What Is Norm Up To?

See What The Committee Is Doing, Augustine Committee

"07.01.2009 - If you were at the June 17 public meeting (or watched it on NASA TV), you heard Chairman Norm Augustine announce that the committee had organized into subgroups in order to accomplish their work. Since that time, we have received several questions about the subgroups. Thus, we have posted a graphic showing the structure and membership of the subgroups.

06.26.2009 - In case you did not notice, we just implemented a major upgrade to our website. Navigation was improved, new icons were introduced, a Facebook link was added, a bunch of photos were added to our Flickr page, and a video file of the committee's first public meeting in Washington DC was posted. In addition, there is much new content on the "Related Documents" page and more answers to your questions on the "Provide a Question, Get an Answer" page. We hope these upgrades enhance your experience with the website. Feel free to drop us a "Comment or Suggestion" if you like."

Downplaying Internal Doubts About Ares

NASA pitches cheaper moon plan, AP

"They are hedging their bets," agreed Keith Cowing, a former NASA engineer who runs the Nasawatch.com web site, which acts as a watchdog on the space agency. "It clearly reflects some doubts among senior agency folks in the overall veracity of their current approach." NASA spokesman Michael Curie said Shannon was encouraged to make the presentation "in the spirit of sharing the options we've studied in the past." But he added: "NASA believes the best plan is to fully fund the current architecture ... This does not indicate a lack of confidence in or support for the current program."

Keith's note: John Shannon's presentation represents more than just what ESAS "studied in the past". If that was the case, then why not just have Shannon use old ESAS charts? Why have people go off and restudy it and make fancy (expensive) new graphics and animations? Shannon's presentation represented a contemporary analysis of the sidemount shuttle option in the light of what progress Ares has made, the problems that it has encountered, and the current funding and political climate NASA finds itself in.

Video: NASA Shuttle-derived Sidemount Heavy Launch Vehicle Concept, previous post

Why the Moon? Here's Why.

Going Beyond The Status Quo In Space, Dennis Wingo, Paul Spudis, and Gordon Woodcock

"Why the Moon? While appearing barren, the Moon has the resources upon which to build a prototype space civilization. It is a power-rich environment, permitting initial steps to be undertaken using proven, inexpensive solar power generation technology. The Moon is readily accessible from Earth at almost any time. This accessibility makes it a practical site for such a pioneering development - one that is convenient enough to Earth so as to enable trade, travel and telepresence operation. In contrast, Mars and the inner solar system asteroids have infrequent travel opportunities and comparatively long trip times. They won't work for first steps towards economic development of the solar system. With experience and technology from developing the Moon in hand, Mars can then be settled and the rest of the inner solar system can be developed in a cost effective manner."

Explaining Space Exploration

Lessons for the future of human space flight, Wes Huntress, SpaceReview

"Sixth, the rationale for the program must be articulated for the public. A question from the very first public commenter at the Committee's opening meeting hit the mark. "NASA's focus is on engineering and vehicles. There has been no explanation of what we are going to do when we get there. What's the plan and are we going beyond the Moon? You won't get public interest and sustain it until we know these things." NASA has proven itself technically competent but publicly impotent in spite of many studies internal and external that have articulated the imperatives for exploring space. Ironically, the administration's 2004 Vision for Space Exploration did it quite well in very few words. The Committee would serve the nation and its space program well by expressing these imperatives for the public and its representatives in the Congress and the administration."

Everest +30

Preview: Confessions of a Moon Rock Courier

"I have been home from my trip to Mt. Everest in Nepal for a month. That trip lasted for a month and a half. I was gone longer than I have been back. While I have readjusted to my life here, part of me is very much still there. And to be honest, I like that situation. That said, I am still trying to process all that happened at Everest.

I watched a friend prepare and then depart for a trip to the summit of Mt. Everest. I witnessed two incredible avalanches, one of which killed someone. I suffered severe dehydration and food poisoning which put me, at one point, in a rather hazardous situation. I hiked 14,000 feet across difficult terrain. I then lived in a cold tent atop an active glacier with half the oxygen I had spent 53 years breathing, losing 21 pounds in 6 weeks. I watched a steady stream of people try - and turn back from - their attempt at the summit while others were evacuated with severe medical issues. "

Augustine Hearing Video Online

Keith's note: The Augustine Committee hearing held last week is now archived for viewing on USTREAM.

Painting The Moon

An Astronaut Goes From Walking on the Moon to Painting It, NY Times

"Becoming a painter has been a long slog for Mr. Bean, who describes himself as a slow learner. He has had to give up the hyper-rational way of seeing the world he had learned as a Navy test pilot and engineer. He has trained himself to see things not as they are but as they feel to him, to translate emotions into colors and to resist his scientific urges. "When I left NASA, I made up my mind I was not going to be an astronaut who painted, but an artist who used to be an astronaut," he said. "It takes a while to change the heart."

A Passion For Space

A Passion For Space, Major Jack Fisher

"Several weeks ago, I saw my first space shuttle launch. STS-125 majestically rose to the heavens with crackling defiance, leaving behind a massive trail of fire and smoke - proof that man had once again slipped the surly bonds and bested Newton's hold. It was a re-awakening for me, and hearkened back to a young boy standing beneath the behemoth Saturn V, filled with post-Apollo euphoria and brimming with an unbridled passion for space. Thirty years later, space exploration is plagued with dated paradigms, abysmal acquisition performance, a growing list of hazards, and a history of administrations buying into the false economy of slashing NASA budgets - cutting the fuel line for the very engine that can drive our future."

Keith's note: this article was suggested to me by my old friend Gil Moore. It was given by Air Force Lt. Col. (Sel.) Jack Fischer presented in April at the Aerospace Corporation-sponsored Space Power Workshop at Manhattan Beach, CA.

Back to the Moon

Tom Hanks and Ron Howard: Space geeks, New Scientst

"So what does excite you?

TH: I want to go back and relive the Apollo 17 mission, when Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan lived on the moon for three days. They drove an electric car and it was a flawless mission. As Schmitt was a geologist, they got so much good science done. Alas, it was the last Apollo mission. Neil and Buzz just walked around for an hour and a half, got back in and took a nap. That's all they did. Don't write that down [laughs] - I just saw Buzz two nights ago. I don't want to rag on what they did. Here's what they did: they proved it was possible. Neil and Buzz did not die and made it back safe. They cheated death!"

Apollo Anniversary Event at The Kennedy Center

NASA Solicitation: NASA 40th Anniversary "Salute to Apollo: The Kennedy Legacy"

"NASA Headquarters (HQ), Office of Strategic Communications, plans to host the NASA 40th Anniversary of Apollo "Salute to Apollo: The Kennedy Legacy", July 18, 2009, at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with the National Symphony Orchestra. The Kennedy Center is renowned worldwide for its unique premiere location for distinctive special events. As the national center for the performing arts, the Kennedy Center honors the memory of President Kennedy and since President Kennedy is largely responsible for the Apollo program and human's first steps on the moon it is crucial for this particular performance to take place at the Kennedy Center. The Center has agreed to host the National Symphony Orchestra to perform a concert of works including Holst's "The Planets", popular, film and television music about space."

The evening event on this date is still listed as TBD at the Kennedy Center

Teaching Sour Grapes 101 in Huntsville

AP Interview: Ex-NASA head critical of Obama move, AP

"But Griffin doesn't have the same warm feelings about the administration's decision to study NASA's plan for the manned spaceflight program. Critics both outside and inside the agency have questioned NASA's plans for returning to the moon and, eventually, traveling to Mars. "This review is not, in my judgment, necessary from a technical point of view," he said. "But it does seem to be necessary if we are going to quiet some of the criticism of what NASA is doing, and if we are going to get the new administration on board."

Keith's note: Gee Mike, where do I start - how about the rocket you designed (Ares 1) - one that still does not have a workable design after a PDR that is still not complete; cannot launch the Orion vehicle it was supposed to be able to launch (requiring a crew reduction); risks crew injury during use of its launch escape system (as currently designed); and despite misinformation from MSFC to the contrary (as currently designed), still exposes crews to unacceptable vibrations (JSC report on its way to HQ). I'd say there is ample doubt to fuel a re-examination of your plans.

You can catch up with Mike and Becky at GriffinSpace LLC - when they get their website online, that is.

New Uses for Constellation Systems?

Feasibility of using Constellation Architecture for Servicing Existing and Future Observatory-Class Scientific Spacecraft, NASA SMD

"The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is soliciting information through this Request for Information (RFI) to improve its understanding of using the capabilities of its Constellation System, adaptations of the Constellation System architectures, and/or robotic technologies to service a wide range of notional science observatory-class spacecraft. The NASA-defined notional missions studied will be consistent with NASA's current portfolio of future space science missions and/or conceptual mission ideas that were presented to the National Research Council's (NRC's) Committee on Science Opportunities Enabled by NASA's Constellation System during the spring of 2008. These notional missions include observatories designed to operate in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), at Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO), and at Earth-Sun Lagrangian points L1 and L2."

Post Mission Side Effects

Keith's note: You know, after 3 stints on Devon Island - two of which were for a month on site, I have gotten to be very good at doing the mental adjustment to expeditionary life. I just fall into it and go with the flow. Life in a tent, working with electronics and frozen fingers in a tent, eating awful food in a tent, separation from my wife ... been there, done that.

[Image: outside my tent packing my bags for the trip down to Kathmandu collecting some rocks for the folks back home enlarge]

But .... so much happened so fast at Everest that I just surfed over it - with the focus on getting the tasks at hand accomplished. When I got sick with food poisoning down at Periche, I focused like a laser beam upon dragging my dehydrated body back to Everest Base Camp - undaunted - to complete my "mission".

And then Scott summited and a day later we were gone.

Now things are flooding back ... my physical summit was Kala Pattar - 18,600 feet - but my emotional summit is still in formulation.

All very strange - but enjoyably strange - its uncharted territory for me.

I need to write the story "Confessions of a Moon Rock Courier" this week. The impression that Sherpas have of holding a moon rock in their hands is ... humbling - and instructive. If only we Westerners could be so simple and pure in our appreciation as to what these moon rocks represent.

Clueless on Mars

Keith's note: Based on this message being circulated by Washington DC area Mars Society members, it would seem that the organization needs to provide some better information to its membership. The author asks "Who is Mr Augustine anyway, and why was the fellow considered a good lead for this effort?". Perhaps NASA Watch readers can fill them in on Mr. Augustine's background.

Full message below

G'Day Martians,

Bob Terry

Robert McCall to Paint Armstrong Portrait

NASA Solicitation: Armstrong Oil Painting

"[SPECIFICATIONS] The specifications are: (1) One (1) each: The artist will prepare a prototype study/concept sketch for approval of content and concept prior to executing the large oil painting. (2) One (1) each: The artist will deliver one large oil painting on canvas, approx. 5ft in height and 6 ft in width of Neil Armstrong. [SOLE SOURCE EXPLANATION] NASA/DFRC intends to purchase the item from Dr. Robert T. McCall. Dr. McCall has the unique expertise as a renowned artist and is a pre-eminent expert in communicating NASA Agency themes. He has been chosen as an artist for NASA, documenting the progress of American space history. Dr. McCall has done several other large paintings that are currently on display at this center, the Pentagon, the National Air and Space Museum, Johnson Space Center, and many others. He has technical familiarity with the subject matter and it establishes visual continuity with present works at NASA-DFRC."

Mike Okuda To Receive NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal

Star Trek Designer to Receive NASA Public Service Medal, Wired

"A long-time Star Trek designer is being recognized by NASA for his longtime contributions to the look of the U.S. space program. Michael Okuda will receive the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal for his work on multiple exploration missions. According to the space program, the medal recognizes "exceptional contributions to the mission of NASA." ... Over the years, Okuda did design work for Johnson Space Center, the Kennedy Space Center and the NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. He also worked with Ground Control officer Bill Foster to design designed the "Spaceflight Memorial Patch," honoring the fallen astronauts of Apollo 1 and the lost Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews. Okuda will receive the medal at a ceremony July 9 at Houston's Johnson Space Center."

Keith's note: As some of you may know, Mike has been a silent contributor to NASA Watch for years - often as the source of "vulcanized" science officers on the ISS. But he has had a much more overt role over the years as the designer of many of NASA's iconic logos. Indeed, Scott Parazynski and I were pleased to be able to put an autogaphed version of the Spaceflight Memorial Patch that Mike and Bill Foster designed on Scott's summit suit. In addition, another copy of that patch went to the summit of Mt. Everest on 20 May 2009.

The image below shows the patch prior to packing into Scott's "summit bling" kit.

Leroy Chiao Seeks Your Input

Keith's note: Twitter note from Augustine Commission member Leroy Chiao (AstroDude) "In what direction should US NASA human spaceflight proceed? Let me know at: leroychiao.blogspot.com"

Augustine 2.0 Members Formally Announced

NASA Announces Members of Human Space Flight Review Committee

"NASA announced Monday the members of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee. They are:

- Norman Augustine (chair), retired chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin Corp., and former member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush
- Dr. Wanda Austin, president and CEO, The Aerospace Corp.
- Bohdan Bejmuk, chair, Constellation program Standing Review Board, and former manager of the Boeing Space Shuttle and Sea Launch programs
- Dr. Leroy Chiao, former astronaut, former International Space Station commander and engineering consultant
- Dr. Christopher Chyba, professor of Astrophysical Sciences and International Affairs, Princeton University, and member, President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
- Dr. Edward Crawley, Ford Professor of Engineering at MIT and co-chair, NASA Exploration Technology Development Program Review Committee
- Jeffrey Greason, co-founder and CEO, XCOR Aerospace, and vice-chair, Personal Spaceflight Federation
- Dr. Charles Kennel, chair, National Academies Space Studies Board, and director and professor
emeritus, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
- Retired Air Force Gen. Lester Lyles, chair, National Academies Committee on the Rationale and Goals of the U.S. Civil Space Program, former Air Force vice chief of staff and former commander of the Air Force Materiel Command
- Dr. Sally Ride, former astronaut, first American woman in space, CEO of Sally Ride Science and professor emerita at the University of California, San Diego"

"Moon = Stupid": Its The Same Tired Rhetoric From Bob Zubrin

Waiting for Augustine, Space Review

"In an interview after his speech, Zubrin said that he expected the Augustine panel to look at broader goals for human spaceflight rather than tackle a detailed technical analysis of Constellation and competing architectures, given the names associated with the panel to date. "Either they say going to the Moon is stupid and we should keep going up and down to the space station, or going to the Moon is stupid and we should set ourselves a real goal, and that is to aim for Mars," he said."

Wayne Hale's NASA Blog: Why Climb the Highest Mountain?

"But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why thirty five years ago fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard. Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills. Because that challenge is one we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win."

This is the anniversary -- you know I'm big on anniversaries -- of the first ascent of Mt. Everest by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary. Even JFK compared going into space with climbing the highest mountain. Since a good friend and college, Scott Parazynski, just completed his personal conquest of that mountain, it seems timely to review the comparison."

DANGER: Not including 2009, over 4,100 successful summits of Mt. Everest have been made by 2,700 different people. 210 fatalities have occurred on the mountain with 120 bodies remaining unrecovered on its upper slopes. Thus the overall fatality rate is about 5% on the world's highest mountain. But Mt. Everest it not the most dangerous high mountain. Here are the top three: Annapurna (8,091 m) 130 climbers have summitted Annapurna, while 53 have died. The overall fatality rate is thus 41%. Nanga Parbat (8,125m) 216 climbers have summitted Nanga Parbat and 61 have died. The overall fatality rate thus 28.24%. K2 (8,611 m) 198 climbers have summitted the world's second highest peak. 53 have died. K2's overall fatality rate is 26.77%.

SO . . . .that leads us to the question of how space exploration and mountain climbing are different. That is a question that I would like you to comment on. So take it away!

Scott's Excellent Adventure

Scott Parazynski: Still on Cloud 10

"Just six days ago I'd wearily downclimbed to Everest's base camp. As I sat in a small blue tent that evening tenuously perched over one particularly malodorous barrel, a loud rockslide thundered directly towards me. I briefly thought of the irony of it all: I had finally summited "The Mountain of My Dreams", only to succumb to a tragic potty accident. Think of all the eulogy possibilities! The intense days of my Everest summit climb, the long descent and my return to Kathmandu's "civilization" have zoomed by, but the key details remain as vivid as the photographs and video we took on top. Simply stated, Everest was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, physically and mentally, but strangely enough this was also my ultimate reward. Some things just don't have to make sense."

