UPDATE, OCTOBER 1, 12:01 am EDT:  the White House Office of Management and Budget has issued the government shutdown order.  A link is provided at the end of this article.

ORIGINAL STORY, SEPTEMBER 30, 11:55 pm EDT:  The Senate this evening rejected continued House attempts to link continued  government funding to delays in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as the clock ticked down to midnight and the beginning fo FY2014.  House Republicans countered by introducing an amendment calling for a conference with the Senate, a step that clearly cannot be completed before midnight.  With no government funding in sight, a shutdown is inevitable.  The question now is how long it will last.

As midnight approaches, the House is debating a House Republican proposal requesting a conference with the Senate over the Continuing Resolution (CR).  The two sides of Capitol Hill have been passing the CR back and forth for several days rather than holding a formal conference.  Either avenue is an acceptable path to reaching compromise and Democrats claim they have been seeking a conference with the House over the federal budget for months, but the Republicans have refused. 

The battle is between House Republicans who insist on tying continued government funding either to defunding or delaying ACA (Obamacare) and the Senate insisting on a “clean” CR that deals only with funding the government without political provisions.  Each party is blaming the other.  

Meanwhile, the government will shutdown in minutes.  It actually is a partial shutdown since some “excepted” activities will continue.   Late this evening, the President signed into law a bill that allows military personnel to be paid despite the shutdown.  Civilians who are engaged in excepted activities — like operating the International Space Station — will be paid eventually, once a funding bill is signed into law.   Hundreds of thousands of government civilian employees will be furloughed and there is no guarantee they will ever be paid.

Whether this is for a day, a few days, a week or several weeks is unknown at this point.

The White House Office of Management and Budget issued the shutdown order as midnight arrived.

 

In a press conference just seven hours before the midnight deadline for Congress to pass a funding bill or cause a partial government shutdown, President Obama listed NASA as one of the affected agencies.

Earlier today, the Senate rejected House-passed changes to the “clean” — absent political provisions — Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government operating that the Senate passed on Friday.   Later it did agree to a House-passed bill that would allow members of the military to be paid even during a government shutdown.  Guidance for DOD on Friday said the military would be paid, but only after Congress passed a FY2014 funding bill.   Thus their paychecks could have been delayed; now they will not.

Civilian DOD employees and hundreds of thousands of other government workers will not be as lucky.  Only a small percentage — those who are performing “excepted” activities — will continue to work and are guaranteed to be paid at some point.   The remainder will be furloughed with no guarantee that they will ever be paid. 

NASA posted its shutdown plan on Friday and it is evident that few NASA workers will be at their jobs.   NASA Headquarters told Center Directors to “narrowly construe” what activities are essential.   Operating spacecraft that already have been launched is one of the few essential activities identified.   The International Space Station (ISS) comes under that exception.  However, getting spacecraft ready for launch, for example the MAVEN spacecraft scheduled for launch to Mars in November, apparently is not among the exceptions:  “…if a satellite mission has not yet been launched, work will generally cease on that project.”

In a roughly 10 minute appearance about 5:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) today, President Obama scolded House Republicans for attaching political provisions to a bill to keep the government operating.   He insisted that he remains hopeful that Congress “will choose to do the right thing” and pass a bill tonight, but offered a list of government activities and services that will continue and those that will cease if Congress does not.  

Social Security checks will continue to be processed, Medicare patients will still be able to see their doctors, the military will continue their duties, as well as air traffic controllers and border control agents.  

 “NASA will shut down almost entirely, but Mission Control will remain open to support the astronauts serving on the space station,” the President said.

Among the activities that will cease:  all the National Parks and Smithsonian museums will close, affecting the small businesses that rely on the tourist trade.  He also noted that the U.S. Government is the nation’s largest employer, with 2 million civilian workers plus 1.4 million active duty military, and hundreds of thousands will be out of work.

Meanwhile, up on Capitol Hill, it is impossible to guess the end game.  Check back here later this evening for any breaking news.

UPDATE, October 2, 2013:  We have updated the list to reflect the status of these meetings — mostly cancelled — because of the government shutdown.

