White House plans to cancel NASA's Constellation Program as part of the agency's 2011 budget got a chilly reception from the House Science and Technology Committee on Thursday, as lawmakers questioned the readiness of the commercial space industry to shoulder the role of launching astronauts and the lack of a clear exploratory destination.

Lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, used the term "radical change" during a budget hearing to describe the administration's decision to drop Constellation's goals of returning explorers to the moon.

The spending plan supports a near-term investment in technologies that would make it possible to embark on a flexible path of human exploration that ultimately leads to Mars. The new strategy would turn to the commercial launch industry for the transportation of professional astronauts to the International Space Station in the aftermath of the shuttle's retirement later this year.

The panel was more charitable towards NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, the panel's only witness, over plans to monitor the Earth and climate change with satellites; advance aeronautics; extend operation of the International Space Station from 2016 to 2020; as well as improve classroom instruction in the STEM fields, science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

NASA's proposed $19 billion budget for 2011, includes the first installment on an overall $6 billion increase in agency funding over the next five years.

"It represents a vote of confidence in NASA and that should not be ignored," said U. S. Rep. Bart Gordon, the Tennessee Democrat who chairs the science and technology panel. "However, this budget represents a radical change to human spaceflight and exploration that has been authorized and funded by the successive Congresses over the past five years. It has raised as many questions as it has answered."

The change in strategy was born of a White House sponsored re-assessment of the six-year-old Constellation Program by the Augustine Committee. The committee concluded that Constellation's goal of reaching the moon with astronauts by 2020 was drastically under funded and the timeline unachievable.

The space agency has invested $9 billion in the initiative so far, and the new budget proposes an additional $2.5 billion to close it down.

"For me, the ultimate destination in our solar system is Mars," Bolden told the House panel. "While we cannot provide a date certain for the first human visit to Mars as the key long term destination, we can identify key capabilities needed for such a mission."

The advantages of the new approach extend beyond NASA and exploration by fostering new technology and solidifying America's long term leadership in space, he testified.

"Americans and people world wide have turned to NASA for inspiration throughout our history. Our work allows people to imagine what is barely possible. We at NASA get to turn those dreams into real achievements for all mankind through the missions we execute. This budget gives NAA a roadmap to even more historic achievement as it spurs innovation, employes Americans in exciting jobs and engages people around the world."

Many on the oversight committee were troubled by the administration's decision to drop work on Constellation's Ares 1 rocket and the Orion crew exploration vehicle, which were to replace the space shuttle for missions to the moon as well as to transport astronauts to the space station. However, the introduction of the Ares 1 and Orion have fallen two to three years behind NASA's 2015 schedule, according to the Augustine Committee's findings.

The lawmakers found potential pitfalls in relying on spacecraft that don't yet exist and they questioned whether commercial providers will find paying customers outside of NASA. Under the new strategy, the U. S. will lose the ability to launch astronauts after the shuttle retires in September. The agency estimates commercial companies may be prepared to launch astronauts by 2016, possibly sooner.

"It looks good right now to privatize, but this is the easy part," said U. S. Rep. David Wu, D-Oregon. "In three, four or five years, maybe five, six years when we really hit the hard part, when we really get those launch vehicles human rated, I suspect we may have some of the same cost problems (that Ares 1 had). If we do, it seems to me the way Washington and the way the public decision making process works is that we will then terminate the commercial space flight program because of the exorbitant costs given to us by the private sector."

With a commercial termination and the absence of a NASA spacecraft as a backup, the U. S. human spaceflight program could cease to exist.

"This is really about a vision for our space program," said U. S. Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Maryland. "Our space program is a three-legged stool. It's Earth sciences. It's research and technology development. But it's also human exploration, and I feel that with this budget we lose one of the legs of that stool."

The committee's senior Republican, U. S. Rep. Ralph Hall of Texas, was not present for Thursday proceedings. But he left a statement.

"As a mission driven organization, NASA performs best with clear goals and destinations," said Hall. "I cannot understand how the Administration can propose such an ill conceived decision to cancel the Constellation Program, without providing alternatives plans with measurable goals and adequate resources."

Though absent a timetable, White House and top NASA officials assured Congress on Wednesday that the nation's new space policy is intended to launch U. S. explorers on a flexible path of deep space exploration eventually leading to Mars by giving commercial space transportation companies more responsibility and making investments in a range of enabling technologies.

The presentations by John Holdren, the presidential assistant for science and technology, and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden marked the start of a lengthy process by the White House to win passage of the agency's $19 billion 2011 budget, a spending plan that cancels the Constellation Program and its goal of placing astronauts on the moon by 2020.

"We're certainly not giving up on deep space," Holdren told the House Science and Technology Committee, during a morning hearing on President Obama's overall $147 billion research and development budget that includes  NASA and other civilian agencies.

Bolden offered more definition when he appeared before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee later in the day.

“Since the introduction of this budget many have asked what the destination is for human space flight beyond low Earth orbit, under the president’s plans,” said Bolden. “The answer is that our program seeks to enable the capabilities we will need for astronauts to meaningfully explore the moon, asteroids and eventually Mars. Mars is what I believe to be the ultimate destination for human exploration in the solar system, at least under my administration The right investments in technology will allow us to map out a realistic path to this destination.”

 However, Bolden said he could not offer a timetable for reaching Mars, nor missions along the way to the moon, a near Earth asteroid, the Martian moons or the Red Planet itself. The nations lacks the technical capabilities for those deep space missions and the experts do not know yet how to overcome the health risks posed by space radition and the weakened muscles and bones that accompany months of weightlessness, he testified.

The comment came as a bit of a surprise, especially to U. S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, who has criticized the President for failing to outline his space policy and future destinations personally.

"Do you have in what you have just stated? Do you have the approval of your superiors? asked  Nelson, who chaired the Senate proceedings..

"Sir, the words I used have been through every wicket I can think of," responded Bolden. "I assume that means I have approval to say that."

"All the way up through the wickets of the White House as well?" Nelson pressed.

"All the way up through the wickets of the White House, as well." Bolden assured Nelson.

Holdren made it clear to the House panel that the Obama Administration endorses the findings of the Augustine Committee, which concluded last year that the six-year-old Constellation program was so under funded it could not achieve its goals. He estimated the cost of reaching the lunar surface by 2025 under Constellation at between $45 billion and $60 billion over the next decade.

"We think we have a better route to get there that invests much more extensively in advanced technology," Holdren testified.

Nonetheless, the science advisor was met with blunt skepticism from Democrats as well as Republicans on the House panel whose districts include NASA  installations in Florida and Texas that face heavy job losses with the retirement of the space shuttle later this year and the cancellation of the moon program.

"Why don't we have a plan like Constellation to get us beyond Low Earth Orbit," asked U. S. Rep Pete Olson, R-Texas, whose district includes NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "As I view it, the President's budget proposal condemns us to low Earth orbit."

U. S. Suzanne Kosmas, D-Florida, who district includes NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, pressed Holdren on how the agency was supposed to retain its work force once the shuttle launches for the final time without a new program with destinations and schedules for reaching them.

"I know we have not provided enough detail, as much detail as you will want and the American people will want about this program, but that is in process," said Holdren. "There will be more detail forthcoming as we develop and fill out the options that have been identified in the new plan."

The shuttle's retirement date, he noted, was established by the Bush Administration based on the report of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, which looked into the causes and consequences of the fatal 2003 shuttle Columbia tragedy.

"There is no question there would be job losses associated with winding down the shuttle program. That was a done deal before we ever came into office," said Holdren. "But I think we will have more ideas and more specifics forthcoming."

The President's 2011 spending plan includes a $6 billion increase for NASA over the next five years to foster commercial space taxi services to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Station operations will be extended from 2016 to at least 2020. There is funding to overhaul much of the Kennedy launch complex to prepare the shuttle port for future exploration missions.

Each of those activities should help to address the anticipated job losses, according to the science advisor.

Holdren also addressed the issue of safety posed by NASA's use of commercial launch service companies.

NASA will shoulder the responsibility for establishing safety criteria and certifying the standards have been carried out, he said.

Despite Constellation's under funding, some of the science committee's most senior members were troubled by the president's decision to cancel a program that had been endorsed by Congress in 2008 and 2005 authorization bills.

"How can you defend the proposal to cancel the Constellation Program without any rationale and a proven alternative," said U. S. Ralph Hall, of Texas, the panel's ranking Republican. "I agree with you. I don't care to go to the moon until our people can go to the grocery store. But we do have to look at hard cold facts before we make such changes as you recommend."

Robert "Hoot" Gibson, a former NASA chief astronaut, characterized the new White House strategy as directionless and risky.

"The administration proposal opens more question than it answers.  What is the vision and where are we going? This abrupt change in NASA's exploration approach has no clear path, no destination and no milestones," Gibson told the Senate panel. "With no specific program, it becomes too easy in the future to cancel something called technology development as simply unfocused and unaffordable."

Freelance journalist Miles O'Brien, the former Cable News Network correspondent, told the Senate panel he sees merit in the new effort to bring space travel within reach of the public through the creation of commercial space taxis.

