By Jeff Foust on 2009 August 7 at 7:27 am ET It took a federal jury less than two hours Thursday to convict Courtney Stadd on ethics charges stemming from a brief stint he had at NASA in 2005. As noted earlier this week, the defense argued that Stadd was only following orders from NASA administrator Mike Griffin, who had been pressed by Sen. Thad Cochran’s office to spend a $15-million earmark for earth sciences research. From the AP article:
Griffin, now a professor at the University of Alabama, testified that he considered Cochran the most important senator because he was then head of the appropriations committee. He said when he went to Cochran’s office ahead of his Senate confirmation hearing, the chief of staff “let me know in no uncertain terms that the senator was unhappy that his earmark wasn’t being honored.”
Griffin said he promised to get it taken care of and asked NASA staff to do so, although he didn’t remember whether he ever spoke specifically to Stadd about it. He said he considered the earmark, equal to less than a tenth of 1 percent of his budget, an annoyance in the way of more important issues like returning the space shuttle to flight and implementing Bush’s space agenda.
That argument didn’t hold sway with the jury, though, particularly in light of emails presented by the prosecution where Stadd tried to get a client, Mississippi State University, to increase his fee because of the direction of funds to the university.
By Jeff Foust on 2009 August 6 at 6:13 pm ET A few thoughts about the Review of US Human Space Flight Plans (aka Augustine committee) and what they have discussed to date, including Ed Crawley’s presentation yesterday (and to add to the discussion already taking place):
- Last week there seemed to be a surge of interest in extending the life of the shuttle, including the proposals made by Sally Ride’s subcommittee that would extend the life of the shuttle though at least 2014 by stretching out the remaining flights and/or adding additional ones. However, in the scenarios Crawley presented, only one, the “Use Shuttle Systems” proposal, would extend the shuttle beyond 2011; that would also make use of shuttle-derived systems in lieu of Ares 5 for heavy lift.
- In a related note, for all the talk about reducing the gap, the scenarios presented yesterday do little to clearly address it. In addition to retiring the shuttle in 2011 in all but one case, all rely, to some degree or another, on international partners (read: Russia) for crew access to ISS. However, most also include a provision for commercial crew, which might be ready for service before the current Ares 1/Orion plans (particularly given the estimates of multi-year delays in that program made in hearings last week.) If these scenarios survive in some related form to the final report, it will be interesting to see how some members of Congress react.
- While some have noted that Ares 1 is identified in only two of the seven scenarios, both of those are ones that fit into the current projected budget profile. Given that OSTP’s original request to NASA when establishing the panel was to fit any scenarios “within the current budget profile for NASA exploration activities”, it would seem that the White House, at least, would be more responsive to scenarios that comply to that request than those that require additional funding.
By Jeff Foust on 2009 August 6 at 7:24 am ET A month ago it appeared that pressure from Sen. Richard Shelby would force NASA to redirect most of the $150 million in stimulus funds planned for commercial crew work to Constellation instead, after the Alabama Republican strongly opposed the plan, saying the money should be spent on trying to reduce (if by only a tiny amount) the gap between the shuttle’s retirement and Constellation’s introduction. (Assuming, of course, that something like the current plan remains going forward; no sure thing these days.) That plan was confirmed this week when NASA released a solicitation for “to stimulate efforts within the private sector to develop and demonstrate human spaceflight capabilities” that offers $50 million in stimulus funds. This Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) activity will result in “multiple” funded Space Act Agreements to be awarded by November.
While the $50 million is only a third of what NASA originally planned to invest in commercial human spaceflight work, the industry put a good face on the compromise. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation called CCDev “a new milestone in the development of an orbital commercial human spaceflight sector” in a statement this week. However, how useful will $50 million be towards developing that capability, especially if it will be split among two or more companies?
By Jeff Foust on 2009 August 5 at 12:10 pm ET That’s not a question normally asked about the former college football coach, best known for leading Notre Dame for a number of years, but is may be one increasingly asked in the months to come. The Orlando Sentinel reported this week that Holtz is weighing a run for Congress in Florida’s 24th district, which includes the Kennedy Space Center. Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas, who ousted Tom Feeney last November, currently represents the district, but is expected to face strong Republican opposition next year given the district’s demographics. Several Republicans have already either filed to run or expressed an interest in running, some citing the effects of the shuttle retirement and the gap on the district’s economy. However, one Republican consultant told the Sentinel that it would be “all but over” if Holtz decided to run, given his name recognition, although his ties to the district, where he does live, aren’t necessarily as strong as other candidates.
By Jeff Foust on 2009 August 4 at 7:15 am ET On Monday the trial of former NASA official Courtney Stadd got underway in Washington. Stadd was charged earlier this year by federal prosecutors of steering nearly $10 million in NASA funds to a consulting client, Mississippi State University, during a brief stint at the agency in 2005 shortly after Mike Griffin became administrator. During the opening arguments, according to the AP report, the defense provided new details to explain what happened, explaining the money came from a $15 million earmark that the Mississippi’s congressional delegation and Griffin’s predecessor, Sean O’Keefe, agreed would go to the state:
Stadd’s lawyer, Dorrance Dickens, said Mississippi Republican Sen. Thad Cochran had pressured Griffin during his confirmation to uphold O’Keefe’s commitment, and Griffin told Stadd and other senior NASA officials to “get it done.” Griffin is expected to testify in the case.
