By Jeff Foust on 2007 May 22 at 6:42 am ET Last month’s NASA-Roskosmos contract for ISS resupply attracted criticism from some corners of the entrepreneurial space industry, concerned that the contract might be seen as undermining the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) effort. Later last month came a claim that the contract undermined one COTS company’s efforts at raising private capital, raising questions about that company’s future.
At the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) meeting at FAA Headquarters last Friday, Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for space operations, went to great lengths to indicate that NASA was not only still planning to use, but was heavily counting on, commercial launch services to resupply the ISS after the shuttle’s retirement. Even when taking Progress, ATV, and HTV flights into account, Gerstenmaier said there would be a cargo shortfall of at least 48.8 metric tons from FY2010 through 2015. “That’s what we’re talking about as available, potentially, to the domestic market,” he said. The Russian cargo services NASA has procured in 2010 and 2011 are the bare minimum of what’s needed to keep the station alive, he added. “It’s not a sustainable station in that sense,” he said. “The station will not deorbit” in that scenario, but without additional cargo deliveries “it will not have any operational capability or ability to do much research.”
(Gerstenmaier’s slides from his presentation should be posted here in the near future.)
By Jeff Foust on 2007 May 21 at 7:46 am ET Next month the Space Exploration Alliance, the loose coalition of space organizations ranging from the NSS to the AIAA, will be holding another “Moon-Mars Blitz” on Capitol Hill. In this week’s issue of The Space Review, I interviewed Chris Carberry, the chairman of the June event, about what’s on the agenda and the overall effectiveness of such citizen lobbying efforts. The focus of this event, not surprisingly, will be on getting Congress to support increased funding for NASA as the FY2008 appropriations cycle shifts into high gear. “I think that there has been strong support for the VSE in the years since it was announced,” he said. “However, budget constraints make it more difficult for many members of Congress to be as supportive as they might otherwise be. It is up to us to provide additional compelling reasons why space exploration is as important as other items in the federal budget.”
By Jeff Foust on 2007 May 21 at 7:38 am ET Imagine my surprise this weekend as I read the “50 Ways to Space Out” article in the latest issue of Air & Space magazine and came across this entry:
37 READ SPACE POLITICS, the Space Age’s version of the Drudge Report, because “sometimes the most important orbit is the Beltway.” Visit spacepolitics.com.
I’m flattered… I think. After all, if nothing else, I like to think this blog looks a littler nicer than The Drudge Report…
By Jeff Foust on 2007 May 18 at 5:57 am ET With some fanfare earlier this week, the House Science and Technology Committee’s investigations subcommittee and the Senate Commerce Committee’s space subcommittee announced a joint hearing for next Wednesday afternoon regarding the actions of, and investigation into, NASA inspector general Robert Cobb. While the hearing is listed as a joint one on the Senate Commerce Committee’s calendar, it’s no longer on the House calendar. Instead, there’s now a hearing titled “The NASA Administrator’s Speech to Office of Inspector General Staff, the Subsequent Destruction of Video Records, and Associated Matters” on the schedule for Thursday, May 24. Having been in meetings all day yesterday (and again today), I haven’t been able to learn more about whether the joint hearing is, indeed, now a Senate-only affair, and whether this was a strategic move to hold separate hearings on the distinct but related issues, or if something else triggered the move.
By Jeff Foust on 2007 May 17 at 6:04 am ET When Mike Griffin became administrator of NASA a little over two years ago, he made it clear that he felt his tenure there would be limited and not to exceed beyond January 2009, when a new administration takes over and (presumably) picks a new administrator. While at least one member of the Senate is counting down the days until January 2009, there are some in official Washington who are hoping that Griffin will stay on into the next administration. Sue Payton, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, is one of those people, and said the following at a Women in Aerospace event on Capitol Hill last night:
I would like to put in a big plug for a guy named Mike Griffin, because I will tell you that this guy was born for the job he has. There’s no one better technically, there’s no one who understands industry better, there’s no one who’s run his own company more. And no matter what happens in the next election… that man needs to stay in the job he’s in and continue the momentum. Whatever we can do to help him we ought to do because he has the recipe and I truly believe that changing out that particular job in a year and a half, January 2009, right when we’re needing that expertise that he can bring to bear, would be a huge mistake for the advancement of space.
