Recently in ISS News Category

Reader note 31 Jan: "The following relates to previous discussions on NASAwatch about what text, pictures, items, etc belong to NASA and which belong to the astronauts themselves. I really have been enjoying reading Don Pettit's blog at Air & Space about his life on the ISS. It appears that NASA or someone has censored his blog. His blog entry "Remove before Flight" posted yesterday 1/3/0/2011 is no longer available. Try: this original link and it comes back with nothing. If you enter this into Google, you will see Google's cache of the post: cache:http://blogs.airspacemag.com/pettit/2012/01/30/remove-before-flight/ . I'm also attaching an image of Google's cached page in case the Google cached page disappears."

Keith's 1 Feb update: I am still waiting for a NASA PAO response. I have also requested the original image of the "CAUTION" tag so that we can see what it says.

Keith's 6 Feb update: Well, it has been a week and JSC PAO has said nothing. This is what I have learned behind the scenes. Fact is, JSC PAO did not have a role in this - at first - since they were out of the loop until the blog post was deleted and inquiries started. The Astronaut Office ordered the removal of this post. Don Pettit's blogs were being sent directly to Air & Space magazine without prior approval by the Astronaut Office or JSC PAO - just as Ron Garan's postings to "Fragile Oasis" had been handled throughout his entire mission. The Astronaut Office saw this post by Pettit, thought that it was unacceptable, and told Air & Space that they had to take it offline. The post remains offline with no reason given as to why it was unacceptable or what could be done to make it acceptable. (you can still read it here) Now, JSC PAO hopes that I will get tired of beating this issue and then move on. JSC PAO is also afraid that if the whole story got out that the Astronaut Office would be made to look bad. So, if JSC responds formally to my request you can rest assured that they are not telling the whole story.

Its too bad that control freaks have gotten the middle of this. Pettit (and Garan before him) are unusually good at relating their experiences to wide audiences at home. Now these long-term ISS residents will have official worriers from the Astronaut Office sitting in a cubicle trying to make sure that the fresh and unfiltered nature of these blog postings never sees the light of day.

NASA science chief advocates ties with human spaceflight, SpaceflightNow

"Grunsfeld told Spaceflight Now he met with Bill Gerstenmaier, head of NASA's human exploration division, in his first week in office. "One of the reasons I'm in this job now is because NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden believed that teaming with human spaceflight on those things that make sense, on our exploration program, for science to take advantage of the resources of human spaceflight, for human spaceflight to be informed by the science we can do at planetary destinations, for instance, can make the whole program stronger," Grunsfeld said."

Russia orders Soyuz delays in wake of test mishap, Spaceflight Now

"Outside experts have questioned Russian quality control, but Suffredini said the problems appeared to be unrelated and he expressed confidence his counterparts will get to the bottom of the latest incident, implement corrective actions and move on."

NASA confident in Russia despite space accidents, Reuters

"The latest accident involved a Soyuz capsule being prepared to fly a new crew to the $100 billion orbiting research laboratory on March 29. The spacecraft was inadvertently over-pressurized during testing, rendering it unsuitable for flight."

Space researchers develop ultrasound technology that detects, treats kidney stones, NSBRI

"Just the mention of kidney stones can cause a person to cringe. They are often painful and sometimes difficult to remove, and 10 percent of the population will suffer from them. In space, the risk of developing kidney stones is exacerbated due to environmental conditions. The health risk is compounded by the fact that resource limitations and distance from Earth could restrict treatment options. Scientists with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) are developing an ultrasound technology that could overcome some medical care challenges associated with kidney stone treatment."

Keith's note: Wow, a real spinoff with potential applications to a vast number of people on Earth. But is there any mention at the OCT website? ISS National Lab? CASIS? Why is NASA so woefully incapable of promoting the actual benefits from its research that it crows about in Congressional testimony and PAO puff pieces?

Keith's update: What is really pathetic - and troubling - is the response posted by ISS contractor employee Justin Kugler in the comments section. Kugler and the people entrusted with the utilization of this expensive national asset seem to be oblivious to the responsibility that they have to explain to all "stakeholders" (including taxpayers) what these tens of billions of dollars have been spent on. When these people can't even get off their collective asses to make note of true and exciting spinoffs of great potential to people (such as this one) you really have to question whether NASA has the right people working on this project - and that starts at the top (Mark Uhran).

Russia to postpone next manned space launch, AFP

"Krasnov said that delays came after the re-entry capsule of the Soyuz TMA-04M space ship to be used in the mission was shown in testing not to be hermetically sealed and could not be used for safety reasons. That means the next mission will have to replace it with the re-entry capsule intended for the following mission scheduled May 30, which in turn will be delayed."

Japanese scientists fear spacecraft blueprint stolen after networks penetrated by virus, Daily Mail

"The Japanese space agency has admitted that a computer virus may have stolen sensitive information from their networks - including blueprints for a spacecraft. Hackers could sell on the information or blackmail the space agency for its return. A terminal connected to networks belonging to the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was infected with a Trojan. Data that could have been revealed includes email addresses, system log-in information and, crucially, the specification and operation of the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV)."

Update on Next SpaceX Launch

"In preparation for the upcoming launch, SpaceX continues to conduct extensive testing and analysis. We believe that there are a few areas that will benefit from additional work and will optimize the safety and success of this mission. We are now working with NASA to establish a new target launch date, but note that we will continue to test and review data. We will launch when the vehicle is ready."

First Annual International Space Station R&D Conference

"Manuscripts are solicited on topics related to science and technology activities (past, present, planned and proposed) on the ISS, including but not limited to Biology and Biotechnology, Earth and Space Science, Human Research, Physical Sciences, Education Activities, and Technology and Exploration. The abstract deadline is January 15, 2012."