But O"Brien questioned the way the Obama Administration rolled out the plan without more presidential involvement.

"Mister chairman, Washington in general,  we have a problem. There is an uproar across the land about NASA's budget. It's a course change, and it says a lot about how the public is no longer in the loop with the space agency," said O'Brien. "The headlines read 'NASA Cancels its Moon Mission.'

"I give the administration plan high marks for the assessment of priorities, but it did a horrible job of telling the story," he told senators. The headline should have been, 'Space is Now Open for Business,' or 'Space Travel for the Rest of Us.'"

Bolden is scheduled to testify before the House Science and Technology Committee on  on Thursday.

Faced with criticism from Congress over the Obama Administration's decision to cancel the Constellation Program, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said Saturday he will strive to preserve an effort to develop a heavy lift rocket and settle on an ultimate destination for future human deep space exploration, possibly Mars, as he meets with lawmakers and other policy makers to discuss the agency's future.

Bolden spoke for nearly an hour at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, where he hosted a news conference on the eve of the shuttle Endeavour's scheduled lift off on a 13-day mission to the International Space Station.

The questioning from news reporters was focused on the Obama Administration's proposed 2011 budget, which the president handed to Congress on Monday. The spending plan cancels Constellation, dismantling an initiative inherited from the Bush Administration to reach the moon with American explorers by 2020.

The new policy includes only a vague outline of what is to come next for NASA. The lack of definition caught many by surprise and sent new waves of uncertainty through a NASA work force facing thousands of job losses as the shuttle program winds to a close at the end of this year.

Bolden blamed himself for not consulting more closely with Congress and the agency's own work force before the budget roll out.

"I learned a valuable lesson. I have someone who knows the media. I have someone who knows (Congress) to advise me. I did not listen," he told reporters. "So, I learned a very hard lesson. That is why the workforce was not better prepared. I did not listen to people. I was stupid. I didn't do it right."

The proposed spending plan, if passed by Congress, would make $6 billion available over the next five years to develop commercial rockets for the transportation of astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station. Commercial services would take the place of Constellation's cancelled Ares 1 rocket and Orion crew exploration vehicle.

The spending includes funds to research and development propulsion and life support systems for future deep space exploration. But it lacks mention of specific destinations.
Bolden said he hopes to win backing within the administration and Congress for a new heavy lift rocket that could be ready for deep space missions between 2020 and 2030. The planning for deep space missions will be made in close collaboration with other nations, who can expect to be placed in the "critical path," he stressed.

"It's my intent to work diligently on developing a heavy lift capability for the United States," said Bolden. "Ideally, you build a little, fly a little and test. You build a little, fly a little and test. It's an incremental move toward finally having a heavy lift vehicle."

The administrator did not rule out a new role for the Ares 1 as a test vehicle in the process. Constellation included a heavy lift version of the Ares 1 called the Ares V, which is also facing cancellation. Efforts are already under way to preserve the cutting edge development work on the Ares V for a future heavy lift rocket, Bolden said.

The NASA chief acknowledged the benefits and the difficulties of reaching a consensus on a destination for future human exploration.

While he favors Mars as a goal, Bolden said NASA lacks the propulsion technologies and the know how to deal with the health hazards to astronauts posed by cosmic and stellar radiation and the loss of bone and muscle mass over long exposures to weightlessness.

"This is my opinion, I think I need some more time on the surface of the moon," said Bolden. "I need some time flying around interstellar space to see if a human can survive that trip before I can recommend to the president that we are ready to put somebody on the surface of Mars. That is the discussion we need to have."

The Review of U. S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, also known as the Augustine Committee, outlined a similar approach to NASA and the White House last year in a re-assessment of the Constellation Program. The Augustine panel concluded Constellation's objectives were so vastly under funded they could not be attained.

The panel offered a "Flex Path" approach as an option to Constellation's goals of establishing a human lunar outpost. The Flex Path includes a series of "fly by" missions to the moon, asteroids and the moons of Mars. It includes missions to the lunar surface to rehearse the first lengthy mission to the Martian surface.

Bolden voiced support for the "Flex Path" on Saturday but cautioned it may not find support among those who worry that China or another country might focus on near-term human lunar exploration.

He noted the United States achieved a half-dozen successful human lunar landings between 1969 and 1972 during the Apollo program. The achievement cemented America as the first nation to place humans on another planetary body.

"That will not change," said Bolden.

"So, am I concerned that China may have a flag on the surface of the moon? Not really. Am I concerned that Argentina, Brazil or Russia or someone else (will reach the moon)? I am not concerned because they will join six American flags. So, my approach to all of this: In a true international partnership, when one of us succeeds, all of us succeed."

President Obama's plans to cancel NASA's Constellation Program in favor of a more flexible deep space exploration strategy received a cold reception in Congress on Wednesday, as lawmakers started what is expected to be months of scrutiny.

The hearing before the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, a NASA oversight panel, was called to hear from the agency's watchdogs, the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, the NASA inspector general and the General Accountability Office, largely on the issues of procurement, contract oversight, financial accountability, computer security and shuttle retirement.

But that didn't stop the House panel's Democratic and Republican leadership from criticizing the 2011 NASA budget proposal that would cancel the agency's $9 billion, five-year effort to develop the Orion crew exploration vehicle, the Ares 1 and Ares V rockets for human missions to the moon and eventually to Mars. Obama delivered the spending plan to Congress on Monday.

The president's change in strategy is based on cost saving alternatives to Constellation developed last year by the Augustine Committee, including the proposed use of commercially supplied rather than government developed and operated spacecraft to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

The unprecedented change has lawmakers concerned about safety, the development pace and loss of U. S. leadership in space exploration as well as cost.

"My concern today is not numbers on a ledger but rather the fate of the American dream to reach for the stars. Should we falter, should we slip, should we let our dreams fade, what will we tell our children? How will we inspire the next generation of great minds to pursue the science and engineering fields critical to keep us competitive in the 21st century?" said Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona Democrat who chairs the subcommittee.

"What will we tell the world that we led into space and that we took to the moon? My fear is that we will tell them to tell us what the stars are like when you get there," said Giffords. "It's important that we focus on the issues and challenges that will determine whether NASA will be successful over the next decade. We intend to give them serious scrutiny."

NASA's shuttle program faces retirement late this year, following five more missions to the International Space Station. A commercially developed successor could be ready for launching with astronauts as soon as 2016, according to the Augustine Committee. The panel judged the Ares 1 so under funded it would not be ready until 2017 or 2018 at the earliest, though NASA believes the Ares 1 and Orion could take flight with astronauts in 2015.

"It's naive to assume a do over will somehow offer a safer, cheaper system faster than the path we are on," said U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall, of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Science and Technology Committee. The science committee serves as the parent legislative panel to the subcommittee.
.

"American taxpayers have invested $9 billion and the agency and its contractors have spent five years to ensure Constellation will be flexible, affordable and safe," said Hall. "To simply toss this aside and gamble America's human space flight program on an undefined, untested system is more than alarming."

The Augustine Committee judged Constellation to be so under funded by the Bush Administration and Congress that the initial goal of reaching the moon with American explorers by 2020 was unachievable, even with additional funding.

Joe Dyer, a retired Navy admiral who chairs NASA's independent Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, urged lawmakers to stay the course with Constellation, Ares 1 and Orion

In a recently released annual report, the ASAP faults NASA as well as the aerospace industry for failing to establish safety standards and certification requirements for the design, development and operation of commercial space transportation vehicles.

The safety panel noted the advantages of the Ares 1 include hardware components from two previously human rated launch systems, the shuttle and the Saturn V, and an an abort system designed to pull the Orion crew capsule safety away from an unfolding disaster.

"If the goal is to minimize the gap between the shuttle and a follow on vehicle, then the Ares 1 offers the safest, quickest opportunity, and probably the most cost effective one," said Dyer.

Dyer and Paul Martin, NASA's inspector general, expressed concerns the space agency will have too little insight into the design and development of the commercial spacecraft it is expected to use. They listed pressures to compress schedules and stretch resources as well as a workforce that loses its sense of direction as the biggest threats to safety.

"I think NASA would be foolish to cede any issue dealing with the safety of its most precious cargo, the astronauts," said Martin. "I would be shocked if the (NASA) administrator would agree to that. I just think the human rating issue, the safety issues, needs to remain in house."

Two of NASA's top administrators face very different challenges as they attempt to set the agency on a new heading for exploration, wind down the 29-year-old space shuttle program and place the International Space Station on a firm footing for extended operations.

Those were the directives given NASA on Monday as part of the 2011 budget that President Obama presented to Congress.

Much of it, outlined in options for NASA's future prepared by the U. S. Review of Human Space Flight Committee last year, comes as no surprise. And some in Congress are vowing to reverse the White House decision to cancel NASA's Constellation Program after $9 billion in expenditures to kick off the human lunar exploration initiative. The review panel, also known as the Augustine Committee, determined the initiative was vastly under funded and unlikely to achieve its goal of landing explorers on the moon by 2020.

