{"id":13922,"date":"2018-03-24T00:15:16","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T16:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/space-launch-system-planetary-exploration-get-big-boosts-in-nasa-budget\/"},"modified":"2018-03-24T00:15:16","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T16:15:16","slug":"space-launch-system-planetary-exploration-get-big-boosts-in-nasa-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/space-launch-system-planetary-exploration-get-big-boosts-in-nasa-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Space Launch System, planetary exploration get big boosts in NASA budget"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Artist\u2019s illustration of the Space Launch System. Credit: NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA\u2019s planned rocket to send humans back to the moon and the agency\u2019s solar system exploration program were big winners in a $20.7 billion budget passed by Congress and signed by President Trump on Friday.<\/p>\n

The NASA funding was part of a $1.3 trillion federal spending package that keeps the government running through the end of fiscal year 2018 \u2014 Sept. 30 \u2014 after multiple stopgap budgets in recent months.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers gave NASA nearly $1.1 billion more than the space agency received in fiscal year 2017, and $1.6 billion more than the Trump administration\u2019s 2018 budget request.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s behind-schedule Space Launch System, a multibillion-dollar rocket that has been a cornerstone of the agency\u2019s human spaceflight program since 2011, will receive $2.15 billion in the fiscal 2018 budget. The Orion crew capsule, which will launch on top of the SLS, will get $1.35 billion.<\/p>\n

The budget provides $350 million for construction of a second SLS mobile launch platform, a project NASA says could shorten the gap between the first and second Space Launch System flights.<\/p>\n

Managers last year considered the benefits of constructing a second mobile launch platform, but NASA officials last month backed off the idea, citing cost concerns. Funding for a second SLS launch platform was not included in the White House\u2019s fiscal year 2019 budget proposal.<\/p>\n

The existing SLS launch platform, originally built for NASA\u2019s Ares 1 rocket canceled in 2010, is nearing completion at the Kennedy Space Center. Technicians will stack the Space Launch System on the platform inside the spaceport\u2019s iconic Vehicle Assembly Building, then transfer the mobile rocket carrier to nearby launch pad 39B for countdown and launch operations.<\/p>\n

NASA officials are not concerned with a slight \u201cdeflection\u201d of the mobile launch platfrom from a perfectly vertical orientation, saying the structure is well within design tolerances.<\/p>\n

But the platform is sized for a configuration of the Space Launch System that NASA only intends to fly once. The SLS Block 1 version, using a single-engine upper stage derived from United Launch Alliance\u2019s Delta 4 rocket, is scheduled for launch in 2020, sending an Orion capsule on an unpiloted 25-day test flight in orbit around the moon.<\/p>\n

The modified Delta 4 upper stage, known by NASA as the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, or ICPS, has already been built at ULA\u2019s rocket plant in Decatur, Alabama, and delivered to Cape Canaveral in advance of the maiden SLS flight.<\/p>\n

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The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, or ICPS, for the first SLS test flight is pictured inside United Launch Alliance\u2019s Horizontal Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral. Credit: NASA\/Ben Smegelsky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA hoped to launch the first SLS\/Orion test flight \u2014 Exploration Mission-1 \u2014 in 2018 until last year. Delays in constructing and testing the SLS core stage, which will be powered by four space shuttle main engines, and a European-built service module for the Orion spacecraft pushed back the mission.<\/p>\n

NASA has tapped its lead SLS contractor, Boeing, to begin work on an enlarged upper stage with four Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engines that will fly on the second SLS mission, known as Exploration Mission-2, in 2023. NASA plans for the EM-2 flight to be the first SLS\/Orion mission with astronauts on-board.<\/p>\n

The SLS version that will debut the more powerful upper stage is known as Block 1B.<\/p>\n

Before the new budget was signed into law Friday, officials expected to raise the height of the SLS mobile launch platform to accommodate the bigger upper stage, which extends around 40 feet (13 meters) taller than the upper stage to be flown on the first SLS test launch.<\/p>\n

The modifications to the mobile platform were expected to take around 33 months. The time required for the launch tower changes were a major factor in delaying the scheduled liftoff of the first SLS\/Orion mission with crew to 2023, but there is other work to be completed before EM-2. Engineers must also finish testing of the Orion spacecraft\u2019s life support system, crew accommodations and cockpit displays before flying people.<\/p>\n