Keith's 6 Jan note: There is still no mention of this conference on the CASIS website even though CASIS is a co-sponsor. Abstracts are due in 10 days. Tick tock. Someone please wake CASIS up. This conference is precisely the sort of thing that it is chartered to do and yet it can't even post a simple link on its website? Not a good sign.

Top: The International Space Station flies over the face of the Moon as seen from Houston, Texas on 4 January 2012. Bottom: An Ares-1B spacecraft heads toward the Moon in the film "2001: A Space Odyssey" in 1968. Larger images

Related posts

- Astronauts At The Controls: 2010 Vs 2001, earlier post
- Photos: Fixing Antennas in Space - Today and in a Past Future, earlier post
- Photo: In The Cupola, Gazing Down at Earth From Orbit, earlier post

Photo: Integration and Testing of Cygnus Service Modules

"Integration and testing of Cygnus spacecraft service modules continues at our Dulles, VA Satellite Manufacturing Facility (SMF). The service module on the left in the photo below will be used for the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) demonstration flight to the International Space Station (ISS) later this year. The service module on the right will carry out the first of eight cargo resupply missions under Orbital's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA, also scheduled for later this year. A third Cygnus service module (not shown) is also undergoing integration in a separate clean room facility in the facility."

Magnetically-levitated Flies Offer Clues to Future of Life in Space

"Using powerful magnets to levitate fruit flies can provide vital clues to how biological organisms are affected by weightless conditions in space, researchers at The University of Nottingham say. The team of scientists has shown that simulating weightlessness in fruit flies here on earth with the use of magnets causes the flies to walk more quickly -- the same effect observed during similar experiments on the International Space Station."

While NASA Flies In Circles Technology Advances Back on Earth, earlier post

"Growing perfect crystals in space (on the Space Shuttle and Space Station) has been one of NASA's favorite promotional items in its mantra of promoting the use of the ISS as a "world class laboratory". The need for large crystals grown at great expense in space is quickly vanishing due to advances made on Earth."

Keith's 4 Jan note: To be certain, while people are now finding ways to examine phenomena on Earth that were once thought to only be possible - or practical - on the ISS, there is still a vast, untapped potential for the ISS. If only NASA would get out of its own way in this regard. Meanwhile CASIS, the entity created to maximize the utilization of U.S. assets on the ISS, has a web page that is inert and has not changed for months. They do not seem to have any staff (other than a director). If they do, then CASIS has no interest in telling anyone who these people are, what they do, or how to contact them.

Keith's 5 Jan update: I tweeted this today: "@ISS_NatLab -- when will CASIS start to *do* something? bit.ly/A2Hvat". The response? "@NASAWatch CASIS in process of building staff & preparing to take over research planning. You'll have to ask them yourself for more details." I then replied "@ISS_NatLab -- in other words you - #NASA - do not really know what CASIS is doing." and the response I got was "@NASAWatch If you want details on CASIS internal plans, you will need to ask them directly. Our focus is the transition, which is underway."

Trio Heads For Holiday Reunion With Space Station Residents

"NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit, Russian Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands launched to the International Space Station aboard their Soyuz TMA-03M craft at 7:16 a.m. CST Wednesday, Dec. 21 (7:16 p.m. local time), from Kazakhstan. Pettit, Kononenko and Kuipers are scheduled to dock to the Rassvet module of the station at 9:22 a.m. Friday, Dec. 23."

International Space Station Approaches for Ensuring Utilization through 2020

"NASA's approach to determining, obtaining, and delivering necessary spare parts to the ISS is reasonable to ensure continued utilization of the station through 2020. The statistical process and methodology being used to determine the expected lifetimes of replacement units is a sound and commonly accepted approach within the risk assessment community that considers both manufacturers' predictions and the systems' actual performance. To date NASA has given equal weight to manufacturers' predictions and actual performance, and currently has no plans to reassess this decision. However, as time goes on, the resulting estimates could prove to be overly conservative, given that NASA has found failure rates for replacement units to be lower than manufacturers' predictions."

NASA Takes Next Step in Developing Commercial Crew Program

"Instead of awarding contracts for the next phase of the Commercial Crew Program, the agency plans to use multiple, competitively awarded Space Act Agreements. Using competitive Space Act Agreements instead of contracts will allow NASA to maintain a larger number of partners during this phase of the program, with the flexibility to adjust technical direction, milestones and funding."

NASA Acquisition Approach for Commercial Crew Transportation Includes Good Practices, but Faces Significant Challenges, GAO

"NASA's planned approach for acquiring U.S. commercial crew transportation faces significant challenges that could impact its success, although it includes some good acquisition practices. Specifically, NASA's current funding level for its program is lower than anticipated and may not allow NASA to award multiple contracts, which is its key element for maintaining cost control by sustaining competition through all phases of its commercial crew transportation program. Moreover, the critical need to transport crew to the space station beginning in 2016 requires an aggressive program schedule that may not be attainable given NASA's experiences with past government and commercial development efforts."

Commercial Spaceflight Federation Lauds NASA for Decision on Commercial Crew Program

"Space Act Agreements are a proven way to get rapid, cost-effective results and will help ensure that the Commercial Crew Program is a success," said CSF Executive Director Alex Saltman. "Space Act Agreements were used in the previous rounds of the Commercial Crew program, as well as the COTS Cargo Program. A NASA cost study has shown that the COTS Cargo development program, using Space Act Agreements, has been successful for a fraction of what a traditionally run program would have cost."

Rep. Hall Questions Implications of NASA Commercial Crew Announcement

"Given current federal budget constraints, I continue to be concerned about NASA's ability to afford contracting with two or more companies to ferry our astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Time is of the essence. We need to be able fully utilize our Space Station until the end of this decade, and we also need to end our reliance on other countries to ferry our astronauts. In order to reduce risk and cost, and to minimize further schedule slips, it would be my hope that two commercial companies would team together to jointly develop a cost-effective and safe launch system."