Escape From Kathmandu

Keith's note: Scott and I are headed home (ahead: 24 hrs in transit). After a hectic day yesterday flying from Lukla (imagine taking of from a steeply pitched aircraft carrier stuck in the mountains) to Kathmandu we cleaned up, argued with Qatar Airways, made the traditional pilgrimage to the Rum Doodle Bar, and then rode home in a rickshaw. I want to thank Marc Boucher and Frank Sietzen for keeping the home fire burning here at NASA Watch - and Miles O'Brien for all of his help supporting Scott and I while we were at Everest.

Video: Scott Parazynski on the Summit of Mt. Everest

Scott Parazynski and other IMG climbers reach the summit of Mt. Everest on 20 May 2009 at 3:55 am local time. OnOrbit video by Danuru Sherpa of Phortse, Nepal.

Two more videos

Photos From The Summit of Mt. Everest

Image: An Astronaut Holds Apollo 11 Moon Rocks atop Mt. Everest with the Moon High Above

More images

Video of Scott on the Summit of Everest

Discovery Channel: "Our first Everest team reached the summit early this morning and we have Sherpa Cam footage beamed straight from the summit to your computer in record time. These videos were sent to us by Keith Cowing two to three hours max after summit. Discovery Channel along with the Everest climbers and crew members are proud to present what is probably the first and only footage of a successful summit attempt so close to the actual climb." [Watch the videos at Discovery]

Scott Parazynski Has Sumitted Mt. Everest

Scott is now on his way down the mountain to a lower Camp.

Astronaut Scott Parazynski and his Sherpa Danuru are standing on the summit of Mt. Everest as of 6:15 pm EDT - 4 am Nepal time

Scott was at the south summit of Mt Everest 8,750 m (28,700 ft) at 2:35 am local time.

8:26 pm Nepal time: Scott has just departed Camp IV and is headed for the summit of Mt. Everest ETA 5 am Nepal time/7 pm EDT - perhaps earlier.

Updates at onorbit.com/everest

Scott is using his SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker to check in. You can follow his progress all the way to the summit by checking his personal tracking page . Select "terrain" to see how close he is getting to the summit of Mt. Everest.

One Of Your Own Will Soon Stand On The Top of Our World

As you can see from this SPOT update, Scott is now on his way to Camp IV (South Col) at an elevation of 7,920 meters (26,000 ft). The summit is still a bit away at 8,848 meters (29,029 ft). Scott is using his SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker to check in. You can follow his progress all the way to the summit by checking his personal tracking page . Select "terrain" to see how close he is getting to the summit of Mt. Everest.[More]

Keith's note: Scott's summit window still focuses on a 7-8 pm 19 May / 5-6 am Local time 20 May summit. Scott is walking up to the jetstream. The rest of y'all need airplanes and rockets to do that. Dig it.

High Winds at Everest - But Scott Presses on for the Summit, Earlier post

"We all awoke this morning to some rather stiff winds here at Everest Base Camp. Add in a few avalanches overnight and it was a rough and tumble night for sleeping. While our tents (large and small) are well-secured, one still gets the regular impression that the wind is about to rip them free of their anchors. Up on the mountain, it is also windy, but things are expected to get better as the day progresses and all summit plans (including Scott's) continue as planned. Scott's summit window still focuses on a 7-8 pm 19 May / 5-6 am Local time 20 May summit."

Star Trek On Orbit

NASA Astronaut to Watch New Star Trek Movie Among the Stars

"Moviegoers likely will sit in crowded theaters to watch the new "Star Trek" movie, which premiered on May 8, but not NASA astronaut Michael Barratt. He will have the opportunity to watch the film aboard the International Space Station, while he and two crewmates fly 220 miles above Earth. The only thing missing will be the popcorn. Paramount Pictures transferred "Star Trek" to NASA's Mission Control in Houston, which then uplinked the film to the space station on Thursday, May 14. Barratt plans to watch the film on a laptop computer inside the Unity module".

Keith's note: Scott is scheduled to call his friend Mike Barratt from the summit of Mt. Everest sometime around 7-8 pm EDT on 19 May/5-6 am Nepal time on 20 May. Ever wonder what sort of photos Scott will pose for while on the summit? Stay tuned.

Scott Parazynski Talks to the Crew of the International Space Station from Everest Base Camp
Singing Sherpas Serenade Space Station Crew Member

Scott Parazynski Summit Attempt Delayed

Update 10:00 am Nepal time 9 May: Scott is back at Everest Base Camp - disappointed - but otherwise doing fine.

Update 9:11 am Nepal time 9 May: Weather conditions atop Mt. Everest have become unacceptable for further ascent at this time. Scott and other climbers have begun to descend from Camp II and should be back here at Everest Base Camp any moment now.

Update from Camp II: Resting, Science, and Photography

"Keith Cowing: I just spoke with Scott at Camp II by radio . He sounds cheerful, rested -- and excited. Scott is currently on a rest day before tomorrow's push to Camp III - but he is not just "resting".

IMG Update: Avalanche and Rescue Effort in Khumbu Icefall
Massive Avalanche Over The Lower Khumbu Icefall (images, video)

"Keith Cowing: There was a massive avalanche off of the west shoulder of Mt. Everest this morning. Within a very short period of time the entire lower Khumbu Icefall was enveloped in pulverized ice and snow."

Track Scott's progress via SPOT here.
More info at onorbit.com/everest
Follow Scott on Twitter at SPOTscott

Scott Parazynski's Everest Summit Bid Begins

Editor's update: At 12:14 Nepal time Scott radioed in to Base Camp that he had arrived at Camp II.

Editor's note: Scott is on his way to the summit of Mt Everest. He departed IMG Base Camp just after 4 am local time this morning (7 May) with his Sherpa guide Danuru. The moon was out and the sky was crystal clear. ETA at the summit is 7-8 pm EDT 10 May (5-6 am 11 May Nepal time).

Track Scott's progress via SPOT here.
More info at onorbit.com/everest
Follow Scott on Twitter at SPOTscott

Singing Sherpas Serenade Space Station Crew Member

This video was taken on 17 April 2009 at Camp 2 on Mount Everest at 21,500 feet. In it, IMG climber Scott Parazynski talks live via satellite phone Michael Barratt aboard the International Space Station on the occasion of his 50th birthday. In the background are three sherpas - the middle one, Danuru, will accompany Scott to the summit. Together they are known as the "Singing Sherpas". Video courtesy of Ed Wardel.

More info at onorbit.com/everest

Phantom Internal Studies

Editor's note: News reports that Lori Garver is in charge of a re-look at Project Constellation and that Pete Worden is in charge of an ESAS re-look are not true according to utterly reliable sources within NASA who are most certainly in a position to know.

Video Updates From Scott Parazynski at Everest Base Camp

Scott at Everest - with the Sun Shining, Miles O'Brien

"Eventually, we are going to get these vidchats from Everest Base Camp down to a science. At 11pm EDT on Wednesday - 8:45am Thursday at EBC, I spoke with Scott Parazynski and Keith Cowing. The weather is much better at this time of day there - and so we finally saw the amazing peaks behind them."

Scott Parazynski checks in from Everest, Miles O'Brien

"Astronaut Scott Parazynski checks in from Everest Base Camp. He is resting and eating - a lot (5,000 calories a day) in preparation for his summit bid. What's his favorite food at EBC? Not the Yak!"

Skype vidchat with Astronaut Scott Parazynski at Everest Base Camp, Miles O'Brien

"Mallory, come quickly! - great chat with Scott Parazynski and Keith Cowing this morning (EDT) - their afternoon (Everest time). Scott is in good spirits and "feeling strong like bull". He was joined by Keith Cowing (who is his multimedia sherpa for this season). Eric Simonson, the lead dog at IMG made a cameo as well."

More info at onorbit.com/everest

Arrived at Everest Base Camp

Editor's note: I arrived at Everest Base Camp at around 9:30 am Nepal time this morning (27 April). I have more or less settled in and have started to work. Scott is looking just fine - but tired after several days up on the mountain. He arrived back at the IMG base camp this morning the precise second I came around the last turn in the path toward the IMG tents. What timing! The NASA Trek Team is due here tomorrow morning and we are planning a satellite telephone call to the ISS crew around 7:22 GMT tomorrow. Stay tuned. Follow us at onorbit.com/everest and at SPOTscott on Twitter

Heading Off To Everest

Editor's note: I leave on Sunday for Nepal and will be there until 31 May. I will have Internet access while I am trekking in to Everest Base Camp via a variety of means albeit limited. At Everest Base Camp, I should have good comms, but they are expensive and I need to conserve them for the tasks at hand. As such, I really won't be responding to email, phone calls, etc. the way that I normally do. My email will be monitored by Marc Boucher and important messages will get to me. I hope to keep an eye (and a hand) on NASA Watch from time to time while Marc and guest bloggers hold down the fort.

You can follow what Scott Parazynski and I are up to at onorbit.com/everest. I will also be blogging for the Discovery Channel. Once I begin trekking you can follow me at SPOT. And of course, I will be twittering as well at KeithCowing.

Back in the States, Miles O'Brien will be our main anchor or "news sherpa" at our main expedition webpage. Scott, Miles, and I - plus the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, NASA PAO, Discovery Channel, Explorers Club, Boy Scouts, and SPOT - plan to try some things that have not been done before from this remote location.

We plan to do all of this in the spirit of what has now come to be called "participatory exploration" at NASA. If all the technology, weather, climbers, and logistics work out, we will have some interesting - and unprecedented - things to share with everyone. We will also be soliciting your imput at our main website.

Ad Astra - and Namaste
Keith

Everest Base Camp Ain't No Picnic

Ed Wardle: Everest Base Camp, Discovery

"For those trekking up from below, it spells hardship, extreme cold, nausea, headaches that won't go away and the risk of potentially lethal altitude sickness. For those climbing down from the dangers above, it's a haven with hot water, comfortable beds, warm climate, good food and safety. Right now, everyone is coming up to Everest base camp from below."

Scott parazynski: Icefall Revisited, then well-needed rest, OnOrbit

"It took 2 and a half hours to get to our high point, and a full 2 hours to return to Crampon Point ("Crampoff Point?"). I was totally exhausted coming back into camp, and after lunch I completely cratered in my tent for the rest of the afternoon! In retrospect, I didn't stop to drink and rest often enough, and as a result ended up with a mild altitude-related headache in the evening. This morning I feel much better owing to lots of warm tea and orange drink (I think a knock-off of Tang, which I used to love as a kid, but can hardly stand now!)."

Climbing and Space Walking

Miles O'Brien Interviews Scott Parazynski About His Return to Everest

"Preparing for a space shuttle flight or an EVA is a very intense process. It's the physical training, of course, since going on a space walk is very physically demanding. There is also mental preparation and knowing your tasks. There is knowing your equipment and how it works and how the gear might fail. Then there is the process of going through everything in your head, training runs - the things that you will be doing outside on a space walk. Going to Mount Everest is quite similar. You need to be getting your body ready, your gear, mentally preparing for the rigors of summit day and what leads up to it. It takes a lot of work. There are a number of differences as well. Out on a spacewalk we are wearing what is essentially our own personal spacecraft. We a have a visor, an oxygen backpack, cooling systems, battery power, and protection from the elements. Similarly, on our summit day on Everest, for example, we will have a down suit, an oxygen system, goggles to protect us from the ultraviolet radiation that could basically fry our eyeballs in very short order. The physical workload of that summit day, in particular, is very, very intense. But when you are out on a spacewalk you are typically very comfortable. There are brief bursts of very hard physical work that. But on the mountain you have to give it everything you have got every step of the way."

Scott Parazynski Is on the Khumbu Icefall

Scott Parazynski is heading up the Khumbu Icefall on Mt. Everest. Track him here - pick the "satellite" view.

Wayne Hale's NASA Blog: Making the Case

"Going through some old papers, I found a school publication which contained an essay I wrote in 1971. If memory serves, I had just read Gerard K. O'Neill's "The Case for Space", and of course, the Apollo lunar expeditions were in full swing.

Your comments please on this tidbit of history."

Today's Quest

So I offer this quaint historical essay, written with all the enthusiasm of youth, set in the language and culture of an earlier day -- and I ask for your comments: what has stood the test of time? How has the rationale for space travel evolved over the years? What has proven to be accurate and what was not? I await your thoughts.

Everest Update: Settling in at Base Camp

Photos From Everest Base Camp
Everest Base Camp: Settling In
Everest Phase 1 Complete, Phases II & III Much Harder
So, How Do You Train to Climb Mt. Everest, Living in Houston, Texas?
Dynamic Replanning

That Was Then - This Is Now

Making a NASA Themselves, The Harvard Crimson

"Why has NASA had such a dismal track record since the Apollo program? Reduced funding tells part of the story. The space program received around $40 billion a year (adjusted for inflation) in the mid-1960s, which was at least four percent of the federal budget. But, back then, Americans also had a much greater tolerance for risk: The first successful Apollo mission was launched just eight months after the three astronauts in Apollo 1 died during testing. NASA’s tighter leash today means that riskier programs like nuclear-powered spacecraft don’t make it off the drawing board. Ultimately, NASA’s 1960s miracles were enabled by widespread public and congressional support fueled by the Cold War race to the moon."

Scott Parazynski is Back at Everest Base Camp

Editor's 12:00 am note: Scott Parazynski checked in a few minutes ago at Everest Base Camp using his SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker. After settling in we should start to get a lot more from Scott via a BGAN (INMARSAT satellite) phone. You can track Scott's progress here and on Twitter. You can see the path he took (and the one I will take in a week or so) here.

Editor's update: More updates just in from Scott at Everest Base Camp:

Trip Up Memory Lane: Pheriche to Lobuche
Rest Day in Lobuche: The Clinic is Open
Everest Base Camp with an extended stay at Gorak Shep

Trying To Spin The Facts

Editor's note: There is an interesting post titled "Same Choices, Same Story Here" on NASA's blog site. No name is affixed to the posting.

Editor's update: NASA PAO tells me that ESMD PAO representative Gray Hautaluoma wrote this post with input from ESMD staff.

"There've been a lot of stories in the press lately about Constellation and its progress or supposed lack thereof. The alleged danger that the program is in. Could it be that when there's nothing real to report that people try to stir up old news?

The fact is that Constellation is targeting March 2015 for the first crewed flight to the International Space Station, with Orion aboard the Ares I rocket. That date hasn't changed for some time. We did originally give our teams a very tough challenge in the early days of the program of making this milestone in September 2013. And they worked hard toward it. But the fact is, we needed more money early on. Given the way budget cycles work, we were given a budget to initial operational capability, but the critical mass we would have needed to make that earlier date just wasn't there right away.

So we made choices. We continue to make choices. About what to do and when. About sequencing and doing things in parallel that we might ideally do in a different fashion given every dollar we wanted when we wanted it. But who gets that? The reality is that we are very fortunate to have a budget that will enable us to get to a crewed flight in 2015, but we're going to have to put off some other work until we get the Ares I and Orion system fully designed, tested and flown.

Our budgets are built to accommodate the change and contingency that any development program encounters. We have, after all, not created a new system for spaceflight in over 35 years. It's an enormous challenge and one that we welcome. There have been varying budget numbers reported in the press. The bottom line is that we had some numbers early on that we used as estimates while the overall architecture we were going to use was still under discussion. Right now we're targeting $36 billion for Constellation's cost through initial operational capability. That's for hardware, the stuff that will actually get us into space. But we also need to budget for the people and ground operations, the upcoming work that must begin on Ares V and early development work on lunar systems. When you add that in, you get to around $44 billion for Constellation through 2015.

But those budgets are still being worked out with the new Administration. In the meantime, America should be proud of the exceptional work by teams across the country for the next generation of space vehicles. We're working hard on them every single day."

What Lack Of Oxygen Does To Typing Skills

Ed at 4000 Meters in His Kitchen: An Email From Ed Wardle to Trisha Creekmore, Discovery.com Interactive Producer, Discovery Channel

"Dick mentioned you might want me to write somoething for the web this year and I thought this cd be an inetersting starter. Im doing an experiment with a new piece of equip,ent that simulates breathing at altitiude. Despite spelling like a drunk man, right nowIm totally sober an dhavent had a drink in weeks. Its 730 am and I'm siting in my kitchen at home in Londonbreathing air at 4000m in preparation for Everest. I have to concenrate really hard to type this. I have to look at the keys and punch in each letter."

Editor's note: I will be blogging for the Discovery Channel from Everest Base Camp during the Spring climbing season.

Twitter and Skype From A Remote Polar Research Station

A Leisurely Skype Chat With Astrobiologist Dale Andersen on Axel Heiberg Island

Editor's note: I got an email from astrobiologist Dale Andersen (@daleandersen on Twitter) just before 8 pm EDT tonight telling me to get on Skype. Dale is currently working at the McGill Arctic Research Station (MARS) on Axel Heiberg Island. Within a few moments we had an amazingly good connection with excellent picture quality. Dale picked up his Macbook and used its webcam to give me a tour inside the hut and the went outside to give me a view of the surrounding terrain.

