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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: February 3, 2014 9:39:23 AM CST
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: NASA and Human Spaceflight News - Monday – Feb. 3, 2014 and JSC Today
Happy Monday everyone—what a boring Superbowl (just kidding)! Congratulations to the Seahawks on a Super Wiin with their dominating Defense!Hope you can join us at Hibachi Grill in Webster on Bay Area Blvd. this Thursday at 11:30 for our monthly Retirees Luncheon.________________________________________Monday, February 3, 2014 Read JSC Today in your browserJSC TODAY CATEGORIES1. Headlines- NASA TV to Broadcast ISS Cargo Ship Activities- Volunteers Needed for HERA Study- POWER of One - Nominate Your Peer Today2. Organizations/Social- Last Chance to Pick Up T-Shirts at Starport- 7th Annual NASA Golf Tourney - Early Reg. Now Open- Floral Service is Back at Starport3. Jobs and Training- Job Opportunities4. Community- February Sustainability Opportunities- Mentors Needed for Community College StudentsHeadlines1. NASA TV to Broadcast ISS Cargo Ship ActivitiesThe departure of an unpiloted Russian cargo spacecraft and the launch and docking of another to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) will air live on NASA TV today, Feb. 3, and Wednesday, Feb. 5.The ISS Progress 52 cargo craft that arrived at the space station last July will undock from the station's Pirs docking compartment at 10:21 a.m. CST Feb. 3 and move away from the orbiting laboratory to a safe location, where it will undergo tests before its planned deorbit into Earth's atmosphere on Tuesday, Feb. 11. NASA TV coverage of the undocking will begin at 10 a.m. Scientists will use the spacecraft to study the effects of weightlessness and temperature extremes on its systems.On Feb. 5, the ISS Progress 54 cargo craft will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:23 a.m. (10:23 p.m. local time in Baikonur) on an expedited, six-hour journey to the space station. NASA TV coverage of the launch will begin at 10 a.m. Progress 54 will dock to Pirs at 4:24 p.m. NASA TV coverage of docking will begin at 3:45 p.m. The spacecraft is loaded with 2.8 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the station crew.JSC, Ellington Field, Sonny Carter Training Facility and White Sands Test Facility employees with hard wired computer network connections can view the event using the JSC EZTV IP Network TV System on channel 404 (standard definition) or channel 4541 (HD). Please note: EZTV currently requires using Internet Explorer on a Windows PC or Safari on a Mac. Mobile devices, Wi-Fi, VPN or connections from other centers are currently not supported by EZTV.First-time users will need to install the EZTV Monitor and Player client applications:o For those WITH admin rights (Elevated Privileges), you'll be prompted to download and install the clients when you first visit the IPTV websiteo For those WITHOUT admin rights (Elevated Privileges), you can download the EZTV client applications from the ACES Software Refresh Portal (SRP)If you are having problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367 or visit the FAQ site.JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111 http://www.nasa.gov/station[top]2. Volunteers Needed for HERA StudyTest Subject Screening (TSS) needs volunteers for a seven- to nine-day study with overnight stays in the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) unit. Subjects will simulate a space exploration mission to evaluate impacts due to isolation, remoteness and confined habitation. Data collected will include evaluation of team cohesion, cognition, communication and affect, as well as sensorimotor assessments. Psychological, human factors and physiological impacts will be studied.Volunteers must pass a category I physical, be 26 to 55 years old, have a BMI of 29 or less and be 74 inches or less, with no history of sleepwalking or use of sleep aids, and must have a high level of technical skills.Volunteers will be compensated. (Restrictions apply to NASA civil servants and NASA contractors. Please contact your Human Resources department to determine your company's policy.) If interested, please contact both Linda Byrd, RN, x37284, and Rori Yager, RN, x37240, in the TSS.Linda Byrd x37284[top]3. POWER of One - Nominate Your Peer TodayThe POWER of One award has been a great success, but we still need your nominations. We're looking for standout achievements with specific examples of exceptional and superior performance. Make sure to check out our award criteria to help guide you in writing the short write-up needed for submittal. If chosen, the recipient can choose from a list of JSC experiences and have their name and recognition shared in JSC Today. Click here for complete information on the JSC Awards Program.Samantha Nehls 281-792-7804 https://powerofone.jsc.nasa.gov/index.cfm[top]Organizations/Social1. Last Chance to Pick Up T-Shirts at StarportThis is your last chance to pick up your NASA 55th anniversary or shuttle program commemorative T-shirt! Please pick up your shirts in the Building 11 Starport Gift Shop from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily (closed Flex Friday). All shirts must be picked up by Tuesday, Feb. 4. Forget to order a shirt? Shirts are still available in Buildings 3 and 11 for just $12. Wear your shirt on Fridays for a 10 percent discount in the stores. Some exclusions apply.Cyndi Kibby x47467[top]2. 7th Annual NASA Golf Tourney - Early Reg. Now OpenGolfers, registration is now open!The Seventh Annual NASA Golf Tournament will be the biggest and best one yet! Due to popular demand, the tournament now has TWO dates for you to choose from.Tournament Date 1:o Thursday, April 10o 8 a.m. shotgun starto Early registration now open - $500 per teamo Magnolia Creek Golf Club-- OR --Tournament Date 2:o Friday, April 11o 8 a.m. shotgun starto Early registration now open - $500 per teamo Magnolia Creek Golf ClubThe silent auction will be back for BOTH days.Registration fee includes green fees, driving range, 2014 NASA golf polo, breakfast bar, lunch, participant bag, silent auction entry, drink tickets, tournament awards, door prizes and more.Registration IS NOW OPEN and spots are filling fast. Don't miss out on this great event!Event Date: Thursday, April 10, 2014 Event Start Time:6:30 AM Event End Time:3:00 PMEvent Location: Magnolia Creek Golf ClubAdd to CalendarSteve Schade x30317 https://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/en/programs/special-events/golf-tournament[top]3. Floral