“ They are NOT happy with the emphasis on commercial crew/cargo at exploration’s expense”

Matt, Congress has designated the ISS as a National Laboratory (read the law), and designated Commercial Crew as the primary method of getting our crew to the ISS (MPCV is only a backup).

Now maybe you like sending $Millions of dollars to Russia every year, but I don’t. Who is Congress supporting – the U.S. aerospace industry, or Russia?

Don’t cut your nose off to spite your face.

A project to allow space based tracking of ships on the ocean. This system has commerce, safety, and security implications. Basically it is a transponder system for ships.

3D-Space (Mental Representation of Spatial Cues During Space Flight)

This one is human based. Basically they want to know how does lack of gravity mess with how people navigate, determine distances, and perceive things in space. Even if you had artificial gravity this knowledge would be of use for times when artificial gravity is not in use (like docking—unless they invent star trek tech you will probably need to stop the spacecraft spinning for docking).

Nutrition (Nutritional Status Assessment)
This one is human based. It is studying the health of the astronauts and making sure that the diet is doing what it is supposed to. Last thing you want to do is find out zero g or space radiation messes with some vitamin uptake or some drug absorption. We can be sure about an ISS stay, but if something is declining slowly better to find out now than when you attempt longer and longer stays in space.

Just off the top of my head…

EarthKAM is a project of Sally Ride Science and allows middle school students across the world to take advantage of existing cameras on the Station to take pictures of the world below. It is minimal cost and teaches students about mission planning and geography. Need I remind you that education and outreach is one of the Congressionally-mandated functions of Station?

STP-H3-DISC is a Department of Defense payload that was reviewed and approved by their Science Experiments Review Board. It is a low-power testbed for using star field imagery analysis algorithms for attitude determination. This is the sort of technology the DoD will need to bring their Operationally Responsive Space concept to fruition.

“NASA has been directed by Congress to develop, build, and operate a crew vehicle and a heavy-lift launcher. Want to do something other than that? Change the law. Right now, good luck with that!”

Hmm, I think I heard the same argument for Constellation, and we all know what happened there.

Matt, in these tight budget times a rocket with no mission or funded payloads will be highly visible.

What will be the ramifications if we were to postpone or cancel it? None.

And the SLS is the single largest line item in NASA’s budget that hasn’t been started, isn’t needed to support a currently funded program, and has no defined or funded need in the future.

It’s going to be an interesting summer.

Has Congress actually said that NASA has to operate MPCV and SLS? If so, what do they mean by “operate?” Go to ISS? BEO? Something else? Has anybody said what funds would be needed for those operations?

Thanks for the list. It is littered with junk science and emphasizes my point. 95% of it is trivial.

Here are some that qualify for the the ‘Golden Fleece Award’.

3D-Space (Mental Representation of Spatial Cues During Space Flight)
EarthKAM (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students)
Nutrition (Nutritional Status Assessment)
CVB (Constrained Vapor Bubble)
Vessel_ID_System (Vessel ID System)
STP-H3-DISC (Space Test Program – Houston 3 – Digital Imaging Star Camera)

Bisphosphonates as a Countermeasure to Space Flight Induced Bone Loss (Bisphosphonates)06.10.11

Description

The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether bisphosphonates, in conjunction with the routine in-flight exercise program, protects International Space Station (ISS) crewmembers from the regional decreases in bone mineral density documented on previous ISS flights. Two dosing regimens will be tested: (1) an oral dose of 70 mg of alendronate taken weekly starting 3 weeks prior to flight and then throughout the flight and (2) an intravenous (I.V.) dose of zoledronic acid, 4 mg, administered just once approximately 45 days before flight. The rationale for including both alendronate and zoledronic acid is that two dosing options will: maximize crew participation
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Here is the list from just the current expedition.