Dickens said Stadd was trying to walk the line between carrying out Griffin’s orders and complying with ethics rules when he said the money should go to Mississippi, without ever specifying it should go to Mississippi State University.
By Jeff Foust on 2009 August 3 at 1:12 pm ET Four weeks from today—August 31—the Review of US Human Space Flight Plans Committee is expected to deliver its final report containing recommendations for the White House regarding the future of NASA’s human spaceflight programs. Although the committee is still hard at work, with two more public hearings scheduled for this Wednesday and the following Wednesday in Washington, there are rumors, or at least guesses, about what the committee’s final report will contain.
Flightglobal.com reported this morning that the 100-page final report will include options to extend the shuttle, continue Ares 1 and Orion, and develop the shuttle-derived heavy lift vehicle concept that John Shannon presented to the committee at its first Washington hearing in June. Flightglobal.com adds that it “is not aware of any Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle options being included at this time”.
Florida Today, meanwhile, offered today its list of “5 things you’ll see in president’s space report”. Those five things, according to Florida Today’s John Kelly, are an extension of the ISS through 2020, an option to close the human spaceflight gap by extending the shuttle, a likely recommendation to cancel Ares 1, skipping a Moon landing in favor of going directly to Mars or the “flexible path” approach discussed by the committee last Thursday, and that the panel “will make Obama decide”. That last one was a given from the beginning of the committee’s work: chairman Norm Augustine made it clear that the committee would provide scenarios for the White House to consider, but the final decision as to which one to pick would be up to the administration (and, ultimately, Congress as well.)
By Jeff Foust on 2009 July 31 at 6:44 am ET Earlier this week the Houston Chronicle ran an op-ed by former congressman Nick Lampson, who sings the virtues of commercial spaceflight. In particular, he called on the Augustine committee to recognize the role commercial space can play in NASA’s future human spaceflight plans:
The Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, the blue ribbon panel chartered by President Obama, met this week in Houston. Their recommendations in August could well shape the course of future U.S. human space exploration and affect U.S. competitiveness in science and technology. It is critical that we support the development of commercial space flight capabilities over the next decade for reliable, affordable access to low Earth orbit for both people and cargo. The provision of additional commercial services in space will free NASA resources for exploration and ensure that we meet our science and technology goals as a nation.
(This op-ed was highlighted by Next Step in Space, a coalition of companies and other organizations established earlier this month that is pushing for support for human commercial spaceflight.)
It’s interesting to compare that with a passage in a Wall Street Journal article this week (subscription required) about Virgin Galactic’s deal to sell a stake to an Abu Dhabi fund:
However, a NASA official cautioned that venturing into space is extremely costly, dangerous and difficult.
“Everyone has the opinion ‘we can do this’ but I’ve seen so many fail,” he said, adding that running a shuttle costs at least $3 billion a year.
All this is true: spaceflight is difficult and not cheap, and many ventures who have tried it before have failed. But what does the operating cost of the shuttle have to do with a suborbital space tourism system? The article doesn’t identify the “NASA official” who provided the quote nor explain why he wasn’t identified. It’s not surprising some people have seen this as a bit of FUD.
By Jeff Foust on 2009 July 30 at 8:40 am ET It had been widely assumed for some time that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) would resign from the Senate later this year to devote herself full-time to running against incumbent Gov. Rick Perry in the Texas GOP gubernatorial primary next year. Yesterday Hutchison confirmed those plans, saying that she would step down in the “October, November” timeframe, several months before the March 2010 primary. Her resignation will mean the loss of one of the stauncher NASA advocates in the Senate, where, among other things, she worked with Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) in recent years to add an additional $1 billion to NASA’s budget. She also serves as the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has oversight of NASA.
By Jeff Foust on 2009 July 30 at 8:27 am ET Later today dozens of Mars advocates will be swarming Capitol Hill for the 2009 Great Mars Blitz, an afternoon of lobbying in the same vein as March Storm, the NSS Space Blitz, and related events. The purpose of the blitz, according to the site, is “to tell members of Congress and their staff why the United States needs to commit to an ambitious human space flight program that will get us to Mars in the 2020s”, although they don’t mention any specific legislative measures they’re pushing for. The Blitz is part of the Mars Society’s annual convention, running today through Sunday at the University of Maryland in College Park. The society ran a similar event in 2006, the last time the organization held its annual conference in the DC area; Chris Carberry, who organized the Blitz (and is now executive director of the organization), wrote a summary of that 2006 event in The Space Review, complete with a tale about some $2 bills…
(I’ll also note that I’ll be appearing on a panel Friday evening at the conference about “Reporting Space”, moderated by ex-CNN space reporter Miles O’Brien.)
By Jeff Foust on 2009 July 28 at 7:20 am ET Three days! Three cities! It’s not a rock band tour but the Review of US Human Space Flight Plans Committee (aka Augustine Committee) schedule this week: they are holding public meetings today in Houston, tomorrow in Huntsville, and Thursday in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Today’s meeting starts at 10 am CDT (11 am EDT), according to schedules released last week, and features presentation by JSC director Mike Coats, a “Congressional perspective”, overview of Constellation, and a briefing by the committee’s ISS/shuttle subcommittee, chaired by Sally Ride.
On that last point, NASASpaceFlight.com reported this morning that Ride’s group is looking at shuttle extension options that would stretch the current manifest and/or add more missions, and that “draft NASA authorization language is currently being worked on behind the scenes in Congress” for the latest NASA authorization legislation that would appear to endorse an option to extend the shuttle into 2012.
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