NASA terminated operations of the Stardust spacecraft today, bringing its 12 year mission to a close.

Launched in February 1999, Stardust captivated scientists and the public by transmitting photographs of Comet Wild 2 and returning samples of dust from it — stardust. The sample canister was successfully dropped off at Earth in 2006 while the mother spacecraft continued its flight through space. That gave scientists an opportunity to assign the spacecraft a new mission — studying another comet that just had been visited by NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft.

In that mission, an impactor was deployed from Deep Impact and placed into the path of Comet Tempel 1 to cause a collision. The mother Deep Impact spacecraft studied the material that was ejected during the collision, as well as relaying data and photographs from the impactor as the collision approached. Now scientists would have a chance to return and take additional photographs of the crater that the impactor created along with parts of the comet that Deep Impact could not see.

Rechristened Stardust-NExT, the spacecraft successfully returned to Comet Temple 1 on February 14, 2011 and sent back photographs and data that are still being analyzed.

As its final task, the spacecraft was commanded to burn all of its remaining fuel so engineers on Earth could calculate how much was left after its 3.54 billion — yes, billion — mile journey. They want to compare their estimates of the fuel required for such a mission with what was actually used, but there are “no fully reliable fuel gauges for spacecraft in the weightless environment of space” according to NASA. The data are expected to be useful when planning future missions.

Like Stardust, Deep Impact was given a second mission after its successful encounter with Comet Tempel 1. Renamed EPOXI, it studied Comet Hartley 2. Scientists want to learn more about comets because they hold clues to what happened in the early formation of our solar system.

Stardust-NExT program manager Lindley Johnson said that although this is the end of spacecraft operations, it is “just the beginnings of what this spacecraft’s accomplishments will give to planetary science.”

During a discussion today at the Library of Congress organized by Women in Aerospace (WIA), panelists compared the Obama Administration’s FY2012 budget request with the priorities laid out in the 2010 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Authorization Act. Most argued that the request represents a mismatch in funding priorities and raises a lot of concern.

One panelist, referring to the “unrest” caused by the FY2011 budget request last year, said that “once again the administration misread the mood of Congress” and that the FY2012 request has “absolutely zero chance of being approved by Congress.”

The event, titled “The NASA Authorization Act of 2010: How Did We Get Here? What’s Next?” took place under the Chatham House rule that prohibits identifying who said what. Instead, “participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.” The names of the panelists were circulated by WIA, however. All are congressional staff except for one person from NASA.

The Authorization Act was described as a compromise between the Administration and Congress, the culmination of a difficult process that eventually gave NASA “a clear direction.” Nevertheless, some panelists believe that the FY2012 request released last month diverges from the Act by proposing a reduction to the authorized funding for development of a new launch vehicle and crew capsule (called Human Space Capabilities in the budget request) for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit, but an increase over the authorized amount for the commercial crew transportation initiative. Participants said that Congress would continue imposing strong oversight to ensure that the priorities laid out in the Act are met. One panelist stated that the Administration should not believe that there is a pathway forward different from what was directed in the Act, adding that there is “no interest in renegotiating that framework.”

While Congress will have its say on the FY2012 budget request in the coming months, uncertainty remains about FY2011, which is being funded by a series of short-term Continuing Resolutions (CRs). One participant, while offering no good news with respect to the likelihood of a budget being approved for the balance of the year, said that cuts included in H.R. 1 were prompted by an emphasis on deficit reduction and not by targeting NASA or other agencies specifically. On a cautionary note, though, the panelist added that stakeholders should be well aware of the impacts of these “across-the-board-cuts” on specific programs, as these will probably continue. H.R. 1 was a full-year CR that passed the House last month, but was defeated in the Senate.

With budget constraints the order of the day for the foreseeable future, another panelist agreed that there would be no “major plus-ups” for NASA or any other agency in the coming years, except perhaps the Department of Defense. The way forward, this person suggested, is to implement the direction already agreed upon in the Authorization Act.

The House Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) subcommittee will hold hearings next week to hear from the President’s Science Adviser and the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

John Holdren, President Obama’s science adviser and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, will testify to the subcommittee on Thursday, March 31. NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco will testify the next day, April 1. Both hearings are on the FY2012 budget request and start at 10:00 am in H-309 Capitol.

The House Science, Space and Technology Committee’s Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics has announced that a hearing on NASA’s exploration program will be held next week.