Service is Back at StarportThe Starport Gift Shops are pleased to bring floral services back--just in time for Valentine's Day. Place your order with Starport to have flowers delivered directly to your special someone's on-site office on Valentine's Day (delivery charges apply). Remember, orders placed elsewhere must be dropped off at NASA's Receiving Department. Stop by Buildings 3 or 11 today for a beautiful plant or fresh flower arrangement at a great price.Cyndi Kibby x47467[top]Jobs and Training1. Job OpportunitiesWhere do I find job opportunities?Both internal Competitive Placement Plan and external JSC job announcements are posted on the Human Resources (HR) Portal and USAJOBS website. Through the HR portal, civil servants can view summaries of all the agency jobs that are currently open at: https://hr.nasa.gov/portal/server.pt/community/employees_home/239/job_opportu...To help you navigate to JSC vacancies, use the filter drop-down menu and select "JSC HR." The "Jobs" link" will direct you to the USAJOBS website for the complete announcement and the ability to apply online. If you have questions about any JSC job vacancies, please call your HR representative.Brandy Braunsdorf x30476[top]Community1. February Sustainability OpportunitiesHello from your JSC Sustainability Champions! Click on the link below to see your February monthly sustainability opportunities. We have a wide selection of events planned right here at our center for you to engage in and enjoy. Contact us anytime with questions and to schedule a presentation of our 2014 Sustainability Engagement Strategy.Laurie Peterson x39845 http://jsc-web-www6.jsc.nasa.gov/ja/ja13/capp.cfm[top]2. Mentors Needed for Community College StudentsAre you looking for a great way to mold and inspire young minds? If you are, then Texas Community College Aerospace Scholars (CAS) is looking for you! CAS provides a unique opportunity for community college students to participate in a two-day on-site experience, where they get to interact with members of the NASA workforce and be part of a team designing a mission to Mars. As a CAS mentor, you'll have the opportunity to interact and lead a group of outstanding community college students from across the state of Texas through their project design challenge. You'll also have the opportunity to represent your division in an education outreach activity without leaving JSC. We are looking for full-time employees, co-ops and interns to serve as mentors during one of the following CAS sessions:March 20 to 21March 26 to 27April 1 to 2Sign up in VCORPS!Event Date: Thursday, March 20, 2014 Event Start Time:8:00 AM Event End Time:4:00 PMEvent Location: Gilruth CenterAdd to CalendarMaria Chambers x41496 http://cas.aerospacescholars.org[top]JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles.Disclaimer: Accuracy and content of these notes are the responsibility of the submitters.________________________________________No virus found in this message.Checked by AVG - www.avg.comVersion: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7054 - Release Date: 02/02/14NASA and Human Spaceflight NewsMonday – Feb. 3, 2014HEADLINES AND LEADSNASA, nation salute fallen astronautsJames Dean – Florida TodayWe honor astronauts who "paid the ultimate sacrifice in our quest to explore" by remembering their achievements, learning from mistakes that contributed to their deaths and moving forward with new missions, Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana said Friday.Obama Honors Fallen Astronauts of NASA Spaceflight DisastersTariq Malik – SPACE.comU.S. President Barack Obama recalled the heroism of Americans who lost their lives in the pursuit of space exploration to mark NASA's somber memorial today (Jan. 31) for three spaceflight disaster anniversaries this week.Space Notebook: Mica leads KSC hearing on shuttle-program surplusJames Dean – Florida TodayNews and notes from the Cape and beyond:NASA's handling of excess property after the shuttle program's retirement will be the focus of an upcoming hearing at Kennedy Space Center led by U.S. Rep. John Mica.Upcoming: Canadian space policy rollout, House hearing on NASA propertyJeff Foust – Space PoliticsCanada is expected to roll out a new national space policy later this week. The Canadian Press reports that Industry Minister James Moore, whose portfolio includes the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), will unveil the new policy on February 7 at 10 am in Ottawa. Neither Industry Canada nor CSA have formally announced plans to release the policy, although Canadian Press reports CSA sent invitations to the event have been sent to industry. The Canadian space community has sought such a policy for some time, but previous efforts had falled by the wayside; in December, Moore said a new long-term policy was complete and would be released in early 2014.Navy names ship in honor of astronaut John GlennAssociated PressThe military on Saturday christened a Navy logistics ship in honor of John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth.Is the Relationship Between NASA and Private Space About to Sour?2014 will be the year when the space agency and private companies must find a way to work together to get astronauts safely into orbit. For boosters of the private space, there's plenty to worry about.Joe Pappalardo – Popular MechanicsMany space nerds were smiling when they saw details of the 2014 budget: NASA's big-ticket missions have been spared the Congressional ax. The Orion crew vehicle gets $1.2 billion, the Space Launch System (SLS) gets $1.9 billion. Together, these are supposed to get humans to Mars or an asteroid, or both.Future Year-Long ISS Crew Shivers in Russian ForestRIA NovostiTwo Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut have completed survival training in freezing weather in woods outside Moscow, the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center said Friday in a statement.NASA Begins SLS Sound Suppression Testing, Prepares for Engine Testing This SummerMike Killian – AmericaSpaceNASA's Space Launch System (SLS) will be the most powerful rocket ever built, with a bark as bad as its bite. The power generated to push SLS toward space will be incredibly loud—so much so that the sound created by its own engines could seriously damage the rocket or injure its crew. In order to protect itself, and its crew, from the damaging acoustics created by its own engines at liftoff, a water suppression system is needed to carry some of that acoustical energy away from the vehicle, and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has