Ranking Member Johnson Reacts to NASA's Announcement on Commercial Crew Acquistion Approach

"While I am sympathetic to the difficulties NASA is experiencing following receipt of its appropriations for FY 2012, in light of NASA's acknowledgement that higher risk will be incurred using this new approach, I am concerned that NASA's plan does not appear to contain sufficient margins and other risk reduction measures to give Congress confidence that it has a high probability of successfully meeting the objective of providing safe and cost-effective commercial crew transportation to and from the International Space Station by 2016 or even 2017."

NASA Announces Launch Date and Milestones for Spacex Flight

"NASA has announced the launch target for Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) second Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) demonstration flight will be Feb. 7, 2012. Pending completion of final safety reviews, testing and verification, NASA also has agreed to allow SpaceX to send its Dragon spacecraft to rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS) in a single flight."

Keith's note: I was just at the NASA Education Stakeholders summit session on the ISS National Laboratory Education Project. Two things were apparent. First, little if any progress has been made on transferring responsibilities between NASA JSC and CASIS, the non-profit selected by NASA earlier this year to operate U.S. resources on the ISS. It was obvious that NASA has not done much - and since CASIS is still being formed, that it has not been able to do much either. Only several minutes were spent on this topic. No one from CASIS was on the agenda. Given that the agency has had a year to think about how they would transfer things (no matter who was selected), you'd think that they would have had a plan laid out the moment that CASIS came online. Guess not.

The second issue has to do with NASA JSC's International Space Station Live! website which continues to add new and interesting features. This site will eventually serve as a really nice way for people to understand what the ISS is doing - and when and why it is doing so. Alas, as cool as this site is, it is still not linked to by the rest of the agency. In addition, it duplicates features already in place on other websites, adding yet another tentacle to the already complex NASA human spaceflight web hydra.

If you go to NASA's ISS home page there is no mention of this website. Nor is there any mention at spaceflight.nasa.gov, NASA.gov, the ISS National Laboratory page, the HEOMD home page, or the NASA Office of Education (a sponsor).

I raised this issue back in October. When I asked Regina Blue from JSC about this today, she had no easy answer for why this site was not being promoted or linked to other NASA sites other than to say that they were "waiting for a website address". That is a rather odd excuse since the site has been publicly online since this summer at http://spacestationlive.jsc.nasa.gov and is easily findable via Google. If the folks at JSC wanted a different website address than this then why did they put this online in a publicly accessible fashion in the first place?

Yet Another Stealth Website NASA Can't Coordinate, earlier post

Keith's update: A new National Laboratory webpage is now online. Meanwhile, CASIS still hasn't figured out how to do this - and that is one of the things they are supposed to be doing.

Ron Garan: "Saying goodbye to our friends and our home on the International Space Station was bittersweet after nearly six months in space. Although Andrey Borisenko, Alexander Samokutyaev and I were eager to return to our beautiful Earth, we wanted to savor our last moments as we took a couple of laps around our Fragile Oasis before coming back down. Today, November 21, 2011, we look forward to welcoming our crewmates Mike Fossum, Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa as they come "Down to Earth" after their half year onboard the International Space Station. God Speed & Welcome Home Guys! Thank you Peter Gabriel for allowing your music to accompany all of us. Perfect!"

More

Space Station Trio Lands Safely in Kazakhstan

"Expedition 29 Commander Mike Fossum, Flight Engineers Satoshi Furukawa of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Sergei Volkov of the Russian Federal Space Agency landed their Soyuz spacecraft in frigid conditions on the central steppe of Kazakhstan at 8:26 p.m. CST Nov. 21 (8:26 a.m. Kazakhstan time, Nov. 22). The trio arrived at the station on June 9. They spent 167 days in space and 165 days on the complex. Volkov, a two-time station crew member, now has accumulated 366 days in space."

- Sen. Rockefeller (statement)

Witness Panel 1
- Charles Bolden(statement)

Witness Panel 2
- KSC Center Director Robert D. Cabana
- JSC Center Director Michael L. Coats
- MSFC Center Director Robert M. Lightfoot

Photos: Robonaut-2 Gestures In Space

Keith's note: I have seen Robonaut-2 in action and its dexterity is interesting - and rather facile.  So ... how could NASA demonstrate this dexterity in new ways, make it a little more "human" or approachable, - and reach a new segment of the populace that is normally overlooked? Program it to use Sign Language. Background: I worked for more than a decade as a professional certified (educational) sign language interpreter. This idea occurred to me when I was looking at this picture and instantly wondered what Robonaut-2 "wanted" or why it was seemingly in the process of saying "here" or maybe "give". Imagine how fast a video of Robonaut-2 saying something in American Sign Language from space would go viral. NASA could have a competition wherein people submit questions for it to answer. NASA already has a signing astronaut and SMD and NLSI already put out books in Braille. Just a thought.

P.S. Maybe he could repeat what that alien signed in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (video). If you watch that scene, the alien that is signing actually moves its hand like Robonaut does. I first saw this film when it came out with my hearing impaired roommates - none of us knew that aliens were going to sign so we all freaked out when one of them did. Of course, it was natural to us that all aliens would know how to sign - since they all already speak English, right?

Group Letter From Former Astronauts To Congress Regarding NASA's Commercial Crew Program

"We understand there are many programs competing for limited NASA funding; however, Commercial Crew funding must be kept as one of the top priorities if America is to retain its position as the world's number one spacefaring nation, ahead of other spaceflight powers like Russia and China. Simply put, Commercial Crew represents the most rapid way for America to get back its human space transportation capability following retirement of the Space Shuttle, and for America to end the "gap" in human spaceflight. The US will be back with its own capability soonest through Commercial Crew. Without Commercial Crew, America will be on the sidelines for years and years. And as long as America lacks a domestic means to access and maintain our $100 billion International Space Station, then we are running a risk that any setback to the Russian space program or a deterioration of US-Russian relations could force us to temporarily or perhaps permanently evacuate the American crew from the ISS."

