US lawmakers have agreed on a stimulus package that includes just over $1 billion in additional funds for NASA, to be utilized during 2009 and 2010. While the $400m allocated towards \u201cExploration\u201d is not specifically earmarked for extension of the shuttle program, it could allow NASA to take the first steps in reducing \u201cThe Gap\u201d between Shuttle and its eventual replacement.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
NASA managers have been looking into the possibility of reducing the gap between the last shuttle flight, currently STS-133 in mid 2010 \u2013 with STS-134 not yet officially baselined \u2013 and the first manned flight of Ares I, carrying Orion 2 on the Initial Operational Capability (IOC) NET (No Earlier Than) March, 2015.<\/p>\n
Acceleration studies have been taking place, but due to shortfall\/overspend of funds available to Constellation \u2013 restricted yet further by expenditure on problem solving, such as Thrust Oscillation \u2013 any get-wells on the timeline have been related to the culling of a number of tests on hardware elements such as the Upper Stage.<\/p>\n
Currently, Orion\u2019s first crew rotation role with the International Space Station (ISS), know as Full Operational Capability (FOC), remains manifested as Orion 4, in 2016.<\/p>\n
Funding shortages are also likely to delay Ares I-X\u2019s test flight from Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) from July to as late as October of this year. It would likely take an injection of a few billion dollars to advance the whole Constellation program by around a year.<\/p>\n
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From the shuttle side, extending the program past 2010, by three flights, two years (five flights minimum) or even five years, would also cost billions. However, with the shuttle deemed as a \u201cworking system\u201d, this option is understood to have wider support, notably at the political level.<\/p>\n
Pre-empting the possibility of extending the shuttle program, the US Senate passed a new NASA Authorization Bill that outlined the ambitions of the space program, from taking \u201call necessary steps\u201d to add STS-134\u2019s mission to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) to the ISS, to working options for shuttle extensions.<\/p>\n
SpaceX launch tickets (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n The Bill also directed NASA to terminate or suspend (until April 30, 2009) any activities that would preclude flying the Shuttle after FY 2010. Extension studies have been more or less completed, with a White Paper outlining several options and costs by shuttle contractors already sent to NASA HQ.<\/p>\n Work behind the scenes, by way of discussions, are taking place on the roadmap for reducing the gap, mainly via talks with the NASA Advisory Council.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the NASA Advisory Council was held at KSC, with topics similar to those presented at the FRR (Flight Readiness Review) were discussed, along with updates on Soyuz issues,\u201d noted one memo on L2 this month. \u201cOther topics presented concerned commercial resupply services, the possibility of shuttle extension, and the Constellation Program acceleration.\u201d<\/p>\n Discussions with Advisory Council range from extending the shuttle, to accelerating the Constellation manifest, although no firm decisions are expected anytime soon.<\/p>\n \u201c(Shuttle Manager) Mr. (John) Shannon talked to the NASA Advisory Council last week after the FRR. That was a very good discussion. They are waiting, just like us, for a new administrator,\u201d added another L2 acquired note on February 9. \u201cThey had a lot of really good comments about how NASA does its budget.<\/p>\n \u201cThey collected some data for us on the Cx Acceleration plans. We talked a little bit about Shuttle Extension regarding our assets and what could be done. They will fold all of that into some recommendations. Don\u2019t expect anything near term on that.\u201d<\/p>\n A final report on extension options was due 120 days after enactment of the law (NASA Authorization Bill), or on February 15. However, lawmakers have asked NASA to hold off on delivery of the report until the new Obama Administration can evaluate and make inputs \u2013 since it currently reflects the conclusions of the previous leadership. Bush\/Griffin NASA leadership, which of course was rigidly \u201cstay-the-course.\u201d We\u2019re looking at a mid-March delivery date at this stage.<\/p>\n A delivery date of mid-March is now expected, with the goal of working out a roadmap for the physical purchasing of assets that would allow for the extension to begin in June. However, getting to the point of approving extension is still some time away.<\/p>\n \u201cThe specific issue of shuttle extension as part of a solution to the gap is still TBD (To Be Decided), as a policy matter,\u201d noted Jeff M. Bingham, Senior Adviser on Space and Aeronautics, Republican Staff Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, to NASASpaceflight.com.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a practical matter, there are things that will need to be done \u2013 starting no later than June \u2013 to prepare for extended shuttle operations, such as purchasing long lead-time items for ETs, etc., so that extension could be as seamless as possible, and not have a \u2018gap within a gap\u2019 in terms of being able to field shuttles for flights.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are expecting a formal report from NASA, required under our 2008 bill, which will tell us what steps \u2013 and what costs \u2013 are involved in meeting the requirement to keep the shuttle extension option viable through the end of April.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThose are costs which conceivably could be covered by new funds, even though they are carried under the \u201cExploration\u201d account, not the \u201cSpace Operations\u201d account. NASA needs permissive authority to transfer funds between accounts, but that can be handled.\u201d<\/p>\n Those new funds refer to the $1 billion lawmakers have allocated within what is now a $789 billion economic stimulus package that was passed by the US Senate on Tuesday, and successfully negotiated with Congress on Wednesday..<\/p>\n Out of the $1 billion, $400m is currently tagged under the \u201cExploration\u201d account, which NASA could use for whatever purposes they require under each account allocation for 2009 and 2010.