NASA will hold a press conference today after the Flight Readiness Review (FRR) for the STS-135 (Atlantis) mission concludes. NASA currently says that it will occur no earlier than 3:30 pm EDT. Check back here for updates.

NASA has officially set the launch date for the final space shuttle mission for July 8. The post-FRR press conference is scheduled to begin at 3:30 pm EDT. Watch on NASA TV.

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden will speak at the National Press Club at 1:00 pm EDT this Friday, July 1. The event will be shown on NASA TV and streamed at http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio.

Once again, congressional appropriators have turned down the Administration’s request for funding within the Department of Energy (DOE) bill to restart production of plutonium-238 (Pu-238) needed for NASA’s space probes.

In a report filed on Friday (H. Rept. 112-118 to accompany H. R. 2354), the House Appropriations Committee said that it remained concerned that the Administration wants DOE to pay for half the costs when it is NASA that benefits from the Pu-238.

“The Committee remains concerned that the Administration continues to request equal funding from NASA and the Department of Energy for a project that primarily benefits NASA. The Committee provides no funds for this project, and encourages the Administration to devise a plan for this project that more closely aligns the costs paid by federal agencies with the benefits they receive.”

This is the third time congressional appropriators have said no to providing DOE funds. in the FY2010 budget request, the Administration wanted DOE to fund all of the costs because historically DOE has built all of NASA’s radioisotope power supplies (RPS’s). DOE is the only U.S. entity permitted by law to make or store nuclear materials. NASA uses RPS’s to provide warmth and electricity for spacecraft that travel too far from the Sun to use solar energy or spend long periods in darkness on lunar or planetary surfaces.

The United States ceased production of Pu-238 years ago and NASA has been using Pu-238 purchased from Russia. Those supplies also are running dry, hence the need to restart production domestically. The National Research Council issued a report in 2009 calling the situation urgent.

In FY2010, Congress said no to DOE paying the full costs ($30 million). In the FY2011 budget request, the Administration proposed that NASA and DOE split the costs. Congress turned that down, too. The Administration requested the same thing for FY2012 and it does not look as though they have yet persuaded appropriators that DOE should pay half.

UPDATE 2: Administrator Bolden’s talk to the National Press Club on Friday was added. We also had added information about a Thursday meeting on space acquisition, but registration is full.; NO MORE RSVP’S PLEASE.

The following events may be of interest today and in the coming week. For more information, see our calendar on the right menu or click the links below. The House is in recess this week; the Senate is in session.

Sunday, June 26

• Laura Delgado interviewed on The Space Show with David Livingston, 3:00-4:30 pm EDT (noon-1:30 Pacific), listen and call in or email questions at http://www.thespaceshow.com.

Monday, June 27

• NASA media telecon with NASA Chief Scientist and NASA Chief Technologist, 12:00 pm (noon) EDT, listen at http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

Tuesday, June 28

• NASA press conference following Flight Readiness Review (FRR) for final space shuttle launch (STS-135, Atlantis), time TBD (check back here or follow NASA on Twitter where the time for the press conference will be announced)

Thursday, June 30

• THIS EVENT IS FULL; NO MORE RSVP’S PLEASE. CS3/Space Foundation meeting on Space Acquisition: Cost Control Through Competition or Economies of Scale, Capitol Visitor Center, room SVC 210-12, 12:00 – 3:00 pm EDT. THIS EVENT IS FULL; NO MORE RSVP’S PLEASE.

Friday, July 1

• NASA Administrator Bolden will talk to the National Press Club, Washington, DC, 1:00 pm EDT. Watch on NASA TV or listen at http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

SpacePolicyOnline.com correspondent Laura Delgado will be interviewed on David Livingston’s The Space Show this Sunday, June 26. Listen at 3:00-4:30 pm EDT (12:00-1:30 pm Pacific time) as they discuss the wisdom of continuing to try to sell space exploration to the public by using the analogy of westward expansion in the United States — the frontier metaphor. The show is streamed live at http://www.thespaceshow.com and listeners may call in or email questions.

Ms. Delgado recently wrote about her views on the relevance of the frontier metaphor to the 21st Century space program for our website and for Space News. She believes the paradigms of the past may not make sense today. Join in the debate on Sunday!

The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee have written to NASA warning that they will issue a subpoena for NASA documents if the agency does not supply them by 6:00 pm on Monday, June 27.

Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) sent the letter on Wednesday. Referring to a previous letter they sent on May 18, the bipartisan committee leadership complained that NASA “has repeatedly refused to provide documents the Senate Commerce Committee needs to conduct appropriate oversight of your agency.” Saying that NASA had provided only a “partial response” to the May 18 letter, the Senators went on to say that “you have thwarted our oversight activities by witholding key documents” including “at least 19 separate drafts of a report it is required to submit to Congress under Section 309” of the 2010 NASA Authorization Act.

