HEFT Report Update

NASA Team's Space Exploration Proposal Aligns with Senate Bill, Space.com

In outlining a human asteroid mission that would launch several years past Obama's 2025 deadline, the HEFT recommended NASA begin work immediately on a space shuttle-derived heavy-lift rocket, skipping the five years of exploratory research Obama proposed. A set of the HEFT's charts, dated Sept. 2, were posted on the NASA Watch website. "There is no benefit to delaying work" on the heavy-lifter, the charts say, adding that waiting until 2015 to select a basic design would limit NASA's options and hamper exploration planning. NASA spokesman Michael Braukus said Sept. 10 that Bolden, NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and Doug Cooke, NASA associate administrator for exploration systems, have been briefed on the HEFT's findings. He said no decisions have been made.

Human Exploration Framework Team Presentation Online, earlier post