Group Letter To Congress and the Obama Administration Regarding NASA's Commercial Crew Program

"We, the undersigned space leaders, are strong supporters of human spaceflight. Among us are former NASA astronauts, executives, and advisors, CEOs and directors of firms large and small, space scientists, space journalists, and others. We write today to urge you to expedite plans to use commercial companies to carry crew to the Space Station. This effort is critical to the health of the Nation's human spaceflight efforts. More specifically, we are alarmed by possible congressional budget cuts to the $850M FY2012 budget request for NASA's Commercial Crew program--the fastest paced and surest effort to restore US human access to orbit. We are also alarmed by changes to NASA's planned contracting and oversight methods that threaten to complicate and slow progress toward developing US capabilities to put American astronauts in orbit via the Commercial Crew program."

NASA Still Studying Space-Based Fuel Depots, Aviation Week

"Michael Gazarik, NASA's space technology program director, says that CPST and the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket currently under development are complementary technologies. "To explore deep space we need a heavy-lift vehicle -- SLS -- and we need this technology. We need to be able to demonstrate how to handle cryogenic fluids in space." The CPST project is being led by NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist, which was set up by the Obama administration to develop technologies that will be needed regardless of the final exploration architectures the U.S. space community hammers out. The depot-demonstration mission will serve any of them, Gazarik says."

- Update on NASA's Hidden Fuel Depot Studies
- NASA Studies Show Cheaper Alternatives to SLS, earlier post
- Fuel Depots and Congress, earlier post
- In-Space Cryogenic Propellant Storage and Transfer Demonstration Mission Concept Studies, 2011, NASA GRC, earlier post
- Using Commercial Launchers and Fuel Depots Instead of HLVs, earlier post
- The HLV Cost Information NASA Decided Not To Give To Congress, earlier post

Photo: JAXA Astronaut Satoshi Furukawa Backlit Only By Earthshine

"Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, Expedition 29 flight engineer, holds a still camera while looking through a window in the Cupola of the International Space Station Space Station."

Keith's note: President Obama will host the crew of STS-135 on Tuesday at 12:20 pm EDT in the Oval Office.

NASA Signs Agreement with Space Florida to Reuse Kennedy Facilities For Boeing CST-100 Development

"The next era of space exploration won't wait, and so we can't wait for Congress to do its job and give our space program the funding it needs. That's why my Administration will be pressing forward, in partnership with Space Florida and the private sector, to create jobs and make sure America continues to lead the world in exploration and discovery," President Barack Obama said."

We Can't Wait, Atlanta Journal Constitution

"The White House continues to run with the new theme of President Obama, "We Can't Wait," making the argument that if the Congress won't approve Obama Administration initiatives, then the President will do what he can on his own."

Boeing to Establish Commercial Crew Program Office in Florida

""Pending the continued selection of Boeing for future Commercial Crew development and service contracts, and sufficient NASA funding, we project a Commercial Crew program workforce ramping up to 550 local jobs by our scheduled operational date of December 2015."

Keith's note: This is interesting. An Obama 2012 campaign slogan is used in an official NASA press release. Just Google "Obama we can't wait" and you will see this campaign phrase embedded in virtually everything that the President says these days - especially when it relates to employment.

Photo: Progress Reentry As Seen From The International Space Station

@astro_aggie (Mike Fossum) "Enjoy this picture I took #fromspace of the Progress cargo ship burning up after undock on Saturday."

Successful Progress Launch Sets Stage for Soyuz Flight

"The following is a statement from Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington, on Sunday's launch of the Progress 45 spacecraft to the International Space Station. The rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:11 a.m. EDT (4:11 p.m. Baikonur local time). ..."

Fueling Stations vs. Monster Rocket, Dana Rohrabacher, Space News

"At the end of our July 12 House Science, Space, and Technology Committee hearing, "A Review of NASA's Space Launch System," I asked NASA Administrator Charles Bolden about the relative cost of using the technology of on-orbit propellant depots instead of relying on new large heavy-lift launch vehicles. He replied that he believed the studies had been done, and the fuel depot solution proved to be more expensive, and promised to get me the full answer. As of this writing, I am still waiting for that answer. It has been more than three months, and NASA has not provided any analysis, or any data at all, that shows why depots are not a good solution or why they are more expensive."

- Rohrabacher Demands Release of NASA's Recent On-Orbit Fuel Depot Analysis, earlier post - Update on NASA's Hidden Fuel Depot Studies - NASA Studies Show Cheaper Alternatives to SLS, earlier post

Full Committee Hearing: NASA's Commercial Crew Development Program: Accomplishments and Challenges

Panel One
- John Elbon, Boeing - statement
- Steve Lindsey, Sierra Nevada - statement
- Elon Musk, SpaceX - statement
- Charles Precourt, ATK - statement
- George Sowers, United Launch Alliance - statement

Panel Two
- Paul Martin, Inspector General, NASA - statement
- Bill Gerstenmaier, HEOMD, NASA - statement

- Rep. Hall: "Blue Origin declined to testify despite getting $14.9 million from NASA and will have to explain that to the rest of the committee."

- Hearing Charter
- Live webcast

Opening statements:

- Rep. Hall
- Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson
- Rep. Jerry Costello

Keith's Note: If you watch the live video from the Aquarius undersea habitat you can see that the NEEMO-15 crew are currently using tablet computers. According to an interview I did a few minutes ago, NEEMO-15 crew member Astronaut Shannon Walker says that they use these tablet computers to track their mission tasks. Walker also said that there will be several tablet computers aboard the next Progress cargo flight to the International Space Station. When asked, she was not able to say what brands of tablets would be going up.