Robert Lightfoot, NASA\u2019s outgoing acting administrator set to retire at the end of April, told a House subcommittee March 7 that there was insufficient money in the agency\u2019s budget to build a second SLS platform without delaying or canceling other projects.<\/p>\n

Responding to a question during the hearing, Lightfoot acknowledged that a second SLS mobile launch platform would be better for the program in an \u201cideal world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI could fly humans quicker, probably in the 2022 timeframe,\u201d with a second mobile launch platform, Lightfoot said.<\/p>\n

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The SLS mobile launch platform. Credit: NASA\/Ben Smegelsky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If NASA designed a separate launch tower for the upgraded SLS Block 1B rocket, the second SLS flight could launch off the already-built platform with astronauts, using the same Block 1 configuration as EM-1.<\/p>\n

In such a case, mission managers would have to change NASA\u2019s planned SLS\/Orion launch sequence and flight plans, which assume the bigger upper stage makes its inaugural flight on EM-2, giving the rocket enough power to haul a power and propulsion module toward the moon along with the Orion crew, commencing assembly of a mini-space station called the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway.<\/p>\n

NASA would also bear unplanned costs to buy another ICPS rocket stage from ULA, and conduct reviews to ensure the stage is certified to launch with astronauts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a mobile launcher showed up as something we were going to go build, we would not start modifying the one we\u2019re building for EM-1,\u201d Lightfoot said March 7. \u201cTherefore, once we flew once on that MLP, it\u2019s now ready to fly again. So we would go through the process of hopefully purchasing another ICPS, with the expense that comes with it and also human-rating it, so we could fly Orion with crew quicker.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo maybe the first launch off the new MLP that we would build might be EM-3 or EM-4, but it would leave us the capability to keep flying on the MLP we\u2019re building now, instead of going in and modifying it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty expensive proposition to build another mobile launcher and to buy another ICPS,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had the discussion. We had the debate, and our answer came back (that) we should just stick with our plan that we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel recommended last year that NASA build a second SLS mobile launch platform to forestall safety risks that could stem from a long gap between missions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe funds (for the second SLS mobile launch platform) also will allow flexibility for future NASA and other federal agency missions that will require heavy-lift capabilities beyond those of current launch vehicles as well as enable a sustainable Space Launch System launch cadence,\u201d lawmakers wrote in a report accompanying the budget bill.<\/p>\n

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Illustrations of several Space Launch System configurations planned by NASA. Credit: NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The SLS Block 1 and Block 1B configurations use the same basic core stage, stretching more than 20 stories tall and 27.6 feet (8.4 meters) across, with four hydrogen-fueled RS-25 main engines from the retired space shuttle fleet. Two solid rocket boosters, also based on shuttle technology, will help drive the SLS off the launch pad, combining with the four core engines to produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.<\/p>\n

The Block 1 version will be capable of sending more than 70 metric tons \u2014 about 154,000 pounds \u2014 of payload into low Earth orbit, and more than 25 metric tons \u2014 about 55,000 pounds \u2014 on a course toward the moon. With the Block 1B\u2019s enlarged upper stage, the SLS in its crew configuration can deliver more than 105 metric tons \u2014 about 231,000 pounds \u2014 to low Earth orbit and more than 32 metric tons \u2014 about 70,000 pounds \u2014 on a trans-lunar injection trajectory, according a spokesperson from NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, where the rocket program is headquartered.<\/p>\n

When flying with only cargo, the SLS Block 1B can push more than 37 metric tons \u2014 about 81,000 pounds \u2014 toward the moon.<\/p>\n

The most powerful rocket currently flying, SpaceX\u2019s Falcon Heavy, can send up to 63.8 metric tons \u2014 roughly 140,000 pounds \u2014 of payload to low Earth orbit, assuming none of the booster\u2019s three core stages are recovered. SpaceX has not published the Falcon Heavy\u2019s performance on a lunar trajectory.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s space operations budget line, which funds the International Space Station and development of commercial crew ferry ships by Boeing and SpaceX, will get $4.7 billion in the fiscal 2018 budget, close to the funding level proposed by NASA and the White House.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s science programs also got a nearly $500 million funding uptick in the budget bill.<\/p>\n