So, the Obama Administration decided to begin anew on a more flexible exploration strategy, while extending operations aboard the International Space Station from 2015 to 2020. The shuttle will be retired as planned at the end of 2010. NASA will look to the commercial space industry to provide transportation for astronauts to and from the space station while experts determine where explorers should head next in deep space and when.

The new budget provides NASA with an additional $6 billion over the next five years to carry out the latest directive. During news briefings on Tuesday, Doug Cooke, NASA's associate administrator, for exploration, and Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for space operations, discussed what that means at least in the near term.

The Constellation workforce is shaken, said Cooke. However, they will continue their Constellation duties through the remainder of the fiscal year (which ends on Sept. 30) as Congress deliberates on the 2011 spending plan. Much of the effort will be spent on finishing preliminary design reviews for the major hardware facing cancellation. Efforts will be made to capture the knowledge and experience of work on Orion, the Ares 1 and the Ares V and other planning for use as the new exploration strategy unfolds.

"President Obama has provided an increase to NASA over all and to exploration especially. I believe this shows his confidence for NASA to contribute to our country," said Cooke. "This will be done even in challenging times. We will not see this happen across all government agencies. It shows an interest and strong support for human space flight as well."

If the 2011 spending plan is signed into law, the workforce will begin to shift their perspective from development of actual flight hardware to a new research and development effort.

"It may be a different approach from what we have done in the past few years," said Cooke

  Cooke acknowledged the difficult adjustment for those committed to Constellation since 2004-5.

"It is difficult. To be perfectly honest it is difficult for those of us who have worked on (Constellation) for a number of years and made sacrifices in order to make it successful. The end will create angst among the workers who have been working on it. The people we have on this are high performers."

The budget set aside about $2.5 billion in Constellation termination costs over the next two years.

In space operations, the new spending plan would extend International Space Station, though the shuttle is slated to retire in late September, after five more missions. The proposed budget would ease any schedule pressure by funding the winged space ships through at least December.

The space agency intends to ensure the station is in the best possible working order when the shuttle leaves for the last time.

But there are questions about whether U. S. commercial operators will be ready to begin launch astronauts to the orbital outpost in 2016, as currently envisioned. And the future of NASA's astronaut corps is also in doubt as well as how many companies the agency will eventually contract with for the missions.

"At this point, it's not really the right time to speculate one way or the other," said Gerstenmaier. "We are still looking at how we want to procure this commercial service and what it means."

Until a commercial service is ready, American astronauts will we transported to and from the space station by the Russians under a contract with NASA.

The station's budget rises from $2.31 billion in 2010 to $2.78 billion in 2011. In all, more than $15 billion will be directed to the station through 2015 to support operations and add research.

"Overall for space operations this is a very good budget," said Gerstenmaier. "It's exciting because there are some actual research augmentations in this budget."

Those include plans to enhance research on how humans adapt to weightlessness and maintain their health while in space. There could be efforts to fly some astronauts longer than the standard six months to help determine how they might fare on missions to deep space observatories, asteroids and Mars. Or there could be missions of less than six months in order to fly more astronauts to increase the number of test subjects.

"This budget enables us to utilize station," said Gerstenmaier. "It takes years to get the research plan to get the activities on station. To actually know there is a good 10-year future for station is a positive for us. We can really plan our research out and bring the right investigations."

The Congress and President Bush designated the station as a National Laboratory in 2005, opening its use to other federal agencies, academia and private companies. NASA plans to provide transportation for at least some work, an expense that would otherwise come from the pockets of the National Lab researchers

President Obama presented Congress with a $19 billion, 2011 NASA spending plan on Monday that would cancel the agency's Constellation moon program while pledging to establish the foundation for a bold new course in human space flight and support for climate research, space science, aeronautics and education.

Lawmakers from Texas, Florida, Alabama -- states that host key NASA installations most heavily involved in Constellation -- vowed to oppose Constellation's demise.

The president's spending plan, which would take effect on Oct. 1, seeks an increase of $700 million over NASA's 2010 budget. However, the plan proposes an increase of $6 billion in NASA spending over the next five years for a range of initiatives intended to spur American innovation and economic development in space and aeronautics.

"President Obama has given us a bold challenge -- to become an engine of innovation and a catalyst for an ambitious new space program that includes and inspires people from around the world," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

"From this budget and the steps it lays out, the United States and our partner nations, industry and academia will pursue a more sustainable and affordable approach to space flight in order to develop transformative technologies and systems," Bolden said. "We intend to blaze a new trail of discovery and development. We will facilitate the growth of new commercial industries, and we will expand our understanding of the Earth, our solar system and the universe beyond."

The White House budget office based its decision to cancel Constellation largely on the findings of the Review of U. S. Human Space Flights Plans Committee. The committee's report in October found the initiative to return human explorers to the moon by 2020 vastly under funded by the previous administration and so behind schedule it had little chance of reaching the lunar surface until the 2030s, if ever.

The cancellation, if endorsed by Congress, includes an end to work on the Ares 1 rocket, the Orion crew exploration vehicle and the larger Ares V rocket required to send Orion to the moon with astronauts. NASA has invested $9 billion in the program so far.

"While we are canceling Constellation, we are not canceling our ambitions to explore further into space," said Jim Kohlenger, the executive director of the White House Office of Science and Technology. "This is not a step backwards. I think the step backwards was trying to repeat the moon landing of 40 years ago, largely using yesterday's technology instead of new game changing technology that takes us further, faster and more affordably into space."

NASA's Apollo program carried out six human missions to the moon between mid 1969 and late 1972 as part of a Cold War competition with the former Soviet Union.

The space flight review panel urged the White House to consider turning to the commercial launch industry for the future transportation of astronauts to the International Space Station as well as to more cooperation with global partners as a means of lowering exploration costs.

The panel, also known as the Augustine Committee, estimated NASA's budget would require an additional $3 billion annually to undertake deep space exploration with humans.

The committee urged the president to consider an extension of International Space Station operations from 2016 to 2020, greater investment in new research and development as well as a more flexible path of deep space exploration. That path would take astronauts to new destinations, including fly-by missions of asteroids and the moons of Mars. Eventually, the flex-path would lead humans back to the moon and exploration of the Martian surface.

Obama's spending plan supports much of the review committee's thinking. However, it establishes a foundation for human deep space exploration without setting specific dates for reaching new destinations.

"This program is aimed at creating those really transformative technologies without forcing on the taxpayer right now the burden of stretching old technologies or wishful thinking that we were going somewhere in a period of time that we weren't," said Lori Garver, NASA's deputy administrator.

"Rather than setting those destinations and time lines, we are setting goals for capabilities that can take us further, faster and more affordably into space," said Garver. "The moon definitely continues to be an important potential destination for the future together with the near Earth asteroids and eventually the moon and the surface of Mars."

The budget proposal includes funding to begin work on a new heavy lift rocket for future deep space missions, another of the Augustine Committee's recommendations.

"The plan released with the Presidents 2011 budget does appear to respond to the primary concerns highlighted in our committee's report," Augustine said in a statement. "While human spaceflight for the next few years will focus on near-Earth activities, I remain fully confident that given adequate, sustained funds, these individuals can successfully create a strong next-generation space exploration program."

To spur enabling exploration technologies, the spending plan mentions specific proposals that include regenerative life support systems, inflatable habitation modules, spacecraft re-fueling and advanced propulsion systems. Much of the development work could be carried out during the extended operations aboard the International Space Station that Obama proposes. NASA's partners in Russian, Europe, Japan and Canada have already endorsed a longer life for the station.

"This plan renews our commitment to the International Space Station. It will become the international facility we have dreamed of and worked so long for," said Sally Ride, a physicist and former NASA astronaut who served on the Augustine Committee. "Fundamentally, this program puts NASA on a secure footing. This means NASA will be central for the innovation engine that will drive America's economy in the future."

The station's assembly, which began in 1998, is scheduled to be essentially complete with the retirement of NASA's shuttle program at the end of this year. Five shuttle missions remain. In order to ensure that NASA has the time to conduct the missions without pressure, the new budget would provide funding for flights in 2011 if they are needed.

Some of the five-year NASA initiatives outlined in the new spending plan:

1. A $6 billion investment in the development of commercial space transportation for astronauts assigned to the International Space Station. Currently, NASA pays the Russians $51 million per astronaut for a round trip to the station. Though many of the details of the commercial initiative are yet to be worked out, Bolden pledged that NASA would work with its industrial partners to set standards that ensure the safety of the astronauts.

"I give you my word these vehicles will be safe," said Bolden.

2. A $2.5 billion investment in Earth science research and spacecraft to improve the ability of scientists to forecast climate change. The commitment includes a replacement for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, a key NASA spacecraft that was lost during launch in early 2009.

3. A $7.8 billion investment in technologies that expand the reach of future human and robotic missions. Examples include automated spacecraft rendezvous and docking systems; orbital propellant storage and spacecraft re-fueling; life support systems that recycle air and water; electrical power storage; and tele-robotic operations of spacecraft on the lunar surface and other planetary bodies.