“A Review of NASA’s Exploration Program In Transition: Issues for Congress and Industry” will hear testimony from Doug Cooke, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Exploration, who has announced plans to retire; Scott Pace, Director of George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute and NASA Associate Administrator for Program Analysis and Evaluation during the George W. Bush Administration while Mike Griffin headed the agency; and James Maser, head of the Corporate Membership Committee of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and President of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, which builds the J-2X engine that was to be used with the Ares-1 launch vehicle. Ares-1 is part of the Constellation program, which is being terminated.

The hearing is scheduled for March 30, 2011 at 10:00 in 2318 Rayburn House Office Building. Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-MS) is the new chairman of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee. He represents the 4th district of Mississippi that includes NASA’s Stennis Space Center where rocket engines are tested. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) is the ranking member of the subcommittee, but Rep. Jerry Costello (D-IL) is serving as acting ranking member while Rep. Giffords continues her recovery from being shot in the head during an assassination attempt on January 8.

The Russians have rescheduled the launch of the next Soyuz to the International Space Station (ISS) to 6:18 pm EDT on April 4 (5:18 pm CDT), which is 4:18 am on April 5 at the launch site in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz TMA-21 mission was delayed from its original March 30 launch date because of a problem with the command communications system in the Soyuz capsule.

The launch will take place a few days before Russia celebrates the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin. It will take three crew members to the ISS to join the three already there. The Soyuz TMA-21 crew consists of American Ron Garan and Russians Alexander Samokutyaev and Andrey Borisenko.

The following events may be of interest in the coming week. For more information, see our calendar on the right menu or click the links below. Congress is in recess this week while Members meet with their constituents back home.

Monday-Thursday, March 21-24

• National Research Council (NRC) Propulsion and Power Panel of the Committee on Review of NASA Technology Roadmaps, CalTech, Pasadena, CA

Wednesday, March 23

• Women in Aerospace Breakfast and Discussion on The NASA Authorization Act of 2010: How Did We Get Here? What’s Next? Library of Congress Member’s Room (Jefferson Building, 2nd floor), 8:30 – 10:00 am

Wednesday-Thursday, March 23-24

• NRC Entry, Descent, and Landing Panel of the Committee on Review of NASA Technology Roadmaps, NRC Beckman Center, Irvine, CA

President Obama signed the three-week Continuing Resolution (CR) today, as expected.

The House and Senate both are in recess until the week of March 28 while Members head back to their States and Districts to interact directly with constituents and determine the mood of the electorate. As contentious as the last couple of month have been in Washington, they are merely setting the stage for bigger fights ahead. April 8, as the date when this CR runs out, is the next watershed moment.

As expected, the House and Senate have passed another Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government operating. This one is for three weeks, meaning that agencies can keep the lights on until April 8. The President still must sign it and is expected to do so before midnight tomorrow when the current CR expires.

The CR includes $6 billion in cuts, keeping to a Republican pledge to cut $2 billion per week. The cuts primarily are from earmarks and programs President Obama already decided to cancel. NASA took a $63 million cut, but that amount was designated for earmarks in the FY2010 budget. NASA and most other agencies and departments continue to be funded at their FY2010 level.

While Republicans and Democrats both publicly deplore the use of CRs, reaching agreement on a bill to fund the government for the rest of FY2011 continues to be an uphill battle. What will happen on April 8 remains anyone’s guess. Around that time, Congress will have to vote to raise the debt limit or the U.S. will default on its obligations. Republicans are expected to use that as leverage to exact Democratic acquiescence on the deep cuts they want to make to federal spending.

NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver will debut NASA’s new Women@NASA website today at 1:00 pm EDT. Valerie Jarrett, chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, and astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson will join Garver and about 200 students at NASA headquarters to learn about the roles women have played in the agency’s history.

NASA TV will cover the event, as well as a pre-event from 12:00 – 12:50 pm that features the Science Cheerleaders, described by NASA as a group of professional cheerleaders turned scientists and engineers.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee heard from top NASA Associate Administrators (AAs) today and quizzed them about how the agency is implementing the 2010 NASA Authorization Act. The committee has posted what it calls “key quotes” from the hearing as well as the opening statement of committee chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) released a statement after the hearing. The webcast is also available.

The witnesses were the Associate Administrators for Space Operations (Bill Gerstenmaier), Exploration (Doug Cooke), Science (Ed Weiler), Aeronautics (Jaiwon Shin), Education (Leland Melvin) and Mission Support (Woodrow Whitlow).