Category: Civil

Space Policy Events for February 10-14, 2014

Space Policy Events for February 10-14, 2014

By Marcia Smith | Posted: February 9, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: February 10, 2014 3:45 pm ET

The following events may be of interest in the week ahead.  The House and Senate both are in session.

During the Week

The week starts off quickly, with a field hearing at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center on Monday morning at 9:00 am ET on “Assessing NASA’s Underutilized Real Property Assets at the Kennedy Space Center.”    This is a somewhat unusual hearing in that it is not being held by any of the committees that typically oversee NASA.  Instead, this is being held under the auspices of the Subcommittee on Government Operations of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.  Subcommittee chairman John Mica (R-FL) represents a district near KSC.   His subcommittee “oversees the efficiency and management of government operations and activities,” according to its website.   The list of witnesses span federal, state and local government as well as the Audubon Society.

Other congressional hearings this week center on issues that could affect national security space programs.  Of greatest interest may be Wednesday’s HASC hearing on defense acquisition reform.  Not that there haven’t been an awful lot of hearings on this topic over the years, but Wednesday’s includes the esteemed Norm Augustine,  who can always be counted on to provide extremely wise words of advice.  In the space community he is probably best known these days as the chair of the 2009 “Augustine Committee” that offered options for the future of the human spaceflight program, but he has chaired many such review/advisory committees over the decades and is a former Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin, not to mention a former under secretary of the Army and author of the incisive Augustine’s Laws.

Those and other events that we know about as of Sunday afternoon are listed below.

Monday, February 10

Tuesday, February 11

Wednesday, February 12

Thursday, February 13

Last Updated: Feb 10, 2014 3:45 pm ET
Delight Over ISS Extension, Debate Over Regulations Highlight 2014 FAA Commercial Space Conference

Delight Over ISS Extension, Debate Over Regulations Highlight 2014 FAA Commercial Space Conference

By Marcia Smith | Posted: February 8, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: February 8, 2014 3:41 pm ET

The FAA’s annual Commercial Space Transportation conference covered a lot of ground this week (February 5-6, 2014), but two topics were highlights:  the Obama Administration’s recent decision to extend operations of the International Space Station (ISS) by four more years and debate about the extent of government regulation of commercial human spaceflight.

Extending ISS to 2024.   NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Bill Gerstenmaier opened the conference by noting progress in the commercial crew and cargo programs and how the business environment for those companies has improved with the decision to keep ISS operating through 2024.  Gerstenmaier praised that “tremendous decision” by the Obama Administration, announced last month, and the fact that it was made quickly rather than requiring independent reviews or extended debate.  Gerstenmaier acknowledged that it may take several years for the other partners in the ISS to decide if they will follow suit, but “I believe they will over time.”  (Editor’s Note:   As we pointed out in a recent editorial, SpacePolicyOnline.com does not share his enthusiasm for extending the ISS to 2024 without an independent technical review.)

He went on to praise Russia’s “innovative spirit … that pushes us in the right direction and helps us,” offering space tourism, the just-installed Earthkam, and the Olympic torch relay as examples:  “Think Russian, think commercial.”

Not surprisingly, the decision to extend ISS to 2024 was greeted warmly by the commercial crew and commercial cargo companies whose business plans benefit from the decision.   Representatives of Boeing, Orbital Sciences, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada participated in a panel discussion later that day along with Phil McAlister, NASA’s Director of Commercial Spaceflight.

McAlister said the decision took him by surprise, but he was delighted because “as of now we’ve never had a better business plan” for commercial crew.   Chris Ferguson, director of commercial crew for Boeing, praised the decision, but wondered what the industry will do after 2024.  “We really need to maintain this toehold” in low Earth orbit (LEO), he stressed, then asked rhetorically whether ISS will be extended to 2028 or will there be a market for commercial LEO stations.  “We have to have a destination in low Earth orbit or we’ll struggle to keep the business model going,” he concluded.

McAlister was asked why ISS was extended only to 2024 instead of 2028 (when the first ISS modules will be 30 years old, a timeframe NASA has been discussing for quite some time), but said he had no insight into that decision.