Astrobiologist Dale Andersen Twitters from Axel Heiberg Island at 79 Degrees North

"The following Twitter posts were made by Dale Andersen at @daleandersen from McGill Arctic Research Station (MARS) on Axel Heiberg Island on 27 March 2009. MARS is located 8km inland at Expedition Fjord, Nunavut, on Central Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian High Arctic (approximately 79º26'N, 90º46'W). Established in 1960, MARS is one of the longest-operating seasonal field research facilities in the high Arctic. The station consists of a small research hut, a cook house, and two temporary structures. MARS can comfortably accommodate up to twelve persons."

The McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Research Project - Life in Extreme Environments; An Antarctic Field Journal (1997)

Editor's note: Dale and I have been doing stuff like this for a long time - often with hardware and comms that are crude by today's standards. Have a look at the "How We Built This Website" section.

Everest Update: Scott is on his way

Return to Everest 2009 Update 23 March: Travel Notes From Scott Parazynski, OnOrbit.com

Day 1/March 22, 2009 (Sunday) The first steps are some of the hardest

"Every journey begins with a single, critical step. Once in motion, keeping your heading and inertia becomes much easier, the goal more in focus. I am now thankfully very much in motion, half a world away from home, blogging from the comfort of a cafe in the Frankfurt (Germany) airport, ABBA playing somewhat annoyingly the background. Ten hours ago, riding to the airport with Gail, Luke and Jenna, I had a tight knot in my stomach, trying to make light of the "quick trip" I had planned to Everest's summit and back, and otherwise trying to remain upbeat despite the anguish of separation we'd soon face. A curbside drop-off with two enormous and overweight duffels made the goodbye hugs pass too quickly, but once inside the terminal I pushed away any uncertainty I might have had and strode with confidence towards the Lufthansa counter. With just under 4 hours of sleep last night and weeks of planning and training, plus months of daily dreaming of it, I was finally on my way back to the Himalayas!"

Former Astronaut To Take Social Media to New Heights, Universe Today

"In 2008, astronaut Scott Parazynski came within 24 hours of reaching the summit of Mt. Everest when a painful back injury forced him to abandon his climb. Now, Parazynski is on his way back for another attempt at summitting the world's highest mountain peak. But this time, he wants to take the rest of the world with him. If everything works as planned, Parazynski will blog, podcast, vodcast and more during the climb, and he even wants to Twitter from the summit."

Follow Scott on Twitter at SPOTScott

Lunar Orbiter Picture of the Century Re-released

Newly Restored "Picture of the Century": Lunar Orbiter 2's View of Copernicus

"The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP) has released another iconic image taken during the Lunar Orbiter program in the 1960's. This image, which shows the dramatic landscape within the crater Copernicus was often referred to as the "picture of the century" by many people at the time of its original public release in 1966. This image was taken by the Lunar Orbiter 2 spacecraft at 7:05 p.m. EST on 24 November 1966 from an altitude of 28.4 miles above the lunar surface, 150 miles due south of Copernicus. At the time this image was originally released most views of the lunar surface involved looking straight down. Little, if any, sense of the true elevation of lunar surface features was usually available. This photo changed that perception by showing the Moon to be a world with tremendous topography - some of it Earth-like, much of it decidedly un-earth-like."

Editor's note: A larger, raw version (2.2 GB in size) is now online at NASA's Lunar Science Institute.

Forget Space, Explore The Oceans

Bring NASA Back to Earth, Huffington Post

"Thus another recent NASA PR move is to tell Congress and the public that it is out to find 'life' on Mars and other planets. When many people hear references to life, images of Martians spin through their heads; some even envision civilizations that we could ally ourselves with, maybe against China, at least against some other aliens in some other galaxy. Actually, what the multi-billion dollar agency is looking for is some organic material, the size of amoebas or--even less, say, signs that once there was water on Mars. It would be nice to know, I grant you; however, given other priorities, it hardly belongs at the top of the list of what ought to be studied. Indeed, even if one insists that these funds are to be used for exploration--and not, say, finding better ways to fight disease or poverty--much more promising targets are near by, right here on Earth, in the oceans."

Editor's note: This guy has a bias and he wants to convince others that his oceans bias is better than their space bias. There is a simple solution: explore BOTH space and the oceans. The merits for so doing are equally compelling and relevant.

Another Public Space Survey

Public Views of Space Exploration, An independent national survey conducted by The Everett Group, February 2009

"The Everett Group, a full-service audience research firm in the DC area, specializes in surveys and focus groups on military and aerospace topics. This pilot survey on space exploration opinion was part of a larger methodological project the Everett Group conducted examining the differences between landline and cell respondents on telephone surveys. The results from this survey are statistically generalizable to the overall U.S. population, with a margin of error of +/-5.2%."

Return to Everest

Scott Parazynski: Everest Part Deux, in 3-D

"Mount Everest is calling me again. A week from today I will begin to answer that call, my first step being a very long flight to Katmandu. Last spring, after 59 arduous days on the mountain, I came tantalizingly close to reaching the summit, but had to turn back due to a severe back injury. Since then my determination to reach the summit has only strengthened, and I am physically and mentally ready for another shot at it. As I make this second summit bid, I hope to bring many of my friends - both old and new - along with me via this website. While this is a personal quest for me, in many ways, what I do - and how I do it - resonates with many other types of exploration, both on here on earth and in space. Therefore, I hope to use this climb to allow a wider audience, young and old alike, to gain some insight into how the business of exploration is done ... Please join me, Sherpa Danuru (who will be my climbing sidekick this season --- much more about him later), Keith Cowing, Miles O'Brien and the NASA trekking team as we undertake this epic adventure!"

Editor's note: You can follow Scott's climb at onorbit.com/everest. You can also follow Scott's Everest Climb on Twitter at SPOTScott

Driving The Northwest Passage

Driving Across The Northwest Passage to Make Polar History

"An international team of scientists has launched an expedition to drive the Northwest Passage on sea-ice this spring, marking the first time the Passage has ever been travelled in a road vehicle. The team, led by Mars Institute scientist Dr. Pascal Lee, has a dual goal of studying climate change on Earth and advancing the human exploration of the Moon and Mars. The mission is an integral part of the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) on Devon Island, High Arctic, where research in space science and exploration is being conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)."

Is Space Exploration Worth Funding?

12 March 2009: Questions Of the Day: Is America's Space Program Worth the Money?, ABC News

“There was a close call in space today. Space junk nearly hit the International Space Station forcing the astronauts to race to the Soyuz escape rocket until the danger passed. Space exploration is the subject of today’s question: Given the tough economic times, given the ballooning deficits, is the nation’s space program still worth the money? NASA’s budget is close to $20 billion.”

Where Next?

Increased funding for NASA would stimulate economy while keeping American industry strong, op ed by Rep. Ralph Hall

"Accelerating development of the Constellation system would keep American tax dollars working for us here at home and have a multiplier effect throughout the economy by stimulating high-tech manufacturing and networks of suppliers around the country. This would expand our economic output and help our industries remain competitive in the global marketplace. By fostering this kind of innovation, the U.S. has earned a leadership role in human spaceflight, the economic benefits of which are far-reaching."

An Astronaut's Letter to President Obama: Six Space Policy Musts, Tom Jones

"En route to the moon forty years ago, Apollo 11's astronauts executed a course correction maneuver, an 8-mph rocket burn that fine-tuned their aim. You gave NASA a course correction with the 2010 budget plan. The $19.2 billion NASA budget (just half a percent of federal spending) may seem trivial amid the trillions spent to boost the economy, but such decisions will make or break America's status as the world leader in space. Here are six moves we need to keep NASA--and the United States--on the right trajectory."

ESMD NASA Lunar Surface Systems Concepts Charts Online

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Programmatic Workshop on NASA Lunar Surface Systems Concepts (presentations)

"As part of an ongoing collaboration, NASA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC) Space Enterprise Council (SEC) are conducting a workshop on NASA Lunar Surface Systems (LSS) Concepts. The objective is to provide a status of NASA's lunar surface exploration architecture, to share results of recent innovative lunar concept studies, and to seek feedback from U.S. industry and other interested parties."

Obama Budget Preview: Moon Is Still In The Plan

Obama Will Stick with Bush Moon Plan, Aviation Week

"The fiscal 2010 NASA budget outline to be released by the Obama Administration Feb. 26 adds almost $700 million to the out-year figure proposed in the fiscal 2009 budget request submitted by former President Bush, and sticks with the goal of returning humans to the moon by 2020. The $18.7 billion that Obama will request for NASA - up from $18.026 billion for fiscal 2010 in the last Bush budget request - does not include the $1 billion NASA will receive in the $787 billion stimulus package that President Barack Obama signed Feb. 16. Aviation Week has learned that in addition to the human-lunar return, Obama wants to continue robotic exploration with probes to Mars and other Solar System destinations, as well as a space telescope to probe deeper into the universe."

ESMD Lunar Surface Systems Workshop

NASA-Industry Lunar Surface Systems Workshop Set For Feb. 25-27

"NASA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Space Enterprise Council will hold a workshop on lunar surface system concepts to support human and robotic exploration on the moon by 2020. The workshop will take place Feb. 25 - 27 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 1615 H Street, NW, in Washington. The forum will provide a status of NASA's lunar surface exploration architecture and share results of recent innovative NASA, industry, and university lunar studies performed for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate and Constellation Program. NASA also will seek feedback from U.S. industry and other interested parties."

Buzz is at it Again: Let's just change everything

Editor's 1 Mar update: This paper has been removed from the NSS blog but has been republished here.

Editor's 2 Mar update: Buzz Aldrin has asked the other two authors of this paper to remove his name from it.

New Space Policy Statement by Buzz Aldrin, Aerospace Technology Working Group (via NSS Blog)

"In our view, there were several fundamental problems with the Bush Vision and its implementation for Space Exploration inherited from the get-go: ... (2) The VSE lacks strategic merit, which can only be built upon a sufficiently vetted decision-making process of logic and analytic rigor. Especially, such process should have been scrutinized through hearings to engage the American public and politicians. Instead, the Bush VSE was a product of a blind and near-childish emotional response to a series of domestic and international geopolitical events that occurred in 2003, such as the launch of China's Shenzou-5 manned spacecraft on the 15th of October and the STS-107 (Columbia) Space Shuttle disaster in early February."

Editor's note: "Blind and near-childish emotional response"? C'mon Buzz can't you try and be a little more accurate and engage in a little less armwaving to make your point? The "Bush Vision" has been repeatedly endorsed by both chambers of a Democrat-controlled Congress. Also, Buzz, I do not seem to recall hearing any of this criticism from you in 2004 when you were overtly campaigning for President Bush's re-election.

While there are some interesting ideas in this document, it is a little hypocritical to see Buzz and his co-authors dump on the VSE and its return to the moon program as being "imposed [on] the American people" without enough funding only to substitute their own grandiose program which includes even bigger projects across larger regions of the solar system with an equally vague description of who foots the bill or why they would pay for it. You can't just say the words "commercialization" and "development" and expect things to just magically occur.

As for their claim that this was not all discussed in the open, yes, the Bush folks were contradictory - but not at first. When the VSE was first announced Sean O'Keefe and Craig Steidle went to great lengths to open up the whole process for external input - and Buzz was there providing input. Several years later, when O'Keefe left and other political factions took the reigns, Mike Griffin came in and, in his impatience, simply swept away all that had been done before and imposed his own personal architecture. Now, several more years later, I guess it is once again time to throw all of that out too - good and bad.

Small wonder nothing ever seems to get built.

NASA seems to be much better at changing direction than consistently following its own direction - and space advocates seem to be the biggest cheerleaders for this constant state of turmoil. Each time there is a change in direction everyone ends up with a collective case of whiplash - only to immediately set the stage for another course change a few years hence. Imagine what this looks like to people outside the space community - taxpayers and legislators - when the people who are supposed to understand all of this space stuff keep changing their minds?

Small wonder space is a third tier political issue.

Inside NASA's New Moon Rover

Inside NASA's New Moon Rover

"Forgetting politics for a moment, the folks at NASA have managed to come up with a good guess at how such a rover might work - and have created something that you can drive. More importantly you can use it to perform meaningful work. To be certain, this is a vehicle that is designed to work on Earth - pneumatic tires, no life support system, etc. But that is not what it is designed to test. Rather, it is designed to be used as a rover might be used on the moon - not how you'd build the subsystems etc. for an actual moon rover. Once the utility requirements are firm, then you go and design the actual lunar rover. "

Forget The Moon

NASA urged to keep feet on Earth, Houston Chronicle

"A new report from Houston's Baker Institute declares that NASA should give up for now any ambitions of rocketing humans to the moon and focus instead on delivering payoffs in energy and the environment -- especially for climate change. Arguing that the space agency has an opportunity to prove "its relevance in the post-Cold War world," researchers at Rice University's Baker Institute of Public Policy urged the Obama administration to place the space agency on the front lines of efforts to harness electricity from such alternative energy sources as wind and solar power."

Maximizing NASA's Potential In Flight and on the Ground: Recommendations for the Next Administration, Baker Institute
Rationale and Goals of the U.S. Civil Space Program, NAS

Remembering

Message from the Acting NASA Administrator - Day of Remembrance, Jan. 29, 2009

"It's going to be a busy year for all of us, with missions that carry with them the considerable risk that is a part of our normal business. But they also carry great potential. We each have opportunities -- every day -- to remember through our actions, the courageous men and women who dedicated their lives to public service. With each mission and every challenge, we build upon their technical achievements, benefit from their discoveries, and tap into their bravery and spirit. I am honored to remember these members of the NASA family, and to work side by side with those in NASA and in our communities, to fulfill the vision of these extraordinary people, of living and working in space."

NASA JSC Special: A Message From The Center Director: Memorials
NASA Glenn Research Center Pays Tribute to Fallen Astronauts
NASA Honors Fallen Colleagues During Day Of Remembrance

NASA's Tribute
Cartoon at Red & Rover, Comics.com

Arctic Memorials and Starship Yearnings, SpaceRef
Ancient Memorials for Modern Space Explorers, SpaceRef
Pictures From the Summit of Mt. Everest, Everest OnOrbit (honoring Shuttle, Apollo, and Soyuz crews)
Astronaut Scott Parazynski: Many Small Steps to the Summit of Mt. Everest, Everest OnOrbit (photo of this patch on Scott's Everest summit parka)

This Week in History: Remembering Challenger and Apollo 1, To the center
Space history: Seventeen astronauts paid the ultimate price, Alamagordo Daily News
Jan. 27, 1967: 3 Astronauts Die in Capsule Fire, Wired

Altair Concept RFP Hits The Street

NASA Seeks Concept Proposals for Future Moon Lander

"On Wednesday, NASA issued a request for proposals for concept definition and requirements analysis support for the Altair lunar lander. Proposals are due to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston by 2 p.m. CST on Feb. 27. NASA's Constellation Program will use Altair to land four astronauts on the moon following launch aboard an Ares V rocket and rendezvous in low Earth orbit with the Orion crew vehicle. The lunar lander will provide the astronauts with life support and a base for weeklong initial surface exploration missions of the moon. Altair also will return the crew to the Orion spacecraft that will return them home to Earth."

Things We Used To Do

We Aimed for the Stars..., Miles O'Brien

"Truth is, we have done nothing to equal (much less top) the accomplishments of Apollo. And even worse, we haven’t tried. We did something truly great, but then walked away from it. We had lightning in a bottle — and we opened the lid. Our country has been pulling the rug out from under NASA ever since Apollo. Really, the agency is running on fumes from rocket fuel that was purchased (on a credit card no doubt) in 1961."

What Apollo was .... and wasn't, Paul Spudis, Air & Space

"Miles O'Brien, late of CNN, recently wrote a column reflecting on the accomplishment of the Apollo program and the space program since then. He believes that Apollo was a great leap forward in space, a capability and step from which we then walked away. O'Brien asks why the country has turned its back on the promise of space and what it will take to re-establish the resolve we once showed in reaching for the Moon."

Why We Shouldn't End Our Manned Space Program, Esquire

"One night last fall, as the nation's economy rapidly unspooled, America did something big that we barely notice anymore but that no one else can match. We can't stop now, can we?"