By Jeff Foust on 2007 May 15 at 8:37 pm ET The House Science and Technology Committee’s investigations subcommittee and the Senate Commerce Committee’s space subcommittee announced today that they will hold a joint hearing next week about the NASA Inspector General, Robert Cobb, who has been the subject of scrutiny by members of both committees. According to the headline of the Senate press release, Cobb himself will testify at the hearing, which will take place at 2 pm on May 23 in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.
By Jeff Foust on 2007 May 15 at 8:30 pm ET Last week the House Republican leadership selected Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) to temporarily fill an open seat on the House Appropriations Committee. That vacancy opened up when another California Republican, Rep. John Doolittle, stepped down from the committee last month in the wake of an FBI search of his home as part of the broader Jack Abramoff scandal. Because of that appointment, Calvert had to give up his position as ranking member of the space subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee. Rep. Ralph Hall, the ranking member of the overall committee, announced today that Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) will take over as ranking member of the space subcommittee. Feeney, whose district includes NASA KSC, said he would focus on implementing the Vision for Space Exploration and managing the transition from the shuttle program to Constellation with “minimal impact on the human spaceflight workforce.”
The Orlando Sentinel notes it’s a little ironic that Feeney got the leadership position as an indirect result of L’affaire Abramoff: Feeney himself was caught on the fringes of the scandal because of a golf trip to Scotland that he took with Abramoff; Feeney has since paid his share of the trip. Feeney, though, may not want to get too comfortable in his new position, and not because of anything he’s done: the GOP leadership’s decision to appoint Calvert to the open appropriations seat has met with staunch opposition from some conservative bloggers and activists, concerned about Calvert’s own alleged ethical lapses.
By Jeff Foust on 2007 May 15 at 7:47 am ET The AIAA announced Monday that an “unprecedented
coalition of nearly two dozen U.S. aerospace corporations” has signed off on a letter asking for more money for NASA. Aerospace companies, asking Congress to give NASA more money? Not exactly a surprising message. The letter cites both the joint funding resolution that cut several hundred million dollars from the proposed FY07 budget and the planned FY08 budget that falls $1.4 billion below the authorized level. Their recommendation: Congress should fund NASA at the authorized level for FY08.
Looking at the letter, it is clear that the industry is trying to create as united a front as possible. The signatories cover a wide range, from industry giants (Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman) to smaller, more obscure companies (Barrios, SGT) to entrepreneurial up-and-comers (Rocketplane Kistler, SpaceX), to even one company that will soon no longer be an independent entity (Swales, which is being acquired by ATK). All, of course, have significant dealings with NASA.
Another interesting fact about the letter is that it is addressed to a single member of Congress: Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, ranking member of the space subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee. The press release doesn’t explain why the letter was sent only to Hutchison, a member of the minority party who already strongly supports NASA. Why not (also) send it to someone like Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who, like Hutchison, is a strong advocate for NASA but also happens to chair the appropriations subcommittee with oversight of NASA? Or, if they really wanted to be daring, send it to someone who is powerful but not particularly supportive of NASA, someone like House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey…
By Jeff Foust on 2007 May 11 at 1:10 pm ET A reader, Bart Leahy, pointed out that Fox News is soliciting questions for a Republican presidential debate it’s hosting next week in South Carolina:
FOX News wants to know what you would ask the Republican presidential candidates when they debate in Columbia, S.C., on Tuesday, May 15.
Please e-mail your question to debate@foxnews.com. Include your name, town, state and contact number for verification. Please keep your question sharp, brief and to the point.
Leahy suggests submitting a question along these lines: “What will you do to ensure that the United States maintains its leadership in public and private space activities?” The hope is that “enough” space policy questions are submitted, the debate organizers will be compelled to use one in the debate. I’m skeptical, given that the volume of questions on hot-button issues is bound to be much greater, but perhaps the organizers will be looking for a little variety…
By Jeff Foust on 2007 May 10 at 7:43 am ET So Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani showed up at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville for a press conference? And what did he talk about? Abortion and the military, the Huntsville Times reports. Certainly not, as one commenter in the previous post suggested, unveiling plans for a human mission to Mars by 2030. Not that it’s surprising, of course.
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