Regulating Commercial Human Spaceflight.  Another panel debated the regulatory environment for commercial human spaceflight.  Moderated by Wayne Hale, it had an interesting group of participants– a former astronaut, Ken Reightler; an economist with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Ken Heyer; a Boeing lawyer, Russ McMurry; and a commercial space industry political insider, Jim Muncy.  Collectively they offered a range of views on the issues of informed consent and the role, if any, for government regulation beyond what is already provided by the 2004 Commercial Space Launch Act Amendments (CSLAA).  Muncy was substituting for XCOR’s Jeff Greason.  All were speaking in their personal capacities.

The primary areas of contention were the need for government regulation versus voluntary industry standards and how to ensure spaceflight participants (passengers) really do have informed consent when deciding whether or not to step aboard an orbital or suborbital commercial human spaceflight vehicle.

Under the informed consent provisions of CSLAA, companies must explain the risks and provide information on their vehicle’s safety record.  Prospective passengers then make their own decisions on whether to board the flight.  CSLAA prohibits the FAA from adding more regulations for a fixed period of time except under certain conditions (like a fatal accident) and one of the debates is over whether this “moratorium” or “learning period” should be extended beyond its current expiration date of September 30, 2015.

Generally, Reightler and McMurry argued in favor of some level of government regulation, while Heyer and Muncy questioned the need for anything beyond current law.

Heyer, the economist, focused on whether or not there is a market failure that makes it essential for the government to step in.   He does not see one now.  McMurry took the position that the government is the repository of lessons learned from 50 years of human spaceflight and “the more we push government away” the more “we fail to avail ourselves of some valuable lessons learned.”   Muncy agreed that it would be “insane” to not take advantage of government help in developing space systems that are as safe as possible, but “there are a thousand ways” to do that “other than writing regulations.”

McMurry disagreed, worrying that companies who chafe at oversight by a government that has 50 years of experience in human spaceflight are exactly the ones that will “ruin the industry by creating a death that is avoidable” because they will adhere only to minimum safety standards.  Reightler agreed with McMurry, cautioning that a spaceflight accident will get more public attention than a train wreck, for example.

McMurry went further, arguing that industry self-regulation lends itself to manipulation of the rules in order to turn situations to a competitive advantage.  He likened it to the difference between a pick-up sports game versus a game with a referee: “If you really want fairness and … equality, you need regulations. To what extent?  Up for debate. But we need a referee.”  Heyer argued that in most industries consumers are the referees.  If they do not approve of a company, they take their business elsewhere.  He wondered why it would be different in this case.

At the end, the panelists were asked if they, personally, would fly on one of the commercial vehicles, which elicited some of the more entertaining answers of the day.   Reightler – who flew on two space shuttle missions – offered what he said was a good engineer’s answer:  “it depends.”   In this case, it would depend on the details, into which he would dive deeply.  Heyer asked “will it cost money?” evoking jokes that that was a good economist’s answer.  He added, however, “even if it was perfectly safe I still might not do it.”  More broadly, he said the question is whether the average person will fly.  He thinks the initial market will be wealthy thrill-seekers and scientists who have experiments to conduct, not the average person.   McMurry displayed company loyalty:   “If it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going.”  Muncy said he would be delighted to go, “but I’m not paying for the ticket.”

