NASA’s lunar impact mission, LCROSS, suffered an anomaly over the weekend that could threaten its mission, according to media sources.

The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was launched together with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on June 18 (see our previous story). LCROSS remains attached to the Centaur upper stage. The mission plan calls for LCROSS to correctly position itself and the Centaur over a site on the Moon, then the two will separate and the Centaur will be commanded to impact the Moon. LCROSS will take readings of the material ejected from the impact and then itself crash into the Moon. The project is managed by NASA’s Ames Research Center.

According to Spaceflightnow.com and other media sources, while LCROSS was in a communications black-out period over the weekend, an anomaly caused the Centaur to burn a significant amount of fuel, leaving barely enough to accomplish the mission. Apparently a problem developed in LCROSS’s Inertial Reference Unit attitude sensor causing the spacecraft to switch to a backup star tracker, which required additional fuel to maintain orientation. Mission managers remain optimstic that LCROSS will achieve its basic objectives, but worry about how little propellant margin remains should any other problems arise.

NASA has again postponed the launch of space shuttle Discovery on its STS-128 mission. The launch had been rescheduled to 01:10 EDT Wednesday, Aug. 26, after a weather-related scrub earlier today (Tuesday). At a news briefing at 10:00 pm EDT today, NASA officials explained that a failure of a liquid hydrogen inboard fill and drain value caused the postponement. Two days are needed to troubleshoot the problem. NASA is hoping to be able to launch very early Friday morning at 00:22 EDT, but will not know until they better understand the problem. Weather and range-availability issues will also factor into choosing a new date. If the launch does not happen before August 30, it will have to slip to mid-October.

The New York Times has a story today about the possible results of the Augustine committee report, which it says will not be released until mid-September. Among others quoted in the story are Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ):

“‘Unless the president is willing to step up and take a bold step like President Kennedy did, the manned spaceflight program is going to go in the ditch,’ said Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida.”

“The first decision is a stark one: whether to increase the money for the human space program to at least $130 billion over the next decade, the level the panel said would be needed, or to pull back the grander ambitions and keep astronauts to low-Earth orbit for the next couple of decades.

‘That is not a choice the White House wanted,’ Ms. Giffords said.”

Thunderstorms delayed the launch of space shuttle Discovery on its STS-128 mission. A new attempt is currently scheduled for Wednesday at 01:10 EDT.

Meanwhile, the taped video message from Stephen Colbert can be watched here.

As everyone anticipates the final report of the Augustine committee, NASA’s FY2010 budget awaits action in Congress and the FY2011 budget request is being formulated. Although Congress Daily reported earlier this month that the appropriations bill that includes NASA (Commerce, Justice, Science) could be among the first action items for the Senate when it returns in September, Space News reported today in its print edition that “The White House is expected to submit an amended 2010 budget request for NASA’s exploration program by mid-September…” Nothing is impossible, but it would seem odd for the Senate to move an appropriations bill to the floor if an Administration amendment is expected imminently.

Some news outlets already are projecting that the Obama Administration will choose not to increase NASA’s budget markedly. That would leave the agency as it is now — with too much program for its budget — or with a reduced portfolio that more closely matches the resources that will be made available. Neither is quite what space program advocates expected from an Obama presidency.

On a cheerier note, White House guidance regarding the FY2011 budget formulation process for science and technology specifically notes the importance of the space program. After listing four “practical challenges,” the August 4 memo from OMB Director Orszag and OSTP Director Holdren identifies four requirements for addressing them. The fourth is: “Enhancing our capabilities in space, which are essential for communications, geopostioning, intelligence gathering, Earth observation, and national defense, as well as for increasing our understanding of the universe and our place in it.” The extent to which the latter goal is dependent on human space exploration rather than robotic is open to interpretation. At the very least, there is no indication that the White House lacks an appreciation of the space program’s potential. The question is whether it will provide the money needed to realize it.

NASA is loading fuel into the space shuttle Discovery’s tanks for a scheduled liftoff of STS-128 in the wee hours of tomorrow morning — 1:36 EDT. The weather forecast is 80% favorable for launch.