recently started the first round of acoustic tests on a scale model of NASA's SLS.Columbia's Demise 11 Years Ago Today Sparked Regular Shuttle Inspections In SpaceElizabeth Howell – Universe TodayThe Columbia's shuttle fiery end came as the STS-107 astronauts' families were waiting runway-side for everyone to come home. NASA's oldest space shuttle broke up around 9 a.m. Eastern (2 p.m. UTC) on Feb. 1, 2003, scattering debris along east Texas and nearby areas. Its demise was captured on several amateur video cameras, many of which were rebroadcast on news networks.Fixing the NASA Piloted Program After Challenger: Views from 1989 and 1993David S.F. Portree – WiredIn 1988-1990, I lived in Orlando, Florida, and back then it wasn't all that difficult for a writer who had published for a couple of years (in print, in those days) to get badged to watch Space Shuttle launches from the Press Site bleachers, just three-and-a-half miles from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). I watched Discovery lift off on 13 March 1989, at the start of the 28th flight of the Shuttle Program. Discovery's mission was to deploy Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-D. The mission was seen as a bit of a milk run, though it earned attention by being only the third Shuttle flight after the two-and-a-half-year post-Challenger Shuttle stand-down.COMPLETE STORIESNASA, nation salute fallen astronautsJames Dean – Florida TodayWe honor astronauts who "paid the ultimate sacrifice in our quest to explore" by remembering their achievements, learning from mistakes that contributed to their deaths and moving forward with new missions, Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana said Friday."We've gotten better, and their sacrifice was definitely not in vain," said Cabana, a four-time shuttle flier, during a Day of Remembrance ceremony at the KSC Visitor Complex.Sheltered by an umbrella, Cabana and Deputy Center Director Janet Petro laid a wreath of red, white and blue magnolias, roses and hydrangeas in front of a dark, rain-streaked Space Mirror Memorial at 10:30 a.m., then bowed their heads in silence.The names of 20 men and four women shined brightly from sections of the granite mirror as rain poured down its face.The names include members of NASA and Air Force astronaut programs, some killed in aircraft accidents during training or other official business.Best known are the three Apollo 1 crew members killed in January 1967 by a flash fire during a test on the launch pad, and the seven-person crews of the shuttles Challenger and Columbia, lost in January 1986 and February 2003, respectively."Those are my friends up there on that wall," Cabana said. "I know many of them very well, and they're all good people."Center employees and some Visitor Complex guests placed colorful roses and carnations along a fence bordering the mirror."We wanted to express our respect to the persons who are so brave and gave their lives," said 67-year-old Ammelie Wagner, visiting with her husband from Germany. "That's why we are here.""It's important we remember and we continue their dream," added state Sen. Thad Altman, who heads the Astronauts Memorial Foundation, which operates the mirror.Elsewhere, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, and industry leaders and elected officials, including President Obama, offered tributes."Guided by their brave example, the United States will remain a nation of explorers, now and forever," Obama said in a statement.Obama Honors Fallen Astronauts of NASA Spaceflight DisastersTariq Malik – SPACE.comU.S. President Barack Obama recalled the heroism of Americans who lost their lives in the pursuit of space exploration to mark NASA's somber memorial today (Jan. 31) for three spaceflight disaster anniversaries this week."On this Day of Remembrance, we join the American people in honoring the men and women of NASA who have given their lives in our nation's space program," Obama said in a statement. "Our exploration of space has expanded our knowledge of the universe, improved our lives here on Earth and been a source of inspiration and pride for generations of Americans."NASA's Day of Remembrance is an annual time of reflection for the U.S. space agency to recall and honor the astronauts killed in the Apollo 1 fire of 1967, Challenger space shuttle accident of 1986 and Columbia shuttle tragedy of 2003. The anniversaries of all three disasters occur within a week-long period, a time in which NASA reflects on the disasters and other sacrifices among the NASA family.Space Notebook: Mica leads KSC hearing on shuttle-program surplusJames Dean – Florida TodayNews and notes from the Cape and beyond:NASA's handling of excess property after the shuttle program's retirement will be the focus of an upcoming hearing at Kennedy Space Center led by U.S. Rep. John Mica.The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 10 at the KSC Visitor Complex's Debus Center.Witnesses are expected to include representatives from NASA, Air Force 45th Space Wing, General Services Administration, Canaveral Port Authority, Space Florida and Audubon of Florida.Mica, a Republican from Florida's seventh district, chairs the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's subcommittee on government operations.US makes deals for Soyuz seatsIn a reminder that the post-shuttle gap in U.S. human launches isn't ending anytime soon, NASA last week announced plans to buy six more seats on Russian Soyuz spacecraft bound for the International Space Station.The deal for launches in 2017, including returns home through the spring of 2018, would be worth at least $420 million based on the most recent per-seat price of about $70 million.NASA needs the seats because its latest deal with the Russian Federal Space Agency ends in 2016, and U.S. commercial spacecraft are not expected to be ready until at least the fall of 2017.Boeing, Sierra Nevada Corp. and SpaceX are now designing systems — to be launched from the Space Coast.But if their development is delayed, more Soyuz seats will be needed.NASA plans to award at least one contract this summer to build and certify commercial vehicles and start their flights as soon as 2017.Commissioners updated on OrionBrevard County Commissioners on Tuesday heard from Lockheed Martin and Boeing officials on their progress developing vehicles for deep space human exploration missions.Lockheed is preparing a test version of NASA's Orion capsule for a launch this September from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, a mission known as Exploration Flight Test-1, or