Orbiting Earth By Mail

Orbiting Earth By Mail, OnOrbit.com

Editor's note: I stumbled across this item on eBay today. It was titled "NASA Astronaut Scott Parazynski Mt. Everest Climb 2008". I bought it for 10 bucks. I asked Scott what he thought. He replied "That's amazing, and pretty humorous - especially since the photo is from Denali. I'd imagine the only way the cover creator could have found this photo is from OnOrbit.com/Everest - as it's a personal photo and not online anywhere else."

Geographic inaccuracies aside, it is most interesting that someone on the other side of the world thought enough of Scott's attempt on Everest to make note it in this way - and that this envelope would end up around the world in Minnesota being sold by someone who understands the nature of what Scott was trying to do and also followed Scott's progress on my website. More info and larger image.

Seeing The Rover Up Close

Editor's note: The pressurized rover that participated in yesterday's inaugural parade is currently sitting outside of NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. It heads back to Texas tomorrow. There will be a media opportunity to examine the rover later today. I have already been inside and have some images which I will be posting later today.

Suffice it to say this is one very well executed and undeniably cool piece of hardware.

Editor's update: Photos of the rover are posted here. Videos and story to follow.

Today's video: NASA Rover in the Inagural Parade

Antarctic Habitat Name Announced

NASA and Challenger Center Announce Name of Antarctic Habitat

"NASA and the Challenger Center for Space Science Education have selected the winner of the Antarctic habitat naming contest. The name "Resolution" took top honors in the "Name that Habitat" competition. The winning name was submitted by 9th grade students at Holy Cross High School in Delran, N.J. and was under the command of Captain James Cook. Holy Cross students said the new habitat represents an advance in technology, much as Cook's ship did. The students also pointed out that the word "resolution" aptly describes America's intent to explore space."

Using a Planetary Analog To Test a Prototype Inflated Habitat for NASA

President Bush and the Orion rocket or Orion launching vehicle

Transcript of interview with President Bush, Star Telegram

"And so my first purpose on the NASA issue was to develop a mission that would excite the scientists, the employees, and the Congress. That has been accomplished."

Editor's note: And as far as what the remaining 99.99% of the population wants ... ? Oh yes, the rocket is named "Ares".

"Q: Can I ask about a parochial Houston subject -- NASA?

Q: Over the last eight years, they've had to make some decisions on priorities and spending. I was wondering how you assess how well NASA has done during your presidency and what do you think lies ahead for space exploration, and particularly manned space exploration.

THE PRESIDENT: I was very concerned about the dwindling enthusiasm for NASA when I first got here. And the reason why -- and so we did a whole study of NASA and its future, and it became apparent to me that the space shuttle was losing its glamour and, frankly, people weren't convinced of its necessity. And the space station was important, but it just didn't have -- the mission itself didn't capture a lot of folks -- the imagination of a lot of folks in Congress.

And so my first purpose on the NASA issue was to develop a mission that would excite the scientists, the employees, and the Congress. That has been accomplished. I know there is a gap that concerns people, and that would be the gap between the last shuttle and the beginning of the new Orion rocket program. Nevertheless, I do think it's -- the mission has to be very relevant. And so I've been a believer in NASA and space exploration since I've been the President, and I'm excited about the new mission."

Why Space? Why Now?

Why Space? Why Now? That is the Question, Dennis Wingo, SpaceRef

"As we all know another administration change is coming and with change as the operative theme of this administration, we can surely expect that this will come to NASA's direction. Many people are anticipating this (except for the current administrator) and are formulating their plans on how we can "improve" upon Dr. Griffin's ESAS architecture. I get calls from many of these people and participate in some of the discussions. However, as I hear these calls and read the position papers there is a feeling of something missing and the thing that is missing is what has left us circling the Earth in some form or fashion for the past 36 years. The thing that is missing is a compelling "why" as a fundamental rational for our space efforts."

Lunar Science Institute Research Teams Chosen

NASA Selects Research Teams for Lunar Science Institute
 
"NASA has selected seven academic and research teams as initial members of the agency's Lunar Science Institute. The institute supports scientific research to supplement and extend existing NASA lunar science programs in coordination with U.S. space exploration policy. The selection of the members encompasses academic institutions, non-profit research institutes, private companies, NASA centers and other government laboratories. Selections were based on a competitive evaluation process that began with the release of a cooperative agreement notice in June 2008. The next solicitation opportunity for new members will take place in approximately two years."

Mike Griffin's Closing Statement

We Have a Long Way to Go - Presentation by NASA Administrator Mike Griffin to the Space Transportation Association

"Last year, I addressed the considerations governing the design of NASA's Constellation architecture, to get on the record why the design is what it is. However, judging by the many questions I receive on the topic, I didn't do a very good job, so I will try again today. And, while I will try not to repeat what I have said in prior speeches and testimony, I must admit that in tackling these issues I am reminded of Shakespeare's Henry V: "Once more into the breach, dear friends ..." Constellation was designed to implement a new civil space policy, articulated by the president in the aftermath of the Columbia accident, and modified, extended, and enhanced by both Republican and Democratic Congresses in the NASA Authorization Acts of 2005 and 2008."

We think: NASA's chief paved the way for his exit by dismissing other views, editorial, Orlando Sentinel

"Barring a reprieve from President-elect Barack Obama, Michael Griffin appears on his way out after nearly four years as NASA's administrator. It's high time for him to go. Mr. Griffin brought unmatched credentials as a scientist and engineer to the administrator's job when he took over in 2005. Under his leadership, NASA completed the lengthy and difficult process of returning shuttles to flight after the 2003 Columbia disaster and got back to building the international space station. But Mr. Griffin's approach to NASA's next manned mission -- the moon and Mars program called Constellation -- has been my-way-or-the-highway. Coupled with his cavalier attitude toward chronic cost overruns in other programs, Mr. Griffin has become the wrong man to steer the agency forward. His impatience with criticism is a troubling throwback to the days when dissenting views at NASA were suppressed, with disastrous consequences."

ULA Briefings Show that EELVS Can Replace Ares 1

Military rockets: Solution for NASA?, Orlando Sentinel

"According to documents presented to Obama's transition team three weeks ago -- including internal studies by the rockets' manufacturer, United Launch Alliance -- upgraded human-rated versions of the military EELVs would have enough power to take NASA's fully loaded Orion crew capsule into orbit. In fact, the studies say some configurations of the rockets can lift up to 6 metric tons more than NASA requires..."

... Industry officials say that a few days later, Griffin called Robert Stevens, the CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp., which jointly owns ULA together with Boeing Co., and demanded that Stevens stop what Griffin called the subsidiary's efforts to "kill Ares I" by promoting versions of its own rockets that could carry humans to space.

From The Earth to the Moon

Forty years ago, three men left for the Moon

"[Sunday] marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of the Apollo 8 mission, America’s first human mission to the Moon and by any measure, still a remarkable achievement. It’s difficult from our position so many years later to appreciate what a bold, giant leap this mission was, in some ways even greater than the subsequent lunar landing of Apollo 11. Before Apollo 8, no one had ever ventured more than a few hundred kilometers above the Earth. No one had ever seen, with their own eyes, the glowing disk of a full Earth nor the cratered dusty surface of the Moon up close. And no one had ever experienced the isolation of being on the far side of the Moon, cut off from all contact with the Earth and everything the human race has ever known."

ESMD Telecon

NASA to Update Reporters about Constellation Program

"To participate in the call, reporters should dial 800-790-1836 and use the pass code "ESMD update." Replays of the call will be available through Dec. 24 by dialing 866-507-3617 and entering the pass code 52368."

Editor's note: When you call 800-790-1836 (I have tried twice) you get "Video Professors' free CD hotline". Oh well. I don't think there will be very many people on this telecon today.

Editor's update: The actual number is 888-790-1836

Telecon Notes starting at 4:00 - 4:10 pm EST:

AP's Seth Borenstein asked Doug Cooke a question about $2 billion in underfunding for Ares as was presented to industry in a recent briefing. Cooke denied having held any such briefing saying "I do not know what briefings you are referring to." Doug Cooke is not telling the truth. Steve Cook and ESMD representatives met with industry representatives this morning at NASA HQ to discuss Ares, Orion, and Constellation issues. This was sponsored by the Space Business Roundtable. Multiple sources report that this $2 billion underfunding was discussed. NASA PAO was not there.

Doug Cooke: 2008 milestones. Completed System Baseline Review for Orion completed. Administrator participated. Looked at what is needed to proceed to PDR. Launch Abort motor test completed. Jettison motor test as well. In the next week we have the HTA test that will test valves of Launch Abort Motor.

Ares 1 PDR completed with one open review with one item that will be subject to a delta PDR in the Spring. This was the first time in 35 years that we have had a review like this. J2-X reviews under way. Getting ready for RFP for Ares V in the next few days or early next year. Ares V Industry Day on 3 December. 11 July Ares 1-X launch contingent upon shuttle issues.

First lunar program milestone - lunar capabilities concept review completed that set in place point of departure designs for Altair and Ares V. This is the first programatic milestone in returning humans to the moon. LRO will be our first step on the way back to the moon. LRO has been in thermal vacuum testing and due to be done with this soon. LCROSS will launch with LRO - no real issues with that.

Analog surface testing of vehicles and EVA capabilities have gone well. Tested out ISRU to extract Oxygen from soil. COTS - we signed agreement with OSC for Space Act Agreement. Also have one with Space X. Have milestones where we provide payment and invest in their capabilities. Working to cargo capability in 2010. Space Space X had a successful Falcon 1 launch and Falcon 9 engine test. Do not know what changes lie ahead with the new Administration. We do have follow up to Ares 1 PDR that deals with Thrust Oscillation issue. Pad Abort 1 test in the Spring - no date set yet for that - waiting for HTA test next week.

NASA Watch: You are quoted on spacepolitics.com as saying that "I attended the review myself, and despite what was said in the blogosphere and the sensational media, it was very professionally done,". I am wondering how you justify such statements when your own internal PDR review documents as posted on NASA Watch were riddled with complaints about incomplete and inaccurate documentation?

Cooke: There are always items that are to be worked - and there were. The review was where is should be and for the issues that we identified we made sure that there were plans that were logical to mitigate those issues.

NASA Watch: Why are you rushing ahead with the Altair RFI which requires that lots of people work over the holidays when it is all but certain that the incoming Obama team is going to put all ESMD activities on hold pending an internal review? Is this the wisest way to be spending everyone's time?

Cooke: In the world that we live in we have a budget that we work to - we have to work to the direction that we have. We feel it is important to keep moving on things. I actually asked the question if we should wait until after the holidays and contractor community wanted it early.

When asked about moving Orion to an EELV Doug Cooke said "We do not have any data on that specifically."

Burying The Hatchet

Competitors for space suit to work together, AP

"Two companies that competed against each other in a contested bid to design the next-generation space suit for NASA will now work together in a joint enterprise. Dan Coulom, a spokesman for Hamilton Sundstrand, which is a partner of ILC Dover in the project, said Tuesday the venture will bid for the $745 million contract with Oceaneering International Inc."

Dodd Weighs In On Space Suit Competition, earlier post
Hamilton Sundstrand Fights Back, earlier post
Changing Horses, earlier post

Altair Draft RFP Released - So Much for Holiday Vacation

NASA Calls for Comment on Draft Altair Request for Proposals

"NASA has released a draft request for proposals, or RFP, to seek industry support for the design of its Altair lunar lander vehicle, part of NASA's Constellation Program. Altair will deliver four astronauts to the moon's surface late in the next decade, fulfilling U.S. space exploration goals. A pre-solicitation conference is scheduled for Dec. 18 at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The conference is designed for information sharing about the Altair conceptual design contract with potential offerors."

Editor's note: Typical NASA ESMD procurement silliness: they post a procurement notice and issue a press release toward the end of the working day (4:30 pm EST) on 16 December and announce a pre-proposal conference for 18 December - but they then tell you that you have to RSVP for that meeting on 16 December. What a nice way to limit participation.

Responses are due no later than 12 January 2009 which means little or no time off for the holidays. It is curious that ESMD is rushing to do all of this over the holidays - for an activity the Transition Team may well put on hold a week or so after the due date as it evaluates where it wants the agency to go with regard to the previous Administration's various initiatives. Lets see if all of this work over the Holidays simply has to be redone.

Of course, this is all part of a plan by Mike Griffin's soon-to-be departing ESMD staff to force the Obama Administration's hand by shoving as much as they can into the procurement process so as to make it all that much harder to alter what they have done after noon on 20 January 2009.

Ares V Update

NASA Calls for Comment on Draft Ares V Request for Proposals

"This document is a draft of the final version of the RFP for Phase I, expected in January 2009."

Ares V to Support Heavy Lift for U.S. Space Exploration, Industry Day Conference 2008, December 3, 2008 (PDF)

- Issued Draft RFP Nov 25, 2008
- Pre-solicitation Conference Dec 3, 2008
- Plan is to Synopsize RFP Dec 19, 2008
- Plan is to Issue RFP Jan 5, 2009
- Proposals Due Feb 9, 2009
- Clarification of Proposals Complete Feb 16, 2009

Fourth Item of Business: Ares V, NASA Strategic Management Council, 27 August 2008

Steve Cook, MSFC Ares Projects Manager, presented the approach to initiating and acquiring Ares V.

No decision, no action required.

Only NASA Could Make Space Exploration Boring

5...4...3...2...Yawwwwwn, ABC News

"What if we saw more of that on NASA TV? What if the cameras were live 24 hours a day on the space station and you could peek at the crew anytime you wanted to and see and hear what they were doing, rather than the one hour a day in the morning NASA lets you see a carefully programmed presentation?"

Editor's note: Did you know that there are as many as a dozen live cameras, some which can send HiDef video back to earth 24-7-365? Many of them look at the ISS and the Earth. Yet JSC refuses to allow that video to be streamed live over the Internet. Even NASA HQ can't make them do it.

As for the more popular aspect of the STS-126 mission, the lost tool bag, this has become a rather popular topic of discussion in the news. And no, the talk on the news does not totally focus on NASA screwing up by losing this bag. Instead, broadcasts such as the NBC Nightly News focused - as did a number of websites - on how anyone can look up track this small object in space all by themselves. Some people have actually videotaped it. Yet I cannot find any evidence that NASA's Human Spaceflight website or on its ISS/Shuttle tracking page have done anything to build upon this obvious public interest so as to facilitate more sightings. At least for a moment, a lot of people could participate albeit from afar, in the observation of this unintended satellite. But NASA does not seem to care.

This points to a critical - and chronic - failure as to how NASA interacts with the public. Something captures the public's attention in a way that normally does not happen with shuttle missions such that they are drawn to lookup at the night sky. Does NASA do anything to encourage that behavior? No. Instead they treat this toolbag as a nuisance - one that they hope will go away. Alas, that is also how they are treating public interest in NASA. And if they are not careful, that interest will most certainly go away too.

Joe Six Pack and NASA, earlier post

Ares V Draft Proposal Request

NASA Calls for Comment on Draft Ares V Request for Proposals

"NASA has released a draft request for proposals, or RFP, regarding Phase I of its Ares V launch vehicle. The rocket will perform heavy lift and cargo functions as part of the next generation of spacecraft that will return humans to the moon. Phase I will define operational concepts, develop requirements, and refine design concepts for the Ares V. This document is a draft of the final version of the RFP for Phase I, expected in January 2009. By responding to this draft RFP, potential offerors can provide input on the requirements, small business goals and contract structure. The industry input received will be combined with NASA's expertise for potential inclusion in the final version of the RFP for Phase I, which will ask for bids on five Ares V work packages."

Black Zones

Wayne Hale's NASA Blog: Black Zones

"In the 1950's it seemed like almost all of our rockets exploded during the launch. There were a lot of spectacular failures in those days and successes seemed rare. As we considered putting a man in a capsule on top of one of those rockets it was obvious that something was needed to get the pilot out of a bad situation in a hurry. During the Gemini program, that method of "crew escape" consisted of ejection seats which were only slightly modified from those found in that era's military jet fighter aircraft. This left a lot to be desired as we shall see. But Max Faget, the innovative genius behind much of the engineering progress in NASA's early days, had a brilliant idea. He invented something called the launch escape rocket system."

Flip Flopping on EELV Safety

Will the Real Mike Griffin Please Stand Up?

"The Space Frontier Foundation today pointed out that NASA Administrator Dr. Michael Griffin, in an interview with CBS News published last Friday, publicly contradicted his own 2003 testimony to Congress about the safety of flying humans on America's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELVs). "It's one thing for Mike to argue that EELVs can't send astronauts all the way to the Moon. But on Friday he claimed that EELVs are not safe enough, even for the easier job of launching astronauts to Earth orbit, and that's just not true," said Foundation Chairman Berin Szoka. "Just five years ago, Mike testified to Congress that EELVs were safe enough to launch astronauts to low Earth orbit. And the only thing that's changed since then is that the Delta IV and Atlas V systems have, together, successfully flown 20 times," Szoka added."

