Although some complained about the Republican Party’s two-paragraph discussion of space program priorities in its 2012 platform, at least the topic got two paragraphs.  The Democratic Party platform, released yesterday, has a single sentence on NASA.

In a section entitled “Out-Innovating the Rest of the World,” the platform states “President Obama has charted a new mission for NASA to lead us to a future that builds on America’s legacy of innovation and exploration.”

Granted, much more is known about President Obama’s space policy after nearly four years in office, but the platform is a 70 page document laying out what the President will do if he is reelected.  The lack of attention to the space program suggests that he plans no major changes from his current policy, or that space is not viewed as an important issue in the campaign, or both.

The President did respond to a question about the space program posed by ScienceDebate.org to both presidential candidates and, indeed, it broke no new ground either.

The Republican Party platform offered two paragraphs about the space program that were focused on NASA, not the space program as a whole.  Its main message was a call for American preeminence in space.   The Space Frontier Foundation criticized the document for omitting any reference to the growing role of entrepreneurial companies in the space program.

The House Science, Space and Technology Committee’s Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics will hold a hearing on September 12, 2012 to look at NASA’s development of the Space Launch System and Orion crew spacecraft.

The hearing is in 2318 Rayburn House Office Building at 10:00 am ET.  The witnesses announced so far are:

• Dan Dumbacher, Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development, NASA
• Matt Mountain, Director, Space Telescope Science Institute

Additional witnesses may be added later.  The subcommittee will webcast the hearing.

A public memorial service for Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon, has been scheduled for September 13, 2012 at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

The service will begin at 10:00 am ET.  The NASA announcement says that a “very limited number of seats” are available to the public, even though it is described as a public memorial service.  The event will be covered by NASA TV.

A private service was held near Armstrong’s home outside of Cincinnati, Ohio on Friday.

Two International Space Station (ISS) astronauts will try again on Wednesday to fix a bolt that thwarted their repair attempts last week.

NASA astronaut Suni Williams and Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide will head outside the space station again at 7:15 am EDT on Wednesday September 5, to finish the work they set out to do on Thursday.  

Photo credit:  NASA

They were trying to replace one of four Main Bus Switching Units (MBSUs), part of the space station’s elecrical supply system.  The ISS has eight solar arrays, integrated into the power system through the four MBSU’s.   One MBSU was behaving erratically so NASA decided to replace it.  When Williams and Hoshide tried, however, they could not drive one of the bolts into the box that attaches the unit to the station.  Their planned 6 1/2 hour spacewalk ended up at 8 hours 17 minutes, the third longest in ISS history.

On Wednesday, they will try again with new tools and procedures worked out with colleagues on the ground.  NASA says that if they are still unable to attach the MBSU, there is an option to bring it inside the station for a closer examination.

Frank McDonald, a legendary figure in the field of solar and space physics, died unexpectedly on Friday. 

McDonald was a senior research scientist at the University of Maryland’s Institute for Physical Science and Technology and a member of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences (NAS).   A brief biography in one of its publications credits him as being one of the pioneers in the study of space physics and cosmic ray astrophysics who collaborated closely with James Van Allen, the discoverer of the Van Allen belts of radiation that encircle the Earth. 

McDonald spent most of his career with NASA and flew instruments on many spacecraft.    “With his many space-borne instruments, McDonald explored vast regions of our solar system, from the orbit of Mercury with the twin Helios spacecraft to distances of over 100 astronomical units with the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft” the NAS account continues.  

A NASA biography notes that before joining the University of Maryland in 1989, he was NASA’s Chief Scientist from 1982-1987 and director of Goddard Space Flight Center’s Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics from 1970-1982.

NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover is on its way to a spot scientists named Glenelg.  This photo shows the tracks left behind as Curiosity sets out from its landing site across the bottom of Gale Crater.  (Editor’s Note:  The spelling of Glenelg has been corrected in this story.)

Image credit:  NASA/Caltech-JPL

The view is towards the west-northwest.   Curiosity drove about 70 feet before taking this photo of the tracks left behind as it departs Bradbury Landing and heads east towards Glenelg.  Three types of terrain intersect at Gleneig and scientists expect to utilize Curiosity’s instruments to drill and analyze its first rock there.   The trip will take several weeks and the rover will make at least one long stop along the way to test its robotic arm and the instruments at the end of the arm.

Glenelg is just an intermediate destination enroute to Curiosity’s main target, Mt. Sharp.  The rover has a 2-year main mission during which scientists hope to learn more about Mars’ habitability — whether it ever could have supported life — by studying the layers of Mt. Sharp, which rises up in the middle of Gale Crater, as shown in the image below.

Image credit:  NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/MSSS

The view is derived from elevation data from the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft now operating in orbit around Mars, imaging data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter also currently operating in Martian orbit, and historical color data from NASA’s orbiting Viking spacecraft that returned data from 1976-1980.

The top of Mt. Sharp is about 3.4 miles above the floor of the crater. 

Photos from Neil Armstrong’s memorial service today have been posted on Flickr.   Very nice.  Here’s one of his Apollo 11 crewmates Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins.

Downloaded from Flickr August 31, 2012; no photo credit cited.

Several news sources are saying that a public memorial service will be held on September 12, 2012 in Washington, DC.  Stay tuned for details.