The webinar scheduled by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) to make the case for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be on September 21 instead of September 19 and the speaker’s list has grown in number and clout. Among those joining the event is Nobel Prize winner John Mather whose name is almost synonymous with JWST.

The webinar will take place at 2:00 pm EDT. To register for it, go to this website. The current speakers list includes the three originally scheduled (Mountain, Smith and Abraham) plus four others. The complete list is:

• John Mather, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Nobel Prize (2006), Senior JWST Project Scientist and Chair of the JWST Science Working Group
• Rick Howard, JWST Program Director at NASA Headquarters
• Eric Smith, JWST Deputy Program Director at NASA Headquarters and former JWST Program Scientist
• Matt Mountain, STScI Director
• Julianne Dalcanton, University of Washington
• Roberto Abraham, University of Toronto
• Jonathan Lunine, Cornell University

JWST supporters were cheered by the Senate Appropriations Committee’s decision yesterday not just to approve the $374 million requested for JWST for FY2012, but to increase it to $530 million so the telescope can be launched in 2018. By contrast, the House Appropriations Committee (HAC) directed that the project be terminated and included no funds for it when marking up its version of the FY2012 appropriations bill that includes NASA (the Commerce-Justice-Science or CJS bill).

Neither the full House or Senate has voted on the CJS bill yet, and after that they must reach agreement on a final compromise version of the bill, so there are still many steps in the process to determine how much money the project will get. HAC wants to terminate the project because of significant cost overruns and schedule delays. Advertised by its advocates as the successor to the wildly popular Hubble Space Telescope, they are hoping to convince those who pay the bills that the resulting science is worth the cost. The current estimate is $8.7 billion.

An updated edition of our fact sheet on NASA’s FY2012 budget request is now available reflecting the actions taken by the Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday. The committee posted the report to accompany the FY2012 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill (S. 1572) today, providing details on the “puts and takes” that resulted in the final total of $17.9 billion recommended for the agency.

The Senate committee-approved amount is $509 million less than NASA’s current spending level and $775 million less than the FY2012 request. That sounds like bad news, but it is $1.1 billion more than what the House Appropriations Committee approved, so in these austere budget times, it actually seems like good news! It is roughly the same amount as the agency received in FY2009.

The report (S. Rept. 112-78) shows that the $775 million in cuts from the requested level were taken from every NASA budget account except science, education, and the Inspector General’s (IG’s) office. Science received $84 million more than requested while education received the same as the request and the IG office received $1 million more than requested.

The biggest cuts were to space technology and commercial crew. Space technology was provided with $638 million compared to its $1.024 billion request. The committee said that it “regrets not being able to fund this promising new program more robustly.” Commercial crew was allocated $500 million compared to the request of $850 million. The committee made availability of $192 million of that contingent upon NASA moving forward with the Space Launch System, however.

The committee added $156 million to the $374 million requested for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) so that the telescope can be launched in 2018. The total amount for the Science Mission Directorate, of which JWST is part, was increased by $84 million. Cuts to Earth science ($32 million) and planetary exploration ($40 million) made up the difference. The committee blamed NASA for not requesting adequate funds for JWST in prior years, saying that “budget optimism led to massive ongoing cost overruns.” It capped the development cost for JWST at $8 billion, noting that NASA’s current cost estimate for the project is $8.7 billion (which includes some funding for science operations).

Neither the House nor Senate has voted on the CJS appropriations bill yet, so there are several more steps to go before NASA’s FY2012 budget will be finalized. Assuming no changes are made when the bills are debated by those bodies, they still need to reach a compromise between the two very different versions of the bill.

UPDATE 4: Touchdown!

UPDATE 3: NASA TV announcer says that an Antonov aircraft has confirmed it is in voice contact with the crew and they are OK.

UPDATE 2: Capsule separation should have occurred at 11:33 pm EDT (about 7 minutes ago), but there appears to be a communications problem and Moscow ground control has not been able to confirm it with the crew.

