ISS National Lab: Two Weeks Late – Still No Word

Keith’s note: According to the ISS National Lab Management Entity CAN the “anticipated selection announcement” was 31 May 2011. That day came and went last week. Nothing was announced. Given that it took decades for NASA to get this far – and that they only did so after Congressional direction – one can expect that they will drag their feet on this process as long as they can.
Remarks by Mark L. Uhran Assistant Associate Administrator, International Space Station at STA Luncheon
“The selection decision is imminent, and you can expect an award announcement later this summer upon successful completion of final negotiations.”
Keith’s note: NASA is now crowing that the era of utilization operations on ISS will commence after the completion of the STS-135 mission and that there will be 35 hours of science operations per week with a 6 person crew. If we had advertised this low science operations rate back in the 1990s (when I worked on utilization and operations on the Space Station program) Congress would have cancelled the program outright – for cause. Given NASA’s non-stop harping that the ISS is a “world class scientific research laboratory” Mark Uhran has some work to do: this 35 hour number needs to be doubled or tripled. 35 hours a week is unacceptable – its like saying that you need one full-time plumber, janitor, electrician, carpenter, mover, and assistant so that one scientist can do their research. That’s not “world class” – rather, its pathetic for a $60 ($100?) billion investment.
– NASA’s Plan To Waste Its Space Station Investment
– ISS National Lab CAN Provides Old, Incomplete Documents, earlier post
– NASA’s Slow Motion Reluctance To Truly Open Up The ISS, earlier post
– The Primary Purpose (Today) of the ISS is Operations, Not Science, earlier post
– Using the ISS: Once Again NASA Has Been Left in the Dust, earlier post