Keith's update: According to NASA Public Affairs, the Russians plan to fly two iPads on the December Progress mission as a replacement for the iPod they currently have on the ISS The only use for these two iPads will be for entertainment. The Russians have no plans to use them operationally. NASA is still reviewing other tablet systems and plans to fly at least one more next year although the brand that they will fly is still TBD.

Commercial Crew Initiative Called Underfunded, Aviation Week

"Funding for NASA's commercial crew space transportation services initiative appears headed for funding problems that could undermine the agency's efforts to regain the independent U.S. human launch capability that lapsed with the shuttle program's retirement earlier this year, members of NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) warned Oct. 21."

Comments by NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight

"While not a new idea, it should not be surprising that this increased emphasis and investment has now reached the stage where a real threat exists to the status quo. It is only natural that this success has "inspired" a negative reaction by vested interests. History is rich with examples of industries and entities in transition - those whose livelihoods and in some cases very lives were threatened by a new paradigm often choose the bitter fight instead of, or in some cases, in advance of, their own adaptation."

NASA OIG Report: NASA's Challenges Certifying and Acquiring Commercial Crew Transportation Services, earlier post

"Our review found that NASA is making sustained progress toward its goal of obtaining commercial crew transportation services. However, the Agency faces a series of significant challenges, including the need to select an acquisition strategy, modify existing human-rating requirements to make them applicable to commercially developed systems, and establish the appropriate insight/oversight model for commercial partner vehicle development."

NASA: Pay the Americans now ... or pay the Russians later, MSNBC

"If NASA can't provide as much support for U.S. spaceship-builders as it's hoping for, it'll have to keep paying the Russians $450 million for every year of delay, the space agency's No. 2 official said today. NASA's deputy administrator, Lori Garver, laid out that "pay now or pay later" message at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight in Las Cruces, N.M."

Back space taxis or pay more for Russian rides, Reuters

"The Obama Administration is requesting $850 million for the [commercial] program for the fiscal year that began Oct 1. Bills pending in the House and Senate cut that to $312 million and $500 million, respectively. Without full funding in 2012, the United States' ability to stop buying rides from Russia in 2016 is at risk, NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver said at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, under way in Las Cruces, New Mexico, this week."

NASA may extend Russian contract to fly to space station, Orlando Sentinel

"Top NASA officials are quietly working to extend a contract with Moscow that would continue using Russian rockets to fly U.S. astronauts into space until 2016 and beyond -- a move that underscores how much the U.S. now relies on its former Cold War adversary. Already, NASA is committed to pay Russia $1.5 billion during the next five years to transport its astronauts to and from the International Space Station, a necessary arrangement because the U.S. no longer flies a human-rated spacecraft since NASA retired the space shuttle last summer."

A Pre-Mission Conversation With NASA NEEMO Aquanaut Steve Squyres

"I had a chance to chat with NEEMO 15 crew member Steve Squyres today as he waits out some bad weather before his 13 day underwater mission begins. According to Steve its looking like Thursday before they can "splash down" and begin their mission."

Hearing: The International Space Station: Lessons from the Soyuz Rocket Failure and Return to Flight

- Statement of Lt. Gen Thomas P. Stafford
- Statement of VADM Joseph W. Dyer
- Statement of Steven M. Palazzo
- Statement of William H. Gerstenmaier
- Hearing Charter

Live Webcast 2:00 - 4:00 pm EDT

Secretive US X-37B Space Plane Could Evolve to Carry Astronauts, Space.com

"The maker of the X-37B robotic space plane has outlined new plans for the spacecraft and a scaled-up version to support space station cargo deliveries or even carry astronauts into orbit. The Boeing X-37B robotic space plane -- also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle or OTV -- is being operated by the U.S. Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, toting top-secret payloads into Earth orbit. An X-37B OTV and derivatives plan was outlined here by Arthur Grantz, chief engineer, Experimental Systems Group at Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems in Seal Beach, Calif. He spoke at Space 2011, a conference organized by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)."

YouTube SpaceLab Lifts Off With Lenovo Aboard

"Lenovo ThinkPad laptops have played a critical role aboard dozens of NASA space shuttle missions since 1995 and are currently used by astronauts in critical operations onboard the International Space Station."

Keith's note: This is not exactly accurate. Lenovo completed its purchase of IBM's laptop division - the original manufacturer of ThinkPads - in 2005. Only in the past year or so have these original IBM-manufactured Thinkpads on the ISS begun to be replaced with laptops manufactured by Lenovo. One recent example is this photo showing "a new [Lenovo] T61p laptop to replace the previous A31p as OCA Router in the Joint Station LAN/Local Area Network (JSL LAN).". Also, a ThinkPad flew on a shuttle mission in 1993 several years earlier than Lenovo claims.

2001: A Space Laptop, earlier post

Keith's note: In the very near future NASA, Google, and computer manufacturer Lenovo are set to announce an interesting educational project. As I understand the gist of the effort from various sources, students will be asked to come up with ideas for experiments that can be performed on the ISS and submit a video via YouTube that describes their idea. Winners will be selected and the experiments described in the videos will actually be performed aboard the ISS. This is an interesting way to get novel ideas onboard the ISS - and possibly to spark careers. Moreover, it is a way to show that the ISS has utility beyond the experiments proposed by a small cadre of insiders.

The odd thing about this, however, is that the largest shareholder of Lenovo is an agency of the Chinese government. According to Wikipedia: "50.4% of Lenovo is owned by public shareholders, 42.3% by Legend Holdings Limited ... Because the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a Chinese government agency, owns 65% of Legend Holdings, effectively the Chinese government owns about 27% of Lenovo and is the largest shareholder." As such, this announcement is certain to gain attention from members of Congress (such as Rep. Frank Wolf) who are constantly putting NASA on the spot vis a vis any interactions with China - direct or by proxy. One would have thought that NASA would have found a way to work with a sponsor without such an overt link to the Chinese government.