The agency\u2019s $6.22 billion science budget includes an almost $400 million boost in funding for NASA\u2019s planetary science division over 2017 levels. The planetary science division is charged with managing NASA\u2019s robotic exploration of the solar system.<\/p>\n

Two missions to Jupiter\u2019s moon Europa get $595 million in the budget, covering development of a probe named Europa Clipper that will conduct dozens of flybys of the moon, and work on a lander that would make the first landing on Europa\u2019s icy shell, which covers a global ocean of liquid water.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration proposed not funding the Europa lander in its 2018 and 2019 budget requests.<\/p>\n

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Artist\u2019s concept of the Europa Clipper spacecraft. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA\u2019s robotic exploration of Mars will receive $660 million, encompassing the Mars 2020 rover and early planning and development of a multi-spacecraft program to pick up samples from the Martian surface and return them to Earth.<\/p>\n

In addition, the budget provides $23 million for a Mars helicopter demonstration. NASA officials expect to decide as soon as next month whether a rechargeable battery-powered flying drone could launch to Mars with the agency\u2019s next rover mission in 2020.<\/p>\n

Jim Green, director of NASA\u2019s planetary science division, said Monday that the fiscal 2018 budget\u2019s passage will help clear one of two gates before managers can approve the Mars helicopter\u2019s launch in 2020. The other prerequisite, he said, is a review of the drone\u2019s technical status after a series of ground tests due to conclude soon.<\/p>\n

The budget marks $850 million for NASA\u2019s astrophysics division, $100 million more than in 2017.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers provided $150 million for the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, or WFIRST, which the Trump administration proposed canceling last month.<\/p>\n

Set for launch in the mid-2020s, WFIRST would be next in NASA\u2019s line of big observatories in space after Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope. It was the top priority for NASA\u2019s astrophysics program in a National Academy of Sciences decadal survey released in 2010. The agency\u2019s policy is to follow cues from the science community encapsulated in the decadal survey reports.<\/p>\n

Agency managers last year were wary that WFIRST could exceed its $3.2 billion cost cap, and Thomas Zurbuchen, head of NASA\u2019s science directorate, in October ordered a team at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland \u2014 home of the WFIRST project office \u2014 to study how the mission could be modified to fit under the budget limit.<\/p>\n

Officials drafting NASA\u2019s budget request for fiscal 2019 decided WFIRST was too expensive, but the mission has enjoyed strong support from Congress.<\/p>\n

In an apparent reference to WFIRST\u2019s proposed termination, lawmakers wrote that they \u201creject the cancellation of scientific priorities recommended by the National Academy of Sciences decadal survey process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The budget also funds the James Webb Space Telescope set for launch next year, and continued operations of the Hubble Space Telescope and the SOFIA airborne astronomical observatory.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Earth science division is set to receive $1.92 billion in the fiscal 2018 budget, funding a slate of climate research missions, including four marked for cancellation by the Trump White House in its 2018 and 2019 budget requests.<\/p>\n

A fifth Earth science project that the Trump administration proposed canceling, the Radiation Budget Instrument, was terminated by NASA in January, and is not funded in the 2018 budget.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s space technology directorate will get $760 million the budget signed Friday, including $130 million for the Restore-L robotic satellite servicing demonstration, a mission the Trump White House wanted to down-scale.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s education efforts are also funded with $100 million in the 2018 budget appropriation, reversing \u2014 for now \u2014 the Trump administration\u2019s plans to shut down the education office.<\/p>\n

The agency\u2019s aeronautics efforts are set to receive $685 million, a slight increase over the Trump administration\u2019s request.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artist\u2019s illustration of the Space Launch System. Credit: NASA NASA\u2019s planned rocket to send humans back to the moon and the agency\u2019s solar system exploration program were big winners in a $20.7 billion budget passed by Congress and signed by President Trump on Friday. The NASA funding was part of a $1.3 trillion federal spending […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1690,594,1873,1282,3006,2586,2660,2401],"class_list":["post-13922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-astrophysics","tag-earth-science","tag-education","tag-europa-clipper","tag-europa-lander","tag-exploration-mission-1","tag-exploration-mission-2","tag-exploration-upper-stage"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13922"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13922\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}