The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that soon will send two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on a test flight is on its way to Kennedy Space Center (KSC). KSC Director Bob Cabana confirmed earlier this week that the launch is expected in the second quarter of this year, which begins in April.
Bill Gerstenmaier, who for decades led NASA human spaceflight programs, has joined SpaceX as a consultant. He retired from NASA in December after being dismissed by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine in July as the head of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) just as the Artemis program was getting underway.
For the first time, the President’s Budget Request includes funding for the U.S. Space Force, which was created as a sixth military service in December. Most of the funding for Space Force in the F2021 request simply reflects shuffling funds into the new account structure, but an Air Force official said today there is a $900 million increase compared to FY2020.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) FY2021 budget request for commercial space activities includes both increases and decreases. The total of $44.4 million includes funding for the Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) as well as efforts elsewhere in the agency to integrate launches and reentries into the National Airspace System (NAS) and enhance safety. Some parts did better than others.
The Trump Administration released its FY2021 budget request today. Reflecting its directive to NASA last year to put astronauts back on the Moon by 2024, the request includes a substantial increase for the agency for FY2021 and accompanying increases for the next several years. The FY2021 request is a 12 percent boost over FY2020. However, the request also again proposes cuts to a number of programs that Congress has rejected in the past, ensuring another intense debate over NASA priorities.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of February 9-15, 2020 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
A NASA/Boeing Independent Review Team (IRT) looking into problems encountered during Boeing’s December 2019 uncrewed Orbital Flight Test (OFT) has tentatively concluded that two software errors could have led to loss of the spacecraft. Only intervention by ground control teams during the flight saved the mission. News about the interim IRT findings comes one day after the second of the two software errors, which the agency and Boeing had not publicly disclosed previously, was revealed by a NASA safety panel.
NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) revealed today that a second software error was discovered during the uncrewed Boeing Starliner flight test in December. Had it gone undetected during the flight, it had the potential to cause “catastrophic spacecraft failure” during reentry. The panel wants a complete review of Boeing’s software verification processes before NASA decides whether a second uncrewed flight test is needed. In an email this evening, Boeing said it appreciates the input and is working on a plan with NASA to address all the issues and decide what comes next. [UPDATE: NASA announced late today that it and Boeing will hold a media teleconference about this tomorrow, Friday.]
NASA astronaut Christina Koch is back on Earth after a record-setting 328 days in space, the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman. She and her Soyuz MS-13 crewmates, Russia’s Alexander Skvortsov and ESA’s Luca Parmitano, landed on time at 4:12 am EST on the steppes of Kazakhstan.
NASA astronaut Christina Koch and two International Space Station (ISS) colleagues will return to Earth early tomorrow morning bringing her record-setting mission to a close. Not only did she participate in the first all-female spacewalks, but she will set a new record of 328 days for a continuous spaceflight by any woman, just 12 days short of the all-time American record held by Scott Kelly.