Constellation/Ares: Whither NASA after the Shuttle?

[Rick]

'It was meant to,' insists NASA

NASA has announced a successful test related to its new Ares I astronaut-carrying rocket, the planned successor to the space shuttle. A key part of the structure, critical to safe parachute recovery of the discarded first stage, successfully blew itself up last week during a trial on the ground in Utah.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/02/nasa_ares_i_stage_sep_bang_test/

[Rick]

NASA has announced the imminent debut of a promotional film entitled Return to the Moon, made for the radical new "spherical film-making" projection system.

What, you didn't know about spherical movies? Neither did we, to be honest. In essence, the idea is to project the images not onto a flat screen but onto a large sphere hanging suspended in the auditorium.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/25/nasa_spherical_moon_movie/

[Rick]

Corporate and academic robotics boffins in the States say they have validated plans for creating a spaceship landing field on the Moon using small droid dump-trucks "the size of riding mowers".

You might think that there's no great need for a prepared spaceship field on the Moon - after all, the ships will have to set down vertically on rocket thrust like the Apollo landers, so any old flattish piece of ground ought to do. But you'd be wrong.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/26/lawn_tractors_on_the_moon/

[Rick]

NASA's return to the Moon with manned missions - planned to commence from 2020 - has taken some early steps in recent days. The space agency awarded a contract for its new generation of moonwalker spacesuits, and US defence globocorp Boeing submitted proposals for the new "Altair" lunar lander.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/02/nasa_moon_landers_suits/

[mickw]

Once NASA's space shuttle fleet is retired next year, U.S. astronauts might arrive at the International Space Station via Chinese spacecraft, according to U.S. President Barack Obama's science chief.

The prospect is being aired by presidential science adviser John Holdren, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology, in an interview posted on ScienceInsider - a web-based blog from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

In the ScienceInsider interview, Holdren underscored the fact that President Obama's administration is intent on retiring the space shuttle in 2010, with the president open to an additional shuttle mission flown within 2010.

More:   http://www.space.com/news/090416-china-shenzhou-astronauts.html

[mickw]

The pieces are coming together for the first test flight of NASA's new rocket, Ares I, scheduled to lift off this summer.

The rocket prototype, called Ares I-X, is scheduled to blast off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The flight will be unmanned, and will only include a partial first stage of the rocket, which should lift the vehicle and mockups of its upper stage to about 25 miles (40.2 km) in roughly two minutes.

The test is a critical first try of the new Ares I rocket for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, which NASA hopes will replace the space shuttle as America's preeminent spaceship. Ares I is designed to carry astronauts in the capsule-shaped Orion vehicle that will sit atop the rocket. NASA aims to send crews aboard Orion to the International Space Station by 2015, to the moon around 2020 and ultimately beyond.

More:   http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090415-tw-ares-test.html

[Rick]

NASA is dithering about whether its future plans should include a Moon base or focus on missions further out into the solar system, New Scientist reports.

Speaking yesterday, the agency's acting administrator, Chris Scolese, suggested "a shift in the agency's direction", from his predecessor Mike Griffin's commitment to a lunar outpost as part of a slated 2020 manned return to the Moon.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/30/moon_base/

[Rick]

The US House of Representatives and Senate have agreed a further $2.5bn to keep the space shuttle in service until 2011 - "if such an extension is necessary to complete currently planned missions to the International Space Station", as the Wall Street Journal puts it.

The final planned shuttle launch is Endeavour's mission STS-133 to the ISS, slated for 31 May next year. Thereafter, the US will have to rely on Russian launches pending the development of new homegrown vehicles as part of the Constellation programme - a touchy political subject.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/01/space_shuttle_extension/

[Rick]

The US Obama administration is taking a fresh look at what humans do in space and how they get there.

The White House has asked Norman Augustine, a former aerospace industry executive, to lead a review of Nasa's manned activities and report by August.

The US space agency is due to retire its shuttles next year and is working on a new crew transportation system, to be introduced in about 2014-15.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8039835.stm

[Rick]

The chairman of a panel appointed by the Obama administration to take a new look a NASA's human spaceflight program said he plans to lead an independent review that will keep an open mind on the agency's long-term plans, including whether its next-generation rocket plans should be modified or scrapped.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/08/nasa_spaceflight_review/

[Rick]

NASA is apparently sticking to its plans to retire the venerable space shuttle fleet in 2010 - despite political pressure to keep it flying, pending development of homegrown replacements to supply the International Space Station.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/08/nasa_budget/

[Rick]

US President Barak Obama is expected to tap four-time shuttle astronaut and retired Marine major general Charles Bolden as NASA's next Deputy Administrator, according to several news reports.

Pending senate approval, Bolden would be the first black person and second astronaut to take the post. He would also oversee the space agency's transition to the Ares rocket and Orion spacecraft program, as well as push NASA's plans for a new lunar program.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/16/obama_expected_to_appoint_charles_bolden/

[Rick]

Bumming a ride on Russian rockets will soon be a few million dollars more expensive. Inflation y'know.

Russia will charge US astronauts $51m for a round trip to the International Space Station beginning in 2012, a Russian space official said on Wednesday.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/13/russia_raises_rocket_fare/

[Rick]

The test firing of a new first-stage rocket motor which could one day launch US astronauts was called off just seconds before ignition on Thursday.

The stoppage was put down to a power failure in a hydraulics unit controlling the rocket's nozzle.

The US space agency was not immediately able to state a new date for the test at manufacturer ATK's Utah facility.

The five-segment booster is intended to power the early flight phase of Nasa's proposed Ares 1 launch vehicle.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8223670.stm

[Rick]

Troubled US space agency NASA yesterday scrubbed a test-firing of the Ares I rocket - which will carry American astronauts into space after the space shuttle fleet retires - with just 20 seconds left on the countdown. Meanwhile other problems have seen this week's launch of the shuttle Discovery delayed, and a moon-impact probe running seriously short of fuel.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/28/lcross_ares_snags/