“3D-Space (Mental Representation of Spatial Cues During Space Flight)
ALTEA-Dosi (Anomalous Long Term Effects in Astronauts’ – Dosimetry)
ALTEA-Shield (Anomalous Long Term Effects in Astronauts’ Central Nervous System – Shield)
AMS-02 (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer – 02)
BCAT-3-4-CP (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test – 3 and 4: Critical Point)
BCAT-5-3D-Melt (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test – 5: Three-Dimensional Melt)
BCAT-5-PhaseSep (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-5: Phase Separation)
BCAT-5-Seeded_Growth (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test – 5: Seeded Growth)
BCAT-6-Colloidal_Disks (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test – 6 – Colloidal Disks)
BCAT-6-Phase_Separation (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test – 6 – Phase Separation)
BCAT-6-PS-DNA (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test – 6: Polystyrene – Deoxyribonucleic Acid)
BCAT-6-Seeded_Growth (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test – 6: Seeded Growth)
BIOKIS (BIOKon In Space)
Biological_Rhythms (The Effect of Long-term Microgravity Exposure on Cardiac Autonomic Function by Analyzing 24-hours Electrocardiogram)
Biorisk (Influence of Factors of the Space Environment on the Condition of the System of Microorganisms-Hosts Relating to the Problem of Environmental Safety of Flight Techniques and Planetary Quarantine)
Biorisk (Influence of Factors of the Space Environment on the Condition of the System of Microorganisms-Hosts Relating to the Problem of Environmental Safety of Flight Techniques and Planetary Quarantine)
Bisphosphonates (Bisphosphonates as a Countermeasure to Space Flight Induced Bone Loss)
BRIC-SyNRGE (Biological Research in Canisters Symbiotic Nodulation in a Reduced Gravity Environment)
Card (Long Term Microgravity: A Model for Investigating Mechanisms of Heart Disease with New Portable Equipment)
CBTM-3-Sclerostin_Antibody (Commercial Biomedical Testing Module-3: Assessment of sclerostin antibody as a novel bone forming agent for prevention of spaceflight-induced skeletal fragility in mice)
CCF (Capillary Channel Flow)
CEO (Crew Earth Observations)
CFE-2 (Capillary Flow Experiment – 2)
CSA_Comm_and_Outreach (Canadian Space Agency Communication and Outreach)
CSI-05 (Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus Science Insert – 05: Spiders, Fruit Flies and Directional Plant Growth)
CsPINs (Dynamism of Auxin Efflux Facilitators, CsPINs, Responsible for Gravity-regulated Growth and Development in Cucumber)
CVB (Constrained Vapor Bubble)
DECLIC-ALI (DEvice for the study of Critical LIquids and Crystallization – Alice Like Insert)
DECLIC-DSI (DEvice for the study of Critical LIquids and Crystallization – Directional Solidification Insert)
DOSIS-DOBIES (Dose Distribution Inside ISS – Dosimetry for Biological Experiments in Space)
DTN (Disruption Tolerant Networking for Space Operations)
EarthKAM (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students)
EKE (Assessment of Endurance Capacity by Gas Exchange and Heart Rate Kinetics During Physical Training)
Ekon (Experimental Survey on Evaluating the Possibility of Using th Russian Segment of ISS for Environmental Inspection of Work Areas of Various Facilities (Features))
EPO-Demos (Education Payload Operation – Demonstrations)
ERB-2 (Erasmus Recording Binocular – 2)
FLEX-2 (Flame Extinguishment Experiment – 2)
FOB (Forward Osmosis Bag)
Functional_Task_Test (Physiological Factors Contributing to Changes in Postflight Functional Performance)
Hair (Biomedical Analyses of Human Hair Exposed to a Long-term Space Flight)
HiMassSEE (Spacecraft Single Event Environments at High Shielding Mass)
HREP-HICO (HICO and RAIDS Experiment Payload – Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean)
HREP-RAIDS (HICO and RAIDS Experiment Payload – Remote Atmospheric and Ionospheric Detection System (RAIDS))
Hypersole (Cutaneous Hypersensitivity and Balance Control in Humans)
I-APE (Italian-Astronaut Personal Eye)
I-ENOS (Italian-Electronic NOse for Space exploration)
I-FOAM (Italian-Foam)
Immuno (Neuroendocrine and Immune Responses in Humans During and After Long Term Stay at ISS)
InSPACE-3 (Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal Emulsions – 3)
Integrated_Cardiovascular (Cardiac Atrophy and Diastolic Dysfunction During and After Long Duration Spaceflight: Functional Consequences for Orthostatic Intolerance, Exercise Capability and Risk for Cardiac Arrhythmias)
Integrated_Immune (Validation of Procedures for Monitoring Crewmember Immune Function)
Integrated_Immune-SDBI (Validation of Procedures for Monitoring Crewmember Immune Function – Short Duration Biological Investigation)
ISSAC (International Space Station Agricultural Camera)
ISS_Ham_Radio (International Space Station Ham Radio)
JAXA_EPO_7 (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Education Payload Observation 7)
JAXA_PCG (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Protein Crystal Growth)
Kids_In_Micro-g-2 (Kids In Microgravity-2 (2010-2011))
Kristallizator (Crystalization of Biological Macromolecules and Generation of Biocrystal Film in the Conditions of Microgravity)
Lactolen (Influence of Factors of Space Flight on Lactolen Producer Strains)
LEGO_Bricks (LEGO® Bricks, formerly known as NLO-Education-2)
Marangoni-Exp (Chaos, Turbulence and its Transition Process in Marangoni Convection-Exp)
MAUI (Maui Analysis of Upper Atmospheric Injections)
MAXI (Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image)
Micro-2 (Gravitational Effects on Biofilm Formation During Space Flight)
MISSE-7 (Materials International Space Station Experiment – 7)