A Reborn Picture Spawns an Editorial

The Moon View, editorial, New York Times

"Last week, NASA released a newly restored image of a younger Earth. It was taken from Lunar Orbiter 1 in 1966, the first of several orbiters that helped gather data for the first moon landing in 1969. The photograph shows Earth just cresting the Moon’s curving horizon, the first picture of our planet framed by the surface of the Moon. When the photograph was published, in 1966, it looked like a newsprint version of a high-contrast snapshot from space, a stark scattering of whites and blacks. The data from the lunar orbiter was stored on old analog tape drives. Now, imaging experts at NASA have digitized those drives — mining data that could not be recovered when they were first made — and produced a high-resolution version of that historic photograph."

Space Exploration For The Rest of Us

Another "Roadmap", Paul Spudis, Air & Space

"Considerable buzz was generated in space circles last week when The Planetary Society, the keepers of Carl Sagan's flame, released a report that recommended a re-orientation of the Vision for Space Exploration. This report was based in part on the results of an invitation-only workshop held at Stanford University last February. The object of that workshop was to examine U. S. national space policy with the specific aim of determining whether goals intermediate to a human mission to Mars other than the Moon were feasible and desirable. ... Space is a big place and ripe with many possibilities. The Planetary Society wants to keep it a sanctuary for science, regulated and ruled by scientists for scientific purposes. The Vision is about expanding opportunities in space for many different and varied parties, including scientists. "

Planetary Society Steps Beyond Moon for Roadmap to Space
Planetary Society Responds to Schmitt Resignation, earlier post
Former NAC Chair Jack Schmitt Quits Planetary Society Over New Roadmap, earlier post
Alt.VSE Meeting Postscript: No One From NASA Took Notes, earlier post
Stanford VSE Update Meeting: Yawn, earlier post
VSE Upgrade Update, earlier post
Alt.VSE Update, earlier post
Revising the VSE: Keeping Our Eyes On The Prize, earlier post

Moon Vs Mars

Why NASA should focus on the Moon, not Mars, Henry Spencer, New Scientist

"An exclusive focus on Mars does have one thing going for it. If you believe that any resumption of manned space exploration will inevitably end the way Apollo did, with follow-on programmes cancelled and flight-ready hardware consigned to museums as soon as the programme's first objective is met, then choosing the most interesting single destination makes sense. However . . . haven't we learned anything from doing that once? To me, it makes far more sense to try to build a programme that won't crash and burn as soon as it scores its first goal. That means systematically building capabilities and infrastructure, and doing first things first even if they aren't the most exciting parts."

Planetary Society Responds to Schmitt Resignation

Editor's note: The following email was sent to various members of the media and has been making the rounds.

From: Louis Friedman
Date: 18 November 2008 06:41:56 GMT
To: LUNAR-L@LISTSERV.ND.EDU, Harrison H. Schmitt
Cc: [MEDIA, etc.]
Subject: Senator Schmitt's Resignation from The Planetary Society

Dear All,

We received Jack Schmitt's open letter to us, "Resignation from [The Planetary] Society." which he has now distributed more widely. Because we think that our agreement is much stronger than our disagreement, we are asking him to reconsider:

Jack - Despite this current "dust-up," you are one of us. Because I worked with you when you were a Senator on a very bi-partisan NASA Authorizing Committee, I know you are a supporter of inclusiveness - and we in the space community are too small to be productively fragmented.

We share with you strong support for human exploration beyond Earth orbit and human and robotic exploration of space. We share with you support for a lunar step to Mars - if NASA says they must build up their capability for sending humans to Mars by practice steps on the Moon, we certainly can't disagree. More fundamentally we have supported the Vision for Space Exploration ever since its proposal in 2004. We share with you support for building the replacement to the space shuttle and extending human transportation capability beyond low Earth orbit. We share with you support for studying and observing the Earth to understand processes that contribute to global climate change - whatever the cause of such changes. And we even share with you support for strong American leadership and capability to advance human space exploration beyond Earth orbit.

The disagreements we have (even the strong ones) are of less importance than these things which we share. These include disagreements on exactly what activity to do on the Moon, other steps that might be inserted in the sequence for human space flight, and whether American leadership can be exercised in a way that the world will be excited to follow. This is why we ask you to reconsider your statement of resignation. We represent public interest in space exploration - and thus we represent even those who disagree with some of the details in the Roadmap. I really think there is less disagreement than some imagine and urge everyone with whom you have communicated to take 15 minutes and read the Roadmap: http://planetary.org/home/

Sincerely,

Lou
Dr. Louis Friedman
Executive Director, The Planetary Society
http://planetary.org
TEL: 1-626-793-5100
FAX: 1-626-793-5528

Flip Flopping Road Map from The Planetary Society

Planetary Society Steps Beyond Moon for Roadmap to Space

"Several priorities came to light. For human exploration, Mars is clearly the next crucial goal. Lunar exploration can be an intermediate step towards that goal, but care needs to be taken that it not absorb too many resources and become the end goal in itself."

Moon takes a backseat in new space plan, New Scientist

"Instead of trying to recapture the thrill of the Apollo era of lunar exploration by putting people back on the Moon by 2020 - the vision outlined by President Bush in 2004 - the space advocacy organisation is urging the incoming Administration and Congress to set its sights farther beyond Earth."

Editor's note: I am not certain why anyone would take the Planetary Society seriously when it issues these roadmaps. First they were against humans back to the moon. Then, when NASA wants to go there and the notion is trendy, they are for it. Now that things are uncertain, they are against it again.

Moving The Deck Chairs Around at ESMD

NASA Announces Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Leadership Changes

"NASA Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Rick Gilbrech announced Wednesday that he will be leaving the agency for a position in the private sector. NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin announced that Doug Cooke, who has been serving as deputy associate administrator for the directorate since its inception in January 2004, will become the associate administrator. The change is effective Nov. 24."

Antarctica as an Analog for Other Worlds

Tawani 2008 International Science Team Preps for Antarctic Expedition

"The team will be on the ice for forty-five days in the Untersee Oasis of Antarctica where they will launch an interdisciplinary campaign to study this remote ecosystem. By studying the lake, soil and glacier ecosystems of the region, the team can better understand the physical and chemical environments that constrain life, and also identify novel organisms that have exploited these unique niches. These investigations will shed light not only on how life adapts to such extremes on Earth, but also shapes the search for life on other planets such as Mars as well as the icy moons of the outer solar system planets Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune, and even provide a glimpse of what Earth's earliest biosphere was like billions of years ago."

Update from Dale Andersen in Cape Town: "Looks like we will leave tomorrow as scheduled assuming the weather holds - so we hope to be on the ice by 6am Thursday Novolazarevskaya time. Its about a 6 hour flight from Cape Town to the station. Three to four days later, we should be on our way to Lake Untersee if the weather is good."

Editor's note: Dale and I have been doing this sort of thing for a long time. We're almost certain that he and I did one of the first websites updated from Antarctica back in 1997. Go to this website and see "How We Built This Website"

The Next Generation of Explorers Is Already Exploring

Kid Climber Scales World's Highest Mountains, ABC Nightline

"At 17,000 feet above sea level, where the wind is a biting 20 below zero, an unlikely mountain climber nears his goal of ascending the world's tallest peaks. Jordan Romero, 3,000 feet away from tackling Alaska's Mount McKinley, has already conquered four mountains -- and he's 11 years old. "I've climbed Mount Aconcagua in South America, in Argentina, which is 22,834 feet. I've climbed Mount Elbrus in Europe -- it's located in Russia -- at 18,510 feet. That was quite a tough one," he said. "Mount Kosciuszko in Australia, that's 7,310 feet. That was quite a tough one just because of the weather, otherwise it would have been an easy, walk hike, just a long walk. And Mount Kilimanjaro of Africa in Tanzania, 19,340 feet."

Jordan's website

Video below

Haughton-Mars Project Seeks Logistics Manager

The Mars Institute is seeking applications for a position on the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP): Logistics Manager

"Qualified applicants must: a) be Canadian citizens or permanent residents in Canada ... The successful applicant will play a key role in an exciting, unique, and cutting-edge international effort to advance the exploration of the Earth, moon, Mars, and space. The HMP Logistics Manager will be required to be based in Canada and work mainly from his/her private home in the Vancouver, BC, area. Home office connectivity and employment-required operations costs (excluding rent) will be supported directly by the Mars Institute."

Exploration, Shackleton, NASA - via Powerpoint

Why the Moon?, PowerPoint presentation on Exploration, Opennasa.com

"NASA is in the inspiration business. If you don't know what I mean, take a trip to your local school and engage in a discussion with students. Ask them what inspires them. At the heart of most discussions, is space exploration.

.... If you find this presentation helpful, please use it, pass it on to others, and share the story. As always, we appreciate constructive comments - and will work to continuously update this presentation and post it on this site for your benefit. Enjoy!"

Lunar Polar Ice Debate Continues

No ice rinks on the Moon after all, New Scientist

"Hopes for large lakes of frozen water at the Moon's poles have taken another bashing, with new images of a prominent crater revealing dull lunar dust instead of shiny pools of ice. ... But Alan Smith, director of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London, disagrees: "If [water ice] is present at levels of just a few percent, it could be very useful for future missions. In fact, small crystals within a sandy mixture may be even easier to process."

Name The Hab

NASA and the Challenger Center Announce Antarctic Habitat Naming Contest

"NASA and the Challenger Center for Space Education have partnered to engage students in ongoing activities for one of NASA's concepts for astronaut housing on the moon through a contest to name a habitat in Antarctica.

NASA currently is conducting a test of a lightweight, durable, inflatable habitat on the cold, harsh landscape of the National Science Foundation's McMurdo Station."

Using a Planetary Analog To Test a Prototype Inflated Habitat for NASA, earlier story

And The First Shall Be Last

First Apollo flight crew last to be honored, Collectspace

"Forty years after flying NASA's first manned Apollo mission, the crew of Apollo 7 was honored on Friday with the space agency's highest award, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. The presentation at long-last recognized the crew's contributions to the United States' first lunar landing program, granting Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walt Cunningham the same award that all of their fellow flown Apollo astronauts received almost four decades earlier."

Everyone Is Going To The Moon

India counts down to first lunar mission, AFP

"India began the countdown Monday to the launch of its first unmanned mission to the moon that will mark a giant catch-up step with Japan and China in the fast-developing Asian space race. The lunar-orbiting spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, is scheduled to blast off aboard an Indian-built rocket at 6:20 am (0050 GMT) on Wednesday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on India's southeastern coast. "Everything is going perfectly as planned," the centre's associate director M.Y.S. Prasad told AFP from Sriharikota, 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Chennai, after the official countdown began in the early hours of Monday."

Response to the Strathclyde Exploration Report

Wayne Hale's NASA Blog: Continuing the discussion

"About 48 hours after having posted a short example on Columbus, I hope you have reached some conclusions. I'd like to continue this discussion just a bit longer."

Wayne Hale's NASA Blog: Exploration is all about the unexpected

"I had great hopes for this paper. After I read it, I felt disappointment. I slept on it. I read it again this morning. I am still disappointed. Probably it is not fair; the attempt to learn lessons from history is always a noble one. Perhaps this is just too big a topic to address in a short academic paper. So rather than criticize, lets take a look beyond the Venn diagrams and explore for the golden nuggets of wisdom that come with a deep understanding of the lessons that history of exploration can teach us. The Strathclyde study said that Columbus's voyages were a tactical ("program") failure and a strategic success. Really?"

Report: Historical Exploration: Learning Lessons from the Past to Inform the Future, earlier post

NASA Releases Exploration Study

Report: Historical Exploration: Learning Lessons from the Past to Inform the Future

"This report examines a number of exploration campaigns that have taken place during the last 700 years, and considers them from a risk perspective. The explorations are those led by Christopher Columbus, Sir Walter Raleigh, John Franklin, Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Company of Scotland to Darien and the Apollo project undertaken by NASA. To provide a wider context for investigating the selected exploration campaigns, we seek ways of finding analogies at mission, programmatic and strategic levels and thereby to develop common themes. Ultimately, the purpose of the study is to understand how risk has shaped past explorations, in order to learn lessons for the future. From this, we begin to identify and develop tools for assessing strategic risk in future explorations."

Nasa studies failures as guide to success, The Guardian (formerly titled "Epic missions were flops, claims Nasa")

"By contrast, Apollo achieved its goal of putting men on the moon before the Russians, but the equipment used had no application for other projects. The programme cost £70bn in today's money. Nasa has since struggled to find a reason to put men into space; hence the interest of executives setting up the Constellation programme which will take astronauts back to the moon next decade and later to Mars. 'We presented our study to senior Nasa managers, including Jeff Hanley, head of the Constellation programme,' said Bedford. 'We made it clear we are risk analysts, not historians... We also made it clear that even failed expeditions can teach us something."

Editor's note: NASA has sent me a copy of the report - and the report is also posted online.

Prof Tim Bedford

Reaching for the stars in management science, Strathclyde University

"A visit to NASA took place on May 23 to explore possible research collaboration between Strathclyde University and NASA in the area of risk management and assessment. Professor Tim Bedford from the Department of Management Science, visited NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The visit was hosted by John Turner, the head of risk management on the new Constellation Project, a programme aimed at creating a new generation of spacecraft for human spaceflight."

NASA project, Strathclyde University

"Tim Bedford, John Quigley, Matthew Revie and Lesley Walls of Management Science have carried out a project for NASA on the risks of long term exploration ventures. Their study looks at historical explorations and finds the common risks at mission, program and strategic levels, in order to assess overall lessons about the limitations of risk assessment for such exploration ventures. Tim, Matthew and Lesley gave a final presentation to the Constellation Project Team at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, on 24 March."

Editor's note: Why hasn't NASA released this study? Why did NASA feel the need to go to a foreign country to have this study done? What were the metrics whereby missions and expeditions were graded? I have asked PAO for a copy of this report. Stay tuned.

One reader noted this line "Apollo achieved its goal of putting men on the moon before the Russians, but the equipment used had no application for other projects." and commented "...Except Skylab"

ALtair RFI

NASA Solicitation: Altair Request for Information

"NASA is in the conceptual phase of identifying key performance indicators for the successful design and production of the "Altair" (Lunar Lander) vehicle. Our goal is to meet NASA's Lunar Exploration requirements safely and at the lowest life cycle cost. As specified during the Industry Day meeting conducted September 25, 2008, NASA will be awarding multiple fixed price contracts in early CY 2009. This interim developmental design effort is intended to continue industry involvement and build on the knowledge developed under the Altair study contracts by supplementing the NASA design team emphasizing the areas of human space flight production, manufacturing, and operability. Contracts are planned to run into the 2012/2013 timeframe in support of the Altair Systems Requirements Review (SRR) and Systems Design Review (SDR)."

Today's Video: New Moon, the teaser

Laurent Lichtenstein: "The teaser of my very new documentary "New Moon", describing man's efforts to return to the Moon in 2020. Filmed mostly at Devon Island, canadian Hight Arctic"

Video below

Ares 1-X Launch Date Slip

Editor's note: Word has it that the slip of STS-125 has caused a number of delays - including Ares 1-X which will slip from a target launch date of 30 June 2009 to NET Oct/Nov 2009.

Back To Basic Principles

Speech by NASA Administrator Michael Griffin: Seeking the Right Stuff

"I believe it is necessary for us - all of us - to take the time to discuss openly the founding principles that led us our nation to embrace space exploration fifty years ago, when it mattered to the whole nation that we overcome our slow start and become the world's preeminent spacefaring nation. We need to reverse the alarming trends in our nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. While the vast majority of our nation's workforce is neither scientists nor engineers, the four percent who are create most of the goods and services, solve real-world problems, and produce new discoveries and insights about our planet and our universe."

Beyond The Pole

"The first carbon neutral, organic - and vegetarian expedition ever to attempt the North Pole ...."

Video

Dodd Weighs In On Space Suit Competition

Dodd Calls for Fairness in New NASA Space Suit Competition

"Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) recently sent a letter to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Michael Griffin expressing concern about how the recent competition for the new Constellation Space Suit System was executed. The competition resulted in NASA awarding the new contract to Oceaneering International, a firm that specializes in deep sea diving suits, instead of Connecticut-based Hamilton Sundstrand, the company that has manufactured America's space suits for more than 40 years. This decision has since been withdrawn by NASA due to concerns voiced by the NASA Inspector General and a protest filed by Hamilton Sundstrand with the Government Accountability Office (GAO)."

