NASA Heading Back to the Drawing Board?

May 06, 2009

NASA recently completed the first ocean tests of its new Orion spaceships, which are scheduled to debut in 2015, but more changes may be in store. 

The agency on Thursday will unveil its spending plan for the year beginning Sept. 30 -- and possibly order a new review of its Ares rocket program. Ares is the launch vehicle that is being developed to carry Orion capsules to the space station and the moon. 

The program, which was staunchly defended by NASA's former administrator Mike Griffin, has its critics, including those who question why NASA can't use the existing, commercially available booster rockets sold through United Launch Alliance. 

There also may be a less expensive alternative for the Orion capsules, at least for missions to the space station. The new budget is expected to include $150 million to help develop a passenger spaceship called Dragon being designed by Space Exploration Technologies, a privately held firm owned by internet entrepreneur Elon Musk. 

(Orion afloat, but for how long? Credit: NASA) 

NASA scales back Orion capsule

April 29, 2009

Hoping to simplify designs and speed up development of spaceships to replace the retiring space shuttles, NASA is scaling back the number of astronauts who will be able to ride the new capsules to the International Space Station.

Originally intended to carry crews of six to and from the orbiting outpost, NASA on Wednesday said it now plans to limit the number of astronauts aboard to four and fly the vehicle in the same configuration for future trips to the moon.

NASA hopes to send its first crew to the station in the new Orion capsule in 2015, but a recent review determined the agency is in danger of missing its deadline. The shuttles are being retired in 2010 when space station construction is complete.

Until the new ships are ready, the United States will have to depend on Russia for rides to space.

“We’re at a stage in the program where schedule is really king,” said Jeff Hanley, the program manger for NASA’s new exploration initiative, known as Constellation.

Hanley said NASA can make a modification later to accommodate six-member crews on Orion.

“We will need it someday, but we don’t need it early,” Hanley said.

(Artist rendering of Orion capsule approaching the space station. Credit: NASA)

 

No Rest for the Myth-Makers

August 28, 2008

This is probably a bad thing for a Discovery Channel columnist to admit but I don’t watch TV much. I was curious, however, to see how the guys on Mythbusters were going to tackle a rather irritating contention that the United States never landed on the moon.

Parts of the show are pretty goofy, but I enjoyed watching a chop-chop version of the scientific process in action. I hope I’m not ruining the ending for anyone who missed it last night and wants to catch a re-run, but Mythbusters says the only hoax going on is the one put forth by people who say the moon landings are a hoax.

Unfortunately, this probably won’t make a whit of difference to anyone who doesn’t ascribe to rationality and logic -- the foundations of science, even science-lite like Mythbusters -- and it’s concerning that these attributes have waned faster than the bull market.

Leaving aside the really big issues like creationism/intelligent design vs. evolution (Hey, Mythbusters: will you take THAT on??), let’s ponder for a moment the renewed call to keep the space shuttles flying so we don’t have to depend on those pesky Georgia-stomping Ruskies for rides to the space station.

Although it’s nice to see presidential candidates caring enough about space exploration to squeeze it into their busy days, the latest volley by John McCain seems a bit like a soft-boiled egg.

His call to President Bush to suspend plans to retire the shuttle (at least until after the election, says my sardonic side) because we just don’t know if we can trust our Russian partners pretty much misses the fact that we’re already beyond wedded. We’ve merged. Whether Russia flies our astronauts or not really doesn’t matter since that house in space can’t be divided.

For example, we can go on flying the shuttle to the station until the next accident, but it won’t change the fact that the spaceships standing by to transport crewmembers home in case of an emergency are Russian-made, Russian-operated, Russian-owned. The United States made the decision years ago to leave lifeboats to the Russians.

The new ships being developed to replace the shuttle CAN be used as lifeboats too, though the primary design driver is to get them to the moon.

These decisions were not made lightly. They stemmed from the highly acclaimed work of the board that investigated the 2003 Columbia disaster, which went above and beyond the call of duty by not only proving the equipment breakdowns that triggered the accident and the blind spots in managers’ mindsets that nurtured false assumptions, but also recommendations on what to do next. Topping the list? Retire or recertify the shuttle. The board determined NASA had been flying the ships without keeping up on how real-world conditions, as opposed to engineering models and simulations, were affecting them.

Like most of us individually, NASA learned the hard way. Being of sound mind and limited budget (recertification was estimated to be about as expensive as creating new ships), NASA pushed for the shuttles retirement so it could use the funds for a new endeavor.

Rational, logical --- and, unfortunately, becoming passé.

(Photos: NASA)

Reality Check

August 12, 2008

The United States’ first chance to cut some time off a planned five-year hiatus in launching people into orbit is over.

NASA told us yesterday it’s giving up on flying a crew aboard the new Orion capsules until September 2014 at the earliest. With the shuttle program shutting down in two years, the agency had hoped Orion would be able to fly crews to the International Space Station as early as 2013.

But the agency needed more money and fewer technical problems to make that happen. In a conference call with reporters on Monday, program managers said the accelerated development scheduled was officially off and that contractors on the program will be notified to slow their pace to match available funds.

"The window of opportunity for us to accelerate (the program) is closing. In fact, this summer with the re-alignment of our schedule, it's closed," said Jeff Hanley, the program manager for NASA’s new exploration program called Constellation.

Uncle Sam will be counting on its good friend (except for this week) Russia to ferry crews to and from the space station until Orion is ready to fly. Course, Congress hasn’t given its official blessing to that plan by lifting a trade embargo slapped against Russia to protest trade practices with Iran that presumably helped Iran develop nuclear weapons technology.

Seems like a good time for China to make a pitch to be our space taxi service. Judging from all the sky-walking and zero-g simulations during the stunning Olympics opener, they’re definitely in the market.

Caption: Not so fast. NASA rendering of Ares rocket leaving the launch pad.