Reader note: "I received an email invite to a Lenovo / YouTube webcast on the 10th about an "interesting" and "educational" project. I'm not sure why it's embargoed until Tuesday, but I'm guessing that it relates to this post. The email I received didn't mention NASA at all though."

Keith's 7 Oct update: Here is the Space Act Agreement between NASA and Space Adventures that outlines this competition. What is odd about this Space Act Agreement is that it has milestones for this project starting in June 2011 - yet the agreement was only signed a few weeks ago in September 2011. Also, "YouTube" appears in the title of this Space Act Agreement yet no one from YouTube (or Google who owns YouTube) signed this agreement. How can they be bound to this agreement if they are not a party to it? Also, the contest is supposed to be announced in October 2011 and students only have one month to come up with an experiment. And then "certified hardware [will be] provided to NASA for launch" in March 2012 with a launch to the ISS in May 2012. Wouldn't you want to give students more time so as to have more experiments submitted - and more thought put into the preparation of the proposals? These students also have their regular classwork to do. Also, since when does NASA have an expedited process whereby payloads can go from zero to flight in 6 months? Why isn't this capability more widely advertised?

Keith's 7 Oct update: NASA PAO just issued this press release: "NASA Performs Student Experiments For Whole World To See". In this release there is a link is provided to a YouTube site called "SpaceLab" where you will see a countdown clock that says "SpaceLab Launching with Lenovo" that reaches zero at noon on Monday. Why they picked a federal holiday to announce this is a little odd.

There is some disparity between the Space Act Agreement that formally enables this project and what this press release says. The press release says "Contest entrants may submit up to three experiments in either life sciences or physics. They must submit a two-minute video application by Dec. 7 via YouTube.com." However the Space Act Agreement says "entry deadline November 2011". The press release says "Six regional finalists will be selected in March 2012. Regional finalists will receive get a flight on a ZERO-G aircraft." but the Space Act Agreement says "finalists announced January 2012".

YouTube has started its viral prelaunch marketing by tweeting "T-minus 3 days and counting... What's a @YouTube Space Lab? #SpaceLab" today and tweeting this yesterday "There's going to be a BIG launch in four days time... Subscribe at http://goo.gl/5hWYC #spacelab". No mention on the Space Adventures, YouTube, Google, or Lenovo websites though.

Keith's 8 Oct update: According to a retweet by @LenovoEducation "RT @YouTube T-minus 3 days and counting... What's a @YouTube Space Lab? #SpaceLab". A tweet from @Lenovo_ANZ "There's going to be a BIG launch in a few days time @YouTube ... Subscribe at http://goo.gl/5hWYC #spacelab". Still nothing from @SpaceAdventures

Keith's 5 Oct note: What an amazing photo (larger). I found it on the FragileOasis Facebook page. But is it online at the official NASA Expedition 29 photo gallery? No. This is just insane. HEOMD EPO Lead Beth Beck doesn't even coordinate these things with other HEOMD websites, to say nothing of ignoring NASA PAO and the vastly larger audience this image would otherwise get at NASA.gov.

I am tired of watching [SOMD + ESMD = HEOMD] absolutely bungle the utilization and awareness of the vast potential of the ISS - simply because their mediocre staff are incapable of coordination with the rest of the agency with the greater good as the ultimate intent. Amateurs are not what is called for. NASA can - and must - do MUCH better.

Questions for Beth Beck Regarding FragileOasis.org, earlier post

Keith's 7 Oct note: So, Beth Beck, HEOMD EPO Lead, why isn't this utterly astonishing photo - indeed, an image that is ethereally transcendental in terms of its colors and what it depicts - an image that simply takes one's breath away - not on spaceflight.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station ? What is it that you do any way? If your job is to promote ISS activities, well, you have failed. NASA.gov is not carrying your stuff and promoting it to the public.

Crowdsourced Product: Know When ISS Flies Over Your House

"Human space flight is an awesome part of living in the future. But why does it still seem so abstract? There are people in space right now! Did you know that? Do you know how many there are? ISS-Notify is a simple attempt at making our space program more real. Many times a day the international space station passes overhead unnoticed."

Keith's note: An interesting new website International Space Station Live!, hosted at JSC, is now online. It displays a variety of telemetry and data feeds from the ISS. But NASA is not telling anyone about this website. If you go to NASA's ISS home page there is no mention of this website. Nor is there any mention at spaceflight.nasa.gov, NASA.gov, the ISS National Laboratory page, the HEOMD home page, or the NASA Office of Education (a sponsor).

Once again, one has to ask who is actually in charge of NASA's communications activities? Clearly people at NASA's centers, directorates, and missions seem to feel that they can do anything they want - and not bother to coordinate with anyone else including NASA PAO. Now if only HEOMD's crack EPO squad can find a way to couple this real time ISS telemetry website with the Google/YouTube/Lenovo/NASA student science contest and FragileOasis.org and you could have something very, very cool to engage the public. Alas, this is unlikely to happen.

Keith's note: Several months ago Assistant Associate Administrator for the International Space Station Mark Uhran had been telling people that he was going to leave NASA on or around 1 October. Those plans have apparently changed. Former Deputy Associate Administrator for NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Laurie Leshin's departure led to a change in the new HEOMD management structure (due to the fusion of ESMD and SOMD) and Uhran is staying. Stay tuned.

Keith's 4 Oct note: Astronaut Ron Garan recently returned to Earth. While he was on the ISS he was a rather active, creative, and effective communicator. However, the vast majority of what he sent back to Earth did not appear on a NASA.gov website. Instead, it appeared on his own effort - the officially semi-official "Fragile Oasis". Beth Beck from HEOMD runs this site. The site is operated independent of NASA PAO and of any oversight by NASA's office of communications. Contrary to established agency policy Beck decided to run it outside of the NASA portal and makes little if any effort to coordinate with the way that the rest of the agency coordinates with NASA PAO. Indeed, if you even try to find who owns the domain fragileoasis.org you are unable to do so since that information is hidden.

