By Jeff Foust on 2006 May 3 at 6:31 am ET The AIAA is planning a “Space Weather Day” on Capitol Hill on Thursday, giving government and industry officials an opportunity to impress upon Congressional staffers the importance of monitoring space weather. Speakers include officials from NOAA, NASA, the Air Force, Lockheed Martin, and the aviation and utility industries, who are most affected by solar storms. This comes at a time when the Space Environment Center (SEC) has been threatened by budget cuts in recent years and suggestions that the monitoring work performed by the center should be shifted from NOAA to NASA and/or the Air Force. The SEC had its budget cut by 40 percent in FY06, for reasons that remain unclear, and could be forced to lay off staff if its budget isn’t restored to earlier levels for FY07.
By Jeff Foust on 2006 May 2 at 6:27 am ET NASA administrator Mike Griffin is certainly going to get some feedback from the scientific community this week regarding what the agency’s funding priorities should be for its science programs. Space News reports that the science subcommittee of the recently reconstituted NASA Advisory Council will meet this week at the University of Maryland. That meeting, scheduled for May 3-4, will allow scientists and the general public (who will get a half-hour comment period during the two-day meeting) to discuss the state of the FY07 budget proposal and what changes should be made. Also, Tuesday afternoon Griffin will appear at an open session of the Space Studies Board of the National Academies.
Will those meetings spur any changes? “If there is a competing trend in one direction or another I would be heavily motivated to go where they want us to go,” Griffin told Space News in an interview late last month. “If there is a cacophony of opinions … then we will probably stick with what we’ve got.” There’s already some feedback on what the community wants: a survey of the planetary science community conducted last month by the Planetary Science Institute found that a clear majority thought the top funding priority should be research and analysis (R&A) programs, the same programs that saw the funding cut in the FY07 budget proposal. R&A programs were followed by small- and medium-class missions, with large “flagship” missions in last place.
By Jeff Foust on 2006 May 1 at 6:06 am ET Over the weekend SpaceRef.com published an essay by Dennis Wingo on the Vision for Space Exploration, including the role of the Moon in the overall Vision as well as ways to promote commercial endeavors related to its implementation. Wingo is particularly pleased with presidential science advisor John Marburger’s speech at the Goddard Symposium back in March, in particular this passage:
The ultimate goal is not to impress others, or merely to explore our planetary system, but to use accessible space for the benefit of humankind. It is a goal that is not confined to a decade or a century. Nor is it confined to a single nearby destination, or to a fleeting dash to plant a flag. The idea is to begin preparing now for a future in which the material trapped in the Sun’s vicinity is available for incorporation into our way of life.
As Wingo writes, “It is incredible to me that this speech by Marburger is not on the wall of every single space advocate, and on the front of ever space advocate group’s web page.” However, he believes that “NASA alone is inadequate to the task” of carrying out the vision, and believes that the private sector should play a bigger role. He offers a couple of suggestions, including reviving the long-moribund “Zero-G, Zero Tax” legislation. An innovative suggestion he offers is to take the expected fine to be levied against Boeing for using proprietary Lockheed documents in the original EELV procurement, and use that money—perhaps $500-750 million—and use it as a fund for public-private space development projects. “It would be a wonderful irony that Boeing’s misdeeds end up supporting the development of commercial space opportunity for entrepreneurial space ventures!”
In today’s issue of The Space Review, Eric Hedman offers his own alternatives to the current VSE plan. Hedman believes that too many big decisions are being made too soon, particularly regarding the development of key hardware and other systems for sending humans back to the Moon. He offers several alternatives, including making enhanced use of the ISS. He also sees a greater role for the commercial sector, such as supplying propellant for an orbital fuel depot that could be used for lunar missions (a suggestion that Wingo also offers in his essay.) “This could be another opportunity for COTS-type procurement, increasing the market potential for the companies competing for ISS resupply,” he writes.
By Jeff Foust on 2006 May 1 at 5:48 am ET NASA administrator Mike Griffin has long spoken favorably of the agency’s plans to support development of commercial resupply services for the ISS, and according to an article in this week’s Aviation Week his support shows no sign of flagging:
To help make that happen, Griffin has taken a personal interest in keeping a $500-million funding wedge in NASA’s five-year budget. Under the COTS program the money is intended to help space companies demonstrate the technology that could take supplies to the ISS–and return scientific specimens and unneeded gear to Earth–after the shuttle is retired in 2010. The agency has already received responses to a COTS RFP, and Griffin says some demonstration contracts could be awarded as early as this spring, which would be sooner than originally expected.
Griffin told the senators on NASA’s authorizing subcommittee that he “holds close” the COTS program, and asked for their support to make it work. He says if the demonstrations go well NASA could have contracts in place for commercial ISS resupply within 5-7 years.
