The space subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing this afternoon about “Transitioning to a Next Generation Human Space Flight System”. Speakers include William Gerstenmaier of NASA, Ron Dittemore of ATK, John Karas of Lockheed Martin, Allen Li of the GAO, Johnny Walker of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and Michael McCulley of USA. The hearing should be webcast on the committee web site.
does anyone else feel like they forgot to invite some people?
Like the fact that they only focused on gov stuff?
I didn’t have a chance to watch the hearing. Can someone give a semi-unbiased non-editorialized summary? :o)
Ferris: since the focus of the hearing was on the status of Ares and Orion, the witness list makes sense. However, Sen. Nelson, the subcommittee chairman (and the only subcommittee member present; not even Sen. Hutchison could make it) did ask the witnesses about COTS, including apparently some problems SpaceX (I believe; he didn’t mention the company by name) is having gaining use of a retired Titan pad at Cape Canaveral.
Was this hearing recorded? I can’t find it anywhere. Why is their a problem with SpaceX getting the Titan pad?
There won’t be any transition if ESMD/MSFC/JSC don’t get Ares I/Orion performance/mass issues under control:
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/04/03/213056/orion-struggles-to-lose-excess-weight.html
“The initial version of NASA’s Orion crew exploration vehicle, designed for International Space Station transport missions, is still more than 700kg (1,560lb) too heavy, months after its system requirements review… Sources blame ongoing Ares I crew launch vehicle problems for forcing weight-related Orion design changes.”
Sigh… more long-rumored predictions coming true.