<\/p>\n While this increase in funds is not part of the billions required to extend the shuttle past 2010, any additional money is good news, and will at least allow for some \u201cinitial steps\u201d to be taken on reducing the gap.<\/p>\n \u201cThe money is a budget increase, in that it is \u201cnew money\u201d added to the designated accounts within NASA\u2019s existing budget structure, and is available to be used for the purposes intended. The bill simply requires that NASA notify the Appropriations Committee of its intended use for the funds,\u201d added Mr Bingham.<\/p>\n \u201cNASA needs at least $2 billion a year above its previously-planned top line to be able to effectively operate its various programs and to have any chance of reducing the gap in human spaceflight. Thus, it needs to find \u201cnew money\u201d whenever and wherever it can.<\/p>\n \u201cThe inclusion of any NASA money in this particular bill represents a positive recognition that NASA programs offer economic benefit to the country, as opposed to simply being a fancy and adventurous \u201cluxury.\u201d That is a very important point, irrespective of the amount of money involved or even the \u201ctargeted use\u201d for which it is appropriated.\u201d<\/p>\n NASA is also waiting on new leadership, with the eventual replacement for Mike Griffin still expected to be some time away. Reducing the gap, via shuttle extension, Constellation acceleration, or a mix of both, won\u2019t be fully planned out until the new administrator takes office.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, there is no cohesive plan by which the US government is looking to address \u201cthe Gap.\u201d That is not possible until the new Administration completes its internal organizational and personnel decisions on civil space and then sets its sights on that issue and begins to address it,\u201d Mr Bingham continued.<\/p>\n \u201cThe point is, absent such a plan, no one is ready to even guess at specifically \u201chow much\u201d it\u2019s going to cost. But folks in Congress have already been gearing up to be ready to join with the Administration to seek a solution to the gap issue.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the next two or three months, we will hopefully see the Administration get organized on the NASA front with a new Administrator, possibly a new policy structure within the White House, and the initial priorities they will set in a budget request for FY 2010, which is expected in early April.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring that period, in addition to the development of the 2010 budget request, which is where one should hope and look for the beginnings of a \u2018Plan\u2019 for going forward and dealing with the Gap, there will be an additional appropriations bill, in the form of an Omnibus Appropriations, which will provide the amounts needed to fund NASA and other agencies for the remainder of FY 2009, that we are now in.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Stimulus package simply represented an \u2018opportunity\u2019 to get some additional funding early in \u2018the game\u2019 justified by the obvious fact that closing the gap helps secure jobs and avoid too severe a dislocation in an important sector of the economy, aerospace.\u201d<\/p>\n From the standpoint of Constellation, all options are being considered as \u201cfair game\u201d at the political level, when it comes to their respective ability to close the gap.<\/p>\n Even SpaceX\u2019s Dragon capsule \u2013 potentially via a manned version of the COTS program \u2013 is considered as part of the \u2018fair game\u2019 in finding the best solution to reducing the gap between the retirement of the shuttle and the first manned flight of Orion.<\/p>\n However, it is too early in the process to know if the potential increase in funds would be used to advance studies into Constellation alternatives, but the very possibility such funds would now be available to NASA is also classed as good news.<\/p>\n \u201cAs for specific options to close the gap, I would simply say that virtually anything and everything is \u2018fair game\u2019 for consideration, and that includes everything from Ares\/Orion acceleration, shuttle extension, Direct as a separate alternative, Direct in combination with human-rated EELV, Orion and\/or Dragon on an EELV, accelerated COTS-D, etc., etc\u2026it is far too early to know which option or combination of options is going to be likely.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is known is that any option is going to require some early money to be viable, and if some of that necessary money can be made available through the Stimulus package, that\u2019s great, and that is the \u201cgood news\u201d about this development.\u201d<\/p>\n L2 members<\/em><\/em>: Documentation \u2013 from which part of the above article has quoted snippets \u2013 is available in full in the related L2 sections, now over 4000 gbs in size.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" US lawmakers have agreed on a stimulus package that includes just over $1 billion in additional funds for NASA, to be utilized during 2009 and 2010. While the $400m allocated towards \u201cExploration\u201d is not specifically earmarked for extension of the shuttle program, it could allow NASA to take the first steps in reducing \u201cThe Gap\u201d […]<\/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":[9198,9206,2705,9021,9157,190,640,7779,8184,316,3366],"class_list":["post-41190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-ares","tag-direct","tag-eelv","tag-et","tag-extension","tag-nasa","tag-orion","tag-shuttle","tag-sls-orion","tag-spacex","tag-sts-134"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41190"}],"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=41190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41190\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}See Also<\/h4>\n
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While acceleration studies have been taking place for Constellation\u2019s Ares and Orion vehicles, the alternative options of utilizing EELV vehicles \u2013 such as the Delta IV Heavy or the Atlas V Heavy \u2013 have been touted, along with the \u201cDirect\u201d proposal of using their Shuttle Derived Jupiter launch vehicles \u2013 which has gained increased interest and publicity over the last couple of years \u2013 to, as they claim, save money, shorten the gap, and avoid the shedding of Orion\u2019s capabilities, as is currently required by Ares I\u2019s performance shortcomings.<\/p>\n