Representative John Murtha (D-PA), the powerful chairman of the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, has died according to the Associated Press. He had been hospitalized because of complications following gall bladder surgery.
UPDATE: The main engines have burned out, the External Tank has separated, and Endeavour is in orbit!
ORIGINAL STORY: The space shuttle Endeavour lifted off on its STS-130 mission at 4:14 am on February 8. The shuttle is taking the Tranquility module and the Cupola to the International Space Station (ISS).
UPDATE 2: The February 12 “State of the Agency” meeting has been postponed. The FAA Commercial Space Transportation conference is still a “go” according to the AIAA website.
UPDATE: All of the congressional hearings listed below have been postponed or cancelled because of the snowstorms hitting Washington, DC.
ORIGINAL STORY: The following events may be of interest in the coming week. For more details, see our calendar on the right menu or click on the links below. Note that times, dates and witnesses for congressional hearings are subject to change. Check with the relevant committee’s website for up to date information. All times are EST. All locations are Washington, DC unless otherwise noted.
Monday, February 8
Tuesday, February 9
Wednesday, February 10
Wednesday-Thursday, February 10-11
Thursday, February 11
Friday, February 12
NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden held a press conference yesterday (Saturday) at Cape Canaveral in advance of the shuttle Endeavour launch (now rescheduled for tomorrow morning at 4:14 am). General Bolden apologized to the NASA workforce and members of Congress on Capitol Hill for not better preparing them for the dramatic changes announced in the NASA FY2011 budget. He said it was “screwed up” because he did not listen to his advisers about how to roll out the news, and consequently he learned a hard lesson. In answer to a question, he said that his hope is to have a heavy lift launch vehicle in the next couple of decades, preferably in the 2020-2030 time frame. A video of the press conference is available on NASA’s YouTube channel.
UPDATE: NASA will try again tomorrow (Monday) morning at 4:14 am to launch Endeavour.
ORIGINAL STORY:
The launch of space shuttle Endeavour (STS-130) was scrubbed this morning because of weather. The next opportunity to launch is 4:14 am EST tomorrow according to Spaceflightnow.com, but a new launch time has not yet been announced by NASA..
National Public Radio’s Science Friday had a segment on NASA’s new plan for human space flight today. First was a segment on other aspects of the science budget. The NASA part begins at about minute 30:00.
Host: Ira Flatow
Guests:
Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-130) is on track for launch at 4:39 am EST on Sunday, February 7. This will be the last night launch of the space shuttle and should be visible from many locations along the East Coast, weather permitting. NASA Administrator Bolden will hold a press conference at Kennedy Space Center at 10:00 am EST tomorrow (Saturday) that will be carried on NASA TV to talk about STS-130 and other NASA programs.
STS-130 will deliver the Tranquility module (also known as Node 3) and its Cupola to the International Space Station. After this flight, four more shuttle missions remain before the program is terminated. The remaining four flights and their currently scheduled launch dates are:
According to NASASpaceflight.com, the option of an additional logistics mission, STS-135 (or STS 335), has been abandoned by NASA.
UPDATE: Congress Daily reported on Monday, February 8, that Senator Shelby has released his hold because he has gotten the attention he wanted on the two issues.
ORIGINAL STORY: Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) has placed a blanket hold on all Obama administration nominees waiting for Senate confirmation, according to Congress Daily (subscription required).
Senator Shelby, ranking member of the Senate appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA, is one of the strongest supporters of NASA’s Constellation Program, which would be terminated in the FY2011 NASA budget request. He issued a press release calling the FY2011 request a “death march for U.S. human space flight.” However, NASA is not cited by Congress Daily as one of reasons that he placed holds on all Obama nominations — meaning that they cannot proceed to the Senate floor for confirmation without 60 votes, which is more difficult for Democrats now that Massachusetts Republican Senator Scott Brown has been sworn into office. The reasons cited in the Congress Daily account concern debate over the Air Force’s competition for an aerial refueling contract, and frustration that the Obama Administration does not plan to fund an FBI center to analyze improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Alabama that was included as a congressionally-directed spending item (“earmark”) in the FY2008 omnibus appropriations bill.
Key Issues and Challenges Facing NASA: Views of the Agency’s WatchDogs is a SpacePoiicyOnline.com summary of a February 3, 2010 hearing by the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee. It is availabile on the left menu under “Our Hearing Summaries” or by clicking here.
Georgia Tech’s Bobby Braun has agreed to serve as NASA’s Chief Technologist, and Woodrow Whitlow will move to Headquarters from Glenn Research Center to be the first Associate Administrator for Mission Support, according to NASA announcements today.
Both are NASA veterans and both have PhD’s in aerospace engineering (Braun) or aeronautics and astronautics (Whitlow). Braun worked at NASA-Langley before Georgia Tech. HIs expertise is systems aspects of robotic spacecraft, especially Mars probes. Recently he was co-chair of a National Research Council review of the NASA Institute for Advanced Technology (NIAC), which was terminated in FY2007. The report recommended creation of a “NIAC-2,” which Braun may well have a chance to do in his new role.
Whitlow joined NASA In 1979 and his career has taken him to three of NASA’s field centers (Langley, Kennedy and Glenn) as well as headquarters on a previous assignment. He has extensive experience in management and his new position is to be responsible for most NASA mangement operations including human capital, and budget and systems support. Whitlow will continue as Director of NASA-Glenn until a successor is found, so will be dual-hatted initially.