Soyuz TMA-01M successfully launched at 7:10 pm EDT.

Soyuz TMA-01M is set for launch tonight at 7:10 pm EDT. This new version of the Soyuz spacecraft will bring three new crewmembers to the International Space Station (ISS): NASA’s Scott Kelly and Russia’s Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka. Two days later, they will join the three crew who are already aboard ISS: Doug Wheelock, Shannon Walker, and Fyodor Yurchikhin.

The new Soyuz features a digital upgrade, with new guidance, navigation and control devices, a new data processing device, and an improved avionics cooling system according to a graphic on NASA’s website.

The following events may of interest in the coming week. For more information, see our calendar on the right menu or click the links below. With Congress in recess for the next six weeks, we expect things to be a little slow on the meetings front, but we will publish an events list as long as there are enough other activities to make it worthwhile.

Monday-Tuesday, October 4-5

• IFRI-SWF Conference on The Continuing Story of Europe and Space Security, Brussels, Belgium

Wednesday, October 6

• Marshall Institute/Space Enterprise Council Workshop on National Security Space Policy and Program Developments, TechAmerica, 601 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC, Suite 600 North Building, 9:00 – 11:00 am

Wednesday-Thursday, October 6-7

• NASA Advisory Council, Palmdale, CA

Thursday, October 7

• FAA Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC), National Housing Center, 1201 15^th Street NW, Washington, DC, 8:00 am

Thursday-Friday, October 7-8

• Interagency Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (AAAC), National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington VA, Stafford II Building, Room 595

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) gave NOAA credit for progress it has made recently on the next generation of geostationary weather satellites, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R or GOES-R, in a new report, but warns that the program is not out of the woods yet and NOAA does not have “plans, processes, procedures and resources” in place in case there is a gap in coverage.

Delays in the GOES-R program mean that NOAA “may not be able to meet its policy of having a backup satellite in orbit at all times, which could lead to a gap in coverage if GOES-14 or GOES-15 fails prematurely,” according to the report.

Also, while NOAA has involved internal users of GOES data in requirements-setting for GOES-R, it has not involved users in other agencies suffiiciently in GAO’s opinion.

The congressional watchdog agency recommended that NOAA “address weaknesses in its continuity plans and improve its processes for involving other federal agencies” adding that the Secretary of Commerce agreed with those recommendations. NOAA is part of the Department of Commerce.

At a Congressional Robotics Caucus briefing held today, presenters discussed innovative ways to use robotics not only to solve problems here on Earth, but also to transform the way humans explore the Solar System and beyond.

Representative Phil Gingrey (R-GA), co-chair of the caucus, mentioned yesterday’s vote on the NASA Authorization bill and said he anticipates robotics to be a “key component” in the agency’s future. He also congratulated the NASA-supported Carlton J. Kell High School Robotics Team, which has used the knowledge gained through the FIRST Robotics Competition to solve real-world problems. Team members talked about their designs, including an oil-recovery and capture robot called Orca, and other initiatives they are involved with to increase science literary and put science, technology, engineering, animation, and mathematics skills (or STEAM) at the service of the community.

But participants also talked about the role of robotics beyond Earth. Dr. Terry Fong, Director of the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA Ames Research Center, discussed three ways in which robotics can help “reinvent” planetary exploration:

• Robots for human exploration
• Advances in neo-geography
• Participatory Exploration

Questioning the assumption that robotic and human exploration should be separate affairs, Dr. Fong described ways in which robotic exploration can enhance and complement human exploration – before, during, and after crew involvement in the mission. He described how robots, like NASA Ames’ K10 robot, could be remotely operated to perform reconnaissance and scouting to support a human expedition on a planetary surface and deliver detailed terrain data before the crew arrived at a specific location to be explored. This would help the astronauts prepare for what they will encounter and save their time by pre-identifying locations for them to explore. Although robotic probes perform a similar function in orbit, robots that can land and actually move in the terrain can provide richer data. The idea is to coordinate both human and robotic components at every stage of a mission so that robots take care of crucial tasks that are “unproductive” for humans to perform. An issue still to be resolved is the limited amount of data that can be transmitted back to Earth. For the time being, “we just never have enough bandwidth,” said Dr. Fong.

Both neo-geography and participatory exploration refer to advances in robotics to increase public involvement. Neo-geography involves modern mapping tools placed at the hands of users and allowing them to “explore from [their] own desktop” detailed, interactive, explorable maps. In a similar fashion, robotics can enhance participatory exploration, which thrives on public input and collaboration in space exploration. Using robots like Gigapan – which takes interactive gigapixel panorama images – the public can help NASA decide which locations to focus on in future missions. These and other initiatives, Dr. Fong said, would provide an “opportunity to reinvent the way we do exploration.”

David Gump, President of Astrobiotic Technology, Inc., talked about another innovation in exploration: bringing in the private sector. With their participation in the Google Lunar X PRIZE (in which participants must land a spacecraft on the Moon, travel 500 meters, and send video back to Earth), Gump and his team hope to increase public interest and involvement in lunar exploration through a number of initiatives including live Web participation and the first “sociable” robot, able to “tweet” and update its Facebook account to let the public follow it along on its mission.

The House passed the FY2011-2013 NASA authorization bill as passed by the Senate (S. 3729).

NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver will hold a media teleconference at 1:30 pm EDT today to answer question from reporters about the newly passed NASA authorization bill. The event will be streamed live at http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio.

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden thanked Congress for passing the NASA Authorization Act in a statement.

The House adjourned early this morning after passing the Continuing Resolution and other legislation. The Senate also adjourned, but scheduled pro forma sessions twice a week to prevent President Obama from making recess appointments according to The Hill newspaper. The elections are on November 2. The two chambers are expected to return November 15.

The House also now has passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government through December 3. The legislative vehicle is the State Department appropriations bill (H.R. 3081). It funds NASA, NOAA and DOD at their FY2010 levels. A summary of the bill is available on the House Appropriations Committee’s website. The Senate passed it earlier on Wednesday so it now goes to the President for signature. Congress has not passed any other FY2011 appropriations bills, including those for NASA, NOAA or DOD. Only appropriations bills provide money to agencies. Authorization bills may recommend funding levels, but they do not actually provide any funds.