EFT-1.Testing Orion's heat shield and other systems, the mission will take the unpiloted capsule on two orbits extending as far as 3,600 miles from Earth before it shoots back through the atmosphere with about 80 percent of the speed of a lunar return.Lockheed is assembling Orion in Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Checkout facility, which was renovated with the help of $35 million from the state of Florida."Over 200 people are working seven days a week, 24 hours a day, to complete EFT-1 for a launch in September of this year," said Jules Schneider, Lockheed's assembly, integration and production senior manager at the O&C. "We're on schedule."Boeing is developing the core stage of the 321-foot Space Launch System rocket targeting a first test launch in 2017 of an Orion without a crew, and in 2021 with a crew, from Kennedy Space Center's pad 39B."We have a group of folks in Titusville that are doing part of that flight hardware design," said Mark Jager, Boeing Florida operations site director.Commissioner Chuck Nelson said he was happy to hear some space industry friends complaining about working too many hours, after so many were affected by layoffs when the shuttle program ended."It's great to see us rising out of the ashes out of that," he said.SpaceX launch slips a bitNASA expects SpaceX's next contracted cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station to launch from Cape Canaveral "sometime in March." It had been planned for Feb. 22.The launch of a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule will be the company's third of 12 under a $1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract.Armstrong book set for summer releaseLongtime NBC space correspondent and Merritt Island resident Jay Barbree has finished a book about the world's first moonwalker and is preparing for its publication this summer.Hardcover release of "Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight," including an introduction by John Glenn, is planned for July 8. Pre-orders can be made on Amazon.com.Spacewalkers install ISS camerasRussian spacewalkers last Monday completed a second spacewalk to install two cameras outside the International Space Station's Zvezda Service Module.A Dec. 27 attempt to install the cameras proved unsuccessful when the ground could not receive their data, requiring the cameras to be taken back inside for troubleshooting.After the second try, NASA reported on Monday that Russian flight controllers confirmed receiving good data from the high-resolution camera but were still having some trouble with the medium-resolution camera.However, UrtheCast, of Vancouver, Canada, said the next day that its cameras were installed successfully and "at this time, all telemetry received and analyzed is within our expected results."The company plans to downlink Earth imagery under a commercial deal with the Russian Federal Space Agency.Spacewalkers Oleg Kotov, the Expedition 38 commander, and flight engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy also retrieved an experiment package during their 6-hour, 8-minute excursion that ended at 3:08 p.m. EST.It was the 178th spacewalk supporting assembly and maintenance whose first module was launched in 1998.Upcoming: Canadian space policy rollout, House hearing on NASA propertyJeff Foust – Space PoliticsCanada is expected to roll out a new national space policy later this week. The Canadian Press reports that Industry Minister James Moore, whose portfolio includes the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), will unveil the new policy on February 7 at 10 am in Ottawa. Neither Industry Canada nor CSA have formally announced plans to release the policy, although Canadian Press reports CSA sent invitations to the event have been sent to industry. The Canadian space community has sought such a policy for some time, but previous efforts had falled by the wayside; in December, Moore said a new long-term policy was complete and would be released in early 2014.Florida Today reported Sunday that Rep. John Mica (R-FL) will hold a hearing at the Kennedy Space Center next Monday on how NASA has handled the distribution of excess property in the post-Shuttle era. The field hearing of the government operations subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform hearing, chaired by Mica, will take place at 9 am EST on February 10 at the Debus Center of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. (The hearing does not yet show up on the subcommittee's website.) Mica told the Orlando Sentinel in November that he planned to hold the hearing to see what else NASA can do to rid itself of facilities it no longer needs. NASA has already entered into agreements with various companies and organizations to lease or otherwise take over operations of Shuttle processing facilities, the Shuttle Landing Facility runway, and Launch Complex 39A.Navy names ship in honor of astronaut John GlennAssociated PressThe military on Saturday christened a Navy logistics ship in honor of John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth.The former Ohio senator attended the ceremony in San Diego at General Dynamics' National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, along with his wife and daughter.The 785-foot USNS John Glenn is a Mobile Landing Platform ship — a new type of amphibious staging and assault vessel. It's the second one ordered by the Navy to quickly transport troops and supplies to shore."What better name could adorn this ship than John Glenn — a risk-taker, an innovator, a man who got the job done," said Rear Admiral Thomas Shannon during the nearly hourlong ceremony.Admiral Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, called the ship "a giant Swiss Army knife" that can serve combat and humanitarian missions.The 92-year-old Glenn, a Marine pilot during World War II and the Korean War, told the audience that he was proud of the ship bearing his name. He also paid homage to the people he served alongside.Is the Relationship Between NASA and Private Space About to Sour?2014 will be the year when the space agency and private companies must find a way to work together to get astronauts safely into orbit. For boosters of the private space, there's plenty to worry about.Joe Pappalardo – Popular MechanicsMany space nerds were smiling when they saw details of the 2014 budget: NASA's big-ticket missions have been spared the Congressional ax. The Orion crew vehicle gets $1.2 billion, the Space Launch System (SLS) gets $1.9 billion. Together, these are supposed to get humans to Mars or an asteroid, or both.
