Lunar News Network

Alternative Lunar Plan Proposed

The panel reviewing NASA's plans to return us to the Moon and then go on to Mars recently heard a proposal from within NASA that would dramatically change the plan. The alternative plan is based on the space shuttle hardware, infrastructure and personnel, and promises a cheaper and faster path to the Moon than the present Constellation program. This AP report provides all the details, but check out the amazingly negative way the report is introduced:

Like a car salesman pushing a luxury vehicle that the customer no longer can afford, NASA has pulled out of its back pocket a deal for a cheaper ride to the moon. It won't be as powerful, and its design is a little dated. Think of it as a base-model Ford station wagon instead of a tricked-out Cadillac Escalade. Officially, the space agency is still on track with a 4-year-old plan to spend $35 billion to build new rockets and return astronauts to the moon in several years. However, a top NASA manager is floating a cut-rate alternative that costs around $6.6 billion. This cheaper option is not as powerful as NASA's current design with its fancy new rockets, the people-carrying Ares I and cargo-lifting Ares V. But the cut-rate plan would still get to the moon.

From what I've read, the alternative plan (the Shannon plan, formally called the Shuttle-Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle) has merit, but making the plan sound like a used car (that could be a lemon) hardly does NASA any favors. At any rate, you can learn more about the alternative plan in this YouTube video:

Introducing the Constellation Program

NASA provides an overview of the Constellation program in this video:

Obama Nominates NASA Chief

I've been trying to catch up on news and events after being away for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, and it appears that President Obama has nominated former astronaut Charles Bolden to be the next NASA administrator. I'm glad that Obama as finally moved to fill this important position, but I'm dismayed that they waited to announce this over the holiday weekend. It has long been the practice of governments (any administration really) to announce bad news late in the day on a Friday or over a weekend, so as to minimize the impact on public opinion, on the assumption that weekends will call the public away from the news, the internet, the TV, etc. As this is not bad news, I'm a bit confused about why the Obama team would announce this over a holiday weekend. Why not wait a few days and announce it during the week when the usual news cycle can fully explore the issue?

The CNET news report can be found here, and CBS News has a report here. This MSNBC video has additional details on the background of the nominee:

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NASA Budget Announced

The budget news out of Washington is not good. President Obama's budget proposal has put the entire Constellation program and the Vision for Space Exploration - Moon, Mars & Beyond - on hold. They plan to fund current operations, at least one more shuttle flight, and development costs for Ares and Orion, but the project review suggests that the future of the program may be in doubt. According to CNET News:

The Obama administration's fiscal 2010 NASA budget request includes $630 million in additional near-term funding for development of follow-on rockets and spacecraft needed for the agency's post-shuttle moon program, officials said Thursday. But most of the increase is from the administration's economic stimulus package, and projections through 2013 show a $3.1 billion reduction in overall funding for the program compared with 2009 projections. Unveiling NASA's $18.7 billion 2010 budget on Thursday, acting Administrator Chris Scolese said the Obama administration had ordered an independent review of NASA's plans to replace the space shuttle with a combination of manned and unmanned Ares rockets, Apollo-style Orion capsules, and lunar landers needed to establish research stations on the moon by the early 2020s. The new rockets are the central elements of what NASA calls the Constellation program.

This suggests to me that President Obama has not prioritized space exploration and that the ambitious program to return to the Moon and go on to Mars may be dramatically scaled back or even eliminated. Is it possible that the U.S. will no longer have a shuttle program or a next generation spacecraft ready to follow the shuttle? In this budgetary environment, I guess anything is possible.

Obama Ignoring NASA?

This report from the Orlando Sentinel details fears that the plans to return to the Moon are in danger:

NASA's plans to return astronauts to the moon are quietly being revised and are in danger of slipping past 2020. In meetings over the last few weeks at Kennedy Space Center, agency managers have told employees and contractors that they are delaying the first lunar launch of the Ares V rocket -- a cargo hauler slated to be the most powerful rocket ever built -- by two years. NASA's internal plans had called for Ares V to go to the moon in 2018, though the agency had announced a public goal of 2020. Internal deadlines are used by NASA to keep programs on track and to provide a margin of error for developmental problems. But because of growing budget woes, the agency is resetting its internal date to 2020. And privately, engineers say that means the public 2020 date to send humans back to the moon is in deepening trouble.

Ok, so quick recap: President Obama has not yet named the new NASA Administrator, who will have to make important decisions soon on whether to continue the shuttle program or move along with the Constellation program as planned, and lacking any direction, NASA will proceed on autopilot based on the Bush plan. I think that is an accurate recap of what is shaping up to be a very suspenseful, and no doubt stressful, time at NASA.

Orion Makes a Splash on the Mall

Many Americans who are not in the space community are getting their first look at the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. NASA displayed a full-scale model of the vehicle on the National Mall yesterday so people could get up close and personal with the craft that will take us back to the Moon in 2020. Here is a roundup of national media coverage of the event:

CNN - Orion space capsule previewed on National Mall

Reuters - US unveils Orion spacecraft to take crew to Mars

Chicago Tribune - Preview of the Orion crew exploration vehicle

DVICE - Orion spacecraft mockup shows up in Washington

Aviation Week - NASA Prepares Orion Test

io9 - First Look at the Spacecraft That Will Take Humans to Mars

Wall Street Journal - Hard Times on Earth Inspire Some to Look to the Stars

Photo: Straits Times

NASA Trajectory

This MSNBC report reviews the history of the shuttle program, notes the age of the shuttle fleet, anticipates the Ares and Orion program, and concludes with the goal of returning to the Moon:

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NASA Budget Increases, Mission Unclear