MISSE-8 (Materials International Space Station Experiment – 8)
MSL-CETSOL_and_MICAST (Materials Science Laboratory – Columnar-to-Equiaxed Transition in Solidification Processing and Microstructure Formation in Casting of Technical Alloys under Diffusive and Magnetically Controlled Convective Conditions)
NanoRacks-CubeLabs_Module-7 (NanoRacks-CubeLabs Module-7)
NanoRacks-CubeLabs_Module-8 (NanoRacks-CubeLabs_Module-8)
Night_Vision (Eyespots and Macular Pigments Extracted from Algal Organisms Immobilized in Organic Matrix with the Purpose to Protect Astronaut’s Retina)
NLP-Cells-6 (National Laboratory Pathfinder – Cells – 6: Jatropha – 3)
NLP-Vaccine-Salmonella (National Laboratory Pathfinder – Vaccine – Salmonella)
Nutrition (Nutritional Status Assessment)
OChB (Influence of Factors of Space Flight on Superoxide Strain Producer)
PACE-2 (Preliminary Advanced Colloids Experiment – 2: 3D Particle Test)
PACE-LMM-Bio (Preliminary Advanced Colloids Experiment – Light Microscopy Module: Biological Samples)
Passages (Scaling Body-Related Actions in the Absence of Gravity)
Photosynth (PhotosynthTM Three-Dimensional Modeling of ISS Interior and Exterior)
Plant_Signaling (Plant Signaling (formerly known as Seed Growth-1))
Plasma_Crystal (Dusty and Liquid Plasma Crystals in Conditions of Microgravity)
Pneumocard (Examination of the Influencing Factors of Space Flight on Autonomic Regulation of Blood Circulation, Respiration and Cardiac Contractile Function in Long Duration Space Flight)
Poligen (Revealing Genotypical Characteristics, Defining Individual Differences in Resistance of Biological Oranisms to Factors of Long Duration Space Flight)
Pro_K (Dietary Intake Can Predict and Protect Against Changes in Bone Metabolism during Spaceflight and Recovery)
PSSC (Pico-Satellite Solar Cell Experiment)
RAMBO-2 (Ram Burn Observations – 2)
Rastenia (Growth and Development of Higher Plants through Multiple Generations)
Reaction_Self_Test (Psychomotor Vigilance Self Test on the International Space Station)
REBR (ReEntry Breakup Recorder)
Relaksatia (Processes of Relaxation in the Ultraviolet Band Spectrum by High Velocity Interaction of Exhaust Products on ISS)
Relaksatia (Processes of Relaxation in the Ultraviolet Band Spectrum by High Velocity Interaction of Exhaust Products on ISS)
Repository (National Aeronautics and Space Administration Biological Specimen Repository)
Robonaut (Robonaut)
RRM (Robotic Refueling Mission)
Rusalka (Development of Methods to Determine the Carbon Dioxide and Methane (Greehouse Gases) Content in the Earths Atmosphere from On-Board ISS)
SEDA-AP (Space Environment Data Acquisition Equipment – Attached Payload)
SEITE (Shuttle Exhaust Ion Turbulence Experiments)
SIMPLEX (Shuttle Ionospheric Modification with Pulsed Localized Exhaust Experiments)
Sleep-Short (Sleep-Wake Actigraphy and Light Exposure During Spaceflight-Short)
SLICE (Structure and Liftoff In Combustion Experiment)
SMILES (Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder)
SNFM (Serial Network Flow Monitor)
Solar-SOLACES (Sun Monitoring on the External Payload Facility of Columbus – SOLar Auto-Calibrating EUV/UV Spectrophotometers)
Solar-SOLSPEC (Sun Monitoring on the External Payload Facility of Columbus -Sun Monitoring on the External Payload Facility of Columbus -SOLar SPECtral Irradiance Measurements)
SOLO (SOdium LOading in Microgravity)
SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites)
Spinal_Elongation (Spinal Elongation and its Effects on Seated Height in a Microgravity Environment)
Sprint (Integrated Resistance and Aerobic Training Study)
STL-Regeneration-Keratinocytes (Space Tissue Loss – The Effects Microgravity on Stem Cell-Based Tissue Regeneration: Keratinocyte Differentiation in Wound Healing)
STORRM (Sensor Test for Orion Relative Navigation Risk Mitigation – DTO 703)
STP-H3-Canary (Space Test Program – Houston 3 – Canary)
STP-H3-DISC (Space Test Program – Houston 3 – Digital Imaging Star Camera)
STP-H3-MHTEX (Space Test Program – Houston 3 – Massive Heat Transfer Experiment)
STP-H3-VADER (Space Test Program – Houston 3 – Variable emissivity radiator Aerogel insulation blanket Dual zone thermal control Experiment suite for Responsive space)
Thermolab (Thermoregulation in Humans During Long-Term Spaceflight)
Tipologia (Study of the Typological Characteristis of ISS Crew Operators Activity at the Stages of Long Term Space Flight)
Treadmill_Kinematics (Biomechanical Analysis of Treadmill Exercise on the International Space Station)
Tropi (Analysis of a Novel Sensory Mechanism in Root Phototropism)
Tropi (Analysis of a Novel Sensory Mechanism in Root Phototropism)
Uragan (Hurricane: Experimental Development of Groundbased System of Monitoring and Predicting the Progression of a Naturally Occurring Technogenic Catastrophe)
VCAM (Vehicle Cabin Atmosphere Monitor)
Vessel_ID_System (Vessel ID System)
Vessel_Imaging (Vascular Echography)
VIABLE_ISS (eValuatIon And monitoring of microBiofiLms insidE International Space Station)
VO2max (Evaluation of Maximal Oxygen Uptake and Submaximal Estimates of VO2max Before, During, and After Long Duration International Space Station Missions)
Vsplesk (Burst: Monitoring of Seismic Effects – Bursts of High Energy Particles in Low Earth Space Region (Orbit))
Vzaimodeystviye (Interactions: Monitoring of Space Crew Interactions During Extended Space Flight)
Zhenshen-2 (Study of the Development of Cell Cultures to Evaluate the Possibily of Increasing Biological Activity)”
—————–
Can some of these experiments be classified as trivial? I suppose having kids do some experiments may seem trivial, but if you add it to the total package it is a long list of science in all kinds of fields of study, from medicine to material science.