UPDATE 1: The deorbit burn is underway.

ORIGINAL STORY: Three of the six International Space Station (ISS) crew members are in their Soyuz spacecraft and have undocked from the ISS as they head back to planet Earth.

Russian cosmonauts Andrei Borisenko and Alexandr Samokutayev and NASA astronaut Ron Garan are in the Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft. They undocked from the ISS at 8:38 pm EDT (00:38 GMT Friday). Landing is expected at 12:00 am EDT Friday (11:00 pm CDT Thursday).

NASA TV is providing live coverage.

UPDATE: The committee now has posted the reports to accompany the four bills it approved yesterday. This article has not been changed to reflect that additional information, but a new article will be posted soon.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved four FY2012 appropriations bills yesterday, including defense and Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS). The latter includes NASA and NOAA. Congress is far from completing action on the 12 appropriations bills needed to fund the government after midnight September 30, however, so a Continuing Resolution (CR) is inevitable.

The Senate Appropriations Committee still has not posted details of what is in the defense or CJS bills. What is known publicly at the moment is that defense was frozen at last year’s level of $513 billion, $26 billion less than requested and $17 billion less than what the House approved. NASA’s budget was reduced to its FY2009 level of $17.9 billion, $509 million less than its current spending level and $785 million less than the request, but $1.1 billion more than what the House Appropriations Committee approved. The Senate committee not only restored funding for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), but provided more money than NASA requested so that it could be launched in 2018. The House Appropriations Committee voted to terminate JWST because of its cost overruns. The House has not yet considered the CJS bill; it only has been approved at the committee level.

Where the Senate committee cut the NASA FY2012 request is not publicly known yet.

NOAA fared better overall in the Senate committee’s markup than in the House committee, but funding for the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) is about the same. The House committee cut NOAA’s budget request of $5.5 billion to $4.5 billion; the Senate committee approved $5 billion. The Obama Administration requested $1.07 billion for JPSS as part of the NOAA budget. The House committee approved $901 million; the Senate committee approved $920 million.

In total, House has passed six of the 12 annual appropriations bills and the Senate has passed one. With FY2011 quickly drawing to a close, House Republicans — who sharply criticized Democrats during last year’s elections for not being able to complete work on the appropriations bills in a timely manner — are conceding that they will not either. They are proposing a CR that would last through November 18 and includes an across-the-board cut of 1.5 percent from current levels according to a summary posted on the House Appropriations Committee’s website.

Note: This article has been clarified to indicate that the amount approved by the committee for NASA is $509 million less than its FY2011 spending level of $18.448 billion. It is $775 million below the FY2012 request of $18.724 billion.

NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) will reenter on September 24 plus or minus one day according to the agency.

NASA announced last week that UARS is on its way back to Earth and pieces are expected to survive reentry. It posts updates on its website with current information as the orbit decays. The exact moment when it reenters is dependent on factors such as solar activity so is very difficult to predict with certainty until close to the event. When it reenters determines where the pieces land and hence that also cannot be known with certainty until close to the end. The Earth is 70 percent covered with water, reducing but not eliminating the chances of the debris harming anyone or anything on the planet.

The NASA UARS website will be updated more frequently as reentry nears. NASA is using the hashtag #UARS on its Twitter feed to provide updates as well.

The basics of the design of the Space Launch System (SLS) were just announced on Capitol Hill, but NASA will hold a media teleconference at noon with more details. It will be streamed at http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio.

Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) headlined a hastily arranged press event in the Senate this morning announcing the long awaited decision on the design of the Space Launch System (SLS). NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and other Members of Congress were also there and NASA will hold a more detailed media teleconference at noon today with NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Bill Gerstenmaier. The Senate Appropriations Committee is marking up the bil that includes NASA beginning this afternoon, making the SLS announcement particularly timely.

