saying little about his plans for NASA or any other aspect of the nation’s space program.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing next week that focuses on the Mars Curiosity rover as well as future robotic and human space exploration.
The September 12 hearing features the following witnesses:
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm ET in 253 Russell Senate Office Building.
Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) appeared at the Democratic national convention yesterday and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. For anyone who missed this stirring moment, here is a link to the C-SPAN video. Giffords is assisted in walking across the stage by her close friend Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Giffords was shot in the head during an assassination attempt on January 8, 2011 and is still recovering. She had been the chair of the Space and Aeronautics subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee in the 111th Congress and an ardent NASA supporter. She is married to former astronaut Mark Kelly.
Her recovery has been described as miraculous considering the extent of her wounds. The assassination attempt took six other lives and wounded 13. The assailant, Jared Lee Loughner, now 23, pleaded guilty last month in a plea arrangement where he will sentenced to life in prison without parole, but is spared the death penalty. Sentencing is set for November 15.
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee has added another space-related hearing next week.
On Friday, September 14, the committee will hear about “Recent Developments in NASA’s Commercial Crew Acquisition Strategy,” at 9:30 am ET in 2318 Rayburn House Office Building. Scheduled witnesses are:
The hearing will be webcast on the committee’s website.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters today that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) report to Congress on the impact of sequestration will not be delivered today, but late next week.
The report is required by the Sequestration Transparency Act, passed just before Congress left for recess in August. Reaction to the delay is as expected, with congressional Republicans critical and others pointing out that Congress is not very successful in meeting deadlines either — it plans to pass a six-month Continuing Resolution for the first half of FY2013 because it has not completed work on the 12 appropriations bills.
A variety of estimates have been made by several groups about the impact of sequestration if it actually goes into effect, but OMB’s word will be the definitive one.
Today is the day that the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) should submit a report to Congress on how it will implement the sequester if Congress does not act to avoid it.
The report is required by the Sequester Transparency Act, passed by Congress just before it recessed and signed by the President on August 7. The report is due 30 days after the bill is signed into law, which is today.
Voices from all quarters are warning of calamity if the sequester actually goes into effect on January 2, Several organizations have put forward their estimates of just how much would have to be cut in FY2013 and future years, but the official numbers will be those from OMB. Check back later today; we will post information when it becomes available.
On the day President Obama accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for a second term, the Obama For America-Florida campaign team scheduled an event with President Obama in Melbourne, FL on Sunday to talk about issues affecting the region, including the space program.
The Florida branch of his campaign also issued a three-page statement of what it said was the Obama Administration’s accomplishments in space over the past four years. It starts by summarizing the President’s efforts in extending existing space projects such as the International Space Station and deep space exploration projects like the Mars Curiosity rover that landed on Mars last month. It then heralds his support for the “growth of commercial spaceflight,” his “continued investments in science,” and building “support for next generation of spaceflight.”
Like many political statements, it glosses over some facts. For example it says that “Under President Obama, NASA is developing a new vehicle. the Space Launch System, which will serve as the backbone of its human space exploration program in the post-Shuttle era.” That is true, but only because Congress directed NASA to develop the SLS in the 2010 NASA authorization act after President Obama canceled the Constellation program.
The fact sheet says the President has “continued and further developed NASA’s position as a key investor in science,” but neglects to mention the President’s FY2013 budget request that would cut planetary exploration by 20 percent. It offers three bullet points on NASA and NOAA investments in climate change research and earth mapping, but does not mention the significant cuts the NASA earth science budget experienced in FY2012 and the FY2013 request compared to what the President had in mind in FY2011. It says that the President “provided key funding to spur private sector development and demonstration of safe, reliable and cost-effective space transportation vehicles capable of delivering cargo — and eventually crew — to Low Earth Orbit and the International Space Station.” The President can justifiably take credit for promoting commercial crew, but commercial cargo was a Bush Administration initiative — the Obama Administration simply reaped its rewards with the successful flight of Dragon in May. Whether commercial crew will succeed remains to be seen.
The three-pager also says the Obama Adminstration “forwarded efforts to foster international cooperation in space,” but the cut to the planetary science budget that required NASA to withdraw from planned cooperation with the European Space Agency on the ExoMars program belies that statement.
Political campaigns often spin facts to suit their purposes and this is no different. This fact sheet seems a poor effort, however, to highlight the Obama Administration’s space program and policy, especially in an area so hard-hid by layoffs because of his decision to cancel the Constellation program that would have provided jobs to space shuttle workers when that program ended.
Two International Space Station (ISS) astronauts succeeded today in mounting a Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) to the outside of the ISS after being foiled in their attempt last week by a faulty bolt. This was the sixth career spacewalk by NASA astronaut Suni Williams, who now holds the record for spacewalking duration by a woman.
Williams and Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide spent 6 hours and 28 minutes on their spacewalk, the second in less than a week. Their first venture outside the ISS, which had been scheduled for about the same length of time, ended up taking 8 hours and 17 minutes as they tried and tried and tried again to coax the bolt into its proper position. It would not budge, however, and the spacewalkers came back inside to give ground-based colleagues a chance to troubleshoot the problem.
Today, armed with new tools and procedures, they succeeded. They also were able to complete another task on their to-do list from last week, installing a new camera on Canadarm2, the robotic arm on ISS.
NASA astronaut Suni Williams and Japanese
astronaut Aki Hoshide during Sept. 4, 2012
spacewalk. Photo credit: NASA
Williams and Hoshide were assisted by NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, who operated Canadarm2 and monitored the spacewalk from inside the ISS. Three Russians also are aboard the ISS — Gennady Padalka, Yuri Malenchenko, and Sergei Revin. Padalka and Malenchenko did a spacewalk earlier in the mission.
Williams now holds the record for total cumulative spacewalk time by a woman. She has conducted a total of six spacewalks on her various missions for a total of 44 hours and 2 minutes. That beats the previous record held by Peggy Whitson, now chief of the astronaut office. Whitson also did six spacewalks over the course of her spaceflights for a total of 39 hours 46 minutes. According to a list on Wikipedia of the top 30 astronauts and cosmonauts ranked by longest cumulative spacewalk durations, that puts Williams at number 17, one minute ahead of Michael Fossum and 16 minutes behind Andrew Feustel. The record holder, Russia’s Anatoly Solovyev, has almost twice that much — 82 hours 22 minutes accumulated during 16 spacewalks. Whitson and Williams are the only two women on the list.