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Today’s New York Times reports that Nobel Winners Back Obama Space Strategy. The problem that we have with this letter is that these are all scientists who of course want more research money and funding for University-led research, for which the Obama space plan would be a boon.
One of the letter’s prime movers is Dr. John Logsdon, former head of the space policy program at George Washington and mentor to key players in the “New Space” cabal at NASA HQ. So no surprise that Dr. Logsdon is trying to help some avoid the coming political and policy Charge of the Light Brigade they are about to face. Their loss is his as well.
The political rationale–really, political naiveté–for opposing human space flight by the science community is simple. It is imagined that very nearly every dollar denied to NASA’s human space exploration program would naturally go towards research grants to keep graduate science students and their advisors busy and funded. In all likelihood, the money would instead go for a new post office or federal office building, named naturally enough for the member of Congress who procured the money for that project.
In short, this is just as much of a special-interest letter as the one from the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.
AmericaSpace Update: A copy of the Nobel laureates letter to House Committee on Science & Technology Chairman Bart Gordon can be found over at SpacePolitics.com. Given Gordon’s stance, and that of Ranking Member Ralph Hall, regarding the President’s proposed changes to our nation’s human space flight program, this letter will, as former Senator Simpson would say, likely have as much impact as a sparrow’s burp in the midst of a hurricane.
From AIAA Daily Launch:
Aviation Week (8/30, Carreau) reported, “Lockheed Martin says its “Plymouth Rock” mission proposal would reach a Near Earth Asteroid with astronauts using two Orion capsules and a dual-launch strategy as early as 2016-or nearly a decade ahead of the asteroid goal outlined by President Barack Obama in April.” The article noted Lockheed was expected to discuss the proposal at the AIAA conference in California on Monday. Lockheed Martin principal investigator Josh Hopkins said, “The design requirements for a lunar mission are close enough to an asteroid mission that we were able to extend the design.” According to the article, “Orion’s solar power, robust propulsion and 210-day flight duration underpinned the new mission. Though Orion’s radiation protection is another key asset, Hopkins says that issue will require further study.”
In his column for Space.com (8/30), Leonard David wrote Hopkins “told SPACE.com that a study team has been steadily chipping away on the mission idea since 2007, seeing their plan as a way to explore the asteroids as stepping stones to Mars.” This project “has been funded solely by Lockheed Martin, he added, and does not imply any programmatic intent or technical endorsement by NASA.” David noted astronaut Thomas Jones endorsed the plan because many of the systems could be reused or upgraded for other missions. “In addition to studying asteroids for science, such missions can aid plans to defend Earth from potential impacts and serve as mining stations for raw materials like platinum and other metals, the team’s report found.”
PROMONTORY, Utah – With a loud roar and mighty column of flame, NASA and ATK Aerospace Systems successfully completed a two-minute, full-scale test of the largest and most powerful solid rocket motor designed for flight. The motor is potentially transferable to future heavy-lift launch vehicle designs.
The stationary firing of the first-stage development solid rocket motor, dubbed DM-2, was conducted by ATK, a division of Alliant Techsystems of Brigham City, Utah. DM-2 is the most heavily instrumented solid rocket motor in NASA history, with a total of 53 test objectives measured through more than 760 instruments.
Prior to the static test, the solid rocket motor was cooled to 40 degrees Fahrenheit to verify the performance of new materials and assess motor performance at low temperatures during the full-duration test. Initial test data showed the motor performance met all expectations.
“For every few degrees the temperature rises, solid propellant burns slightly faster and only through robust ground testing can we understand how material and motor performance is impacted by different operating conditions,” said Alex Priskos, first stage manager for Ares Projects at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. “Ground-testing at temperature extremes pushes this system to its limits, which advances our understanding of five-segment solid rocket motor performance.”
The first-stage solid rocket motor is designed to generate up to 3.6-million pounds of thrust at launch. Information collected from this test, together with data from the first development motor test last year, will be evaluated to better understand the performance and reliability of the design.