At the Senate event, Senator Nelson stated that the cost of the SLS will be $10 billion through 2017. The main purpose of the SLS is to launch astronauts to destinations beyond low Earth orbit in a spacecraft called the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). Nelson said the MPCV cost through 2017 would be $6 billion, and the cost of associated ground facilities is $2 billion in that time frame, a total of $18 billion. That is essentially $3 billion per year for the next five years.

The press conference did not gloss over the fact that the White House and Congress have been at loggerheads over the program. Congress directed NASA to build the SLS and MPCV in the 2010 NASA authorization act as a compromise with the Obama Administration, but Hutchison and Nelson have accused the Obama Administration of deliberately undermining the law.

Hutchison referenced that in her remarks this morning. She said that the Wall Street Journal article last week asserting that the White House was in a state of “sticker shock” over the cost of the program was the tipping point, and that she, Nelson and others met with Administration officials including the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Jacob Lew, yesterday to iron things out.

Hutchison is the ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee that authorizes NASA activities and is also the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) subcommittee that appropriates NASA’s funding, so is an especially powerful influence on NASA in the Senate.

She and other congressional speakers this morning focused on the future and how delighted they are that everyone is now working together. Retaining the skilled aerospace workforce that might otherwise be decimated with the termination of the space shuttle program and ensuring U.S. preeminence in space exploration were recurring themes at the press conference.

Two House members, both Democrats, spoke at the Senate event: Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), ranking member of the House Science, Space and Technology (HSS&T) Committee, and Rep. Chaka Fattah, ranking member of the House Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) subcommittee that funds NASA.

Their Republican counterparts, Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX), chairman of HSS&T, and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), chairman of the CJS subcommittee, chose instead to issue their own press release (which also included Rep. Steve Palazzo (R-MS), chairman of the HSS&T subcommittee that oversees NASA). They expressed satisfaction that the decision finally had been made, but used the opportunity to sharply criticize the Obama Administration. While Hutchison remarked on the unplesantness of watching sausage being made, her focus was on the fact that everyone was now in agreement. The three House Republicans instead complained stridently about the Administration’s “obstructionism,” which they assert has cost “thousands of American jobs.” The HSS&T committee will hold a hearing on the future of the human spaceflight program on September 22.

The Senate Appropriations Committee will mark up the FY2012 appropriations bill that includes NASA and NOAA this week.

Subcommittee markup was announced yesterday. It will be held tomorrow at 2:30 pm in 192 Dirksen Senate Office Building. The committee has more recently announced that full committee markup will be held the next day, Thursday, September 15, at 2:00 pm in 216 Hart Senate Office Building. It is one of three appropriations bills on the committee’s agenda for that afternoon.

About an hour ago NASA sent out an announcement that the decision on the Space Launch System (SLS) would be revealed at 10:00 this morning. A press briefing has just begun at the Senate. Watch at NASA TV.

Here is the text of NASA’s press release:

David S. Weaver
Headquarters, Washington Sept. 14, 2011
202-358-1600
david.s.weaver@nasa.gov

Michael Braukus/J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1979/5241
michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov/j.d.harrington@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 11-301

NASA ANNOUNCES DESIGN FOR NEW DEEP SPACE EXPLORATION SYSTEM
New Heavy-lift Rocket Will Take Humans Far Beyond Earth

WASHINGTON — NASA has selected the design of a new Space Launch System that will take the agency’s astronauts farther into space than ever before, create high-quality jobs here at home, and provide the cornerstone for America’s future human space exploration efforts.

This new heavy-lift rocket-in combination with a crew capsule already under development, increased support for the commercialization of astronaut travel to low Earth orbit, an extension of activities on the International Space Station until at least 2020, and a fresh focus on new technologies-is key to implementing the plan laid out by President Obama and Congress in the bipartisan 2010 NASA Authorization Act, which the president signed last year. The booster will be America’s most powerful since the Saturn V rocket that carried Apollo astronauts to the moon and will launch humans to places no one has gone before.