Other Notable Notes from the Conference

  • Congressional staffers for the Senate and House committees with jurisdiction over NASA authorizations and the Commercial Space Launch Act (CSLA) said that their committees hope to be able to move forward on a new NASA authorization bill and an update of CSLA this year.  Both committees marked up a NASA authorization bill last year, but neither was reported from committee.  Ann Zulkosky of the Senate Commerce Committee noted that this is an election year, so there will be little time legislatively to complete this work, so they hope to get action underway this spring.  The House Science, Space and Technology Committee held a hearing on CSLA the day before the conference that served to tee up the issues likely to arise in updating that law.  Tom Hammond of the House committee staff added that additional issues may also arise within his committee including topics in the SOARS bill (H.R. 3038), FCC’s role in spectrum management, NOAA’s commercial remote sensing policy, export controls, and authorization of FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation.
  • During his panel discussion, Wayne Hale asked about the panelists’ reactions to concern expressed by NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) that safety is not the top priority in NASA’s next round of commercial crew bids.   The January 2014 ASAP report criticized the priorities in NASA’s selection criteria because the first factor that will determine who wins is cost, not safety.  Muncy said the issue is misunderstood.   He argued that to enter a responsible bid in the first place a company must meet NASA’s threshold requirements for safety.  “I don’t believe it’s fair to say that safety is less [important] than price, because you have to be safe … to even be under consideration.”  McMurry disagreed, saying to him it means companies are incentivized to meet only the “bare minimum safety standards.”
  • McMurry was on a separate panel the next day explaining the activities of the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC), where he is vice-chair of the Business/Legal working group.  Among the issues they plan to debate this year is the legal and regulatory regime for mining celestial bodies.  Interestingly, at Tuesday’s House hearing on CSLA, George Washington University professor Henry Hertzfeld argued for ensuring that agencies that are given authority to regulate space activities have requisite expertise.  He specifically mentioned asteroid mining and lunar resource extraction as areas when FAA does not have that expertise.
  • Richard DalBello, Assistant Director for Space and Aeronautics at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, focused his comments on the Administration’s approach to innovation.   In response to a question, he lauded the flexibility possible under the “Other Transaction Authority” (OTA) provision of NASA’s organic act.  One of the weakest links between innovation and government contracting is a belief that the lawyers “won’t let us do that,” he said, but to the contrary he finds “all sorts of creativity can be brought by lawyers, you just have to ask the question. … Flexibility exists out there and people need to start using it.”
  • FAA’s Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation George Nield closed the conference by summarizing the testimony he gave at Tuesday’s hearing.  Among other topics, he reiterated —
    • FAA’s support of an Administration request for Congress to amend CSLAA to add a new category of occupants — government astronauts — on commercial spaceflights (in addition to the crew and spaceflight participants);
    • his request that his office be given authority to regulate in-orbit commercial activities in addition to launch and reentry; and
    • his position that the learning period for commercial human spaceflight not be extended past the current September 30, 2015 expiration date.  He said the FAA has three tools to oversee the safety of commercial spaceflight, and if one of them — regulations — is taken off the table, it is tying one hand behind their back.  In order to prevent “bad actors” from entering the marketplace who could have an accident and set back the entire industry, the FAA needs to be able to issue and enforce independent safety standards, regulations or other objective criteria against which to measure vehicle designs and operations, he stressed.

 

Last Updated: Feb 08, 2014 3:41 pm ET
Ruppersberger Worries About Counterspace Threats, Advocates Commercial Space

Ruppersberger Worries About Counterspace Threats, Advocates Commercial Space

By Marcia Smith | Posted: February 5, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: February 5, 2014 4:59 pm ET

Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) pressed Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper about other countries’ counterspace capabilities at a House Intelligence Committee hearing yesterday.  Though it seems an unusual venue for such a discussion, he also called for relaxing “out-dated regulations” that may hamper the U.S. commercial space industry.

The hearing on worldwide threats was the House committee’s counterpart to the Senate Intelligence Committee’s hearing on the same topic last week, with the same set of witnesses: DNI Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, FBI Director James Comey, and Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Matthew Olsen.

Ruppersberger is the top Democrat, or ranking member, on the committee and therefore one of the “Gang of Eight” (the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, the Speaker of the House, the House Minority Leader, the Senate Majority Leader and Senate Minority Leader) whom the President must keep informed of the country’s most secret intelligence activities.

Clapper’s testimony yesterday was similar to what he told the Senate Committee, which is based on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s assessment of current worldwide threats.  An unclassified version of that report has one paragraph describing Chinese and Russian counterspace threats.

Yesterday, Ruppersberger broached space issues as part of his opening statement and followed up during the question and answer period.  Space was just a small part of the discussion, but is nonetheless significant in the context of this broad hearing.   He called out China’s counterspace activities as one of three areas of particular concern to him (cyber and the East China Sea were the other two), and also cited keeping the U.S. commercial space industry competitive as another important issue.

“This year, we must also continue to focus our attention on space.  We must continue to promote our commercial space industry and relax those out-dated regulations that are hampering our competitive advantage.  I cannot emphasize enough that U.S. companies must also be allowed to compete in the free market.  This competition will promote innovation in our space industry.”