Although similar to the solid rocket boosters that help power the space shuttle to orbit, the five-segment development motor includes several upgrades and technology improvements implemented by NASA and ATK engineers. Motor upgrades from a shuttle booster include the addition of a fifth segment, a larger nozzle throat, and upgraded insulation and liner. The motor cases are flight-proven hardware used on shuttle launches for more than three decades. The cases used in this ground test have collectively launched 59 previous missions.
After more testing, the first-stage solid rocket motor will be certified to fly at temperature ranges between 40-90 degrees Fahrenheit. The solid rocket motor was built as an element of NASA’s Constellation Program and is managed by the Ares Projects Office at Marshall. ATK Aerospace Systems is the prime contractor.
For more information about NASA, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
First, the test was a success, as NASA’s and ATK’s press releases have announced. Enclosed is a video link of the test. Note at the beginning the flash of the igniter from the mirror staring up the exit nozzle of the motor.
Doug Cooke thanks the team for doing a great job and says that it’s great for an engineer to see a successful engineering test. Mr. Cooke is noting the hopeful resolution of the question of which direction to go in human space flight. He mentions that work today puts on a path to achieve human space flight goals of
Alex Priskos, the leader of the Ares program at NASA, says that the early data shows that expected performance was met. There was a new insulation in the aft dome of the motor because it is easier to produce and deals with some obsolescence issues, namely that some parts for future SRM’s available for Shuttle will not available in the future. The exit cone construction was modified as well. DM-1 performed so well in the test regarding barriers and seals, so this time a breach was created in hopes of seeing what the effects will be. So NASA is very interested in the post test review.
Charlie Precourt, ATK’s Space Systems head, tips his hat to the ATK and NASA team for a great test and for being flexible in dealing with challenges they faced.
How the Ares I SRM motor will be useful for future programs not yet determined according to Doug Cooke. The current uncertainty in regard to the direction of human space flight is the primary culprit.
Regarding the Program of Record, there are to be 4 DM’s and then 3 qualification tests.
DM-1 Ambient temperature fire
DM-2 Cold fire
DM-3 Hot fire
DM-4 Cold test to get better data and will have final insulation.
Three qualification tests will be testing the flight design of the SRM. As for funding, under the 2010 funding language, there was money for DM-2. Subsequent tests will be funded in the future. DM-3 will be casts and tested in 2011.
Precourt talks about how important this test is to preserve the workforce and knowledge of the ATK team. But it’s also important in validating that Ares I for human missions and for future human exploration.
There are studies underway beginning from about half a year out for heavy-lift launcher requirements and the appropriateness of solid rocket motors and all-liquid propulsion. According to Dough Cooke, there should be some results, he called it a read-out, in the coming months.
The total cost to date:
Static fire test costs about $75 million.
To date, about $1B has been paid for first-stage Ares development to date.
As for the uncertainly of the future of human space flight has had on moral, Precourt and Cooke both feel that the Constellation team shows great dedication in moving forward–can’t say enough good things about the team.
As for additional follow-on testing from Ares I-X, there is some consideration of those tests, but they are up in the air, according to Doug Cooke.
Live blog of the DM-2 Test
Post-Test
The DM-2 test was successful with early word of no anomalies. There will be a press conference shortly.
T-20
Primary bunker safety jumper is in. The bunker is 1/2 mile away. This is the last jumper to install.
T-30
Senator Hatch, the senior Senator from Utah, has shown-up for the DM-2 test. He’s taking questions from the press. In his answers regarding the Obama Administration’s original space plan that ended NASA’s leadership role in human space flight, he feels that the President has set this nation on a course to cede leadership in human space flight.. While he’s not against private firms who can compete, he regards those firms a long way from where ATK is today. He added that he considered the the private firms’ work “primitive” compared to what NASA and ATK are doing on Ares I. Says Senator Hatch, “We ought to do what is best for the country.” It was interesting that the Utah senior Senator chose to attend today’s test and indicates his interest in seeing the ATK Ares solid motor technology play a key role in the nation’s human space program.
T-34
Everything is proceeding well.