 
I had a great deal of trepidation about the fate of the NASA budget leading up to the release of Obama's proposed federal budget last month. After all, in a time of great economic crisis and financial hardship, could the U.S. really afford to launch a major new initiative to return to the Moon and go on to Mars? As this report from New Scientist makes clear, Obama said yes, and refused to back away from Bush's ambitious Vision for Space Exploration:

NASA will stay on track to return humans to the Moon by 2020, according to an overview of President Obama's 2010 budget request released on Thursday. [...] But the budget request backs a plan developed under the Bush administration to retire the space shuttle by 2010 and develop a system to return humans to the Moon by 2020. [...] Under the proposed budget, the agency would receive $18.7 billion in 2010. Combined with $1 billion in funding provided in an economic stimulus package signed into law last week, NASA would get $2.4 billion more than it did in 2008. [...]The budget would also likely be a boost over 2009 funding levels. The agency's 2009 budget has not yet been settled. NASA has been operating at 2008 funding levels under a continuing resolution since October 2008.

In hindsight, I wonder if my trepidations was warranted? After all, dramatic cutbacks at NASA at a time when the shuttle fleet is being phased out would mean that the U.S., a leading spacefaring nation, would have to rely on other countries for access to space. That would have been untenable for national security reasons, to say nothing of national pride. Still, as this report from today's LA Times notes, the NASA budget increase does not mean that Obama has given NASA a new mandate and a clear focus:

During an interview, Obama said the first priority of a new agency administrator -- whom he promised to appoint soon -- would be "to think through what NASA's core mission is and what the next great adventures and discoveries are under the NASA banner." Until that happens, he said, the White House would delay any major policy decisions about the agency.

It would appear that the good news on the NASA budget has been overshadowed by Obama's reluctance to quickly appoint a new administrator, decide the fate of the shuttle program, and to commit to the Constellation program. I'm not sure what to make of it other than to note that my initial optimism based on the increased budget has now evaporated.

Oxygen from Moon Dust

Happy New Year everyone! I had a nice extended break and now I'm back to what appears to be a very busy time. I anticipate light (lite, actually, but that isn't a word according to spellcheck) blogging for some time until the pace of work and life slows down a bit). I did want to note this interesting report on the Space.com site about How Moon Dust Could Yield Oxygen, Fuel and Water :

Recently, a team of scientists working for the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES) demonstrated its first field test for NASA's In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Project. Research Operations Manager John Hamilton supported the mission simulation to show how astronauts will be able to prospect for resources on the moon to make their own oxygen, fuel and water from lunar rocks and soil. A key motivation of these experiments is the fact that almost half the moon, by weight, is made of oxygen. [...] NASA's lunar exploration plan says that on-site lunar resources could generate about one to two metric tons of oxygen per year, enough to support four to six people annually. Since it takes about 100 kilograms (kg) of soil to get 1 kg of oxygen, team leaders are looking at electrostatic and magnetic separation techniques to possibly concentrate the soil and increase the production rate.

I like these kinds of reports because they point to the viability of a lunar colony. Research continues and the methods of extracting oxygen will be refined, so the future of this plan looks very promising.

Top NASA Spinoffs

Wired News has a feature on the 10 Best NASA Spinoffs. I really like these reports that remind people how much we have received from the space program. It's been a great investment, but the public needs to be reminded of that.

New Space Age Cup

Revolutionary new cup design means to no more drinking from straws in a weightless environment:

Saving Lunar Images

What an extraordinary story this is, a tale of long forgotten photos of the moon, as well as obsolete media, and the dedicated fans who worked to bring off an amazing restoration project years in the making.

India Orbits Moon

The Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan 1 has achieved lunar orbit according to this BBC News report:

The mission will compile a 3D atlas of the lunar surface and map the distribution of elements and minerals. [...] The Indian experiments include a 30kg probe that will be released from the mothership to slam into the lunar surface. The Moon Impact Probe (MIP) will record video footage on the way down and measure the composition of the Moon's tenuous atmosphere. It will also drop the Indian flag on the surface of the Moon.

I don't think it counts though unless the flag is right side up and unfurled. I'm kidding, this is a great accomplishment for India and it's a much better national investment than building nuclear missiles to aim at Pakistan.

Happy Election Day 2008

Happy Election Day to all the readers of Lunar News Network. I voted last month by mail, so now I'm just sitting back and waiting for the ballots to be counted. Since the polls have not closed there is time for one more election report, this one from the Orlando Sentinel:

The two men's policies, however, are more similar than they are different. Both say they will consider postponing the shuttle's retirement date and try to accelerate the development of its replacement, the troubled Ares 1 rocket that won't be ready for launch before 2015. Both also want to boost scientific research aboard the $100 billion international space station, and both question the Bush administration's decision to stop supporting the space station in 2016.

The report moves on from those points of agreement to note some of the more nuanced details of their respective space plans. I'm satisfied that both candidates have expressed support for NASA and the manned space program, whether the economic crisis and subsequent budget cuts will allow them to act on support that remains to be seen.

Good News for Ares

Here is some good news about the development of the Ares rocket and the potential gap between the shuttle and the next gen craft (AP - NASA may be able to speed up launch of moonship):

NASA officials said Wednesday it might be possible to try out its new moon rocketship a year earlier than its current target date of 2015.

That would mean just a four-year gap between the last space shuttle flight and the next-generation spacecraft, instead of five years. Many in Congress, including the two presidential candidates, are troubled by the prospect of the United States having to rely on Russia for trips to the international space station during that time.

NASA is midway through a study looking at ways to move up its March 2015 test launch of the new Ares rocketship with a crew, in case the next president wants that. The new rocket would ultimately return the United States to the moon, but the initial flights would be to the space station.

I think it's clear that for now at least, we can say that both McCain and Obama do want that, though how they act after looking at the budget deficit and their desire to cut spending remains to be seen.