But there's some who are not quite so happy: the private space companies vying to get astronauts to orbit by 2017, including Boeing, SpaceX, and Sierra Nevada. The White House request for $821 million to support the commercial crew program was trimmed to $696 million.
So far, the private space experiment has worked pretty well. Two companies, SpaceX and Orbital, are delivering cargo to the International Space Station using hardware they designed without strict NASA oversight. The effort to replace the space shuttle with a new private-sector vehicle is also going well, with the three companies hitting milestones and setting dates for flights. But the true test of how much NASA can really change from a spacecraft developer to a customer of flight services will start this year.
Relying on private companies to make and operate spacecraft is intended to break the bureaucratic logjams that plague major government programs like NASA, where delays and cost increases are expected. And the United States needs a way to get people into orbit soon. After all, it costs $70 million per seat to fly astronauts in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, as NASA has been doing since the space shuttle retired in 2011. But there are reasons to fear that NASA's private space program could morph into the same old big-government program. This year is the tipping point—and it started off with a thud, as Congress denied funding to the new way and upheld the status quo SLS program with a major cash infusion.Funding "One and a Half" Companies
The budget news does not bode well for the effort. Any reduction is bad news for the three companies vying for the next contract, which is called Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCAP). This next stage is intended not just for development of a spacecraft, but to actually send them into orbit. It calls for at least one flight test to verify the spacecraft can dock to the International Space Station, plus two to six manned missions carrying NASA astronauts to meet its crew rotation requirements.
Here's catch No. 1: NASA has not decided if it can fund more than one program. It intends to cut one of the three in what government procurement people call a "downselect." It's a grim and tense time for the companies, which are laboring to meet mission milestones as NASA deliberates. NASA officials, including director Charles Bolden, have spoken publicly about funding two companies, or funding one and partially funding another (what Bolden calls "funding one and a half companies"). The decision should come sometime this summer.
Who will get the ax? Boeing, with its experience running the gauntlet of NASA rules and regulations? SpaceX, with its extremely cost-effective, now-proven rocket and capsule combo? Or Sierra's Dream Chaser, a space plane shot on an Atlas V rocket with roots in NASA? No matter who is trimmed, it will be a heartbreak to the space community.
And it might come back to haunt NASA. A 2013 report from the NASA office of the inspector general warns against putting all the eggs in one basket. Funding one company means NASA could lose its only option for sending people into orbit if that company hits a snag. And the lack of competition drives up the price, too.NASA Helping, Interfering, or Both?
Here's another reason to worry: This could be the year NASA forces private space companies into building spacecraft the old-fashioned way. Up until now, private space firms have had a fairly free hand in designing their rockets and spacecraft. The CCtCAP contract will reintroduce greater NASA oversight—and along with it, an increased chance of conflict, delays, and cost overruns.
"The U.S. commercial space industry has made tremendous progress designing and developing the next generation of U.S. crew transportation systems for low Earth orbit," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations in Washington, D.C. "Finalizing these systems in accordance with NASA's certification requirements will not be easy."
NASA and private space companies have already sparred over contracts, as PopMech covered in depth back in 2008. Company officials complained that the contracts failed to state who had final say over the engineering. There were new government review boards that could reject hardware designs. Some insiders compared intensive NASA control to the FAA certifying the design of airplanes, as opposed to simply certifying their airworthiness. At the time, Phil McAlister, NASA's director of commercial spaceflight, told PM that NASA's experience in making safe manned spacecraft was indispensable. "Since the crew are going to be on these systems, we want to be—we need to be—much more substantially involved in the development of those systems," he said.
Space companies were spared from this intrusive contract back then. But this new CCtCAP deal includes the more hands-on approach NASA originally wanted. For example, NASA in 2007 wanted to place its own people inside private space facilities to oversee design choices. The 2014 contract features Joint Test Teams (JTT) which do just that.
Is heavy NASA involvement a bad thing? After all, NASA has a deep knowledge of manned spaceflight systems, with some hard lessons learned about safety and assurance. And it is paying the bill. But NASA is also a big bureaucracy, with a tendency to blow out budgets and blow off timelines. According to NASA's inspector general, the agency has been slow to get human rating requirements (the rules they must follow to fly NASA astronauts) to the companies.
Space companies want to know, within two or three months, whether their home-built hardware meets the specs that NASA has issued. But NASA is used to signing off on every screw and wire. The inspector general's report found this back and forth is taking much longer than the companies want, with "a significant amount" of requests pending for more than 120 days without resolution. And delays mean taxpayer money wasted. Remember, now that the space shuttle is retired, NASA can send people to the International Space Station only via a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which costs the U.S. $70 million per seat. Delays also give Congress more chances—and ammunition—to cut funding.