4. A $3.1 billion investment in heavy lift rocket development for future science as well as exploration missions.

5. A $3.9 billion investment in space satellite technologies, advanced high structure materials and communications technologies intended to lower the cost of launching and operating commercial as well as government satellites.

From New Scientist

It has been a whipping boy for its critics, but NASA's Ares 1 rocket has received a rare boost.

Despite budget and technical concerns, NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) believes Ares 1 is the best bet for flying astronauts to the International Space Station after the space shuttle retires, because it has been designed from the outset with the safety of its crew in mind.

This advice is at odds with one of the options President Obama's Augustine Commission outlined for NASA last October: cancel Ares 1 and send astronauts to the ISS on commercial cargo spacecraft refitted to carry people.

Under a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) contract, NASA is already hoping to use the Falcon 9 rocket and uncrewed Dragon cargo capsule, made by Space X of California, to deliver cargo to the ISS from 2012. But making cargo craft safe for human spaceflight is extraordinarily tough, ASAP warns.

Complex challenge

"This assumption is premature and oversimplifies a complex and challenging problem. No COTS manufacturer is currently qualified for human-rating requirements, despite some claims and beliefs to the contrary," the ASAP authors write in their report.

Ares 1 on the other hand uses technologies based on the Apollo and shuttle programmes - such as escape towers and solid rocket boosters - whose risks are well known. "Ares 1 has been designed from the beginning with a clear emphasis on safety," ASAP reports. "Switching from a demonstrated, well-designed, safety-optimised system to one based on nothing more than unsubstantiated claims would seem a poor choice."

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In a report issued Friday, an independent NASA safety panel branded further extensions of space shuttle operations as unsafe and endorsed further development of the Ares 1 rocket and Orion crew exploration vehicle over commercial alternatives for the transportation of American astronauts.

This year's annual report by the seven-member Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel was devoted almost exclusively to the impending retirement of the shuttle and deliberations among policy makers over the nation's future course in space.

The panel, established in the aftermath of the 1967 Apollo 1 launch pad fire that killed three astronauts, termed the current era as a "challenging time" for NASA and questioned whether the 50 year-old space agency is adequately funded.

After taking office last year, President Obama ordered a re-assessment of a 2004 Bush Administration initiative that set NASA on a course to return human explorers to the moon by 2020. The initiative set 2010 as the shuttle's retirement date and called for an end to International Space Station operations by 2016 in order to free funding for the lunar mission. As cornerstones of NASA's moon goal, the agency established the Constellation Program to begin the development of the Ares 1, Orion and a larger rocket called the Ares V.

However, the assessment concluded in October by the U. S. Review of Human Space Flight Plans Committee found the lunar initiative so under funded it could not succeed. The review group, also referred to as the Augustine Committee, determined the nation faces a gap of at least seven to eight years between the shuttle's scheduled retirement and the first missions of the Ares 1 and Orion.

In response to its findings, the Augustine Committee outlined a series of options for the White House, including extensions of the shuttle launches beyond 2010. Another option suggested NASA turn to emerging commercial space transportation companies as a means for closing the gap, while extending International Space Station operations to 2020.

With commercial astronaut transportation and an additional $3 billion in annual funding, NASA could focus on future human missions to a range of deep space destinations, the Augustine Committee said.

The Obama Administration has not addressed the Augustine Committee report publicly. The president is expected to do so by the time he presents Congress with his 2011 budget request next month.

The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, led by retired Navy admiral Joe Dyer, was clearly unhappy with some of the options before the president.

The shuttle, which first launched in 1981, has grown too old to fly safely beyond the five missions that remain, the safety panel said. The shuttle's workforce is aging, and the contractors and subcontractors that supply critical parts and maintain systems have either gone out of business or moved on to projects embracing newer technologies, the panel added.

"The risk of continuing to fly the Shuttle without a recertification and expending the resources to bring the vehicle up to modern standards is more than what we should ask astronauts," the panel wrote.

Plans to retire the shuttle were in part a response to the 2003 Columbia tragedy that claimed the lives of seven astronauts, the second shuttle program disaster.

In its report, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board urged NASA to launch only enough shuttle missions to complete the assembly of the space station. If NASA decides to extend missions, the agency should only do so after undertaking a costly recertification of the shuttle, the investigation board concluded.

Currently, NASA intends to rely on the Russians for launches of astronauts to the space station once the shuttle is retired.

NASA has funded the development of commercial rockets for the launching of cargo to the space station under the agency's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program.

The Augustine Committee suggested the effort could be expanded to provide for the launching of astronauts by the COTS contractors. More established U. S. aerospace companies would be encouraged to compete for astronaut transportation launches as well.

However, the ASAP termed the commercial option as unsafe. The panel faulted NASA as well as well as the aerospace industry itself for failing to establish recognized human rating requirements for commercial transportation companies.

"It is the panel's position that no COTS manufacturer is currently HRR qualified, despite some claims and beliefs to the contrary," according to the new safety report. "Questions that must be answered are: What is the process for certifying that potential COTS vehicles are air worthy and capable of carrying astronauts into space safely? How is compliance assured over the life of the activity? The same questions would apply to any potential international orbital transportation systems."

The safety advisory panel urged the White House to stick with the Ares 1 and Orion, which NASA plans to equip with a crew escape system. NASA abandoned the use of escape systems when it transitioned from the Apollo moon ships to the shuttle.

NASA began development of the Ares 1 and Orion in 2005 with the intention of making it 10 times safer than the shuttle.

The Ares 1 consists of an extended space shuttle solid rocket booster, a second stage similar to that used by the Saturn V moon rocket, and an Orion capsule equipped with an escape system that could lift and steer the spacecraft and its crew away from an explosion before parachuting to Earth.

"The Ares I vehicle has been designed from the beginning with a clear emphasis on safety," according to the ASAP report. "To abandon Ares 1 as a baseline vehicle for an alternative without demonstrated capability nor proven superiority (or even equivalence) is unwise and probably not cost effective."

President Obama has no intention of dismantling the nation's human space exploration program, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told a gathering of astronomers in Washington on Tuesday.

However, the space agency chief and former astronaut assured the American Astronomical Society that NASA's plans to replace the space shuttle will not be carried out at the expense of robotic space science missions. The shuttle is facing retirement at the end of this year.

The president is expected to soon outline a new space policy. The policy will be based in part on last year's reassessment of a six-year-old Bush Administration initiative to reach the moon with American explorers by 2020. The re-appraisal, carried out by the Review of U. S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, found the lunar initiative so under funded it could not achieve its goal. Efforts to replace the shuttle with the new Ares 1 rocket and Orion crew exploration vehicle for missions to the International Space Station as well as the moon were at least two years behind the 2015 schedule, the panel determined.

"I cannot see this president as the president presiding over the end of human space exploration," Bolden told the gathering of professional astronomers.

When the shuttle retires, NASA intends to pay Russia to transport NASA astronauts to and from the space station until an American successor is launching.

"If we are not flying humans on something American-made by 2020, then we are in big trouble, to be honest," said Bolden, who became NASA's administrator in July.
Policy makers began to short change the space program about 15 years ago, and human exploration bore the brunt, he told scientists.

"We got to the point in the last few years where we had to steal away money from everybody just to get the space program to survive," said Bolden. "That is not the way to run a railroad, and I don't intend to do that. We cannot take money from science to promote human space flight."

The human space flight panel, also referred to as the Augustine Committee, outlined five broad options for the White House in an October report. The report included a finding that NASA would be unable to mount future human exploration missions beyond the International Space Station without an annual budget increase of $3 billion.

Obama is expected to respond to the Augustine Committee's findings by early February, when he is to present Congress with a budget for 2011 and beyond.

The options include an extension of space station operations from 2016 to 2020. They include a more flexible exploratory course and timetables that would take astronauts around the moon as well as on fly by missions to asteroids and the moons of Mars before explorers attempt to land again on the moon.

The options also spell out a larger role for America's commercial space sector and new global partners. NASA could turn to commercial space companies for the transportation of astronauts to and from the space station. The United States could look to China and India along with traditional partners in Europe, Japan and Russia as collaborators on future exploratory missions.

"The world is changing. We have a crowd of partners when it comes to technical capability," Bolden said. "We have to learn to trust them and put them on the critical path."

For the most part, Bolden only hinted Tuesday at what might be a part of the president's ultimate plans for space exploration.

"I want to get this off the deck," he joked with the audience "There are some people who think I know something. I don't know anything."

However, he told the science gathering that Obama expects NASA and the science community to do more to ensure their efforts benefit the American taxpayer. They will be expected to do much more to encourage the youngest Americans to study science, technology, engineering and  mathematics, he added.

Debating America's Next Steps in Human Spaceflight was in the spotlight last month as experts discussed choices ahead about NASA's human space exploration program.

This half-day event provided informed perspectives from various stakeholders about future options and decisions; ample time for dialogue between the participants as well as with the audience was provided.

The meeting was hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and was held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.

Audio clips of the meeting, along with several presentations can be found at:

http://www.aerospaceamerica.org/Pages/DebatingAmerica%27sNextStepsinHumanSpaceflight.aspx

LD/CSE

The nation's security, economic well being and educational standing are at stake as the White House and Congress chart NASA's future beyond the retirement of the space shuttle, a panel of aerospace experts warned a House oversight panel on Thursday.