Commercial space did not arise again, but Ruppersberger did have a dialog with Clapper about counterspace activities, a subject the two apparently already had discussed in a classified session the previous day.  

Ruppersberger began by stressing the importance of space:  “We have to keep our eye on the ball as it relates to space.  With all the other issues, Snowden and Syria and Iran, space is still one of the most important things that we do to protect the United States of America.”   He expressed concern about China’s 2007 antisatellite (ASAT) test and the resulting debris that threatens U.S. space operations, but primarily he worried that “countries are working on the ability to destroy our satellites, on which so much of our daily lives and our military intelligence capabilities depend.”  He asked Clapper to describe the counterspace threat and whether China understands the “ramifications” of disabling a U.S. satellite.

Clapper replied that the importance of space assets is “why I intentionally brought this up at our closed session yesterday evening” where he had explained “there are countries who are pursuing very aggressive, very impressive counterspace capabilities which I cannot go into here because of classification restrictions.”   In the report he presented to Congress, China and Russia were the only countries specifically identified as pursuing counterspace systems and at yesterday’s hearing he again singled them out.  He asserted that both of those countries “well understand the implications of  — as an act of war — to do something destructive against any of our satellites.”

The question of whether China understands the repercussions of attacking U.S. space systems arose at a House Armed Services Committee (HASC) hearing on January 28.   Michael Krepon of the Stimson Center, a witness at the hearing, said he was not sure China does understand the consequences because the United States and China are not engaged in the types of dialogues and negotiations that characterized the U.S.-Soviet relationship during the Cold War.  Krepon argued that he sees dysfunction between the Chinese political and military leadership and having bilateral discussions between the two countries would get everyone sitting at the same table talking about “red lines.”    Another witness, Robert Butterworth of Aries Analytics, disagreed, saying that he believes China fully understands that attacking U.S. satellites “means war,” the same assessment Clapper provided yesterday.

Last Updated: Feb 05, 2014 4:59 pm ET
House Hearing Reveals FAA-COMSTAC Rift on Learning Period for Commercial Human Spaceflight

House Hearing Reveals FAA-COMSTAC Rift on Learning Period for Commercial Human Spaceflight

By Marcia Smith | Posted: February 4, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: February 4, 2014 10:42 pm ET

George Nield, FAA’s Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, left no doubt today that he disagrees with a recommendation from his advisory committee, COMSTAC, to extend the “learning period” for commercial human spaceflight for eight years beyond when the first such spaceflight takes place.

In 2004, Congress passed a law strictly limiting the FAA’s authority to regulate the nascent commercial human spaceflight industry for eight years.  The idea was that the industry needed a learning period where it could fly people into space on a commercial basis without a heavy regulatory environment that might stifle their business.   Eight years later, however, not a single commercial human spaceflight had taken place, so Congress extended it for three more years, to September 30, 2015.

Now, Congress, the FAA and its Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) are debating whether there should be another extension considering that no commercial human spaceflights have taken place by now, either.

At a hearing before the Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee this afternoon (February 4, 2014), Nield was asked about his view on the possibility of extending the learning period.  Initially, he gave a careful answer to subcommittee chairman Rep. Steve Palazzo (R-MS) explaining the steps his office has been undertaking over the past year to solicit views, which culminated in circulation of a draft document and a request for comments.   His office is in the process of reviewing the comments that were received with a goal of trying to reach a consensus among industry, government and academia.

Later, though, Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) directly asked Nield if he agreed with COMSTAC’s recommendation that the learning period be set as eight years after the first flight carrying a spaceflight participant (a commercial passenger).  “No, I do not agree” Nield replied.  The United States has 50 years of human spaceflight experience, he explained, and “To put that aside and say ‘well, let’s start over’ without taking advantage of what we’ve learned I think is irresponsible.”  He added that he is “sensitive” to industry’s concern that government regulations might be “burdensome,” but that is not what his office desires.  “We want to enable safe and successful commercial operations,” he insisted.

George Washington University professor Henry Hertzfeld was cautious about the length of the learning period, saying it must be extended beyond 2015, but “there is no clear answer” as to when it should end.  He argued that an “arbitrary” period such as eight years was not advisable, but at “some point a judgment call” will be needed.