Also, the station is just getting finished to a point that the station will be fully geared for science and the international partners have their cargo vehicles in place. In the next couple of years we will see great traffic to the ISS and each year a couple more of those lists of experiments will be done.

Granted it will be years before we start seeing the results but every year more new knowledge is gained on how the great machine of the universe works.

You have made some interesting comments for quite some time. I hace to say they were the least biased comments I’ve read from a Shuttle enthusiast on this site and elsewhere and therefore I tend to value your comments. However it now appears you are not your usual self. I understand, I think, your emotion about Shuttle but it is way, way too late now. Things started back in 2004.

As for capsules, they are the simplest most inherently safe vehicles for reentry. It’s not a step back regardless whether it has wings or not. Wings are a liability in the grand scheme of exploration. Further it seems to me that SN is building a NASA derived, Soviet Union derived, lifting boy with wingy appendices.

In your last comments you seem to lament the loss of jobs, yours maybe? But again this was planned back in 2004. As I said already, go check and you will see the intent was to reduce the Shuttle workforce for the VSE. Despite the political rethoric, Dems and GOPers alike agree this workforce, hence very high cost, has to go. C’est la vie.

At this point I’d rather see you making constructive comments again and share whatever experience you (may) have on Shuttle to help the industry gets its act together quickly. If the commercials eventually fail then not only do we lose Shuttle but the entire HSF for the foreseeable future in the US. Yes it is crystal ball prediction but it is based on my experience as an aerospace engineer/scientist/whateveryouwantocallme…

FWIW.