The House Science and Technology Committee hearing examined the issues faced by the nation's 650,000 aerospace workers, including NASA's employees, as the agency's space shuttle program draws to a close late next year.

The gap of at least five years before the U.S. can expect to resume the launching of its own astronauts will mean job losses for thousands of space agency workers, most of them employed by NASA's major aerospace contractors. But the impact is expected to extend far beyond.

Many of the companies, small as well as large, that support NASA's human space flight efforts with parts and services are also in jeopardy. They offer specialized components and services for the commercial and military satellites that provide telecommunications, satellite navigation and weather forecasting vital to many of the country's other commercial sectors as well as those responsible for protecting the nation's security.

"The president and Congress now have serious decisions to make in the coming weeks and months. We can either support a significant augmentation of NASA's budget to carry out a meaningful human space exploration program without having to gut other national initiatives, or we can keep NASA on a flat funding profile and place our human exploration program frankly on hold for the foreseeable future," said U. S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, who presided over the hearing as chair of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee. "What we eventually decide to do will have profound and very long term effects. Because of the consequences in front of us. We really need to get it right."

President Obama has yet to address a report from the White House-appointed U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee that completed an assessment of NASA's future in October. The spaceflight committee concluded the agency was so under funded it could not carry out a six-year-old Bush Administration initiative to return human explorers to the moon by 2020. It called on policy makers to gradually increase NASA's funding by $3 billion annually and offered a range of new exploratory options to ensure U.S. global leadership.

Without NASA on the cutting edge, all of the nation's lucrative aerospace efforts are in jeopardy of being overtaken by initiatives by other nations, David Thompson, president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, told the House panel.

"For years, the benefits of the space program were provided primarily by the United States and Russia. Our lead was achieved because space was given a Cold War priority, as far as funding," Thompson reminded lawmakers, "But funding is no longer at the level it was back then. Now, other nations with the proper work force and foresight have caught up to us."

China, India as well as Russia, Europe and Japan now challenge U.S. leadership in human space fight, satellite manufacturing and launch systems, he said.

In the United States, aerospace activities account for about two million jobs in addition to the 650,000 directly employed by the industry, according to the AIAA. The aerospace industry generated sales of $240 billion in 2008. Many of the products are state-of-the-art and in such demand around the world they produced export sales totaling about $100 billion last year.

However, nearly half of the nation's aerospace workforce is facing retirement within the next five years, taking with them the experience and knowledge they gained working on the shuttle, the Apollo moon program and other ground breaking projects.

At the same time, the U. S. is failing to produce sufficient numbers of new engineers to replace retirees, though the average wage of a domestic aerospace worker is nearly $90,000, or twice the annual average of U.S. professionals in other fields.

Only 15 percent of American students are graduating from college with degrees in science in engineering. In Europe and much of Asia, the numbers range between 40 and 50 percent.

"Great countries do great things, and human spaceflight falls in a category of one of those great things," A. Thomas Young, a retired Lockheed Martin company executive and NASA program manger told the House panel.

"I'm a fiscal conservative. But if we do not approach this from what's in the best interest of the country as opposed to a budget issue, I fear we will end up with the wrong answer," Young said. ""We should never under estimate how hard (this capability) was to build and how heard it will be to re-build. If we don't use it in a bold and inspiring way, it will disappear on us.

Marion Blakey, president of the Aerospace Industries Association, which represents 300 of the nation's manufacturers of spacecraft as well as military and civilian aircraft, called the issue "significant."

"This country sees itself as a space faring nation," said Blakey, who sketched out a scenario where China reaches the moon with astronauts ahead of the United States.

"We know we have a very definite competition for leadership in space from a number of countries, India as well as China or Russia," said Blakey. "All these things matter and budget should follow policy and not the other way around."

In an open letter to President Obama, the Coalition for Space Exploration (CSE) has called upon the White House to place the country's space program on an inspiring trajectory - one that contributes to our technological productivity, economic growth and global stature in the 21st century.

President Obama has been offered a number of options by a recently concluded Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee.

But an underlying finding of that Committee is that allocated resources do not match NASA's visionary space agenda.

"The future direction of America's civilian space program rests in your hands," CSE's letter to President Obama states. The letter calls upon the President to make certain our nation is pursuing the best trajectory for the future of human space flight - one that is safe, innovative, affordable and sustainable.

CSE's communiqué underscores the many benefits Americans enjoy as a result of decades of work by dedicated members of the space community - an exceptional talent base in government, industry and academia that energizes the U.S. space program, benefits the nation, its citizens, and is admired throughout the globe.

This is neither a legacy to lose nor a future to mortgage, CSE's letter cautions. "Reaffirming America's heritage of exploration engages the best and brightest of the nation to tackle energy, health and environmental concerns while seeking out new horizons beyond our home planet."

Calling the U.S. space program a "renewable resource," CSE has appealed to President Obama to launch a reinvigorated action plan for space.

"You have the opportunity to shape a 21st century space policy befitting our country's greatness," CSE's letter to the President concludes.

By Leonard David

An early assessment of the performance data gathered from the Ares 1-X test flight indicates the prototype for NASA's successor to the space shuttle performed just as successfully as it appeared to, space agency managers said Thursday.

During the Oct. 28 test, the slender rocket lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center and splashed down six minutes later about 150 miles east of Cape Canaveral, Fla.

"The fact that it performed flawlessly with all the dynamics going on is the part we are most proud of and the most enabling to press forward with the Ares/Orion design," said NASA's Bob Ess, Ares 1-X mission manager. "It was a proof of concept that it really does work."

The purpose of the test flight was to assess the flying characteristics of the Ares 1 rocket that NASA is developing to launch astronauts on missions to the moon as well as the International Space Station.

The prototype was constructed from a space shuttle solid rocket booster, a simulated second stage and simulated Orion capsule. The actual Ares 1 rocket will have a longer first stage.

The assessment so far revealed the spacecraft required less roll control and experienced less thrust oscillation than was predicted in the early stages of design and computer modeling, said Marshal Smith, NASA's Ares 1 system and integration engineer.

The thrust oscillation, or vibrations created throughout the rocket as the first stage burns, was a concern for the well being of the astronauts. Designers have been evaluating several options for controlling the oscillations.

The test was marred by the failure and partial failures of two of the three parachutes.
The malfunction caused the rocket to strike the waters of the Atlantic Ocean with more force than expected, denting the rocket case.

"Obviously, we are going to work through these parachute issues, and we will come down on three parachutes instead of one and a half," said Smith. "That will make a tremendous difference."

The NASA teams plans to spend at least two more months assessing the Ares 1-X flight test. More test flights are planned in 2012 and 2013.

However, NASA's lunar exploration plans, including development of the Ares 1 and larger Ares V rockets as well as the Orion capsule, are under view by the White House.

Earlier this year, the Review of U. S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee reported NASA's efforts to reach the moon with explorers by 2020 were so under funded the goal could not be reached. The panel, appointed by the Obama administration, offered policy makers several options that included deep space destinations other than the moon. Some of the alternatives call for using commercial rockets to launch astronauts rather than the Ares 1.

The members of a Congressional oversight panel on Wednesday challenged the readiness of the nation's commercial space industry to provide safe and timely transportation of astronauts to the International Space Station once NASA's space shuttle is retired.

Shuttle operations are scheduled to come to an end between late next year and early 2011.

In its final report, the White House appointed Review of U. S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee estimated NASA's successor to the shuttle, the under funded Ares 1 rocket and Orion crew exploration vehicle, would not be ready for station missions until 2017, and perhaps later.

Though NASA is aiming for an inaugural Ares 1/Orion flight in 2015, the space flight committee suggested the White House and Congress consider commercial space transportation as a less costly alternative. The committee estimated a commercial carrier could be ready for the task of launching NASA astronauts to the station by 2016.

The House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee greeted the proposal with skepticism on Wednesday and asserted the White House panel, chaired by retired Lockheed Martin CEO Norm Augustine, had not adequately assessed the risks of switching astronauts from government to commercial rockets.

"I see no justification for a change in direction on safety related grounds," said U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona Democrat who chairs the House subcommittee. Giffords and others on the subcommittee have urged the White House to stick with the Ares 1 and Orion and increase NASA's funding to help accelerate the development..

The White House has yet to act on the findings of the space flight committee. The Augustine Committee was asked to re-assess NASA's Constellation Program, a six-year-old initiative to return American explorers to the moon by 2020 using Orion, the Ares I and a larger version of the rocket, the Ares V. The committee found the space agency so under funded it was unable to meet the lunar goal. It urged policy makers to consider a $3 billion annual increase in NASA's budget and offered them a range of alternatives to lunar exploration.

Giffords found bi-partisan support for her skepticism.
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"Safety is and must be on the minds of the men and women of NASA at all times," said U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, a Texan and the subcommittee's ranking Republican. "Changing the way a bureaucracy operates is not easy, and in many cases it's not advisable. A change like this will bring challenges and risk that we must not overlook."