Getting More Than I Asked For From ESMD

NASA To Hold Briefing About Lunar Exploration Concepts And Plans

Editor's note: I followed the weblink in this press release and registered for this event to make certain that I would get a seat. To my surprise I got the following confirmation email (below). I never asked for access to the Lunar Design Analysis Cycle data!  I just registered for a meeting - or so I thought. Nor does the press release or the website make any mention of citizenship or export issues - yet apparently that is an issue - otherwise  why would they be checking to see if I am a U.S. citizen? And when I try to go to the web link they sent me for export control issues, I discover that it is behind a firewall and I cannot get in.

From: registrations@nasa.gov
Subject: Registration Confirmation - LUNAR EXPLORATION CONCEPTS AND PLANS BRIEFING
Date: September 8, 2008 6:10:45 PM EDT
To:

Event Details If you would like to cancel your registration use the following URL: Cancel Registration

Mike Griffin's Leaked Email: Is Spock Trying to Become Kirk?

Editor's note: Alas, the gathering consensus amongst the cyberpundits (with absolutely no data whatsoever to base this on, mind you) is that Mike Griffin either leaked this memo - or (much more likely) looked the other way as it "found" its way to a much broader, more receptive distribution. The thought being that he knows that his days at NASA may well be numbered and that he has nothing to lose except his own credibility and that he needs to look out for the agency's future.

There is a bit of logic to this gossip. Look at the initial distribution list of this memo. Everyone on that list is a solid professional and they are pretty tight with Mike Griffin. As such, I really doubt that something so easily traceable back to such a very small group would get out - unless Griffin wanted it to.

If this is indeed what is going on (again, I have zero proof) then it is a bit of a departure for Griffin since he tends to try and keep things like this inside the family. Given that Griffin self-described himself as "Spock" early in his tenure, I started wondering about his motives now. What will Spock do? Hmmm ... what would Jim Kirk do? Have a look at this iconic video [below] from "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan".

Is Mike Griffin trying to change the rules?

Orion PDR Slips To Mid-2009

Editor's note: NASA sources report that the Orion PDR (Preliminary Design Review), which was originally planned for September 2008 and then slipped to November, will be delayed much further - perhaps as far as mid-Summer 2009.

Orion PDR Slip, Earlier post
Constellation Update, Earlier post
NASA Internal Memo: Orion DAC2 Architecture Closure Plan Rev E, 2/19/08, Earlier post

Lowell Thomas Awards: Astronauts and Pilots To Be Honored

2008 Lowell Thomas Awards Dinner: Exploring Earth from Above

"The 2008 Lowell Thomas Awards Dinner: "Exploring Earth from Above" will be held on Thursday, October 16, 2008 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. Sponsored by the Explorers Club, the Lowell Thomas Award is presented by Rolex and the President of the Explorers Club to groups of explorers who have distinguished themselves in various fields of exploration. The 2008 honorees are: William A. Anders, Leroy Chiao, Martha King, Scott E. Parazynski, Dick H. Smith, and Brig. Gen Charles E. Yeager."

Why Is Space Exploration Important? In 12 Seconds, please.

Editor's note: Have a look at this page at 12seconds.tv - it is Ariel Waldman's page. Ariel is a quasi-famous Gen Y blogger and "digital anthropologist" in Silicon Valley who recently started to work at NASA ARC.

Check out the 12 second videos. Yea, can't do much in 12 seconds, right? It's just like Twitter. 140 characters. How profound can you get with such constraints? But wait - just like the telegrams used by a previous generation, doesn't that forced brevity make you pause and think about your words and what you really NEED to say?

For you NASA folks - recall that dumb phrase you hear at NASA i.e. the "elevator speech" - what would you say to someone about what you are doing at NASA if you only had an elevator ride for a few floors to make your point. Consider this an online example - with video.

Join up - i.e. ask for an invitation to join - and send us your links for your 12 second videos: why is space exploration important, why does your job matter, or whatever you think needs to be said.

Editor's update: Check the comments section. Michael Mealing is the first person to create a video - and it is a good one.

ESMD Advanced Planning Falls Short

Lack of funding shortchanging NASA on mission research, Houston Chronicle

"NASA is not receiving enough money for research and, as a result, faces significant challenges in developing technologies for living on the moon or flying to Mars, a study said Thursday. Little money is left over to study the hazards faced by astronauts during months-long missions into deep space, said the study by a National Academies of Sciences panel, because most of the research funds go into studies of the obstacles to short-term flights to the moon."

Panel warns NASA is focused on short-term goals, New Scientist

"NASA may get its Moon-Mars programme off the ground, and even land astronauts on the Moon. But it's going to have trouble establishing a long-term lunar base or making the big leap to Mars, says an expert review panel."

NRC Says ETDP Needs Corrective Action, earlier post

NRC Says ETDP Needs Corrective Action

"NRC Report: A Constrained Space Exploration Technology Program: A Review of NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program

... The committee found that in 20 of the 22 ETDP projects, corrective action leading to project improvement was either warranted or required. However, the committee felt that the ETDP contains a range of technologies that will, in principle, enable the realization of many of the early endeavors currently imagined in the Exploration Systems Architecture Study architecture, i.e., the development of a transportation system to the International Space Station, and the early human exploration of the Moon. The committee concluded that the ETDP, if adequately and stably funded and executed in a manner consistent with the planning process, would likely make available the required technology on schedule to its customers in the Constellation Program."

Orion Parachute Test Crash Update

NASA Tests Orion Parachute (Result: Spectacular Failure), Gizmodo
Orion Test Set-Up Parachute Fails, Mockup Crashes, Wired
Spacecraft crash due to test setup, not design flaw, New Scientist

NASA releases Orion crash photos, Scientific American

"Budding astronauts, avert your eyes. NASA has posted photos of a failed test landing (read: crash) of a mock-up of the Orion crew exploration vehicle, part of the Constellation program to replace the shuttle in 2015."

Orion Crash Photos and Videos Online - Finally

NASA Tests Launch Abort Parachute System - Releases Crash Photos
 
"NASA tested the parachutes for the recovery system on its Orion crew exploration vehicle above the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona on July 31. The test proved unsuccessful when a test set-up parachute failed..."

Editor's 19 Aug 3:00 pm note: ... And the test vehicle crashed into the desert floor. Nowhere does NASA mention that the vehicle slammed into the desert floor or crashed. They just say that "the result was a landing that severely damaged the test mock-up."

Nor has NASA issued a media advisory or a press release to alert people of the images it claimed that it did not have last week. No, they just quietly mentioned that some pictures will be online later to some reporters. And when these images were posted quietly on the NASA website, they were on a page titled "NASA Tests Launch Abort Parachute System". No mention of a failure, a crash etc. Nor is there any mention on the media page or on the ESMD page.

[Hat tip to eagle eyes Robert for spotting this]

Editor's 20 Aug note: ESMD is still not making any mention of this video or photos on its website. Why is this being hidden?

Editor's 20 Aug update: The links are finally up.

More Details on PTV Test Failure and Crash, earlier post
NASA Orion Parachute Test Vehicle Fails Drop Test, earlier post

Crash video below

Upcoming ESMD Report from the National Research Council

Editor's note: According to the National Research Council, a new report will be released at 11 am EDT, 21 August 2008. Titled: "A Constrained Space Exploration Technology Program: A Review of NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program", this report "looks at the quality of technological research conducted at NASA and determines how well-aligned it is with President Bush's Vision for Space Exploration. Specifically, the report examines the degree to which technology development at NASA includes exploration beyond the Moon. The report also identifies gaps in the current research program and estimates the likelihood that needed technologies will be developed in time for the flight schedules outlined by the agency's Constellation Program."

IPP Lunar Lander Challenge

NASA Notice of Centennial Challenges Lunar Lander Challenge

"The Lunar Lander Challenge is now scheduled and teams that wish to compete may now register. The NASA Centennial Challenges Program is a program of prize contests to stimulate innovation and competition in space exploration and ongoing NASA mission areas.

The Lunar Lander Challenge is a prize contest designed to accelerate technology developments supporting the commercial creation of a vehicle capable of ferrying cargo or humans back and forth between lunar orbit and the lunar surface."

Orion Testing With Cadavers - Update

OSU's cadaver tests help NASA design spacesuit

"Crash-test dummies are designed for a frontal crash; they don't have the instrumentation to predict injuries that could occur when landing a spacecraft," Bolte said. The bodies of three men who died in their 50s and 60s were used to test for injury at forces of 10 and 20 times the gravitational force we feel on Earth -- the landing forces used in Wright-Patterson tests."

Using Cadavers To Test Orion, earlier post

Field Season Coming to an End on Devon Island

Editor's note: The field season at the Haughton Mars Project Research Station (HMPRS) on Devon Island is coming to a close. The HMPRS webcams will go offline at some point today as everyone starts to pack up. You can get one last look at the three webcams: one that is looking out at HMPRS, another that is located inside the office tent, and another that is looking down at HMPRS from a nearby hill.

An archive of time lapse videos of these webcam feeds can be found here. Further information on the HMPRS is online here.

The time lapse video below shows a day's activities (12 August) inside the office tent where the HMPRS is managed.

Korea Aerospace Research Institute Joins International Lunar Network

KARI signs a Statement of Intent for participation in the ILN August 12th, 2008, rescommunis

"Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) signed a Statement of Intent to participate in the International Lunar Network at NASA Ames Research Center on July 24, 2008. The International Lunar Network (ILN) is a network for the exploration of the lunar environment and resources by landing 6 - 8 stations on the lunar surface led by NASA."

More Details on PTV Test Failure and Crash

Internal Memo Details Failed NASA Orion Parachute Test Vehicle Drop Test

"According to an internal NASA memo CPAS Cluster Development Test 2 (CDT2) experienced a test failure on 31 July 2008.  Initial observations indicated that
the programmer parachute did not inflate properly when the Parachute Test Vehicle (PTV) separated from the test pallet.

The programmer parachute puts the PTV into the proper position and thus sets up proper initial conditions for descent to the ground. In this test, the programmer parachute failed to inflate. This was due to the fact that the programmer parachute did not take in enough air to fully inflate and produce the proper drag. This situation occurred because of hard buffeting produced by the wake formed by the PTV and the stabilization parachutes."

More Ares I Concerns - and Solutions

More rumblings over Ares I; Is the stick dying? , Orlando Sentinel

"There are rumblings of discord in the NASA family over the agency's troubled Ares I moon rocket. According to well-placed sources inside NASA, the astronaut office is deeply unhappy with the design of Ares as it emerges from an important review that is in the process of being finished up now. The concern is so great, the sources say, that there is some talk at the highest levels of NASA about the possibility of ditching the Ares, with its unconventional stick-like solid rocket booster first stage, in favor of a more conventional rocket design - one that sounds like the shuttle launch system without the shuttle."

Editor's note: NASA sources report that a week or so ago the Ares 1 PDR Board pulled a presentation on thrust oscillation solutions because of concerns voiced by the Astronaut Office. At this point the favored solution seems to be heading for "Option B - Active Pulsing RCS Plus Single Plane Isolation" which involves using thruster packs that are aimed upward on the aft end of the first stage plus hardware at the upper end of the first stage to isolate/dampen loads.

Ares Architecture and ELVs

Pre-solicitation Synopsis of Proposed Contract Action for Ares Electric Thrust Vector Control Prototype Risk Reduction Procurement

Editor's note: I am a little confused (it happens). According to the Electric TVC Prototype Specification (PDF) contained in this pre-solicitation notice: "The heritage TVC (Thrust Vector Control) System does have some shortcomings: ... The system is a design that has not been in production for 20 years. The Ares launch architecture may seek expendable launch vehicle solutions and the cost associated with production of new heritage hardware would be prohibitive."

Does this mean that NASA MSFC is looking for ELV component solutions (Thrust Vector Control) for use in the Ares I/V launch vehicles (as currently being designed) or that NASA is looking to use ELVs as part of their Ares launch architecture?

Lunar Lander Challenge Has Ten Teams

X PRIZE Foundation Announces Ten Teams Vying for Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge

"The X PRIZE Foundation today announced that ten teams will compete in the 2008 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, which will take place at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico, October 24-25, 2008.

The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge is a two-level, two million dollar competition requiring a vehicle to simulate trips between the moon's surface and lunar orbit."

Towards A Common Sense Approach to the VSE - And Beyond

Infrastructure needed for future space exploration, The Space Review

"We need to establish a broader set of space mission interests and requirements based on overall national goals--not just those perceived by the NASA--and carefully identify the existing and planned space program capabilities that could relate to this unified need. We also need to establish independent advisory and review teams that could help to ensure that the national plan reflects a sound basis for achieving national goals and which is not swayed by regional and shortsighted special interest groups."

Lying Down To Explore Space

NASA Test Subjects Paid to Stay in Bed Three Straight Months, Fox

"One way to recreate those conditions on the ground is for test participants to lie down with head slightly tilted back for 90 days. "It's very relaxing at times. This is probably the most I've sat still in 10 years," participant Heather Archuletta told MyFOXHouston.com."

Editor's note: Check out Heather Archuletta's blog: Pillow Astronaut

International Lunar Agreement Signed at ARC

NASA Hosts International Meeting for Lunar Science Discussions, NASA SMD

"NASA hosted a meeting of space agencies from nine countries last week to discuss the next steps in the ongoing scientific exploration of the moon. The meeting laid the groundwork for a new generation of lunar science. Discussions, led by NASA Headquarters officials, were held at NASA's Lunar Science Institute, located at the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif."

Editor's note: This meeting was held last week. Why did SMD PAO wait so long (last night) to tell people about this? There were domestic and foreign news stories out at the end of last week - its not like this was a secret.

India signs agreement with US to carry out lunar exploration, Economic Times

The moon beckons again - for U.S., 8 other nations, SJ Mercury News

Bay Area Lab to Play Large Part in Future Moon Visits, KCBS

"The U.S. and eight other nations signed a landmark agreement at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View this week that scientists hope will lay the groundwork for a new generation of lunar exploration."

Economist on NASA

NASA at 50: Many happy returns?, Economist

"It might have been better for NASA's reputation if it, too, had closed down at that point, but bureaucracies never do. Like people, their idealistic and enthusiastic youths are eventually overwhelmed by quotidian reality, and they do what they need to to survive. And survive NASA has, through a space-shuttle programme far more expensive than the "throw-away" rockets it was supposed to replace, through the construction of an orbiting space station that will have consumed $100 billion when it is finished, though it has produced little of scientific value--and also, it must be said, through a programme of unmanned scientific space probes that have, literally, pushed back the frontiers of human understanding."

Perspectives on NASA

“Ride, Boldly Ride”: Why human space exploration is important!, IT Wire

"You may not always agree with what NASA does in its role as the national space agency for the United States. I don’t always agree with them. However, I do think they (this group of people under the name National Aeronautics and Space Administration) are trying their best to advance human and robotic space exploration for the benefit of the United States, and for the whole of humanity, too."

Remarks by NASA Adminstrator Michael Griffin: What the Hubble Space Telescope Teaches Us about Ourselves

"You all know today that this first Shuttle mission to service the Hubble, as well as the three which followed, were huge successes. The Hubble dazzles us with the splendor of our universe, but during those grim years between 1990 and '93, its awe-inspiring success was far from certain. If you didn't know the core strength of the NASA team when the chips are down, you might have bet against us. You would have lost."

LRO/LCROSS Delayed Until Early 2009

LRO Launch Delayed to 2009, Aviation Week

"Launch of NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), the first robotic precursor mission under President Bush's plan for moving human space exploration beyond Earth orbit, will be delayed until after Bush leaves office. Also delayed until late February or early March 2009 is the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), a piggyback payload added by Ames Research Center when LRO was upgraded to an Atlas V-class mission."

Calling ESAS, Ares, and Orion Into Question

Buzz Aldrin calls for reevaluation of NASA moon project, Orlando Sentinel

"NASA documents obtained by the Orlando Sentinel suggest that it will be years before the agency will know whether its proposed fixes will work. In the meantime, the documents say, new problems have arisen involving the design of Ares launch pad, the astronaut emergency escape system on Orion and the capsule's heat protection system.

A NASA report made public last week said the agency will probably not meet its own internal goal of launching the rocket in 2013, and may even miss its publicly stated goal of a launch by 2015. However, NASA officials publicly insist the 2015 date is still on track."

Odyssey Moon Team Grows

Dr. Paul Spudis Announced as Chief Scientist of Google Lunar X PRIZE Contender Odyssey Moon Limited

"Dr. Paul D. Spudis has been named Chief Scientist of Odyssey Moon Limited, the first official contender for the $30M Google Lunar X PRIZE. Dr. Spudis is an outspoken advocate of the Moon as a focus of scientific exploration and human settlement and has served on numerous advisory committees, including the US Presidential Commission on the Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy. The announcement was made during a NASA Lunar Science Institute conference at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California."