Another reason to worry is the kind of contract this is. CCtCAP uses fixed-price contracts in which a company gets a set fee. That means that as costs rise, Boeing's or SpaceX's or Sierra Nevada's profit margin shrinks. (The alternative, a cost-plus agreement, pays for all expenses and provides additional funds to guarantee a profit.) This can be a problem if NASA demands more testing; a company could quickly lose its profit margin if it starts spending more money on more testing. In 2007, NASA officials tried to offset these worries by promising to share the costs of the tests, and the solicitation for CCtCAP seems to have some limits to how these might be handled. But as astronauts get closer to flying, engineering spats could turn into showstopping power struggles.Trying Something New
Give NASA credit for trying something new. "The acquisition approach we are using is designed to leverage the innovative power of industry with the expertise, skill, and hard learned lessons from NASA," Gerstenmaier said.
This is a new effort for the agency, and it is bucking Congress and its selectively tight purse strings to make it happen. Let's hope this experiment works. Congresspeople might like massive projects that spend billions of dollars (especially if the government spends those dollars in their districts), but taxpayers shouldn't share that enthusiasm. And in this case, Congress is spending billions on a major space effort in the form of SLS, which doesn't have a specific mission and ignores the very real launch demands of 2017.
There's more at stake here than resupplying a space station. If NASA's more hands-off approach works, it will keep hundreds of millions of dollars and lots of engineering jobs in the United States and help to kickstart a revitalized American launch business by reducing the cost of accessing orbit. And if there's hope of NASA finding a smarter way to do business, and at the same time keeping astronauts safe during missions, it could be a beacon for other government agencies to do things in a leaner, smarter way.
NASA was once a synonym for doing the impossible. If the space agency insurgents pull off this private space coup, people might start believing it again.Future Year-Long ISS Crew Shivers in Russian ForestRIA NovostiTwo Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut have completed survival training in freezing weather in woods outside Moscow, the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center said Friday in a statement.Gennady Padalka, Mikhail Kornienko and Scott Kelly constructed a makeshift hut, built a signal fire, and practiced first aid on each other in -20C or -4F weather as preparation for emergency space landings in remote forests or swamps.The future crew of the International Space Station is scheduled to launch aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in spring 2015.Kornienko and Kelly are planned to be the first astronauts to stay aboard the ISS for a full year, which would be the longest spaceflight by a NASA astronaut. Previous missions have been capped at six months.The all-time duration record is held by Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, who spent over 14 months aboard the Mir space station in 1994-1995.The emergency preparations are not without cause.Alexei Leonov, the first person to walk in space, spent two nights camped in -30C or -22F weather in a Russian forest with crewmate Pavel Belyayev after their Voskhkod spacecraft left them stranded 400km or 250 miles from their expected landing site in 1965.Russian cosmonaut survival kits include a specially designed heat suit, wool hat, fur boots and a pistol to fend off wolves and bears.NASA Begins SLS Sound Suppression Testing, Prepares for Engine Testing This SummerMike Killian – AmericaSpaceNASA's Space Launch System (SLS) will be the most powerful rocket ever built, with a bark as bad as its bite. The power generated to push SLS toward space will be incredibly loud—so much so that the sound created by its own engines could seriously damage the rocket or injure its crew. In order to protect itself, and its crew, from the damaging acoustics created by its own engines at liftoff, a water suppression system is needed to carry some of that acoustical energy away from the vehicle, and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has recently started the first round of acoustic tests on a scale model of NASA's SLS.In order to avoid killing itself from the sound of its own engines, SLS engineers need to understand how low- and high-frequency sound waves affect the rocket on the launch pad—before the rocket is built. The first round of acoustic testing, which began Jan. 16, will help engineers verify the design of the sound suppression system being developed for SLS. The testing, known as the Scale Model Acoustic Test (SMAT), will also provide critical data about how the four RS-25 engines and two enormous solid rocket boosters SLS will be equipped with will affect the vehicle and its crew at liftoff."We can verify the launch environments the SLS vehicle was designed around and determine the effectiveness of the sound suppression systems," said Doug Counter, technical lead for the acoustic testing. "Scale model testing on the space shuttle was very comparable to what actually happened to the vehicle at liftoff. That's why we do the scale test."For the first test last month, engineers used a 5-percent scale model of the SLS core booster, equipped with four liquid oxygen-hydrogen thrusters to simulate the four space shuttle RS-25 engines that will power the core stage of the real SLS. Secured by a thrust plate, side restraints, and cables, the SLS model's engine-simulating thrusters ignited for five seconds, with the vehicle surrounded by microphones and other instruments to measure the effects acoustic noise and pressure have on it at liftoff.Several more tests are planned throughout the year, with each test firing being more complex and difficult than the previous. Although the Jan. 16 test focused on the SLS core itself, future tests will include two Rocket Assisted Take-Off (RATO) motors—provided by Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK)—to simulate the five-segment solid rocket boosters the real SLS will roar to space on (which will also be provided by ATK).Meanwhile, as engineers at Marshall carry out acoustic tests on their scale model SLS, preparations to test the actual RS-25 engines for the real SLS at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi are picking up pace. This year, Stennis will begin hot-fire tests on an RS-25 engine, and recently a new thrust frame adapter was installed onto the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis in support of the upcoming SLS engine tests."This is a big year for Stennis, for NASA and for the nation's human space program," said Gary Benton, RS-25 rocket engine test project manager. "By mid-summer, we will be testing the engines that will carry humans deeper into space than ever before.The first RS-25 engine is set to be delivered to Stennis Space Center A-1 Test Stand in May, with the first RS-25 hot-fire test scheduled for July. Preparations in support of the upcoming engine tests include:
- Completing piping work needed to deliver rocket propellants for tests.