In an effort to foster future commercial human space transportation, NASA has contracted with two companies, Space X and Orbital Sciences, for the launching of cargo to the space station after the shuttle is retired. But NASA intends to pay the Russians $51 million per astronaut for transportation to the station aboard Soyuz spacecraft while commercial companies gain experience.
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On Wednesday, the House panel listened to six experts, including Bretton Alexander, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, who told lawmakers the industry is ready can take on the launching of NASA astronauts as well as cargo.

"I believe the time table layed out by the Augustine Committee is realistic," he told the subcommittee.

Alexander challenged claims by other experts that the time table depended on how quickly NASA and the private sector could agree on and implement a "human rating" system for commercial rockets. The timing will be driven by the development of a commercial crew capsule, he told the committee.

"There are companies that say they can do it faster, and others that will say it will take at least that long," said Alexander. "However, I do know it will take longer if we don't start now."

The subcommittee's skepticism was fueled by Tom Stafford, the retired NASA Apollo astronaut who has served as a long time consultant to NASA on safety issues associated with the shuttle and space station.

"Human spaceflight is the most technically challenging enterprise of our time," Stafford told the subcommittee.

"It may be that the complexity of developing a new government crew space transportation capability, and the difficulty of conducting spaceflight operations safely and reliably, is not fully appreciated by those who are recommending the cancellation of the present system being developed by NASA," Stafford said. "There seems to be some belief that if NASA would step aside, private alternatives would rapidly emerge to offer inexpensive, safe, reliable, dependable government crew delivery alternatives at an earlier date."

John Marshall, who serves on NASA's independent Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, agreed.

The advisory panel, which reports to NASA's administrator annually on the safety issues faced by all of the agency's activities, found no support for the prospect that commercial launchings would safely accelerate a shuttle replacement, he testified.

"The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel believes this assumption was premature and an over simplification of a complex and challenging problem," said Marshall. "There is no cookie cutter approach to safety in space."

From SpaceFlightNow

Space officials in Europe and Japan are considering plans to build and launch additional indigenous cargo ships to the International Space Station if the program is extended beyond 2015.

Although NASA has only budgeted for station operations until 2015, the independent Augustine commission recommended continuing the program through at least 2020.

"The Augustine commission made that recommendation, so we're waiting for our government as well as the governments of the other agencies, who have a great interest in seeing the extension of the International Space Station program, to get maximum use of their modules extended beyond 2015," said John Uri, NASA's lead scientist for the station.

If the station's life is extended, more cargo missions will be necessary to serve logistics needs for crews aboard the outpost, according to Bernardo Patti, ESA's space station program manager.

"It's clear from the Augustine commission that they want the station extended beyond 2015," Patti said. "That would require more logistics services for ISS."

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The Atlantis astronauts arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Thursday afternoon, where they will prepare to lift off early next week on an 11-day mission to the International Space Station.

The launching is scheduled for Monday at 2:38 p.m., EST. The mission countdown gets under way on Friday.

The shuttle will deliver an assortment of spare parts that will be stored on the outside of the station. Most of the parts, including a pair of gyroscopes and thermal control system components, are too large to be launched to the station by any spacecraft other than the shuttle.

Once delivered, the spares will help to ensure the station is safe for the astronauts and cosmonauts who live aboard the orbital base and scientifically productive after the shuttle is retired.

The nation's policy makers are currently considering options developed by the U. S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee that could extend space station operations from 2016 to 2020. Meanwhile, NASA's shuttle fleet is facing retirement by mid-2011.

"We're looking forward to a great mission," shuttle commander Charlie Hobaugh said during brief remarks from the Atlantis astronauts as they landed at Kennedy in a NASA shuttle training aircraft.

"It's great to be here," added astronaut Robert Satcher. "We're really excited about Monday coming up."

Hobaugh's crew also includes pilot Barry Wilmore and mission specialists Leland Melvin, Mike Foreman and Randy Bresnik.
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Atlantis will also return to Earth with American Nicole Stott. Stott launched to the space station aboard the shuttle Discovery on Aug. 28.

The Atlantis mission will also feature three spacewalks by Foreman, Satcher and Bresnik. During the two-man outings, the spacewalkers will carry out a variety of maintenance tasks and install external science experiments.

The mission is the fifth and final space shuttle mission planned by NASA in 2009.

Earlier Thursday, Russia's Poisk mini-research module successfully docked with the International Space Station using an automated rendezvous system.

The new module will function as an additional docking port for Soyuz crew and Progress cargo transport capsules, an airlock for spacewalks and an external experiment site.

Poisk provides additional parking space for the Soyuz capsules that will take over the transport of all astronauts and cosmonauts to and from the station as NASA's space shuttle is retired.

The new module, launched from Kazakhstan early Tuesday, docked Thursday at 10:41 a.m., EST, as the station sailed over  Central Asia.

The six astronauts and cosmonauts living aboard the station planned to open the new module early Friday. Poisk was launched with 1,750 pounds of medical equipment, water and other supplies.

The station's newest Russian compartment is similar to the Pirs airlock/docking module that arrived in 2001. Another Russian mini-research module is scheduled to be launched to the station aboard a shuttle next year. A larger Russian science lab will follow in 2011.

Support America's Human Space Flight Program
Urge President Obama to Fulfill Augustine Committee's Recommendation to Increase Funding for NASA
Current Cosigners
C. Brown (FL), Capps (CA), Fudge (OH), Grayson (FL), G. Green (TX), Griffith (AL), A. Hastings (FL), Honda (CA), Jackson-Lee (TX), Klein (FL), Kosmas (FL), Kratovil (MD), B. Markey (CO), Meek (FL), Napolitano (CA), Nye (VA), Perlmutter (CO), Schiff (CA), Van Hollen (VA), Wasserman Schultz (FL), and Wexler (FL)
Barton (TX), R. Bishop (UT), K. Brady (TX), Calvert (CA), Cao (LA), Carter (TX), Chaffetz (UT), Culberson (TX), R. Forbes (VA), R. Hall (TX), Jenkins (KS), Lundgren (CA), McCaul (TX), McKeon (CA), C. Miller (MI), Olson (TX), Posey (FL), Rooney (FL), L. Smith (TX)

Dear Colleague,

With the recent release of the Final Report by the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee (Augustine Committee), we invite you to join us in sending a letter to President Obama urging him to make the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) a national priority and work with the Congress to provide the funding necessary to ensure a robust human space flight program (the Summary and Final Augustine Committee reports can be found at www.nasa.gov/offices/hsf/home/index.html).

The Augustine Committee's findings that our nation cannot conduct meaningful human exploration beyond low-Earth-orbit under current budget guidelines should serve as a wake up call. For too long, NASA has been given funds that do not match its mission. This insufficient funding has delayed the development of NASA's next generation spacecraft, leading to an extended gap in domestic access to space.

To enable a human space exploration program that our nation can truly be proud of, the Augustine Committee recommends an increase of at least $3 billion annually over the FY10 budget profile. Although this level would not fully restore the funding originally budgeted for NASA's next generation human space flight program, it will allow for meaningful exploration and ensure we maximize the return on our investment.

NASA's human space flight program and the impending gap impacts nearly every state, with contractors and suppliers large and small spread out across the nation. To find out NASA's impact on your state and district, please visit http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/npdv/map.cgi.

We must ensure the President works with Congress to take this unique and fleeting opportunity to show a true commitment to NASA in order to sustain our global leadership in science and technology, address national challenges, and inspire our youth to pursue math and science.

We face many critical decisions in the coming months that will affect America's human space flight program for decades to come and hope you will join us in urging the President to take action in a timely manner. Deadline to co-sign is Noon on Tuesday, November 17th. Please contact Carrie Chess with Congresswoman Kosmas at carrie.chess@mail.house.gov or 5-2706 or Deena Contreras with Congressman Calvert at deena.contreras@mail.house.gov or 5-1986 to sign on or if you have questions.

Sincerely,

Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL) Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
November X, 2009

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Obama:

As Members of Congress who greatly value the contributions of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to our nation, we appreciate the hard work of the U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee. With its final report available now, we look forward to renewed communications between the Administration and Congress about America's human space flight program. We write in strong support of receiving a Fiscal Year 2011 budget request which truly supports this core element of NASA's mission.

While evaluating options for future of human space exploration, the Augustine Committee concluded that regardless of the direction or the details of the program, an increased level of long-term, sustainable funding must be a major component. The Review Committee's finding that, "Human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit is not viable under the FY 2010 budget guideline" demonstrates that NASA's underfunded budgets over the past several years have slowed the pace of exploration, depleted resources, and frustrated the development of new space systems. We believe an increased level of funding is essential to ensure NASA has the resources needed to meet the mission challenges of human space flight.

Currently, NASA is funding the development of the next generation human space flight systems with partners that bring decades of experience in developing and operating complex space systems while also encouraging new entrants to the space flight industry. The $3 billion annual increase recommended by the Committee would not fully restore the funding originally budgeted for the next generation programs. However, the increase would make a considerable difference in our ability to have a space exploration program to ensure that our nation maintains its global leadership position. A significant investment must be made given NASA's contributions to America's economic and national security.