T-40 minutes
The motor, which has 1.4 million lbs. of propellant, has been chilled to 40°F temp. The motor is expected to generate 3.6 million lbs. of thrust, with a reduction of 76,000 lbs. of thrust due to colder temperature. While the thrust will be reduced a small amount, the burn-time of the motor will increase. In the end, the total impulse of the motor will remain the same.
Just to make things challenging, the joints of this test motor, which is built from legacy Shuttle hardware, have been chilled. And flow-paths have been created to test how well the seals hold-up.
A Shuttle 4-segment SRB has 24,000 lbs of insulation. As part of trying to increase the payload mass of Ares I, ATK is trying to get the weight of the 5-segment motor to to 18,600 lbs. The DM-2 motor has 20,000 lbs. to evaluate how well the reduced and reformulated insulation works.
PBAN is being used as the motor propellant rather than HTPB, for several reasons. First, it’s the propellant used in the Shuttle SRB’s, so it’s behavior and characteristics are well understood. Additionally, using PBAN means that current motor casing hardware can be used. HTPB would require additional testing and a stronger casing.
Currently, PMBT (propellant mean bulk temperature) is 42°. In first hour of the shed being pulled-back, it’s rose 4/10 of degree and will rise 1° by time of firing.
Stan Buxton – Security Mgr at ATK Utah gave us a warning not to play with the rattle snakes.
Update: Corrected PMBT as Propellant Mean Bulk Temperature, not Propellant Main Bulk Temperature. Thanks for catching our typo.
WASHINGTON — Three compilations of images from more than half a century of NASA history are available for comment on a section of the photo-sharing site Flickr known as The Commons.
Visitors to NASA on The Commons can help tell the photos’ story by adding tags, or keywords, to the images to identify objects and people. In addition, viewers can communicate with other visitors by sharing comments. These contributions will help make the images easier to find online and add insight about NASA’s history.
The capability to interact with these already-public photos is the result of a partnership between NASA, Flickr from Yahoo! in Sunnyvale, Calif., and Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library based in San Francisco.
Three sets of photos share a common theme of NASA beginnings. The “Launch and Takeoff” set captures iconic spacecraft and aircraft taking flight. “Building NASA” spotlights ground-breaking events and the construction of some of NASA’s one-of-a-kind facilities. The “Center Namesakes” set features photos of the founders and figureheads of NASA’s 10 field centers. To view NASA on The Commons images, visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasacommons
“NASA’s long-standing partnership with Internet Archive and this new one with Yahoo!’s Flickr provides an opportunity for the public to participate in the process of discovery,” said Debbie Rivera, lead for the NASA Images project at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “In addition, the public can help the agency capture historical knowledge about missions and programs through this new resource and make it available for future generations.”
The Commons was launched with the Library of Congress to increase access to publicly-held photography collections and provide a way for the public to contribute information and knowledge.
“NASA on The Commons is bringing literally out-of-these-world images to Flickr,” said Douglas Alexander, general manager of Flickr. “We are thrilled to be working with NASA to offer such a rich archive and provide amazing insight into this country’s space program and its early beginnings.”
As the project leader, the New Media Innovation Team at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., enlisted the help of NASA photography and history experts to compile the three image sets for The Commons. The group will continue to create and release new photo sets that highlight different elements, themes or achievements.
Through a competitive process, NASA selected the Internet Archive in 2007 to organize a comprehensive online compilation of the agency’s vast collection of photographs, historic film and video on the NASA Images website. Launched in 2008, NASAimages.org provides hundreds of thousands of images and thousands of hours of video, HD video and audio content available free to the public for download.
“Sharing important assets like NASA photography is the core mission of the Internet Archive. Through this partnership with NASA and Flickr, NASA on The Commons is bringing these images to a vast audience and providing an opportunity for the public to give fresh insight and increase our shared knowledge of NASA in all its varied activities,” said Jon Hornstein, director of the NASA Images Project at the Internet Archive in San Francisco.
For more information and to see the image collection, visit:
http://www.nasaimages.org
For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
For more information about Internet Archive, visit:
http://www.archive.org
NASA Selects Two Firms For Experimental Space Vehicle Test Flights
WASHINGTON — NASA’s Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research Program (CRuSR) has awarded a total of approximately $475,000 to Armadillo Aerospace of Rockwall, Texas and Masten Space Systems of Mojave, Calif. The awards will allow the two companies to perform test flights of their experimental vehicles near the edge of space.