Today's Odd Opinion Piece

Are we driven to explore?, Space Review

"That squirmy disruptive kid who we're putting on Ritalin today might be tomorrow's Neil Armstrong. At least, that is, if we don't overmedicate or "feminize" him to the point that he can't get the education and experience he needs to be a space explorer. ... It certainly seems empirically obvious that most people have little interest in exploring."

Editor's note: The author of this article makes some odd, borderline misogynist, and mostly unsupportable claims (mixed with some valid points) as he rambles along trying to explain why people do or not explore. "Empirically obvious"? - Where's the data to support this?

Lunar Science Conference Update

NASA/Ames scientists map our return to the moon, SJ Mercury News

"For the next three days, Silicon Valley will be the base for planning humankind's return to the moon, as more than 400 scientists from around the world assemble at NASA/Ames Research Center for a conference on what type of science should be done when astronauts revisit Earth's nearest neighbor."

Scientists swap moon, Mars exploration plans, SF Chronicle

"At the lunar science conference Thursday, NASA scientists will join scientists from Canada, Korea, Japan, Italy and Britain to create an International Lunar Network to help them work together on major projects, said David Morrison, director of the new NASA Lunar Science Institute at Ames. He was joined by Stephen Mackwell, director of the independent Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, whose $7 million budget is financed by NASA grants."

NASA/ESA Exploration Concepts

The NASA-ESA Comparative Architecture Assessment

"In January 2008, NASA and ESA agreed to conduct a comparative architecture assessment to determine if their respective lunar architecture concepts could complement, augment, or enhance the exploration plans of the other. From January through March representatives from NASA and ESA engaged in a series of joint, qualitative assessments of potential ESA capabilities as applied to NASA's architecture concepts. Initial findings from these assessments, with respect to each potential ESA category under study, are as follows:"

Video and Live Webcams from Devon Island

Editor's note: Three live webcams are now online at the Haughton-Mars Project Research Station on Devon Island: Webcam 1 |Webcam 2 | Webcam 3

Today's video: Charles Cockell from Open University talks about polar geomicrobiology at Trinity Lake on Devon Island (below)

Hamilton Sundstrand Fights Back

Hamilton Sundstrand protests NASA contract, AP

"Hamilton Sundstrand has protested NASA's selection of a Texas company to supply the space agency's next-generation space suit. The subsidiary of Hartford-based United Technologies Corp. and a partner company filed the protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office on Monday. Company officials do not believe they got adequate information from NASA about why Hamilton Sundstrand lost out, the company said in a statement."

Hamilton Files Protest On NASA Spacesuit Decision, Wall Street Journal

Changing Horses, earlier post

Don't Flush - Donate To Space Exploration!

NASA JSC Urine Collection Study Donor Request

"The Orion Program will be holding a urine collection study starting Monday, July 21 and running through Thursday, July 31, 2008. We are looking for donors as we need to collect a large amount of urine per day for the entire 11 day period. Please contact [deleted] at [deleted]@hs.utc.com to express interest in donating or to get answers to any questions you have regarding the study. We will be hosting an informational meeting with encouraged attendance for potential urine donors from 11-11:30 a.m. Thursday, July 17, 2008 in the first floor conference room. In this meeting we will go over instructions and guidelines for the study and introduce volunteers to the equipment that will be used in the study. If you are unable to attend this meeting due to scheduling conflicts, we can set up another time to clarify the study operations on an individual basis."

"Go" Where No Man Has Gone Before, Wired

"I can't say for certain what they might be testing, but they certainly must need a lot if they're asking visitors to participate as well."

NASA to workers: Go boldly (in cup) for science, AP

"The need is voluminous: 30 liters a day, which translates into nearly 8 gallons. Even on weekends."

NASA Wants Your Urine, Discovery Channel

"Have a business meeting in Houston next week? Be a good American and drop by for quick pee break at 2200 Space Park near the Johnson Space Center. Yes, you read that right: NASA needs your urine."

"Fun with Urine" Stirs Students' Imagination, NASA (2003)

"Fun With Urine" chronicles how the award-winning teacher uses 'gross' and 'goofy' ideas to interest his students in science and the NASA space program."

Hi, I'm coordinating the NASA Urine Drive this year. Cup of coffee?, Good Morning Silicon Valley

"NASA needs urine -- lots of it -- and it's tapping the power of crowdsourcing."

Quips abound over urine memo 'leak', Washington Times

"Talk about a leaked memo in the mainstream press. NASA was the subject of gleeful global news coverage Wednesday after an internal document asking employees to donate their urine for space toilet research made it from the confines of the Johnson Space Center to the whole planet."

NASA/ESA Architecture Study

NASA and ESA complete comparative exploration architecture study

"Over the last 6 months, representatives from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have been engaged in detailed assessment of potential programs and technologies that when conducted cooperatively could one day support a human outpost on the Moon. NASA and ESA experts jointly briefed the results of the NASA/ESA Comparative Architecture Assessment on 7 and 8 July during an ESA sponsored Integrated Architecture Review held at ESA's ESTEC facility in Noordwijk, The Netherlands."

Research Season Underway on Devon Island

HMP Research Station Status Report for July 9, 2008

"A week after the initial Mars Institute advanced team arrived to setup the research station for this years field season operations are running smoothly. The weather so far has been great and the first researchers are conducting their work. Currently researchers from the Canadian Space Agency and the University of Florida are working in the Mars Institute's Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse. As well, researchers from McGill University and the University of Toronto under the umbrella of the Canadian Space Agency Canadian Analog Research Network (CARN) are set to begin work."

Dropping The Ball on the VSE - Update

U.S. Finds It's Getting Crowded Out There, Washington Post

"Uncertainty over the fate of President Bush's ambitious "vision" of a manned moon-Mars mission, announced with great fanfare in 2004, is emblematic. The program was approved by Congress, but the administration's refusal to significantly increase spending to build a new generation of spacecraft has slowed development while leading to angry complaints that NASA is cannibalizing promising unmanned science missions to pay for the moon-Mars effort. NASA's Griffin has told worried members of Congress that additional funds could move up the delivery date of the new-generation spacecraft from 2015 to 2013. The White House has rejected Senate efforts to provide the money."

Astronauts and Astrobiologists Dive In Deepworkers

CapCom's Log - Daily Mission Highlights Dive log for Spaceward Bound Pavilion Lake 2008

"Tuesday AM dive. Deepworkers: Darlene Lim, Mike Gephardt. CapCom: Bernard
South, south basin the 15m and 30m contours."

Editor's note: Curiously, there is no mention of this ongoing, multi-disciplinary, multi-center activity on ARC, Astrobiology, JSC or ESMD Websites.

The only place with a link is Spaceward Bound.

Doug Cooke Dumps on Direct Concept

NASA: Not silent, Orlando Sentinel

Doug Cooke: "The "direct" variation fails to meet NASA's needs on several grounds. It is vastly over-capacity and too costly to service the International Space Station, but worse, its lift capacity would not be enough for NASA to maintain a sustained presence on the moon. Advocates for the "direct" variation are touting unrealistic development costs and schedules. A fundamental difference is that the Ares I and Orion probability of crew survival is at least two times better than all of the other concepts evaluated, including "direct"-like concepts."

Editor's note: Perhaps Doug Cooke will release the results of the actual internal studies NASA personnel performed whereby such a formal evaluation of the Direct Concept was made. NASA did actually evaluate the concept, yes? Or is Doug Cooke just tossing out opinions based on first impressions?

Steve Cook claims that no one at NASA has been working on this concept. Yet Doug Cooke says that people at NASA have been looking at it in some detail. They can't both be right, can they? Stay tuned. No doubt there will be some extreme NASA word parsing ahead should NASA ESMD deign to respond.

Editor's 24 June 2008 update: Perhaps this FOIA request (that I just filed) will provide some insight...

Editor's 2 July 2008 update: It has been a week. No feedback on the FOIA request from NASA.

Description:

The recent Orlando Sentinel article overtly accuses NASA management of stifling debate of launch-vehicle alternatives to carry out our exploration missions. Nothing could be further from the truth, and NASA's development efforts with the Ares rockets are on track and making progress...

Editor's note: Meanwhile, to all you Direct Fan Boys out there in cyberspace, no I have not "changed my mind" about your pretty powerpoint presentations. I still think your ideas are half-baked and that your rationale for them is naive. The real issue is not what alternate proposals NASA looks at - but whether NASA is being honest when they say that they have or have not considered other ideas. Right now they want it both ways.

A Brain Region for Adventure Seeking?

Neuroscientists Discover a Sense of Adventure, Wellcome Trust

"Wellcome Trust scientists have identified a key region of the brain which encourages us to be adventurous. The region, located in a primitive area of the brain, is activated when we choose unfamiliar options, suggesting an evolutionary advantage for sampling the unknown. It may also explain why re-branding of familiar products encourages to pick them off the supermarket shelves. ... "Seeking new and unfamiliar experiences is a fundamental behavioural tendency in humans and animals," says Dr Wittmann. "It makes sense to try new options as they may prove advantageous in the long run. For example, a monkey who chooses to deviate from its diet of bananas, even if this involves moving to an unfamiliar part of the forest and eating a new type of food, may find its diet enriched and more nutritious.""

Devon Island Field Season Preparations Underway

Long Island Air National Guard Rescue Unit Supports NASA's Haughton-Mars Project, New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs

"The 106the Rescue Wing will support NASA's Haughton-Mars Project Research Station located in the Canadian high arctic by flying in research equipment, personnel and supplies next week. Aircraft and personnel will launch their second of three missions on June 28th for NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California at which time they will provide transportation for scientists and researchers from various universities and agencies and cargo destined for Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island."

Two Days to Initial Deployment to Resolute Bay, HMP

Haughton Mars Project
Mars Institute
HMP Research Station's photostream, Flickr
HMP Research Station Videos, YouTube
HMP Twitter Feed

Lunar Architecture Update

Lunar Capability Concept Review (LCCR) Transportation Systems Only June 18 - 20, 2008 Report to the PSS, PDF

Dropping the Ball on the VSE

Glenn, Garn, Nelson: What Bush doesn't know about NASA, Opinion, Orlando Sentinel

"... NASA needs additional guidance from Congress on what its future course should be. It especially needs that guidance, because this administration has thoroughly failed to provide the direction -- or the funding -- necessary to achieve what President Bush called for in January 2004 when he announced the Vision for Space Exploration. We can only attempt to explain why the administration has undermined the Vision for Space Exploration, though we suspect it can be explained by Bush not knowing all the facts about what the real impact of NASA's annual budgets has been since the loss of the Columbia in 2003."

KSC Folks: Call Paul Shawcross, earlier post

Editor's note: The sad thing about all of this these days is that OMB's Paul Shawcross has more say as to what happens at NASA than NASA's Administrator does. You can yell at Mike Griffin until you are blue in the face but it is Shawcross and the OMB who calls the shots.

Astronaut Lessons From Mountaineering

The Power of Many, When We Left Earth, Discovery.com

"As a mountaineer, I'm measured not so much by my summits, but by my performance, my behavior all the way up the mountain and all the way down. If you're lucky enough to have a touch-and-go at the summit, that's great, but I've turned away from several summits over my many years of climbing for weather, running out of water, gear problems, what have you. It is important to keep your wits about you so I take some pride in knowing that I can still do that even with the temptation of the summit," [Scott Parazynski] says."

Earlier updates

Mars Down Under

Sailing Through Space -- Or Something Like It, Next Generation, Discovery Channel

"There are a lot of different aspects to traveling in space, especially the kinds of long-duration flights required to get to another planet, or to spend a stint on the International Space Station. Some aspects of those missions can be simulated on Earth, and many can't.  But among those that can are the physical and psychological demands of spending a long time in a small space under challenging and occasionally life-threatening conditions."

Status reports

Does Ares V + I = VI?

NASA Study Provides Next Step to Establishing Lunar Outpost

"To accomplish those objectives, the current configuration of the Ares V will use six RS-68B liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen engines on a core stage along with two five-and-one-half segment solid propellant rocket boosters, which are a direct evolution from the first stage of the Ares I rocket."

Editor's note: So, Mike, is this latest redesign going to be called the Ares VI?

Going Directly to the People About Space Exploration

Smithsonian's Folklife Festival Celebrates NASA's 50 Years

"Moon buggies, stardust and space food are a few of the things visitors will learn about at the "NASA: 50 Years and Beyond" program during this summer's Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The program will showcase the role men and women of NASA have played in broadening the horizons of American science and culture, and the role they will continue to play in shaping the future through exploration and stirring the public imagination. The festival will be held outdoors on the National Mall between 7th and 14th streets from Wednesday, June 25, through Sunday, June 29, and Wednesday, July 2, through Sunday, July 6. Admission is free."

Asking The Wrong Questions

New Gallup Poll Reveals Americans Strongly Support Space Exploration, Believe it Inspires Younger Generation, Coalition for Space Exploration

"Approximately two-thirds (68%) of adults surveyed agree that the benefits of space exploration outweigh the risks of human space flight. "

Editor's note: Ok, so Americans support space exploration - but do they want to pay (more) to do it? There is a difference between "support" (words) and reaching for your wallet.

Gallup Poll Results (PDF), Coalition for Space Exploration

"Approximately one in every two (52%) adults say they would support increasing NASA’s budget from  one-sixth of one percent to one percent of the federal budget (14% strongly support and 38% support  this).  Nearly as many (45%) report they oppose increasing the budget (30% oppose it and 15%  strongly oppose it)."

But

"When the public is asked how willing they would be to support an increase in taxes if the money was to  go to NASA to help close the budget deficit, 43% said they would be willing however, more than half (57%) report they would not be willing.  There was not a great deal of variation in responses by gender,  age or education – a majority in each of these groups said they would not be willing to support an  increase in taxes to help close this five-year budget deficit."

Editor's note: In essence, a razor thin majority in this poll supports more budget money for NASA - so long as it comes from somewhere else - but not if it means that they have to pay more taxes. Sounds like broad, but thin and diffuse support for NASA. I'd be curious to see what a poll of the same people would show if mention of "NASA" was omitted and questions were simply asked about space exploration - as a concept - regardless of how it would be done (private and/or private sector).

If the Coalition for Space Exploration really wants to further the notion of a robust taxpayer-funded program of space exploration - one based on a solid footing of public support - then they need to start paying attention to what their polls actually say and stop trying to skew the results to say something that the numbers do not support. If, however, they want to support space exploration - regardless of how it comes about - then they need to re-examine their motives - and ask different questions.

People might not want to pay more taxes for space exploration, but they might be interested in buying a ticket.

Odyssey Moon Adds Alan Stern To Its Team

Former NASA Science Chief Alan Stern joins Odyssey Moon, the first registered competitor in the Google Lunar X PRIZE

"Odyssey Moon, a commercial lunar enterprise, announced today that former NASA Associate Administrator Dr. Alan Stern has accepted a role with the Isle of Man-based company. Dr. Stern was a recognized engine of change and innovation as chief of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, championing new science programs while being a stalwart advocate of cost and value control when he served at NASA."

Coalition Has News, But Forgets To Update Website

New Gallup Poll Reveals Americans Strongly Support Space Exploration, Believe it Inspires Younger Generation

"As America prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of NASA later this year, a new Gallup Poll released today shows strong support for the U.S. Space Exploration Program. The most recent poll, conducted in May 2008, is the latest in a series of four polls commissioned by the Coalition for Space Exploration in an effort to better understand the extent of support and public attitudes toward America's space program. The first three polls were conducted in June 2005, March 2006 and August 2006."

Editor's note: Great news! Too bad the Coalition can't seem to figure out all of that advanced Internet stuff so as to have a way to let people visiting its website i.e. the main home page, the press releases page, and oddly, the Gallup Poll page, and find these poll results easily. Oh yes, where's the emailing to media and space websites? Or is NASA Watch no longer on your list?

Chariot, ATHLETE, K-10 and the LSMS Work Out

NASA Edge: These ARE the droids you are looking for...

"If Luke could have put NASA's Chariot, ATHLETE, K-10 and the LSMS on the south ridge near his home on Tatooine, he could have joined the rebellion much sooner, avoided kissing his sister and even saved his father. Okay, maybe I'm stretching things a little bit. But after only 10 seconds of seeing these vehicles in action, it is tough to supress my enthusiasm. We arrived late in the afternoon in the thick of multiple simulations. The pictures don't quite capture the 20 mph wind, dust devils and chaotic temperatures, but each projects' team and hardware didn't seem phased. They were vigilantly putting everything, including themselves through the data collection ringer... And loving every minute of it. I have to hand it to them all. They are real troopers."