The hearing covered a wide array of other issues associated with updating the Commercial Space Launch Act (CSLA), which was enacted 30 years ago and has been amended several times since then.  Among them were the following.

  • Whether CSLA should be amended to give FAA authority over on-orbit operations.  Currently the FAA regulates launch and reentry, but not what happens in orbit.   Nield argued that this “gap” should be filled by allowing FAA to regulate commercial space operations in orbit in addition to its current authority.
  • Whether the scope of FAA’s authority to regulate commercial space activities should be restricted.   Hertzfeld pointed out that FAA does not have expertise in a number of commercial space activities now under discussion.   These include asteroid mining and lunar surface operations, yet some groups are looking to the FAA for guidance on what is allowed.   The United States is liable for activities of its non-governmental entities under the Outer Space Treaty, and Hertzfeld made the case for Congress to define the jurisdictional limits of CSLA and consider how to allocate regulatory authority to other agencies with appropriate expertise.
  • How to enable more flexibility on the FAA’s part to allow companies with experimental permits to continue testing once they have a launch license.   Substantial discussion took place over the distinction between an experimental permit and a launch license and what companies can do with one or the other.
  • Whether the federal government should preempt state governments regarding legal definition of the informed consent rules for spaceflight participants (passengers).  Several states have passed laws dictating what passengers must be told before boarding a flight, Hertzfeld said, but the wording is different.  He suggested the federal government might consider passing a national law that preempts state law to ensure adequate protection for passengers and that companies are competing in different states on a level playing field.

The hearing was more informational than decisive, discussing a range of areas where Congress might want to update CSLA, but with no clear agreement or disagreement on what is needed.  The top Democrat on the subcommittee, Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD), called for “a thorough and thoughtful review” and this appears to be the opening step in that process.

Last Updated: Feb 04, 2014 10:42 pm ET
Mikulski to JWST Workforce: "I Saved You from the Tea Party"

Mikulski to JWST Workforce: "I Saved You from the Tea Party"

By Marcia Smith | Posted: February 3, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: February 3, 2014 6:38 pm ET

Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) told an auditorium full of workers on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) today that “I saved you from the Tea Party,” which wanted to cut the $8 billion program as a quick fix to budget challenges.

Mikulski and NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden spoke at a news conference held at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD where JWST is being built.  For many years Mikulski has chaired the Senate appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA and last year rose to also chair the full Senate Appropriations Committee, making her a very powerful figure in determining how much money NASA gets and how it is spent.

An ardent supporter of NASA, and particularly programs at Goddard in her home state of Maryland, Mikulski was upset at significant cost growth and schedule slippage in the JWST program in 2010.  She demanded an independent review of the program.

That review, led by John Casani, faulted the program’s “budgeting and program management, not technical performance.”  Cost growth and schedule slippage had characterized the program already for years and the Casani report tagged the cost at $6.5 billion with a launch date of 2015 – up from a prior estimate of $5.1 billion with launch in 2014.  NASA subsequently made major changes to how the program is managed within the agency and did further analysis, concluding that the cost would be $8 billion for development (not including launch or operations) with launch in 2018.

As Bolden said today, Mikulski since has held NASA’s “feet to the fire” through the practice of “tough love,” which Bolden praised.   Mikulski had a different take on it, though.

“It’s not me that’s tough on you. The Tea Party’s tough on you.  I’ve saved you from the Tea Party,” she asserted.  The Tea Party was “seeking quick fixes to cut the budget” and JWST at “$8 billion was standing out there like in an orange jumpsuit waiting to be cut … because of lack of stewardship and oversight at NASA.  But we’ve righted that ship with the Casani report … and an actual game plan for making sure the project is completed on time.”

Mikulski lauded the international cooperation aspects of JWST and called for a special round of applause for Canada – “one of the most wonderful neighbors you could have in the world.”   The briefing included a virtual tour of the JWST by a bunny-suited Paul Geithner, JWST Deputy Program Manager, from the white room where JWST is being assembled.  The extent of international cooperation in the project was evident as he named the various countries involved in building JWST’s instruments.   In addition, JWST will be launched by the European Space Agency.   Mikulski saw international cooperation as a feather in America’s cap:  “A big nation can build a telescope, a rich nation can build a telescope, but it’s only a great nation that shares that information, that knowledge, that know how with the world.”