“This launch system will create good-paying American jobs, ensure continued U.S. leadership in space, and inspire millions around the world,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. “President Obama challenged us to be bold and dream big, and that’s exactly what we are doing at NASA. While I was proud to fly on the space shuttle, tomorrow’s explorers will now dream of one day walking on Mars.”

This launch vehicle decision is the culmination of a months-long, comprehensive review of potential designs to ensure the nation gets a rocket that is not only powerful but also evolvable so it can be adapted to different missions as opportunities arise and new technologies are developed.

“Having settled on a new and powerful heavy-lift launch architecture, NASA can now move ahead with building that rocket and the next-generation vehicles and technologies needed for an ambitious program of crewed missions in deep space,” said John P. Holdren, assistant to the President for Science and Technology. “I’m excited about NASA’s new path forward and about its promise for continuing American leadership in human space exploration.”

The SLS will carry human crews beyond low Earth orbit in a capsule named the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. The rocket will use a liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fuel system, where RS-25D/E engines will provide the core propulsion and the J2X engine is planned for use in the upper stage. There will be a competition to develop the boosters based on performance requirements.

The decision to go with the same fuel system for the core and the upper stage was based on a NASA analysis demonstrating that use of common components can reduce costs and increase flexibility. The heavy-lift rocket’s early flights will be capable of lifting 70-100 metric tons before evolving to a lift capacity of 130 metric tons.

The early developmental flights may take advantage of existing solid boosters and other existing hardware. These flights will enable NASA to reduce developmental risk, drive innovation within the agency and private industry, and accomplish early exploration objectives.

“NASA has been making steady progress toward realizing the president’s goal of deep space exploration, while doing so in a more affordable way,” NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said. “We have been driving down the costs on the Space Launch System and Orion contracts by adopting new ways of doing business and project hundreds of millions of dollars of savings each year.”

NASA elected to initiate a competition for the booster stage based on performance parameters rather than on the type of propellant because of the need for flexibility. The specific acquisition strategy for procuring the core stage, booster stage, and upper stage is being developed and will be announced at a later time.

UPDATE 3: The full committee approved the bill (along with three others they had under consideration today). As far as we can tell no amendments were adopted. Details have not yet been released.

UPDATE 2: Additional details of the subcommittee action were added in update 1. This update adds Info from a Mikulski press release and the audio of the markup. FULL COMMITTEE MARKUP IS AT 2:00 TODAY (THURSDAY).

The Senate Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) subcommittee marked up its version of the FY2012 appropriations bill that includes NASA and NOAA today. The full committee will mark it up tomorrow at 2:00.

A summary of the subcommittee’s action is posted on the committee’s website.

The Senate subcommittee recommended $17.9 billion for NASA, $509 million less than what the agency received in FY2011, but $1.1 billion more than what the House Appropriations Committee recommended ($16.8 billion). The committee’s statement says that it provides enough funds to launch the James Webb Space Telescope in 2018. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) chairs the subcommittee. A press release from her offices clarifies that the amount included in the subcommittee’s recommendation for JWST in FY2012 is $530 million out of a total of $5.1 billion for the NASA’s science programs. NASA’s request for JWST was $374 million and for the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) was $5 billion. The House Appropriations Committee recommended terminating the JWST program and provided no funds for FY2012. It recommended $4.5 billion for SMD overall.

For NOAA, the Senate subcommittee recommended $5 billion, $434 million more than FY2011, including $920 million for the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). That is similar to what the House Appropriations Committee approved for JPSS ($901 million), and still less than the request of $1.07 billion.

The audio of the subcommittee markup is available on the committee’s website. Senator Mikulski states during the markup that they have included “stringent bill language limiting the development costs” of JWST.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), ranking member of the subcommittee, did not specify in her remarks the dollar amounts in the bill for the Space Launch System and Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle other than saying they are at the authorized levels in the 2010 NASA Authorization Act. She added that the bill also funds the “commercial vehicle that will be the interim” capability to get to the International Space Station.

The bill will be marked up at full committee level on Thursday, September 15, at 2:00 pm EDT.