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

During the Week

Sunday, 9:00 pm EDT.   In just over 24 hours, FY2013 ends and FY2014 begins.   Even now, whether the government will continue operating after midnight Monday is anyone’s guess.  The chances of a shutdown appear more likely today than yesterday, however.  In the very early hours this morning, the House passed another version of a FY2014 Continuing Resolution (CR) that it knows the Senate and the President will reject.  It is somewhat different from the version it passed a week ago and that the Senate modified and returned to the House on Friday.  The original version would have defunded the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) while this one would delay its implementation for one year.   This version adds a provison repealing a tax on medical devices that was intended to pay some of the costs of Obamacare.   Apart from that, it is the same — funding the government through December 15 (instead of November 15 as the Senate prescribed) at a post-sequester level, substantially lower than the Senate-approved pre-sequester level. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and the White House made clear that a delay to Obamacare is unacceptable.  In a Statement of Administration Policy, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) made clear that the President would veto the House-passed bill if it included amendments that were, in fact, adopted by the House at 12:17 am Eastern Daylight Time this morning:  “If the President was presented with H. J. Res 59, as amended by these amendments, he would veto the bill.”

Despite the veto threat, the House passed that version of the CR and the Senate will take it up Monday afternoon.  The Senate is expected to strip out those amendments and return to the House the same bill they passed on Friday — a “clean” CR that simply keeps the government operating until November 15.  With time running short, the chances of the House either agreeing to the clean CR or passing something else and getting the Senate to also agree is very small.  Several politicians went on the record today to say they think a shutdown is inevitable, but it is perilous to try and guess what Congress will do in such situations.   If the government does shutdown, whether it will be for hours, days or weeks is totally unclear.

NASA and DOD posted their plans for what happens in the event of a shutdown.   Among the many activities affected, NASA states that there will be no access to the NASA website during a shutdown.  What will happen to government participation in the Asteroid Initiative Workshop that begins tomorrow in Houston is unclear.  The following events of interest are listed as though no government shutdown takes place.  If there is a shutdown, be sure to check with organizers to determine if the meeting will actually occur.

Monday-Wednesday, September 30 – October 2

• NASA Asteroid Initiative Workshop, Houston, TX.   By invitation only, but will be webcast.  (This meeting was cancelled after the first day because of the government shutdown due to lack of government funding.)

Tuesday-Wednesday, October 1-2

• NASA Advisory Council (NAC) Planetary Science Subcommittee, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC.  (This meeting was cancelled because of the government shutdown due to lack of government funding.)   

Thursday, October 3

• Senate Commerce Committee Markup Presidential Nominations, 253 Russell Senate Office Building, 11:00 pm ET (This meeting was postponed because of the government shutdown due to lack of government funding)

Thursday-Friday, October 3-4

• Golden Spike-USRA International Science Workshop, Houston, TX  (As far as know, this meeting is still taking place)

Friday, October 4

• National Research Council Committee on Human Spaceflight Panel on Stakeholder and Public Opinions, NRC Keck Center, 500 Fifth St., NW, Washington, DC (The NRC informed us on October 2 that this meeting will be closed in its entirety.)

 

 

Yesterday, NASA and the Department of Defense (DOD released their plans in case of a government shutdown on Tuesday, the beginning of FY2014.  The Senate passed its version of a Continuing Resolution (CR) yesterday as expected, but agreement has not yet been reached with the House.

DOD’s shutdown plan is posted on its website .  It states that military personnel should report for duty as usual   Civilians must report on October 1 to receive their emergency furlough notices, but after that, only those who support “excepted activities”  such as military operations will be able to work.  Military personnel and excepted civilians will be paid retroactively, according to DOD, but furloughed civilians will not unless Congress passes a law providing that money.

NASA’s shutdown plan ensures that operating spacecraft — including the International Space Station — are unaffected.  Just about everything else is, however.  NASA Headquarters directed its Center Directors to “narrowly construe” who should be exempted from the furlough.  Exceptions include space launch hardware processing activities necessary to prevent harm to life or property, for example,  but “generally” work will halt on missions that have not yet been launched.

Action to avert a shutdown is in the House’s court today.   At 6:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), the House appeared poised to pass a bill that extends government funding to December 15, but requires a one-year delay to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and repeal of an associated tax on medical devices.  A separate bill would allow military personnel to be paid during a shutdown (apparently as opposed to paying them retroactively).  

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) made clear this afternoon that the Senate would not agree to a bill that delays Obamacare, making a shutdown appear more likely, but it is still too early to make useful predictions about how this will turn out.

Sunday is shaping up to be a busy day in the space business with two significant launches — one U.S., one Russian — and a commercial cargo demonstration on tap.  All are subject to change, of course, but here’s the line-up at the moment. 

Fortunately for the U.S. missions, Sunday is still FY2013 so they will not be affected by the gridlock over FY2014 funding.

Orbital’s Cygnus.  At 7:15 am Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Cygnus spacecraft will make a second try to berth to the International Space Station (ISS).  The first attempt last Sunday, September 22, was aborted because of a data mismatch between Cygnus and ISS, but a software patch has been uploaded and tested and Orbital and NASA are ready to give it another go.  This is Orbital’s demonstration mission as part of NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.