The flights will demonstrate the capabilities of new vehicles to provide recoverable launch and testing of small payloads going to “near-space,” the region of Earth’s atmosphere between 65,000 and 350,000 feet. The CRuSR program fosters the development of commercial reusable transportation to near space. The overall goal of the program is regular, frequent and predictable access to near-space at a reasonable cost with easy recovery of intact payloads.
“These two awards are just the beginning of an innovative teaming relationship with industry to provide affordable access to the edge of space while evaluating the microgravity environment for future science and technology experiments,” said NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “CRuSR represents the sort of government-commercial partnership that will facilitate near-space access at affordable costs.”
The CRuSR awards will fund two flights this fall and one this winter of Armadillo’s Super-Mod vehicle from Spaceport America in New Mexico. The first two flights will be to an altitude of approximately nine miles and the third to approximately 25 miles.
The Masten Space Systems’ Xaero vehicle will make four flights this winter from the Mojave Spaceport in California. Two flights will reach an altitude of approximately three miles and two others will be to approximately 18 miles, with an engine shutdown during flight.
Both launch vehicles will be modified to mount three antennas for the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) payload. ADS-B-equipped vehicles can determine their position using global navigation satellite systems. The vehicles can periodically broadcast position data and other relevant information to ground stations and other similarly equipped aircraft.
In NASA’s fiscal 2011 Space Technology Program, CRuSR will become an integral part of the Flight Opportunities Program within the Office of the Chief Technologist.
For more information on NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program, vist:
http://go.usa.gov/csj
For more information about NASA’s CRuSR program, visit:
http://suborbitalex.arc.nasa.gov
For more information about NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/oct
Dr. Paul Spudis, author of the blog The Once and Future Moon, has once again written a very insightful essay titled “The Moon: Creating Capability in Space and Getting Value for our Money“, which discusses the factors contributing to high launch costs and how a continuation of lunar development is a logical step toward curbing those costs.
“The development of the Moon creates an extensible, flexible transportation system that opens up the new frontier for many possibilities. Acquiring this essential space faring skill requires investment and commitment, with the full understanding of what will be achieved by this paradigm shift – the beginnings of a new space-based economy. What price tag would you put on that?”
“Building and launching space vehicles is expensive but the reasons why might surprise you. It’s not the equipment or even the infrastructure that drives up costs…”
The Huntsville Times’ Lee Roop reports that NASA Deputy Administrator Garver met with his paper’s editorial board, in Deputy NASA leader Lori Garver thinks stalemate between Congress and White House is over during which D.A. Garver mades the following points:
- The stalemate between Congress and the White House is over.
- What NASA wants now is “robust” work on a new heavy-lift rocket starting next year.
- Marshall will lead the heavy-lift launch program.
- The Administration could have and should have talked sooner to key congressional leaders such as Sen. Richard Shelby.
- One of the reasons we are as far as we are (in space) is because of Sen. Shelby.
- It won’t be up to the administration to marry the House and Senate bills, which may or may not come together in the fall.
Marshall Director Robert Lightfoot accompanied Ms. Garver to the editorial board meeting and said his center is ready to get to work on a heavy-lift rocket, that additional study is unnecessary once the question of what the rocket should be capable of is answered.
AmericaSpace Note: Clearly Deputy Administrator Garver is extending an olive branch to Senator Shelby and those in Congress who oppose the President’s proposed changes to the U.S. human spaceflight program, for which we applaud her. Like her, we believe that the Administration should have engaged Congress before the changes were put into the budget.
Deputy Administrator Garver’s enthusiasm for our nation’s space program is as deep as it is genuine; that is not up for debate. Our disagreement with her and others over the President’s proposed changes to the U.S. human space flight program was on a policy, not a personal, basis. We sincerely hope that once Congress has made its wishes clear through enacted legislation that everyone can move forward together in rebuilding our human space flight capabilities. Cooperation will strengthen our nation’s human space flight program; in-fighting will only harm it and us.
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