The International Space Station (ISS) should remain operational as long as it can be productive without being constrained by an arbitrary, budget-driven termination date. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2008 designated the ISS as a U.S. National Laboratory to conduct research for other Federal agencies and the commercial sector. Extending the ISS, at least through 2020, is necessary in order to maintain and improve important international partnerships, maximize the return on our nation's investment, and spur discoveries that will enable exploration of our universe and improve life here on Earth.

As you may know, NASA is supported by tens of thousands of highly skilled and experienced men and women who make up the civil servant and contractor workforce. These space professionals are a critical national resource and contribute to a vital industrial base that supports civil, military, and commercial space. If we allow a gap in human space flight our nation will have lost valuable skills that will be costly and difficult to replace. In addition, we also will have given up on our hard-won space preeminence over other nations, including Russia and China, who will surely step in to fill the void.

We wish to impress upon you the significant and fleeting opportunity we have to ensure that our nation continues its preeminence in human space flight. Instituting a cohesive and comprehensive plan with clear direction for NASA's future policies depends on leadership and the commitment to follow through with adequate funding. This can only be accomplished if it is established as a national priority through Presidential leadership.

We know that you share with us the enthusiasm that is generated by a bold human space flight program. We look forward to receiving your Administration's proposal and working with you to ensure a robust, cutting edge and inspirational human space flight program worthy of our great nation.

Sincerely,

----------

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From SpaceFlightNow

One week after the first major flight test of the agency's new Ares 1 rocket, NASA is closer to cancelling a demonstration launch called Ares 1-Y, potentially replacing it with a new, still undefined test flight in 2012 or 2013.

During a meeting last week, managers agreed to re-evaluate the proposed suborbital Ares 1-Y flight most recently scheduled for March 2014, according to a posting on a NASA Web site.

NASA spokesman Grey Hautaluoma confirmed the report, saying Ares 1-Y had slipped too late in the development of the Ares 1 rocket to be valuable to engineers.

"Ares 1-Y just didn't have enough fidelity to give them much useful data that late in the test program," Hautaluoma said.

Originally planned for 2012, the Ares 1-Y launch date had slipped until 2014, just one year before NASA says it will fly the first crewed Orion capsule on top of an Ares 1.

"It simply does not fit where we are headed," said Jeff Hanley, Constellation program manager. "The test vehicle was intended to meet evolving needs but the current configuration is too different from what the program requires to certify the Ares/Orion vehicle systems."

NASA is also studying a new flight, tentatively called Ares 1-X Prime, that would fly in 2012 or 2013 with new objectives to better support development of the Ares 1.

Managers are hopeful the Ares 1's five-segment first stage solid rocket motor could be ready for a test launch by that time. The five-segment booster was fired in a ground test for the first time in September, and another developmental motor will be ignited next summer.

Other details of the proposed Ares 1-X Prime mission are still on the drawing board, Hautaluoma said.

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Wednesday's test fight of the Ares 1-X, a prototype for the spacecraft envisioned by NASA as a replacement for the shuttle, was a success, space agency officials declared after the mid-day splashdown.

The 327 foot long Ares 1-X lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 11:30 a.m., climbing to an altitude of about 150,000 feet before descending by parachute into the Atlantic Ocean. The landing, 150 miles east of the Florida launch complex, followed the liftoff by six minutes.

"How cool was the Ares 1-X test flight?" beamed Doug Cooke, NASA's associate administrator for exploration, before a post mission news briefing from Kennedy. "The vehicle flew very well. We will get a lot of data back. We will learn a lot that will stand us in good stead for the future."

The $450 million test flight, three years in the making, was the first for major components of NASA's Constellation Program, an initiative started in the aftermath of the 2003 Columbia accident to return American explorers to the moon. As the unmanned test rocket took flight, more than 700 sensors on the Ares 1-X gathered pressure, strain, temperature and velocity measurements that were recorded on board as well as transmitted to engineers back on the Earth.

Experts will spend months combing carefully through the readings, which will help them refine computer models needed to complete the development of the Ares 1 rocket. The Ares 1 is intended to transport astronauts on the first leg of missions to the moon as well as to and from the International Space Station.

Proponents of other rocket designs had questioned whether the unusual profile of the two-stage Ares 1, which is wider at the top than at the base of the spacecraft, would remain stable during the flight.

The Ares 1-X was stable.

"An early demonstration like this puts aside any doubts, I think, in our minds as to the flyability of this particular design," said Jeff Hanley, NASA's Constellation Program manager. "The performance of this vehicle was very pleasing to put it mildly."

The Ares 1-X was fabricated from an actual space shuttle solid rocket booster and hardware that simulated the Ares 1 second stage and Orion crew capsule. The actual Ares 1 first stage would be longer than the test version.

NASA's tracking cameras managed to capture the lift off of the Ares 1-X from every angle but missed the splashdown. However, a recovery ship pulled along side the rocket at the designated recovery zone in the Atlantic Ocean, an indication the parachute system also worked as intended, said NASA's Bob Ess, the Ares 1-X mission manager.

"The vehicle flew as we expected, even better than we expected," said Ess. "Obviously, this was a spectacular day."

The first launching attempt on Tuesday was scrubbed by rain and high altitude clouds, conditions that threatened to foster an unwanted build up of static charges on the outside of the ascending booster.

NASA overcame a similar forecast on Wednesday, and other obstacles.

Overnight, the area around the Ares 1-X launching pad was struck by lightning 154 times and pounded by heavy rains. With the countdown under way, engineers raced to re-test the 700 sensors and other electronic equipment on the spacecraft in time for a lift off before Wednesday's launching window closed at noon, EDT.

The Ares 1, if it reaches production, will not have to meet the same stringent weather restrictions, Hanley said.

The shuttle is facing retirement by mid-2011, as NASA completes the assembly of the International Space Station.

In a long awaited report to the White House last week, the Review of U. S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee outlined an alternative to the Ares 1, NASA's use of commercially supplied rockets to provide transportation for astronauts to and from the space station.

However, committee chairman Norm Augustine endorsed the Ares 1-X test flight.

In May, President Obama assembled the Augustine Committee to re-assess Constellation. In its final report, the committee concluded the program was chronically under funded and unable to achieve the goal of reaching the moon with astronauts by 2020.

Even the goal of launching the Ares 1 and Orion with astronauts in March 2015 was unlikely before 2017 and possibly 2018, the committee concluded.

The panel estimated NASA would not achieve a lunar landing until well into the 2030's without additional annual funding.

Under Constellation, the Orion, Ares 1 and a much larger version of the rocket called the Ares V would be launched into Earth orbit with hardware that would be joined together for a lunar mission. Multiple launches of the Ares V would be required for the future missions to Mars.

The Augustine Committee offered the White House five broad exploration options. They include a continuation of Constellation.

While missions to the moon could be possible with additional funding, the panel offered another alternative. The option features a "flex path" supporting a variety of "flyby" missions with astronauts to asteroids and Mars as well as the moon and points in space favorable for astronomical observatories.

The Augustine findings are under White House review.

NASA's Ares 1-X took flight Wednesday, successfully rising from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and reaching an altitude of 28 miles after a clean separation of the first and second stages.

The recoverable first stage splashed down in the down in the Atlantic Ocean an estimated 145 miles east of the launch site after six minutes of flight.

The $450 million test flight, which included the collection of pressure, strain, temperature and velocity measurements, was an apparent success, and the space agency planned a news briefing later today.

"This is just fantastic," said Kennedy Space Center director Bob Cabana. "I've got tears in my eyes."

The first launching attempt on Tuesday was scrubbed by rain and high altitude clouds, conditions that threatened to foster an unwanted build up of static charges on the outside of the ascending booster. NASA over came a similar forecast on Wednesday, and other obstacles.

Overnight, the area around the Ares 1-X launching pad was struck by lightning 154 times and pounded by heavy rains. With the countdown under way, engineers raced to re-test the more than 700 sensors and other electronic equipment on the spacecraft in time for a lift off before Wednesday's launching window closed at noon, EDT.

The 327-foot tall rocket launched at 11:30 a.m., EDT.

The launch control team held the countdown at the four minute mark for nearly four hours, while engineers finished the sensor tests and waited for the rapidly changing weather conditions to clear.

The mission marked the first test flight for major components of the Ares 1, the rocket which when combined with the Orion crew exploration capsule form NASA's proposed successor to the space shuttle. The shuttle is facing retirement by mid-2011, as NASA completes the assembly of the International Space Station.

For Wednesday's test flight, the Ares 1-X included a simulated second stage and Orion capsule.

In a long awaited report to the White House last week, the Review of U. S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee outlined an alternative to the Ares 1, NASA's use of commercially supplied rockets to provide transportation for astronauts to and from the space station.

However, committee chairman Norm Augustine endorsed the Ares 1-X test flight.
The Ares 1 is a centerpiece of NASA's Constellation Program, a near six-year-old effort initiated to carry out a directive from former President Bush to retire the shuttle and return American explorers to the moon by 2020.

