NASA still ordered to waste $1.4 million a day, Chicago Tribune “Congress has again failed to rid a temporary spending bill of language forcing NASA to waste $1.4 million a day on its defunct Constellation moon program. This so-called “Shelby provision” — named for U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, who inserted it into the 2010 budget — is expected to cost NASA roughly $29 million during the three-week budget extension […]

ATK moving forward with Liberty rocket, Salt Lake Tribune “Regardless of whether the government agrees to help fund Alliant Techsystems’ rocket that would take astronauts to the International Space Station, the Utah company intends to move forward with its project because it believes there will be no shortage of commercial customers. ATK and a partner on Tuesday unveiled the two-stage Liberty rocket that they want NASA to use as the […]

Reader note: “I watched the movie “Monsters” last week. “After a NASA deep-space probe crash landed in Mexico…” The ‘deep-space probe crash’ video is actually the real video of Ares 1-x flight “staging” (i.e. burn-out).”

Keith’s note: According to this NASA JSC Mission Management Flight Request, this flight was charted for passengers to “attend and participate in the Constellation SFA Recognition Event activities”. It took off with 11 people who went from JSC to GRC, dropped off 4, and the remaining 7 people flew from GRC to LaRC, had breakfast and then flew back to JSC. Those making the ESMD breakfast run: Dale Thomas, Charlie […]

Constellation Celebration & Recognition Event at NASA LaRC “All Constellation team members are invited to join Dale Thomas, our NASA Constellation Program Manager, Thursday, January 20th for a Constellation LaRC Celebration and Recognition Event in honor of the great accomplishments you’ve made to the program. It will be held in the Reid Center auditorium and starts at 8 am with breakfast (courtesy of the Constellation Program) followed by an All […]

Letter from Sen. Nelson and Sen. Hutchison to NASA Administrator Bolden Regarding Space Launch System / Multi-purpose Crew Vehicle “Finally, we would like to clarify our intent when stating “to the extent practicable” in the Authorization Act, such as the direction to leverage Shuttle and Constellation capabilities “to the extent practicable” in developing the Space Launch System and the multi-purpose crew vehicle. Federal courts have held that the phrase “to […]

NASA OIG Letter Regarding Constellation Program and 2010 NASA Authorization Act “The Inspector General Act of 1978 directs Federal Inspectors General to, among other things, “review existing and proposed legislation and regulations relating to programs and operations” of their agencies and to make recommendations “concerning the impact of such legislation or regulations on the economy and efficiency in the administration of programs and operations administered or financed by such establishment.” […]

Relaunch the U.S. space program, opinion, Rep. Ruppersberger, Baltimore Sun “The president announced plans to cancel Constellation, the plan to return astronauts to the moon by 2020. This move jeopardizes an $11.5 billion investment, puts thousands of skilled scientists out of work, and shakes the very heart of the space industrial base.” Keith’s note: Rep. Ruppersberger hasn’t really been paying attention to recent events. SpaceX Launched a Dragon test vehicle […]

Keith’s note: Not everyone is happy with the proposed merger of ESMD (Exploration Systems Mission Directorate) and SOMD (Space Operations Mission Directorate). Sources report that the White House is not sold on the idea and Congress is not exactly keen on it either. One concern is that the merger would make it harder to see how Constellation cancellation is being handled (paid for), how Shuttle is being phased out, how […]

Can NASA change in order to survive?, Orlando Sentinel via LA Times. “In the world of government spaceflight, that’s almost a rounding error. And the ability of SpaceX to do so much with so little money is raising serious questions about NASA. The agency that once stood for American technical wizardry is starting to lose its luster. Inside NASA, some employees have taken to wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the letters […]