- Installing necessary instrumentation.
- Completing a readiness review in March, followed by early tests of new piping systems.
- Installing equipment needed to accurately measure rocket engine thrust during tests.
- Installing an initial RS-25 engine.
- Completing preliminary tests of installed engine and a new rocket engine test controller.
"During the 30-year run of the Space Shuttle Program, the RS-25 achieved very high demonstrated reliability," said Garry Lyles, chief engineer for the Space Launch System Program Office at Marshall Space Flight Center. "And during 135 missions and numerous related engine tests, it accumulated over 1 million seconds — or almost 280 hours — of hot-fire experience. With that kind of reliability, we knew it would be the best engine to power SLS."The first reusable rocket engine in history proved its worth during the STS program and will do so again for the SLS—with a few modifications made to the engines. SLS needs more power: For shuttle flights the engines pushed 491,000 pounds vacuum thrust, but for SLS the power level was increased to 512,000 pounds vacuum thrust."We need more thrust on the SLS than the shuttle, since we have a heavier payload," said Mike Kynard, SLS Liquid Engines program manager at Marshall. "The core stage is a good bit larger than the external tank on the shuttle. To accommodate the higher thrust level, we increased the number of engines we had from three to four, and increased the power level of each engine."To put the power of the Aerojet Rocketdyne-built RS-25 engines into perspective, consider this:
- The fuel turbine on the RS-25's high-pressure fuel turbopump is so powerful that if it were spinning an electrical generator instead of a pump, it could power 11 locomotives; 1,315 Toyota Prius cars; 1,231,519 iPads; lighting for 430 Major League baseball stadiums; or 9,844 miles of residential street lights—all the street lights in Chicago, Los Angeles, or New York City.
- Pressure within the RS-25 is equivalent to the pressure a submarine experiences three miles beneath the ocean.
- The four RS-25 engines on the SLS launch vehicle gobble propellant at the rate of 1,500 gallons per second. That's enough to drain an average family-sized swimming pool in 60 seconds.
ATK successfully completed two key avionics tests recently for the solid rocket boosters which will fly the SLS, and NASA recently selected Teledyne Brown Engineering of Huntsville, Ala., to design, develop, test, evaluate, and certify the SLS Launch Vehicle/Stage Adapter (LVSA). Under a $60 million contract, Teledyne Brown is expected to assemble and manufacture a LVSA structural test article and two flight units, which will be used to connect the rocket's 27.5-foot diameter core and 16.4-foot diameter interim cryogenic propulsion stages.Columbia's Demise 11 Years Ago Today Sparked Regular Shuttle Inspections In SpaceElizabeth Howell – Universe TodayThe Columbia's shuttle fiery end came as the STS-107 astronauts' families were waiting runway-side for everyone to come home. NASA's oldest space shuttle broke up around 9 a.m. Eastern (2 p.m. UTC) on Feb. 1, 2003, scattering debris along east Texas and nearby areas. Its demise was captured on several amateur video cameras, many of which were rebroadcast on news networks.In the next four months, some 20,000 volunteers fanned out across the southwest United States to find pieces of the shuttle, coming up with 85,000 pieces (38% of the shuttle) as well as human remains. Meanwhile, investigators quickly zeroed in on a piece of foam that fell off of Columbia's external tank and struck the wing. A seven-month inquiry known as the Columbia Accident Investigation Board eventually yielded that as the ultimate cause of the shuttle's demise, although there were other factors as well.The disaster killed seven people: Rick Husband, Willie McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon (who was Israel's first astronaut.) At a time when most shuttles were focused on building the International Space Station, this crew's mandate was different: to spend 24 hours a day doing research experiments. Some of the work was recoverable from the crew's 16 days in space.Columbia's demise brought about several design changes in the external tank as NASA zeroed in on "the foam problem." NASA put in a new procedure in orbit for astronauts to scan the shuttle's belly for broken tiles using the robotic Canadarm and video cameras; shuttles also flew to the International Space Station in such a way so that astronauts on station could take pictures of the bottom.Return-to-flight mission STS-114 in July-August 2005 yielded more foam loss than expected. Then NASA found something. For a long time, workers at the Michoud Assembly Facility were blamed for improper foam installation after partial tests on external tanks, but an X-ray analysis on an entire tank (done for reasons that are explained in this blog post from then-shuttle manager Wayne Hale) revealed it was actually due to "thermal cycles associated with filling the tank.""Discovery flew on July 4, 2006; no significant foam loss occurred. I consider that to be the real return to flight for the space shuttle," he wrote. "So were we stupid? Yes. Can you learn from our mistake? I hope so."Fixing the NASA Piloted Program After Challenger: Views from 1989 and 1993David S.F. Portree – WiredIn 1988-1990, I lived in Orlando, Florida, and back then it wasn't all that difficult for a writer who had published for a couple of years (in print, in those days) to get badged to watch Space Shuttle launches from the Press Site bleachers, just three-and-a-half miles from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). I watched Discovery lift off on 13 March 1989, at the start of the 28th flight of the Shuttle Program. Discovery's