In May, President Obama assembled the Augustine Committee to re-assess Constellation. In its final report, the committee concluded the program was chronically under funded and unable to achieve the lunar goal by 2020.

The goal of launching the Ares 1 and Orion with astronauts in March 2015 was unlikely before 2017 and possibly 2018, the committee concluded. The panel estimated NASA would not achieve a lunar landing until well into the 2030's, without additional annual funding.

Under Constellation, the Orion, Ares 1 and a much larger version of the rocket called the Ares V would be launched into Earth orbit with hardware that would be joined together for a lunar mission. Multiple launches of the Ares V would be required for the future missions to Mars.

The Augustine Committee offered the White House five broad options. The alternatives include extensions of space station operations from 2016 to 2020 and of shuttle operations from 2010 to as late as 2015.

Constellation is among the options.

While missions to the moon could be possible with additional funding, the panel offered another alternative. The option features a "flex path" supporting a variety of "flyby" missions with astronauts to asteroids and Mars as well as the moon and points in space favorable for astronomical observatories.

The White House has not indicated when it will formally respond to the Augustine Committee report.

The test flight of NASA's Ares 1-X test rocket from the Kennedy Space Center was scrubbed on Tuesday by cloudy skies, rain and high winds.

NASA planned to make a second launch attempt to launch the $450 million test flight on Wednesday at 8 a.m., EDT, when weather conditions were expected to improve slightly.

The rains and clouds on Tuesday created atmospheric conditions favorable for the formation of static electrical charges on the outside of the ascending rocket, which could interfere with guidance and communications.

The first attempt to launch the 327-foot tall spacecraft was called off with just 40 minutes left in Tuesday's four hour long launching period.

At one point, it appeared a brief break in the weather would create a hole in the clouds for a launch attempt. However a cargo ship strayed into the waters of a "keep out" zone below the Ares 1-X's flight path. When the count resumed, worsening weather conditions forced an abrupt abort with less than three minutes to lift off.

The Ares 1-X is a prototype for the Ares 1. The Ares 1 and Orion 1 crew capsule comprise NASA's proposed successor to the space shuttle which is facing retirement by mid 2011.

The Orion, Ares 1 and a larger version of the rocket called the Ares V form the centerpiece of NASA's Constellation Program. The near six-year-old initiative ramped up nearly six years ago in response to former President Bush's directive that NASA develop a replacement for the shuttle that could transport American astronauts to the moon as well as the International Space Station.

The goal of reaching the moon by 2020 is not possible because of chronic under funding, a blue ribbon panel appointed by the White House concluded in a report made public last week.

Whether the Ares 1 rocket emerges as the successor to NASA's space shuttle or not, Tuesday's Ares 1-X test flight promises to provide important flight performance data to engineers involved in the development of any spacecraft eventually selected to transport astronauts to new destinations, agency officials said Monday.

The slender Ares 1-X is poised to leap from the realm of computer design and streak high into the Florida skies, offering engineers their first real world look at the performance of a spacecraft under development to transport astronauts to the International Space Station or boost them on the first leg of missions to the moon.

"What's most critical is that we learn something, That's what we are here for," Jeff Hanley, NASA's Constellation Program manager told a pre-launch news briefing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "It's critically important to the Ares 1, and it's just as important to any human launch system you may want to build."

The $450 million unmanned test flight is scheduled to lift off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday at 8 a.m., EDT, and span just over six minutes. The weather outlook includes a 60 percent chance of unfavorable weather. Rain and high altitude clouds would allow for a buildup of static electrical charges on the ascending rocket that could interfere with communications and guidance.

Tuesday's launch window extends until 12 p.m, EDT. The outlook improves for a backup launching opportunity on Wednesday during the same four hour period.

The mission is the first for any human element of NASA's Constellation Program, an almost six-year-old initiative intended to return American explorers to the moon by 2020 as well as provide astronauts with a new means of transportation to and from the International Space Station.

In a report issued last week, the Review of U. S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee offered the White House an re-assessment of Constellation and offered President Obama five broad options for future exploration. The report, which characterized Constellation as chronically underfunded, included provisions that would replace the Ares 1 with commercial rocket transporation for astronauts.

However, the 10-member spaceflight panel led by Norm Augustine, a retired Lockheed Martin Corp. executive, also endorsed the value of the Ares 1-X test flight.
President Obama has not indicated when the White House intends to respond to the report.

According to Hanley, the heavily instrumented Ares 1-X will gather pressure, temperature and structural stress measuments from about 700 sensors. The sensors should characterize the flight in ways even sophisticated computer models cannot. Engineers plan to spend months evaluating the information recorded aboard the test rocket as well as on the ground to complete the Ares 1 design.

"Every space launch, particularly something of this magnitude is important. Investing this amount of time and this amount of money in a flight test is expensive. Our opportunities are not very many." said Hanley. "That is why we lean on computer models so much. But those computer models have to be anchored in reality. That reality is what Ares X-1 is trying to do -- anchor what we think we know in real data."

After lift off, the Ares 1-X will rise to an altitude of just over 28 miles before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean about 140 miles due east of the Kennedy Space Center.

The test rocket, fashioned from the first stage of a shuttle solid rocket booster, carries a simulated second stage and Orion capsule that would house the astronauts. The actual Ares 1 first stage will be powered by a longer, more powerful first stage.

The test will resemble the flight of the Ares 1 through the Earth's lower atmosphere and the separation of the second stage.

"We can't guarantee success for this flight, " said Bob Ess, NASA's Ares 1-X mission manager. "We have high confidence it will work, but there are no guarantees."

NASA managers on Friday cleared the Ares 1-X test rocket for launching next week on a two minute, $450 million unmanned suborbital mission designed to provide engineers with data on the flight characteristics of the spacecraft currently envisioned as the successor to the space shuttle.

Lift off of the slender 327 foot tall rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center is scheduled for Tuesday at 8 a.m., EDT.

The weather outlook includes a 60 percent chance for rain, winds and a potential for lightning that could force a delay. Tuesday's launch window extends until noon. There is a backup launch opportunity on Wednesday, when the weather outlook is expected to improve.

On Thursday, the Review of U. S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee issued a final report that outlines broad options for the nation's future in exploration. Some of the options point to the use of U.S. commercial launch providers for the future transportation of astronauts to and from the International Space Station rather than the Ares 1.

The Orion crew exploration vehicle as well as the Ares 1 and larger Ares V launchers are key elements of NASA's Constellation Program, the initiative that got under way in 2005 to return American explorers to the moon by 2020. Soon after taking office, President Obama ordered a review of the under-funded Constellation initiative.

As part of that review, the president appointed the spaceflight plans committee to examine alternatives. The options presented Thursday could take astronauts on missions in a different direction -- asteroids that pass close to the Earth, Mars and the Martian moons.

However, the White House has not indicated how quickly it will address the report. In the meantime, NASA is still under a White House directive to move ahead with the development of the Ares 1.

"The timing is what it is. The test is significant, and it's one we fully back," Doug Cooke, NASA's associate administrator for exploration, told a Friday news briefing. "We think the team has covered all the bases, worked all the technical issues to get here. It's a new vehicle concept. We want to go learn about it."

Norm Augustine, the retired Lockheed Martin chief executive officer who chaired the human spaceflight committee, endorsed the value of the Ares 1-X flight test as well.

During the flight, the Ares 1-X will rise to an altitude of nearly 25 miles, where the first and second stages will separate, and reach a velocity of nearly 25 times the speed of sound.

The flight which will end with a splash down in the Atlantic Ocean about 145 miles due east of the Kennedy Space Center. The mission will last just over six minutes.

The rocket is equipped with about 700 sensors to measure speed, temperature, pressure and other parameters that will reveal the flight performance.  Engineers will spend months assessing the readings. The findings will help engineers better predict the performance of the Ares 1 with computer models.

The Ares 1-X differs markedly from an actual Ares 1.

Both are powered by a first stage patterned after the space shuttle solid rocket booster. The Ares 1 first stage will use an extended five-segment solid rocket motor. The Ares 1-X was assembled from a shorter four-segment shuttle solid rocket booster and a simulated fifth segment.

The Ares 1-X will also fly with a simulated Ares 1 second stage and simulated Orion crew capsule and launch abort system-- the long spire that rises above the top of the spacecraft.

Next week's mission is intended to mark the beginning of a flight test program extending into 2015. The Orion 1 final test flight would launch an unmanned capsule into orbit. NASA's timetable for the first mission with astronauts aboard the Orion is planned for 2015 as well.

However, the spaceflight plans committee concluded the Constellation Program is so under funded that NASA faces at least a two-year and possibly a three-year delay before the launching of the first Ares 1 and Orion spacecraft with astronauts aboard.

The under funding also makes it unlikely that NASA could reach the moon before the mid-2020s at the earliest, the panel said.

The review panel questioned the need for the Ares 1 if the United States plans to decommission the International Space Station in late 2015. However, several of the options presented to the White House by the review panel would extend space station operations until 2020.