Now this effort has created a project wherein a Fragile Oasis Prize which is apparently going to be given out to people. Prize medals were even flown in space. According to the website: "By becoming a Fragile Oasis Crewmember, you will be able to nominate and vote on projects that you believe are making the world a better place. You can encourage those that you feel are making a difference and receive encouragement from others. You can discover people and organizations with similar goals and interests and get involved with beneficial projects."

Ron Garan did a wonderful job while he was in space as he reached out to people back on Earth - one that is worthy of emulation by future crews. It is unfortunate that Beth Beck chose to implement this project in a way that diminished its reach via the vastly more popular NASA.gov web audience.

Questions for Beth Beck:

- How much has the FragileOasis.org effort cost NASA HEOMD to date? What is the budget for this entire project?
- How long will this project continue?
- Who owns the content on this website? Who actually owns the domain FragileOasis.org?
- Which contractors have been paid to run FragileOasis.org and how much has each of them been paid?
- How were the contractors that operate FragileOasis.org selected and how is their performance on this activity tracked?
- What are the metrics you use to track FragileOasis.org effectiveness?
- What are your web traffic numbers? What is the age and geographical break down of your web traffic?
- How much web traffic did fragileoasis.org send (refer) to NASA.gov? How much web traffic did nasa.gov send to fragileoasis.org?
- What information do you retain for people who visit and join your website and is this being done in accordance with NASA/government requirements?
- How many people have signed up to "join" your website?
- What target audience(s) is this project designed to reach?
- How many times have FragileOasis.org Tweets been retweeted or mentioned?
- How many of the images and videos that Ron Garan sent back to Earth were published on a NASA.gov website?
- Why is this official (is it official?) NASA website not hosted within the NASA.gov portal?
- What are the criteria for evaluating and selecting Fragile Oasis prize winners? Who are the judges?
- How long does this FragileOasis.org competition last? How many prizes will be awarded?
- Why have there been no NASA press releases about this prize?

One last thing. Beth Beck does not like public scrutiny when it comes to questions like the ones I have asked. Not at all. Sources inside the agency report that she has formally complained to the NASA Office of General Counsel about my repeated public comments and formal inquiries about how she does her job and how her projects accomplish their intended purpose. You will recall that her disastrous NASA Buzzroom efforts were featured on NASA Watch.

Any communications or outreach person with skin this thin is most certainly in the wrong job.

Ron Garan's Earth Gazing - Who Is Actually In Charge of NASA Public Affairs?, earlier post

Keith's 5 Oct update: I haven't heard anything from Beth Beck or anyone at HEOMD or FragileOasis.org. I did not really expect to hear anything. They also deleted the link I put to this posting on the FragileOasis Facebook page. So ... I guess I'll just submit a FOIA request - and then wait for months as they drag their feet developing a non-answer to my request.

Space Oddity? China Plays 'America the Beautiful' During Space Lab Launch, Spacecom

"State broadcaster CCTV and the Chinese space agency collaborated on a short video to mark the liftoff of China's unmanned Tiangong 1 space lab Thursday night (Sept. 29), The Guardian newspaper reports. The 98-second video gives an animated look at the launch and Tiangong 1's mission -- all set, puzzlingly, to an instrumental version of "America the Beautiful."

NASA Exploration Ideas - With Added China Bashing (Update)

Keith's note: Gee, the Chinese certainly seem to like the U.S. - quite a contrast from the chart that astronaut Andy Thomas used recently within an official NASA presentatino wherein several Chinese astronauts are shown having trampled an American flag left on the Moon by Apollo astronauts.

NASA's Development of Radiation Monitoring Instruments for the International Space Station

"This Office of Inspector General (OIG) review found that NASA has poorly managed the development of these replacement radiation monitoring instruments. Specifically, total estimated ARI Project costs increased approximately 62 percent, from $16 million to $26 million; the Project has been de-scoped and will not include all planned elements; and delivery of the new instruments has been delayed by almost 3 years. In addition, until April 2010 NASA was developing an instrument that did not meet stated radiation monitoring requirements. We also found that the ISS Program has never monitored astronaut exposure to neutrons in accordance with Program requirements and had not adequately analyzed, planned, tracked, or controlled the resulting risk."

Photo: Ron Garan's Last Day in Space

@ASTRO_RON: "How I spent my last day in space.

That's me in the cupola of the International Space Station off the coast of Australia taking my last of over 25,000 pics that I still want to share w/ everyone."

Keith's note: I am confused. Astronaut Ron Garan flies to the International Space Station and sends a non-stop stream of personal - and cool - photos back to Earth via Twitter and Twitpic. Well, these photos usually do not always end up on NASA's Human Spaceflight website but some of them appear on his personal (?) website at fragileoasis.org (the domain is registered to some anonymous individual in Bellveue, Washington) - a website that never seems to use the word "NASA" - unless you scroll to the small text at the bottom of the page with a micro NASA logo. Guess what - that link is to http://nasa.gov . Try it. It does not work. It should say http://www.nasa.gov which does work. Looks like no one bothered (or cared) to check.

Are NASA funds used to run this website? If so, then why the lack of coordination with NASA.gov?. If not, then why isn't NASA running such a high profile site that highlights such a prominent activity that its own official website seems to not want to highlight? Some (but not all) of these photos and commentary by Ron Garan also appear at NASA's blog site.