mission was to deploy Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-D. The mission was seen as a bit of a milk run, though it earned attention by being only the third Shuttle flight after the two-and-a-half-year post-Challenger Shuttle stand-down.The Magellan Venus radar-mapper spacecraft was at KSC in a cleanroom at the time, and NASA provided the press covering STS-29 with an opportunity to don sterile bunny suits and get up-close and personal with it. That was so cool (seeing Magellan, not the bunny suits so much) that I talked Astronomy magazine into getting me badged for STS-30, during which the Orbiter Atlantis would launch Magellan into Earth orbit.Magellan was the first planetary spacecraft to ride a Shuttle Orbiter, and everyone was nervous that Space Shuttle problems might delay its launch past the closing of its interplanetary launch window on 29 May 1989. A problem with the labyrinthine plumbing in Atlantis's boattail scrubbed the first launch attempt on 28 April, which seemingly did not augur well for a successful Magellan launch. On 4 May 1989, however, Atlantis cleared the tower at the start of its fourth flight, and soon after attaining orbit sent Magellan on its way. It was the first new U.S. planetary mission launch in 11 years.While waiting for Atlantis and Magellan to get off the ground, I visited the information counters in the KSC Press Center dome. There NASA and its contractors had laid out press fits and piles of handouts for reporters. Being a packrat, I still have the stuff I collected. Among the interesting items I squirreled away were two small brochures that described ways that the Shuttle system could evolve to achieve new capabilities.In the first, Morton Thiokol, prime contractor for the Space Shuttle's twin Solid-Rocket Boosters (SRBs), pitched Shuttle-C. The "C" stood for "cargo." Shuttle-C was by then already an old idea (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and its contractors had first floated it during the 1970s). The Utah-based corporation claimed that replacing the Space Shuttle Orbiter with an expendable cargo module would boost Shuttle payload-to-orbit from less than 50,000 pounds to more than 150,000 pounds. The cargo module would include a Shuttle Orbiter boattail with two Space Shuttle Main Engines (not the three the Orbiter needed).Morton Thiokol explained that Shuttle-C would launch Space Station Freedom in a few large packages, reducing risk to crew, the Shuttle Program, and the Station Program. After finishing with Freedom, Shuttle-C could be applied to other large payloads; for example, "future space planetary missions." Shuttle-C could be ready in just 45 months, the company estimated.Shuttle Orbiter prime contractor Rockwell International wrote of the "economy of evolution" in its brief brochure. First it praised piloted spaceflight on board the Orbiter, then it offered up Shuttle-C and Orbiter upgrades. Rockwell reckoned that Challenger's replacement Orbiter, at the time designated OV-105 (and eventually named Endeavour), could be ready in 1991, the same year Shuttle-C would begin flights (in reality OV-105 first flew in 1992).OV-105, the three existing Orbiters (Columbia, Discovery, and Atlantis), and Shuttle-C would not, however, be enough to accomplish everything NASA had planned for the 1990s, Rockwell estimated. Four Orbiters and Shuttle-C would not, for example, be capable of maintaining the expected flight rate of 12 Space Shuttle missions per year. To do that – and as insurance against a future Shuttle accident – Rockwell called on NASA to buy an evolved OV-106 that would first fly in 1995 and an even more advanced OV-107 that would fly in 2000. Costs would peak twice, reaching just under $1 billion in 1994 for OV-106 and in 1999 for OV-107. A five-Orbiter fleet would, Rockwell claimed, maintain an 80% probability of meeting NASA's spaceflight requirements through 2008.Rockwell continued to argue for Shuttle enhancements at least until September 1993, when I picked up two more brochures at a conference in Houston. By then I had been working as a NASA contractor in that steamy, smelly, sprawly city for a year. In the brochures, Rockwell pointed to the B-52 bomber, which had evolved continuously since its debut in the 1950s, as a model for the Shuttle's future.It described upgrades that could turn a Space Shuttle Orbiter into a Long-Duration Orbiter capable of operating in space for up to 90 days while docked with the Space Station. The company also described an automated Orbiter it dubbed the Reusable Cargo Vehicle (RCV). The unmanned RCV might be coupled with a lightweight composite External Tank and Liquid-Rocket Boosters with revived and improved Saturn F-1 engines to boost up to 125,000 pounds into orbit. RCV development would, Rockwell wrote, evolve the Space Shuttle into "a heavy-lift cargo vehicle to return to the moon and go on to Mars."As is well known, the U.S. took a different course: we elected to develop neither Shuttle-C nor RCV, and built no new Orbiters after Endeavour was completed. NASA's four Orbiters did, however, undergo almost continuous upgrades and modifications. An Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) pallet that enabled flights of up to 17 days flew first in 1992. Eleven years ago yesterday, Columbia, NASA's oldest Orbiter, was returning to Florida at the end of STS-107 (16 January-1 February 2003), a 16-day EDO mission, when it broke apart over eastern Texas, killing its seven-member crew and setting in motion events that led to the Space Shuttle's final flight in 2011.END-----No virus found in this message.Checked by AVG - www.avg.comVersion: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7054 - Release Date: 02/02/14
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