The letter highlights the continuing tension between the White House and Congress over the future of the U.S. human spaceflight program that has been the subject of numerous hearings since last year. Section 309 of the Act requires NASA to submit a report on how it will fulfill the Act’s requirements to build a new Space Launch System (SLS) and Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) to enable human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. The report was required to be submitted by January 2011, but only an interim report was provided.

Congress is growing increasingly impatient with Administration delays in submitting the final report. NASA announced in May that the Orion capsule started under President George W. Bush’s Constellation program would be used for the MPCV, and reportedly is close to announcing its plans for the SLS. The most recent rumor is that the announcement will be made before the final space shuttle launch currently scheduled for July 8.

The House Science, Space and Technology Committee today announced that it will hold a hearing about NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) in two weeks.

The hearing is scheduled for July 12 at 10:00 am EDT in 2318 Rayburn House Office Building.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden is listed as the only witness. Congress has been anxiously awaiting NASA’s plan for building the SLS. It directed NASA to build this heavy lift launch vehicle (HLLV) in the 2010 NASA Authorization Act. NASA was supposed to submit a report about its reference design for the system in January 2011. A report was submitted, but it was only an interim version.

Earlier this week, the bi-partisan leadership of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee threatened to subpoena NASA documents about SLS and other matters that it requested in May if NASA does not provide them by next Monday.

The Flight Readiness Review (FRR) for the final space shuttle launch, STS-135 (Atlantis), will take place on June 28. NASA will hold a press conference when it is finished to announce the launch date officially. Currently it is targeted for July 8 at 11:26 am EDT.

The press conference will be aired on NASA Television when the FRR concludes. Follow NASA’s Twitter feed or check back here for updates during the day.

The four person STS-135 crew is composed of Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim. Four is the minimum number of crew needed to fly the shuttle and NASA is keeping the crew number at the minimum in case anything goes awry and they have to use the International Space Station (ISS) as a safe haven. There will be fewer mouths to feed and fewer people to return to Earth on extra Soyuz spacecraft with only four shuttle crew members instead of the usual complement of six or seven.

Meanwhile, astronaut Mark Kelly announced today that he will retire from NASA. Kelly just returned from commanding STS-134 (Endeavour). His wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), was recently released from TIRR-Memorial Hermann rehabilitation hospital in Houston. She is living at Kelly’s home near Johnson Space Center, TX, but this past weekend was able to return to her district in Tucson, AZ for a visit. Her recovery from being shot in the head during an assassination attempt on January 8 continues to amaze and delight her friends, family, fans, and constituents. Kelly and Giffords reportedly have begun work on a joint memoir.

Kelly’s retirement is effective October 1. With no more space shuttle launches, and any new U.S. crew space transportation system — commercial or government — not due for many years, the astronaut ranks are expected to continue to shrink. U.S. astronauts will still go to the ISS aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft, but the six crew positions on the ISS are filled not only by Americans, but Russians, Europeans, Japanese and Canadians. The opportunities for spaceflight will be very limited for an indefinite number of years.

The following events may be of interest in the coming week. Check our calendar on the right menu or click the links below for more information. Times and dates for congressional activities are subject to change; check the relevant committee’s website for up to date information. All times are EDT unless otherwise noted.

During the Week

The House and Senate are both in session this week. Meanwhile, the Paris Air Show takes place at Le Bourget, France.

Monday-Wednesday, June 20-22

• NASA Advisory Council (NAC) Heliophysics Subcommittee, NASA Headquarters, Washington DC
  • June 20, 9:00 am – 5:30 pm , room 9H40
  • June 21, 9:00 am – 5:30 pm, room 8R40
  • June 22, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm, room 3H46

Tuesday, June 21

• Space Weather Enterprise Forum, National Press Club, Washington, DC, 7:30 am – 5:00 pm
• NASA teleconference on Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter results and future, 2:00 pm, virtual (listen at http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio)
• International Space University lecture featuring former NASA Kennedy Space Center Director Jay Honeycutt, Westin Grand Hotel, Washington, DC, 5:30 pm

Tuesday-Friday, June 21-24

• International Academy of Astronautics Low Cost Planetary Missions conference, Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, MD

Wednesday, June 22

• Women in Aerospace Top Issues In Space Law panel, Honeywell offices at 101 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC, 8:30 – 10:00 am
• House SS&T Committee hearing on NOAA“s Proposal Climate Service, 2318 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC, 10:00 am
• Secure World Foundation/Project Poughshares release of 2011 Space Security Index, Canadian Embassy, Washington, DC, 10:00 am
• Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing with public witnesses, 192 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC, 10:30 am
• NASA Advisory Council Planetary Science Subcommittee, virtual (telephone and WebEx), 11:30 am – 4:00 pm

Thursday, June 23

• House Transportation and Infrastructure hearing on GPS Reliability (including Lightsquared issue), 2167 Rayburn House Office Building, 9:00 am