Bolden reassured the gathering that JWST remains on track:  “We’ve got cushion in our schedule and we’re hanging in there on cost.”

Mikulski asked Geithner what lessons were learned from the Hubble Space Telescope, where the mirror was found to be defective once it was in orbit.   Geithner said the “fatal flaw” with Hubble is that the same tools used in manufacturing the mirror were used to verify it met specifications.  With JWST, completely separate tools are used for manufacturing and verification.  In addition, the program is reviewed by an independent expert panel of scientists and engineers.  Finally, the telescope can be adjusted after it is deployed in space.

JWST “will secure our lead in astronomy … for the next 50 years,” Mikulski exclaimed.  As great as Hubble is, JWST will be “far more superior.”

Last Updated: Feb 03, 2014 6:38 pm ET
Space Policy Events for February 2-7, 2014

Space Policy Events for February 2-7, 2014

By Marcia Smith | Posted: February 2, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: February 2, 2014 1:59 pm ET

The following space policy events may be of interest in the week ahead.  The House and Senate are in session.

During the Week

Among the highlights this week is the FAA’s annual Commercial Space Transportation conference on Wednesday and Thursday in Washington, DC.   Speakers this year include Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations; Congressman Steve Palazzo (R-MS), chair of the Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee; staff from House and Senate committees with oversight of commercial space transportation issues; and an impressive set of representatives of other government agencies, traditional and entrepreneurial space companies, and academia.

The day before that conference, George Nield, FAA’s Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, will testify to Palazzo’s subcommittee on “Necessary Updates to the Commercial Space Launch Act.”  That’s the law, which, among other things, created the authority for the FAA to indemnify commercial space launch companies against certain amounts of third party claims for damages from launch accidents.  Congress extended the FAA’s indemnification authority for three more years (to December 31, 2016) as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, but Democrats on the House committee had wanted just a one-year extension to provide time for more hearings on the topic.   It wouldn’t be surprising for questions to arise on indemnification despite the extension. 

It’s always difficult to guess what Members will be interested in at any hearing, but another issue that might come up is the extent to which the FAA should regulate commercial human spaceflight.  It currently is limited by law as to how strictly it can regulate that industry until 2015.  The idea of a light handed regulatory regime is to ensure that heavy regulation doesn’t deter the emergence of a new industry.  At last year’s Commercial Space Transportation conference, Wayne Hale argued in favor of voluntary industry standards rather than government regulation.   Hale is not on the list of witnesses at the hearing, but he is scheduled to speak at the conference the next day.   In addition to Nield, the other hearing witnesses are Alicia Cackley from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Henry Hertzfeld from George Washington University.

Lots of other interesting events this week, too, as shown in the list below — everything we know about as of Sunday afternoon. 

Sunday-Thursday, February 2-6

  • American Meteorological Society 94th annual meeting, Atlanta, GA.  Town Hall meetings of particular note:
    • NASA Earth Sciences Division Town Hall meeting, Tuesday, Feb 4, 12:15-1:15 pm ET
    • Advances in Direct Broadcast Capabilities and Applications for JPSS and other Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite Systems Town Hall meeting, Tuesday, Feb 4, 12:15-1:15 pm ET
    • SMAP Mission Town Hall meeting, Tuesday, Feb 4, 6:00-7:00 pm ET
    • NASA’s Earth Science — Flight Program Investments in and Planning for the Next-Generation Earth Observatories Town Hall meeting, Wednesday, Feb 5, 12:15-1:15 pm ET

Monday, February 3

Monday-Tuesday, February 3-4

Tuesday, February 4

Tuesday-Thursday, February 4-6

Wednesday-Thursday, February 5-6

Wednesday-Friday, February 5-7

Thursday, February 6

Friday, February 7

 

Last Updated: Feb 02, 2014 1:59 pm ET
NASA's Day of Remembrance 2014 Honoring Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia Crews

NASA's Day of Remembrance 2014 Honoring Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia Crews

By Marcia Smith | Posted: January 31, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: January 31, 2014 9:28 am ET

Today is the NASA Day of Remembrance 2014 honoring the astronauts who lost their lives in spaceflights.   The day honors the crews of Apollo 1 (AS-204), Challenger (STS-51L) and Columbia (STS-107). 