At approximately 7:15 pm EDT tonight (Monday) after fueling is completed, NASA plans to air a special message from comedian Stephen Colbert on NASA TV. A treadmill being taken to the International Space Station (ISS) on this flight is named after him. NASA conducted a contest to select a name for its most recent ISS module. Mr. Colbert urged viewers of his Comedy Central show, The Colbert Report, to vote to name it after him. He won the most votes, but NASA decided to name the module Tranquility in honor of the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing at Tranquility Base on the Moon in 1969. In recognition of Mr. Colbert’s winning the most votes, NASA named the treadmill after him, coining the name Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill for it.

The Augustine panel deliberating options for the future of the human space flight program has determined that it does not need an additional public meeting to complete its work. The panel had been holding August 24 as a contingency date. NASA announced this afternoon that the meeting would not be held.

The NRC Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space held a joint meeting of six of its seven panels in August 2009. Two of the days, August 19-20, had open sessions where NASA officials gave various presentations about past and present funding for research aboard the International Space Station (ISS), facilities currently aboard the ISS or expected to be launched before assembly of ISS is completed, the use of “free flyers” for this type of research, and other topics of interest. Click on the links below to see the Powerpoint presentations.

Day 1

• Benjamin Neumann, NASA/Exploration Systems Missions Directorate (ESMD): Expectations from the Study and NASA”s Plans of Utilization of the Study
• David Tomko, NASA/ESMD: History of Life and Physical Research Programs at NASA
• John Hines, NASA/Ames Research Center: Free Flyer Utilization for Biological Experiments
• David Tomko and Francis Chiaramonte, NASA/ESMD: Research Portfolio in Life and Physical Sciences: Ground based and planned flight experiments
• Julie Robinson, ISS Program Scientist, Johnson Space Center: International Space Station: Research Capabilities in Life & Physical Sciences–Early Utilization Results
• Mike Wargo, Executive Secretary, LEAG: The US Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) & the Lunar Exploration Roadmap
• Christopher Moore, NASA/ESMD: Key Capabilities for Exploration Enabled by Life and Physical Sciences Research

Day 2

• James Polk, Chief, Space Medicine, NASA: Flight Surgeon Perspectives: Gaps in Human Health, Performance, and Safety
• Mike Gernhardt, Integrating Life Sciences, Engineering, & Operations Research to Optimize Human Safety and Performance in Planetary Exploration

Betsy Cantwell, co-chair of the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space, called that study probably the “last and best hope” for a science and engineering community that has been battered by deep funding cuts and management shifts over the past several years.

Dr. Cantwell made the comment Wednesday after summarizing a host of past studies that made recommendations about biological and physical research that enables and is enabled by human exploration of space. She was opening a joint meeting of six of the seven panels working under the aegis of the Decadal Survey’s steering committee that met in open session in Washington, D.C. yesterday and today. The Powerpoint presentations are available here.

This Decadal Survey is mandated to prioritize both fundamental and applied biological and physical research in microgravity (e.g., aboard the International Space Station) and partial gravity (e.g., on the Moon or Mars). NRC Decadal Surveys are well established community-based priority setting exercises for most space science disciplines, but this is the first in the field of biological and physical sciences. Congress directed NASA to request the NRC to conduct the study in the joint explanatory statement accompanying the FY2008 Omnibus Appropriations Act (P.L. 101-161). Decadal Surveys take their name from the fact that they prioritize research for the next 10 years (a decade) and are repeated about every 10 years. Two other Decadal Surveys in space science disciplines also are underway.

The biological and physical sciences in space community (often called the “microgravity” community) has had its hopes raised and dashed over the past decade as expected funding was reallocated to complete construction of the International Space Station (ISS), restored, and then reallocated again to fund the Ares/Orion system. With ISS assembly close to completion, focus now is turning to what fundamental and applied research can be conducted aboard that “National Laboratory.” In addition, research will be needed to ensure the safety and health of humans traveling beyond low Earth orbit to whatever destination is chosen following the impending report of the Augustine committee. The results of this Decadal Survey, expected in October 2010, will prioritize that research.

As indicated yesterday, the NASA Flight Readiness Review has cleared the shuttle Discovery for launch next week in terms of satisfying concerns about foam loss, but one issue remains open before final clearance is given. According to NASA, the STS-128 launch will take place at 1:36 am EDT on August 25 once the final issue — analysis of an orbiter power controller that failed and had to be replaced — is closed. That decision will be taken at the August 23 mission management team meeting.