Ron Garan is a NASA civil servant who was on official duty at taxpayer expense on the ISS. We paid his airfare. We should all be seeing everything he sends back to Earth, without having to hop around various websites, right? NASA should endeavour to collect all that he sends back to Earth - in one place - so as to maximize this dissemination of information to the public. But that is not the case.

These "NASA" sites do not even link to each other. Who is in charge here? NASA PAO?, HEOMD? Ron Garan? Until NASA figures out how to coordinate its "messages" it will be hobbled by stove piping and hobby shop approaches to education and public outreach. The scattered nature of this otherwise inspiring series of photos and operations exposes just how uncoordinated NASA is these days when it comes to telling the taxpaying public what it is doing and why. And then they have the nerve to complain when the public does not seem to understand what they are doing.

Cool stuff Ron. You done good. Some of your stuff is jaw dropping. As a result, perhaps the rest of the agency can learn how to work together as one cohesive and cooperating entity in the future?

This is an awesome image worth spreading across our planet. Is it featured at NASA.gov?

No.

Keith's note: From what I have been able to piece together HEOMD's Beth Beck (the creator of the failed NASA BuzzRoom) is behind this site. Elyse David is the "Executive Producer and Founding Crewmemeber" of Fragile Oasis according to her Twitter page. Beth Beck does more or less whatever she wants to do on this website with near zero coordination with NASA PAO. Despite multiple requests in the past for metrics and a plan for education and public outreach Beth has been unwilling/unable to provide me with anything. Yes, Ron Garan's photos and commentary have been amazing - but when they are not coordinated with NASA.gov's much larger distribution system, they suffer from less than full visibility they might otherwise attain. The net result is that NASA's limited funding for such things is not being spent in the best way possible. Once again one part of NASA simply does not care to coordinate with the other.

NASA Finalizes Cooperative Agreement With Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) To Manage the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, Space Florida

"NASA finalized a Cooperative Agreement with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), authorizing the organization to serve as the independent non-profit entity for management of the U.S. International Space Station National Laboratory (ISS NL) ... For more information, please visit the CASIS website, which will go live on September 15, 2011 at www.iss-casis.org."

Keith's 21 Sep note: This press release was issued on 9 September. A website for CASIS was promised for 15 September - but there is still no active website for CASIS. NASA picked this organization to help manage the ISS National Laboratory and help disseminate information regarding the uses of the ISS - and they can't even get a simple website online? Not a promising sign.

Keith's 22 Sep update: The CASIS website is now online.

Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz make visible the structure of the smallest crystals, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

"A radical new way of making structures visible at the nano level has been developed at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). This new method makes it possible to determine with precision the arrangement of atoms and molecules in a diverse range of materials from cement to pharmaceuticals. The procedure, which is still in its infancy, comes from the field of electron microscopy and can resolve the structure of the tiniest crystals. ... "There is a large number of natural and synthetic solid materials for which our method may be used - materials which are not available or cannot be manufactured in a suitable crystal size." ... In comparison with conventional electron microscopy characterizations, electron diffraction tomography is considerably faster, more accurate, and more complete. Whereas before, structures were researched for two years, using ADT a result can be obtained within just one day."

Using the ISS: Once Again NASA Has Been Left in the Dust, earlier post

"With the research results presented in these two papers, it would seem that structural information for biological molecules can now be obtained from vanishingly small biological samples - so called "nanocrystals" using a hard X-ray laser - on Earth - no space station required. ... If only NASA could find a way to get things from idea - to hardware - to orbit - and back faster and cheaper, the ISS might have played more of a role in this field of protein crystallography.

Keith's note: Growing perfect crystals in space (on the Space Shuttle and Space Station) has been one of NASA's favorite promotional items in its mantra of promoting the use of the ISS as a "world class laboratory". The need for large crystals grown at great expense in space is quickly vanishing due to advances made on Earth. As mentioned in the original post from February 2011, NASA dragged its feet on this and missed the bus. Yet if you go to any of the agency's ISS websites - or read the promotional materials about research opportunities - not a word is offered about new and cheaper ground-based alternatives to growing large crystals in space. That's because the agency is incapable of staying current on the very science it is trying to promote - or being intellectually honest with people as they continue to use outdated reasons to hype the ISS.

NASA Releases Commercial Crew Draft RFP, Announces CCDEV2 Optional Milestones

"NASA unveiled Monday an outline of its acquisition strategy to procure transportation services from private industry to carry U.S. astronauts to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station. The agency also announced the addition of optional milestones for the Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) initiative."

NASA Solicitation: Commercial Crew Integrated Design Contract Draft RFP

"A Requirements Workshop, a Pre-Solicitation Conference and One-on-Ones are scheduled for October 4, 5 and 6 at Kennedy Space Center, FL. The Requirements Workshop will discuss key features and changes since the May 2011 Requirements Workshop for each of the 1100 series documents. Additional information regarding times, location and registration information will be posted in the near future."

Russian Federation unwilling to allow Space X demonstration, Examiner.com

"Vladimir Solovyov, head of the Russian segment of the ISS mission control center made a statement on Friday that Space X will not be granted docking permission to dock its Dragon spacecraft at the International Space Station (ISS) during a planned test flight on or around November 30, 2011."

@NASA: "Sorry, despite @ria_novosti reports, a decision has yet to be made regarding the upcoming @SpaceXer test flight to ISS. Incorrect story."

Keith's note: I suspect that this is yet another case of bad translation from Russian to English and/or Russian bluffing and/or a negotiating tactic for more money. They have done this before.

Space Station Trio Lands Safely In Kazakhstan

"NASA's Ron Garan, Expedition 28 commander Andrey Borisenko and flight engineer Alexander Samokutyaev, both of the Russian Federal Space Agency, landed their Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan at midnight EDT (10 a.m. in Kazakhstan). The trio, which arrived at the station on April 6, had been scheduled to land on Sept. 8, but that was postponed because of the Aug. 24 loss of the Progress 44 cargo ship."