The space subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday afternoon (2:30 pm, Russell 253) on “Space Shuttle and the Future of Space Launch Vehicles.” There are two panels of witnesses scheduled: the first will feature Bill Readdy and Craig Steidle of NASA, while the second includes executives from ATK Thiokol, Lockheed Martin, the Aerospace Corporation, and SpaceX. (It will be interesting to see of Elon Musk of SpaceX testifies in person or via a video link, as he did for a House hearing back in March.) The hearing will be webcast.
Musk will be in town. His wife had her babies so he is now free to travel.
Congratulations to Elon and his wife! I know Elon had to miss the Yuri’s Night celebrations because the babies were imminent. I wonder whether they were actually born on Yuri’s Night?
On the subject of the future of space launch vehicles, it a shame that the Microwave Thermal Rocket concept I’ve been working on is too embryonic to mention at such hearings. Then again, that’s what happens when new ideas go unfunded.
…and I’ll bet there are at least a couple of other future launch vehicles that they should hear about but won’t for exactly the same reason.
I stikes me as odd that this hearing is coming the day after the final Presidential commission hearings in NY on the May 3-4. I am wondering what O’Keefe will say on the last day. Will he actually spill the beans on the numbers or will he be in defensive mode.
Witness List and Timeline
Monday, May 3, 2004
*** NOTE: All times are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) ***
1:00 p.m. Welcome and Introductions
Chairman Pete Aldridge
1:15 p.m. International Space Partnerships
Daniel Sacotte, European Space Agency
M. Philippe Berterottière, Arianespace
Kiyoshi Higuchi, JAXA
2:00 p.m. Lunar and Other Space Science
Stu Nozette, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Dr. Tony Tether, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
John Delano, University at Albany (State University of New York)
Ariel Anbar, University of Rochester
2:45 p.m. BREAK
3:00 p.m. Space to the People!
George Whitesides, National Space Society
Nick Eftimiades, Federation of Galaxy Explorers
Frederick Hauck, Association of Space Explorers
Louis Friedman, Planetary Society
4:00 p.m. Commission adjourns
Tuesday, May 4, 2004
9:00 a.m. Welcoming Remarks
Chairman Pete Aldridge
9:05 a.m. Sustainability and Management
Roger Krone, Boeing
9:30 a.m. Astrophysics for the Beyond
Catherine Pilachowski, American Astronomical Society
William Smith, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
David Spergel, Princeton
10:15 a.m. BREAK
10:30 a.m. Space Prosperity and Resource Development
John Higginbotham, SpaceVest
Joel Greenberg, Princeton Synergetics
Myles Walton, Morgan Stanley
11:15 a.m. International
Marc Garneau, Canadian Space Agency
Representative, German Space Agency
12:00 p.m. LUNCH
1:00 p.m. Media – The Big Picture
Rich Gelfond, IMAX
David Levy, PARADE
Craig Covault, Aviation Week
2:00 p.m. BREAK
2:15 p.m. Sean O’Keefe, NASA Administrator
3:00 p.m. Audience Comments
3:45 p.m. Press Conference
4:30 p.m. Deliberation of Commissioners
Harold, why is this ‘odd’? Did it ever occur to you that there are only so many days in the calendar to fit these events in – and, by the way, that these efforts are not centrally coordinated? As for bean spilling – you assume that there are beans to spill.
Well he has had his chance to state the needed budget details before the senate in previous hearings and has given little.
There has been 4 previous public hearing by the MoontoMars commission, why this one to testify in and what could he offer?
“There has been 4 previous public hearing by the MoontoMars commission, why this one to testify in and what could he offer?”
Try that sentence again?
puntuation dah… maybe this one is better.
therehasbeen4previouspublichearingbytheMoontoMarscommissionwhythisonetotestifyinandwhatcouldheoffer
A link to where Senator Brownback may be headed on this:
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/news/world/8576025.htm
So lets assume the funds were made available after the 5 years of no shuttle flights.
That yields a total of 20 billion for Nasa to design and have flight ready by 2014 maybe the CEV for use for the beginning of the Moon missions.
On the other hand can the US for not forfilling the ISS launch agreements of completion withstand the reprocusions of the ISS partners.
On the note of 20 billion when it time to get that money, there will be a whole new president and congress. What is the likelyhood that the funds would be issued.
So over on Keith’s website he is wary of Gen. Pete Worden’s influence on this hearing. I had a couple of thoughts on this:
First, I’m sure Sen. Brownback has his own free will and won’t be coaxed into positions he disagrees with. Presumably he took Pete on board because their views were compatible – I don’t see what the point would be otherwise, and I expect Pete will work hard to facilitate a high quality debate within Sen. Brownback’s space committee.
Second, I believe that without a budget increase NASA will have to choose between the Exploration Initiative, Space Shuttle, and not losing a field center.
Personally, I would choose to close a field center, but I recognize that the power to do so does not lie within NASA.
So failing that I would choose the Space Shuttle, and it follows that the space station may not be finishable without it. They’re not using the space station for on-orbit satellite assembly etc. and it’s not going anywhere, so is there a compelling reason to throw good money after bad?
“First, I’m sure Sen. Brownback has his own free will and won’t be coaxed into positions he disagrees with. Presumably he took Pete on board because their views were compatible – I don’t see what the point would be otherwise, and I expect Pete will work hard to facilitate a high quality debate within Sen. Brownback’s space committee.”
You are presuming a lot about people you have never met….more to follow….
While it’s true that I haven’t met Sen. Brownback, I have met Gen. Worden, as have several of my friends and associates.
I found him to be very inclusive of other people’s views and ideas, and that naturally led me to expect that whatever his involvement in these Senate proceedings, that he will try to make sure all sides of the issue get heard.
Maybe I should be more cynical, and I remain open-minded. In any case, we’ll all get to judge for ourselves tomorrow.
We may be going on Mars like the energizer bunny but on Earth Nasa is crawling slowly backwards away from manned space flight aboard the Shuttle.
Side bar article on Marsnews site notes:
Future of Space Shuttle Program Discussed Lawmakers Consider Allowing Russians To Finish Building Outpost.
http://www.wesh.com/spacenews/3275615/detail.html
How can Russia do any better than Nasa on this issue? Like Nasa they have no other heavy lifting rocket for manned or unmanned flight for the weight of the remaining modules.