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and other NASA officials are participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery this morning and an event will be held at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex beginning at 10:30 am ET.

The day honors the three-man crew of Apollo 1 (AS-204) who died in a fire in their Apollo capsule during a pre-launch test on January 27, 1967.  Pictured below left to right:  Ed White, Virgil “Gus” Grisson, and Roger Chaffee.  They were to be the first crew of the first Apollo mission.  Photo: NASA.

 

The crew of space shuttle Challenger (STS-51L) died when their space shuttle exploded 73 seconds after liftoff because an O-ring failied on a solid rocket booster on January 28, 1986.  Pictured below left to right: front row – Mike Smith (NASA), Dick Scobee (NASA), Ron McNair (NASA); back row – Ellison Onizuka (NASA), Christa McAuliffe (teacher in space), Greg Jarvis (Hughes Aircraft), Judy Resnik (NASA).  Photo: NASA

 

 

The crew of space shuttle Columbia (STS-107) died when their shuttle disintegrated during its return to Earth on February 1, 2003 when superheated gases entered the shuttle’s wing through a hole punctured in it by a piece of foam that came off the External Tank during launch. Pictured below left to right: David Brown (NASA), Rick Husband (NASA), Laurel Clark (NASA), Kalpana Chawla (NASA), Michael Anderson (NASA), William McCool (NASA), Ilan Ramon (Israeli Air Force). Photo: NASA.

 

 

Last Updated: Jan 31, 2014 9:28 am ET
Space Policy Events for January 27-31, 2014

Space Policy Events for January 27-31, 2014

By Marcia Smith | Posted: January 26, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: January 26, 2014 2:32 pm ET

The following space policy events may be of interest in the week ahead.  The House and Senate are in session.

During the Week

President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.  There are no rumors that the space program will figure in his speech, but anything is possible.  Tuesday is, after all, the 28th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger tragedy.

In fact, this is the week that commemorates the loss of the Apollo 1 crew on January 27, 1967; the Challenger crew on January 28, 1986; and the space shuttle Columbia crew on February 1, 2003.  NASA and the Air Force will hold a ceremony tomorrow (Monday) at Launch Complex 34 to remember the Apollo 1 crew and NASA will hold its annual Day of Remembrance for all three crews on Friday according to Florida Today (we could find no mention of these events on NASA HQ or Kennedy Space Center websites, so don’t have any other details).

Apart from that, perhaps the most notable event coming up this week is Tuesday’s hearing before two subcommittees of the  House Armed Services Committee on China’s counterspace program.  Bob Butterworth from Aries Analytics, Michael Krepon from the Stimson Center, and Ashley Tellis from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace are the witnesses — 3:30 pm ET, 2118 Rayburn (and via webcast at the committee’s website).

Here’s the list of everything we know about as of Sunday afternoon.

Monday, January 27

Tuesday, January 28

Tuesday-Wednesday, January 28-29

Thursday, January 29

Last Updated: Jan 26, 2014 2:32 pm ET
China's Yutu Lunar Rover Experiences Mechanical Abnormality – UPDATE 2

China's Yutu Lunar Rover Experiences Mechanical Abnormality – UPDATE 2

By Marcia Smith | Posted: January 25, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: January 26, 2014 3:16 pm ET

UPDATE 2, January 26, 2014, 2:55 pm EST:  CCTV has a story today about Netizens extending “blessings” to Yutu and many of them “fear for the troubled rover’s destiny.”  That is far short of any official indication of whether Yutu’s problems can be solved, but does continue to suggest that the problem is serious.  This article is updated with a bit more from that CCTV story and a link to it.

UPDATE, January 25, 2014, 10:20 pm EST:  China’s English language TV station, CCTV, ran a story this evening suggesting Yutu may be in serious trouble.   This article is updated accordingly.

China’s official Xinhua news agency reported on January 25 Eastern Standard Time (EST) that the Yutu lunar rover experienced a “mechanical control abnormality” just before it entered its second hibernation period for the lunar night.

Yutu (“Jade Rabbit”) is part of China’s Chang’e-3 mission.   Chang’e is China’s mythological goddess of the Moon and Yutu is her companion pet rabbit.