• 3:30 am EDT — Cygnus begins approach to ISS
• 4:30 am EDT — NASA TV coverage begins
• 5:10 am EDT — Cygnus will be about 250 meters from ISS
• 6:12 am EDT — In the Washington, DC area, if the weather cooperates ISS and Cygnus will be visible for four minutes beginning at 6:12 am EDT at 45 degrees elevation travelling from northwest to east northeast (visit NASA’s SpotTheStation website to find out when ISS can be seen elsewhere)
• 7:15 am EDT — Cygnus to be grappled by ISS astronauts using Canadarm2
• 9:00 am EDT — Cygnus installed onto ISS docking port (time approximate)

Space X’s Falcon 9 v1.1.  At 12:00 noon EDT (9:00 am local time at the launch site), the window opens for launch of SpaceX’s new version of the Falcon 9 rocket — Falcon 9 v1.1 — from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA.  This launch was supposed to take place September 15, but was postponed for additional engine tests.  It is SpaceX’s first launch from Vandenberg and will place a Canadian scientific satellite, Cassiope, and five smaller satellites into orbit.

• 12:00 noon EDT (9:00 am Pacific) — two hour launch window opens
• Check SpaceX’s website for live coverage

ILS Proton M.   Russia’s Proton M rocket will make its return-to-flight carrying a commercial communications satellite, SES’s Astra-2E.  This is the first Proton M flight since a catastrophic accident 17 seconds after liftoff in July that destroyed three Russian government GLONASS navigation satellites.  No one was hurt.  International Launch Services (ILS) markets the Proton and confirmed today that the launch is scheduled for Sunday afternoon EDT (early Monday morning at the launch site in Kazakhstan).  This flight also had been scheduled for September 15, but was postponed for technical reasons.

• 5:38 pm EDT — launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where it will be 3:38 am Monday, September 30 
• ILS says live coverage will be webcast at http://astra2e.imgondemand.com/; Bob Christy at zarya.info provides a second website for viewing  http://www.tsenki.com/en/broadcast/

 

UPDATE, September 27, 1:30 pm:   NASA’s plans in the event of a shutdown are now posted on the agency’s budget website.

ORIGINAL STORY, September 27: With just four days to go before the fiscal year changes from 2013 to 2014, the question of whether Congress will be able to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government operating is as up in the air as ever.

Government workers are to be told by the end of today whether they are “essential” or “non-essential” for shutdown purposes.  Essential employees must report for duty even though they may never be paid; non-essential employees are not allowed to work even if they want to.   Personnel who operate space-based systems — including the International Space Station — seem likely to make the grade as essential, and the shutdown does not affect Members of Congress or political appointees, but who else will be showing up for work on Tuesday morning absent a CR is still to be determined.

Even seasoned political pundits are hedging their bets on how this will turn out.  The Senate is expected to vote today on its version of CR that will delete a House-passed provision to defund the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).  It may also fund the government at a higher level than the House-passed version and is likely to last only through November 15 rather than December 15.  

What the House will do with the Senate bill is the question.   The battle is being fought within the Republican party.  Many House Republicans including their leadership (Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eic Cantor) do not want a shutdown for fear it will hurt their chances to retain Republican control of the House in next year’s elections.  They have been trying to convince a small but key group of Tea Party Republicans who want to defund Obamacare to wage that fight on an upcoming debate over the debt limit rather than on this government funding bill, but so far without success.  

The government is expected to hit the debt limit in a few weeks and while emergency measures can prevent a default for a few more weeks, Congress must take action soon to raise or suspend the debt limit in order for the government to pay its bills.  The House leadership reportedly proposed a bill to suspend the debt limit in exchange for defunding Obamacare and other Republican priorities to its own Republican members yesterday, but it didn’t fly.

The Senate is expected to go home today after it passes its version of the CR leaving the House to work through the issues over the weekend and, presumably, send a bill back to the Senate on Monday, the last day of FY2013.    Among the options are that the bill could be a short term “clean” bill that simply keeps the government operating for a week or two while the debate continues, that it calls for a delay in implementing Obamacare instead of defunding it (with the defunding battle to be fought later),  that it restores the language the Senate is about to remove to defund Obamacare, or that there is no bill.   In either of the last two cases, a government shutdown is almost certain.

Although almost everyone refers to it as “a government shutdown,” it actually is a “partial” government shutdown.  As noted, some people are exempt and others will be deemed essential and expected to work without pay.  In the past, Congress has voted to pay those individuals retroactively, but there is no guarantee of that happening this time.