By Jeff Foust on 2006 May 1 at 5:42 am ET The New York Times, perhaps taking a cue from NASA administrator Mike Griffin’s testimony in Senate hearings last week, criticizes the tendency of Congress to add earmarks to NASA’s budget in an editorial Sunday:
The space agency is struggling to mount a vigorous program of exploration and scientific research within a tight budget. So what has Congress been doing to help it along? Not much, judging from revelations that hordes of greedy senators and representatives have siphoned more than half a billion dollars from NASA’s budget for the 2006 fiscal year to finance pet projects. It is a terrible diversion of money.
Earmarks, like the weather, is a topic everyone seems to talk about (especially at this moment), but no one seems able to do anything about. While the Times editorial concludes that “Congress should forgo earmarks completely”, when push comes to shove later in the current appropriations cycle, will members of Congress have the self-restraint needed to abstain from earmarks? One has doubts.
By Jeff Foust on 2006 April 28 at 7:02 am ET The Pentagon announced yesterday that Lt. Gen. Kevin Chilton will become the new commander of Air Force Space Command, succeeding Gen. Lance Lord, who retired a month ago. Chilton will earn a promotion to general in the process, ensuring that the command remains led by a four-star general: there had been concerns that the Air Force would allow a three-star to lead the command, with a corresponding decline in its prestige and importance. If the name sounds familiar, Chilton is a former NASA astronaut, having flown on three shuttle missions between 1992 and 1996, including commander of STS-76 in 1996.
By Jeff Foust on 2006 April 28 at 6:57 am ET Reuters reports that the lower house of the Mexico’s Congress has approved the formation of a national space agency for the country. The Mexican Space Agency, with an initial budget of only $2 million, would “coordinate research and work with universities and the private sector to launch communication and weather satellites.” (For $2 million, that won’t allow for much coordination.) Backers of the proposal hope that the agency will help development of high-tech industries in the country. While the article treats the agencu as a bit of a novelty, a number of countries not traditionally associated with space now have national space agencies, including NASDRA in Nigeria and GISTDA in Thailand.
By Jeff Foust on 2006 April 27 at 5:58 am ET Yesterday’s hearing on the NASA budget by the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee was attended by two members: chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) and ranking member Barbara Mikulski (D-MD). (Cynics would note that these two should be identified as Sens. Shelby (R-MSFC) and Mikulski (D-GSFC/STScI).) While it was clear in the questioning of NASA administrator Michael Griffin that they were looking after interests in their own states, they also made it clear that they thought NASA needed more money. For example, during a line of questioning by Shelby about science funding, Griffin noted that the planned science budget increases of up to 7% could not be sustained when NASA’s budget as a whole was growing at 2.4%. “I agree with you, we need more money,” Shelby said.
“I did not say that,” Griffin responded.
“Well, I say it,” Shelby said.
“Yes, sir,” Griffin said.
In a press release after the hearing, Mikulski said that she “called on the Bush Administration to increase funding for NASA in the federal budget, which cuts billions from science programs.” In the hearing itself, Mikulski was asking Griffin how much money it would take to speed up the CEV so it would be ready as soon as possible after the shuttle is retired when Shelby stepped in. “Sen. Mikulski, if you’ll yield, it’s obvious that we need more money to fund NASA,” he said.
“I think that’s it, Mr. Chairman,” she responded.
“You’re absolutely right,” he said.
By Jeff Foust on 2006 April 27 at 5:40 am ET X Prize founder Peter Diamandis will be in Capitol Hill today, but he won’t be there primarily to talk about commercial spaceflight or space tourism. Instead, he will be one of the witnesses of a House Science Committee hearing this morning on “H-Prize Act of 2006″ (HR 5143), legislation recently introduced by Congressman Bob Inglis (R-SC) to establish a series of prizes to encourage development of “transformational technologies that can lead to commercialization of hydrogen.” Diamandis’ X Prize Foundation is now moving beyond its origins as a space prize, with plans to run prizes in various other disciplines, including alternative energies.
By Jeff Foust on 2006 April 26 at 6:16 am ET Just a day after Reuters reported that final government approval for the United Launch Alliance (ULA) might come in the next several weeks comes word that one of the partners in the EELV joint venture might be having second thoughts. The Washington Post and Reuters report that Lockheed Martin will revisit the ULA in a board meeting on Thursday, according to comments made by company executives in an earnings conference call Tuesday. “[A]t that time, we’re going to review with the board the status (of the deal), and have the appropriate discussion,” Lockheed CFO Chris Kubasik said. Reuters notes that this “lukewarm approach” is different from remarks earlier this year when both Boeing and Lockheed Martin reaffirmed their commitment to the ULA despite regulatory delays.
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