Ares Family Problems

Editor's note: It would seem that ESMD's implementation of the exploration architecture put forth in the ESAS study is not going smoothly . The original Ares V concept (named/modeled after Apollo's 5 engine Saturn V) was not capable of launching what NASA needs to launch. So, an internal study recommends adding a 6th engine to Ares V and stretching everything else to boost performance. Meanwhile, the vibration problems that have plagued Ares 1 have not been solved. Stay tuned for some bad news and another schedule slip in the near future.

Changing Horses

NASA Awards Contract for Constellation Spacesuit for the Moon

Oceaneering Announces NASA Space Suit Contract

Hamilton Must Wait For NASA Rationale, Hartford Courant

"It will be at least 10 days before NASA makes public its rationale for abandoning Hamilton Sundstrand as its spacesuit supplier after more than 40 years. The federal space agency announced Thursday that it has awarded a contract for the next-generation spacesuit to Oceaneering International of Houston, the only bidder competing against a Hamilton partnership called Exploration Systems and Technology."

Everest Recap

Astronaut's adventures don't end in space

"Parazynski joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1992 and flew to Russia's Mir space station as well as its successor, the international space station. He crewed on a shuttle flight in 1998 with John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, and in Houston he trains astronauts for spacewalks. He's unsure whether he will be given an opportunity for a sixth trip into space.

But the desire burns, close to his quest for another shot at Everest's summit. "The mountain will always be there," he said. "It's not that I need to prove anything. The more I thought about it coming home, the more I longed for going back. "I just want to see it with my own eyes."

More information on Scott's climb at EverestOnOrbit

Apollo Job Loss on Steroids

Editor's note: This letter has been going out to Apollo program veterans from United Space Alliance:

"I was given your name by some folks here, who told me you were involved in the Apollo program. I am part of the NASA/Contractor Process Control Focus Group and we develop awareness products for suppliers and the workforce.

With Shuttle coming to a close in the next couple of years, we were brainstorming ideas that would have an impact on our workforce. Then we thought about the Apollo program and what the environment was like when the folks knew the program was coming to an end. I assume it is similar to our current situation, the folks are nervous, preoccupied, etc. and therefore the potential exists for more process escapes.

Each of our team members was tasked with finding folks who worked during the Apollo program and ask if there are any significant stories to tell. Were there any escapes that caused a severe injury to someone, was it fatal? Was hardware damaged, which cost a significant amount? From the other angle, did someone catch something before it became an escape?

Tammi J. Belt
Engineering & Integration
United Space Alliance"

Lunar Surface Systems Concept Studies BAA

NASA Lunar Surface Systems Concept Studies Broad Agency Announcement

"The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is currently studying lunar outpost architecture concepts, including habitation, mobility and communication systems, to support U.S. lunar exploration and science objectives. NASA is in the process of defining functional capabilities and concepts for architectural elements to provide core capabilities.

NASA conducted a discussion of a planned Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Lunar Surface Systems Concept Studies on June 6, 2008, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC."

Full Fledged Space Power

NASA chief urges Europe to build manned spaceship

"NASA encouraged Europe on Thursday to develop its own manned spaceship, which would give the world -- and particularly the U.S. -- another way of reaching the international space station. Europe became "a full-fledged space power," the agency's administrator said, when flight controllers at a European Space Agency center guided an unmanned cargo ship to the international space station in April, successfully delivering food, water and clothes."

Stylish Moon Buggies

Move over Phoenix: Moonstream Mars rover, the best view of the Red Planet, DVICE

"Anthony Sims, a student at the Art Center College of Design, conceptualized the Moonstream rover after forms found in nature, such as turtles and whales, and modeled it after working NASA designs. Each wheel, for instance, can walked upon just like NASA's Athlete robot. Inside, astronauts will find a cabin built for comfort and security, with space that allows some privacy as well as ample room to work and sleep. Form isn't fighting function here, either — the driver lies against an independently suspended pod that allows the pilot to spot troublesome terrain as well as remain stable through rough riding."

Memorial for Astronauts and Cosmonauts Atop Mt. Everest

Scott Parazynski Everest Photo Update 4 June 2008

"Image: a self-portrait just before going to bed at CIII on O's"

Pictures From the Summit of Mt. Everest, OnOrbit.com

"These two photos were taken of Scott Parazynski's good friend and climbing partner Adam Janikowski on the summit of Mt. Everest. Adam is shown posing with memorial banners for cosmonauts and astronauts who died during their missions (which were left at the summit) and Explorers Club Flag #114 (which will be returned to the Explorers Club along with a report)."

Astronaut and Mountaineer Scott Parazynski Brings Explorers Club Flag to Mount Everest, OnOrbit.com

Astronaut Scott Parazynski: Many Small Steps to the Summit of Mt. Everest, OnOrbit.com

NASA Lunar Science Institute CAN Released

NASA Solicitation: NASA Lunar Science Institute

"On June 2, 2008, NASA SMD, in cooperation with ESMD, is releasing a Cooperative Agreement Notice soliciting proposals for the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI). Proposers will be required to clearly articulate an innovative, interdisciplinary, lunar research program, together with plans to advance the full scope of NLSI objectives as defined in the Institute's Mission Statement. Proposals may address science of the Moon, on the Moon, and from the Moon, including objectives that meet NASA's future lunar exploration needs. NASA anticipates making $8-10M per year available for this selection, leading to 5 to 7 awards at least one of which will be focused on exploration objectives. Awards will be for 4 years duration."

Politics? I Don't See Any Politics In Space Exploration

NASA'S Griffin: Space is not an election issue, Orlando Sentinel

"In a quick interview before Discovery was set for liftoff on Saturday, NASA Chief Mike Griffin dismissed the notion promoted by many political strategists in Florida that space was an election issue. He also said he was confident that the successor to the shuttle program would survive the change of administration next year.

His blunt assessment runs contrary to efforts being made by space supporters on Capitol Hill to make NASA and money for human space flight an election issue, especially in Florida. Leading the charge is Florida's democratic senator Bill Nelson, who earlier this week told the Washington Space Business Roundtable that space will be critical to winning Florida, and thus the White House."

But wait - there's more

Editor's note: Gee Mike, what about the thousands of jobs to be cut - cuts based on political decisions - and your implementation thereof? The fact that you don't see real world aspects of how the space program actually works simply confirms your oft-noted total lack of political radar.

Asleep At The Throttle Again

Editor's 29 May note: On June 4th there will be a full committee markup of the HR 6063, the NASA Authorization Act of 2008. It will be webcast live such that anyone can watch. This legislation is a follow-on to a similar bill in 2005 which puts much of the VSE into public law. Given that the Coalition for Space Exploration was created to promote the VSE, you'd think that they'd want to tell people about continuing legislative progress in keeping the VSE on track. Is there any mention of this important event on the calendar on the Coalition's website? No.

Editor's 2 June note: It has been 4 days. Still no mention of this important step at keeping the VSE on track. Have the folks that run the Coalition's website bother to add an update? No.

Backwards Decision Making Process at NASA

ISDC 2008 - Friday Morning - Constellation panel, Hobbyspace

"Discusses the studies that justify the Constellation architecture that Griffin had decided on long before he came to NASA as director and long before the studies were done."

Editor's note: Whoa ... wait a minute. Mike Griffin loves to go on and on about all of the analysis that went into the decision to go with the Ares 1/V architecture and how those studies (ESAS etc.) arrived at the conclusion that it was the best path to take. Now ESMD's Doug Cooke is admitting in public what many people have long known: that Mike Griffin had already decided on this concept before he even came to NASA. That said, what was the purpose of ESAS and all of the trade studies Griffin refers to if the answer was already known - smoke and mirrors?

Editor's update: Now the editor of this site has changed it to state that this was his comment - (apparently) not what Doug Cooke actually said (sorry Doug). Oh well. So much for relying on that site for accurate liveblogging quotes. FWIW the editor also mangled what I and others said in an event at ISDC yesterday.

Friends on Everest

Editor's note: Dr. Christian Otto, whom Leroy Chiao, Matt Reyes and I worked at HMP on Devon Island in 2007 (see photo), and his brother Eric, made it to the summit of Mount Everest last week.

They are part of the Canadian Mt. Everest Medical Operations Expedition. You can follow their expedition on the following web sites:

http://cdneverest2008.com/

http://summitclimb.com/new/default.asp?linktype=r&nid=88#23may

Le Grand Saut (The Great Leap)

20-Year Journey for 15-Minute Fall, NY Times

"He has spent two decades and nearly $20 million in a quest to fly to the upper reaches of the atmosphere with a helium balloon, just so he can jump back to earth again. Now, Michel Fournier says, he is ready at last. Joe Kittinger has the longest recorded jump from a balloon, from 102,800 feet in 1960. Depending on the weather, Fournier, a 64-year-old retired French army officer, will attempt what he is calling Le Grand Saut (The Great Leap) on Sunday from the plains of northern Saskatchewan."

Le Grand Saut (The Great Leap), Official website

Balloon blows away free fall record bid, CNN

"French skydiver Michel Fournier's bid for a record-breaking parachute jump from Earth's stratosphere was aborted Tuesday when the balloon that was to carry him into the far reaches of the sky slipped away from his flight crew."

Today's Video: Space Diving, earlier post

"First Man in Space - Skydiving From The Edge Of The World (Extended Version) // On August 16, 1960, Joseph Kittinger jumped his last ... all " Excelsior jump, doing so from an air-thin height of 102,800 feet (31,334 meters). From that nearly 20 miles altitude, his tumble toward terra firma took some 4 minutes and 36 seconds."

Homeward Bound

Astronaut Scott Parazynski Everest Update: 25 May 2008: Homeward Bound

"My last 24 hours at Everest Base Camp were a blur. After guardedly muscling my way down the Khumbu icefall for the last time, I immediately began thinking about what it would take to get back home. I knew that once I began the trek out, each step I took would finally be one step closer to home. ... A friend and fellow climber had developed a medical condition necessitating evacuation, however. As he was unable to make the long trek out, physicians at the Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA) clinic at base camp ("Everest ER") requested a helicopter evacuation for him."

Ernst Stuhlinger

Ernst Stuhlinger, One of the Last Von Braun Rocket Team Members, Dies

"Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, one of the last surviving members of the 126 German rocket scientists brought over to the United States after world war II has passed away quietly in Huntsville Alabama. Dr. Stuhlinger was 94 years old. Dr. Stuhlinger designed the first manned ion propulsion system for sending humans to Mars as far back as 1958 and by the 1970's he and Von Braun were convinced that ion propulsion would open up the solar system for exploration. This dream is very slowly being realized."

Editor's note: This letter [full text below] by Ernst Stuhlinger was written in the 1970-71 time frame when he was Associate Director for Science at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. It is referenced in this thesis NASA TM X-58055 "Space Program Benefits" by Frederick A. Zito online at NASA - see pages 9 - 12.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Reader's note: "Keith, these guys motivated me to get involved in space, and while I got to do some of the most amazing things, in the end, it was clear that I did not work for the NASA of von Braun days. Not a single MSFC director, or Administrator could write something like the Mars Project...many could not even read it. What a sad irony that we never made it with humans to Mars in his lifetime. .. and that on the day of his death, we simply landed yet another unmanned rover. I am excited by the science we will learn ... but it is very emotionally bitter sweet. I will deeply miss time with him and it has been a painful day for me.

Below is a letter written to Sister Mary Jucunda, a nun who worked among the starving children of Kabwe, Zambie, Africa who wrote Dr. Stuhlinger concerning exploration in space, while all the other problems existed in the world. With true empathy and compassion for Sister Mary's concern and sincerity, Dr. Stuhlinger answered her letter as follows:"

"Your letter was one of many which are reaching me every day, but it has touched me more deeply than all the others because it came so much from the depths of a searching mind and a compassionate heart. I will try to answer your question as best as I possibly can. 

Very sincerely yours,  Ernst Stuhlinger Associate Director for Science."

Coalition For Space Exploration: Asleep At The Throttle Again

Editor's note: Once again the Coalition for Space Exploration - the organization set up back in 2004 to promote the VSE (the one that all the big aerospace companies pour huge amounts of money into) - is asleep at the throttle. This organization is supposed to be enhancing awareness about space policy and space advocacy. Instead it is inert and behind the times.

Earlier this week the House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics unanimously passed HR 6063, the NASA Authorization Act of 2008. This is the reauthorization of a similar bill enacted into law in 2005 which made NASA's implementation of the VSE a matter of public law and national policy. You would think that the coalition - with its $20,000 a month website - would be on top of such things. Think again.

If you look at their press release page - there is nothing about the this new legislation - its introduction, subcommittee hearings, votes - Nothing. Nor was this markup included in their calendar. What are they doing with all of this aerospace money?

VSE Hearing (Coalition drops the ball again), earlier post
Coalition for Space Exploration Drops The Ball, earlier post
Yawn - Its The Coalition for Space Exploration, earlier post
What Does the Coalition for Space Exploration Actually Do?, earlier post

Summit so close, yet so far...

Astronaut Scott Parazynski Everest Update: 22 May 2008: Resting at Base Camp

"I just got a satphone call from Scott Parazynski at Everest Base Camp. The word I'd use to describe his mood is "contemplative". Otherwise, Scott is Scott, and he just always seems to be able to find a positive way to look at things. He was cheering me up!"

Astronaut Scott Parazynski Update 22 May 2008: Summit so close, yet so far...

There I was, literally just 24 hours from standing atop the world's tallest mountain, 6:30 am, May 21, 2008.

The radio call from Casey had just come in, indicating that he, Ari, Danuru and Dawa had actually done it, and with extra determination I gave my pack a hoist, wincing in sharp pain in the process.

Just the day before I'd awoken with low back spasms (something I've dealt with intermittently in the past), but I had still managed to climb the very steep Lhotse face between Camps II and III in a very respectable four and a half hours, cinching my climbing harness like a weight lifter's belt. The night at Camp II had been hard, unable to find a comfortable position for my low back for more than a minute or two. I told myself to persevere, the summit was tantalizingly close --- by morning all would be well, else I'd just "ignore" the stabbing pain and press on to the top.

Everest Base Camp
May 22, 2008

Editor's note: I sent Scott a reply to this note this morning (we had some indications late yesterday that something had gone wrong):

"I am so .... don't have a word for this ...

Make sure to turn the prayer wheels an extra time on the way down."

Real Time Risk Evaluations in Hazardous Environments

Berrimilla Down Under Mars Status Report 20 May 2008

Editor's note: this is the other expedition (earlier reports) I am following and supporting: a 10 meter sailboat Berrimilla ("Berri") heading from Australia, via the Northwest passage to Devon Island in time to see a total solar eclipse in early August. They are making similar mission risk calculations as did Scott Parazynski the other day when he turned back from a summit attempt on Mt. Everest. Alex lost my contact info (again). He's on a little sailboat - he's forgiven. Looks like a satphone call from the middle of the Pacific (as if Scott hasn't already woke me up more than once from Nepal). Oh well, these guys called the ISS a few years back. This thought process - real time risk evaluation in a hazardous environment - is what will be needed on the Moon and Mars ...

"Catastrophising. Tue 20/05/2008 05:13: Keith C: could you please email your contact phone numbers to the website and Speedy will forward them to me?

The task, as I see it, is to get Berri safely through the NWP and out to a safe port at the other end with an acceptable safety margin. The eclipse would be a wonderful spin off. So - starting from the far end, we really need to be at the south end of Greenland by the beginning of September at the absolute latest. The Atlantic is starting to growl by then and even getting to Halifax might be difficult. That means leaving Beechey Island or wherever we get to up there by mid August. No later. Allow 30 days (ambitious in itself)for the NWP from Barrow to Beechey, and we must be past Barrow by mid July. Dutch to Barrow via Nome is at least 2 weeks, so we must leave Dutch by the end of June. The current plan is to leave by June 14, so from here we have a contingency factor of about 2 weeks. That's the balance, and there's no real safety factor built in if we accept the latest dates. Nor does it give us time for maintenance and fixes in Dutch."

NASA Authorization Act of 2008 Clears First Gate

House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics Passes NASA Authorization Act

"Today, the House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics unanimously passed HR 6063, the NASA Authorization Act of 2008 without amendment. Subcommittee Chairman Mark Udall (D-CO) introduced the bill to reauthorize the programs of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for Fiscal Year 2009. Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN), Ranking Member Ralph Hall (R-TX), and Subcommittee Ranking Member Tom Feeney (R-FL) were original cosponsors of the legislation."

NASA Reauthorization Approved by House Panel, CQ Politics

Subcommittee Chairman Udall's Statement on the NASA Authorization Act of 2008

Full Bill Text