Chang’e-3 and Yutu landed on the Moon on December 14, 2013 EST.  It is China’s first probe to soft land on the Moon.  Yutu separated from Chang’e-3 the next day and began its trek across the lunar surface.  Yutu is equipped with solar arrays for power, so must hibernate during the 14-day lunar “nights” when there is no sunlight.

Xinhua reported late in the evening of January 24 EST that Yutu experienced an abnormality.  A story published January 25 EST added that it is a “mechanical control abnormality” due to the “complicated lunar surface environment” and “scientists are organizing repairs.”  “The abnormality emerged before the rover entered its second dormancy at dawn on Saturday as the lunar night fell,” Xinhua reported, quoting China’s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND).

Official Chinese sources have not stated what the problem is, but a participant in a conversation on The Planetary Society’s “Unmanned Spaceflight.com” site said on January 25 that the problem “is with the solar arrays failing to tuck back into the rover body for thermal protection during the lunar night.”  The source of that information is not cited, but the participant is identified as Cosmic Penguin, who is located in Hong Kong according to information on that site.

Also on January 25 EST, China’s official English-language TV station, CCTV, ran a story suggesting that the problem may be quite serious.   Citing Yutu’s official Chinese Twitter account, CCTV ran the following quote:  “It’s been a pleasure for me to come to the moon and share my experiences with everyone.  Very soon the temperature on the moon will drop below minus 180 degrees Centigrade.  I’m not sure if things can be fixed in time.  So I’d like to wish all of you a happy Spring Festival in advance!”

Twitter accounts for robotic spacecraft have become common in recent years since Veronica McGregor at the U.S. Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) began the practice with the Mars Phoenix lander.   Humans associated with a space mission post messages on Twitter using the first person as though the spacecraft itself is talking.  Whoever is posting messages on Yutu’s Twitter account presumably is officially connected with the mission.

On January 26, CCTV ran a follow-up story about how “tens of thousands of Chinese Netizens” are posting messages on China’s Twitter service extending “blessings” to Yutu.  Some are messages of encouragement that Yutu get better, others console the robotic rover that it did its best.  CCTV says that many of those posting messages “fear for the troubled rover’s destiny.”   That is far from an official statement about the likelihood that Yutu’s problems can be solved, but absent official information, the fact that the government’s English-language TV broadcaster is highlighting these posts adds to the sense that the problem is serious.   The closest CCTV comes to quoting anyone in an official capacity is a statement attributed to Yang Yuguang, “a researcher” from China Aerospace Science & Industry Corp. who says “There is no smooth way ahead.  Whether or not we can overcome this difficult situation, it’s a big lesson for our lunar exploration research.”

The stationary Chang’e-3 lander is equipped with an optical telescope and extreme ultraviolet camera.  The Yutu rover has a radar, panoramic camera, particle X-ray instrument and infrared sensor.  Emily Lakdawalla, who blogs for The Planetary Society, posted on January 21 that the panoramic camera no longer is functional.

China’s Yutu rover on the Moon.  Source, tweet from Xinhua News @XHNews December 22, 2013.

Last Updated: Jan 26, 2014 3:16 pm ET
President's FY2015 Budget Request to Be One Month Late

President's FY2015 Budget Request to Be One Month Late

By Marcia Smith | Posted: January 23, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: January 23, 2014 1:20 pm ET

President Obama will submit his FY2015 budget request to Congress on March 4 — a month late — according to news reports.  

By law, the President is supposed to submit each year’s budget request on the first Monday of February.  Delays in reaching agreement on budget bills in recent years have meant consequent delays in submitting requests for the next year and FY2015 will be no exception.

The Hill and Politico are citing White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) spokesman Steve Posner as saying today that March 4 is the date for the FY2015 budget submission to Congress.  Last year, the budget was not sent to Capitol Hill until April 10, so, comparatively speaking, this is an improvement.

The Bipartisan Budget Act agreed to in December set spending caps for both FY2014 and FY2015, which may make the FY2015 appropriations process easier than it has been in recent years.   The cap for FY2015 is $1.014 trillion for discretionary (defense and non-defense) spending, compared to $1.012 trillion for FY2014. 

Last Updated: Jan 23, 2014 1:20 pm ET

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