Category: Space Flight

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ISS Station Commander Jeff Williams, from NASA, handed over command of the massive orbiting outpost to Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotev, in a formal ceremony early today (Wed, March 17) in preparation for the return to earth of two crew members early Thursday. The ISS population will be reduced to a crew of three until the scheduled April 4 arrival of the next three person station crew inside a Russian capsule. Both Williams and Kotev have previously served on the ISS for long duration missions.

This marks the end to Expedition 22 and the start of Expedition 23. The five person international crew of Expedition 22 comprised Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineers Maxim Suraev, Oleg Kotov, Soichi Noguchi, and T.J. Creamer.

“I would like to thank the crew here for supporting me and for actually being really autonomous. I mean, I didn’t have to do anything, everyone is a self starter here, everyone did a very good job in everything that came before us. Well beyond things that were asked,” Williams said. “It was amazing that we were about to accomplish everything planned.

Williams thanked Kotov by saying, “You came with a lot of experience, you made great contributions from end to end on the space station with your previous experience. And even through today, I continue to take your advice on things and learn new things from you. Thank you for that.

Kotov heaped praising upon Williams saying, You demonstrated excellent leadership and a good example, being an excellent commander. Thank you for leaving station in such excellent condition. We’ll try to follow your way and keep it in good shape. Thank you, Jeff, thank you, Max, and Godspeed.”

After bidding a final farewell this evening, they’ll float aboard their return vessel and close the hatches between the ships at about 11:40 PM EDT tonight. US astronaut Jeff Williams and Russian cosmonaut Maxim Sureav are scheduled to undock and depart aboard their Soyuz TMA-16 capsule at about 4 AM EDT. The first separation burn is set for 4:06 AM.

A four minute and 19 second de-orbit burn at 6:34 AM will send the craft on an irreversible course for the fiery plunge through the earth’s atmosphere. The heat shield will protect the two man crew from the scorching heat of reentry. They are set to land at 7:23 AM in the steppes of Kazakhstan.

With frigid weather around 20 F, ground snow and gusty winds predicted to greet Williams and Suraev at the landing site, Russian and NASA personnel are staying overnight in nearby Arkalyk to assure a swift recovery of the crew. Weather permitting, four additional helicopters will depart from Kustanai Thursday and refuel in Arkalyk en route to the landing site to assist with the recovery.

Williams and Sureav will have spent 169 days in space following their launch on Sep. 30, 2009 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. For a brief interlude in December, they served as a skeleton crew of two following the departure of the three person Expedition 21 crew whom they replaced. On Dec 22, Santa’s helpers magically arrived in the form of Kotev, Creamer and Noguchi bearing a Christmas tree and gifts for Williams and Sureav for a festive holiday celebration of peace and good will.

The stations crew size will again increase to its maximum of six, when the next Soyuz blasts off on April 2 at 12:04 AM with a three person Russian/American crew composed of Commander Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail Kornienko and Tracy Dyson aboard the Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft.

Space Shuttle Discovery is currently set to lift off on April 5 from pad 39 A with a seven person crew and the ‘Leonardo’ Multi Purpose Logistics Module which is packed with living supplies, replacements parts and science experiments and gear. The two week assembly mission will feature three spacewalks and three female astronauts, including one from Japan.

After the planned retirement of the Space Shuttle later this year, all NASA astronauts will have only one choice to fly into space and reach the ISS. That will be on board the Russian Soyuz capsules at about $50 million per seat.

President Obama decided to completely terminate Project Constellation and cancel NASA’s Orion capsule which was NASA’s planned vehicle to replace the shuttle. Russia had previously charged about $20 to 30 million, but the price has skyrocketed as the looming end to NASA shuttle program rapidly approaches.

Over $9 Billion has been spent on Project Constellation since 2004. Tens of thousands of US jobs will be rapidly lost with the shuttle shutdown. The Obama Administration has instead decided to fund the development of “space taxis” by commercial providers to deliver astronauts to low Earth orbit, or LEO and the ISS. It is not known when these “taxis” will be flown and there is intense opposition to Obama’s plan from key members of the US Congress.

The undocking will be carried live on NASA TV

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NASA Shuttle program manager John Shannon said on Tuesday (Mar 9) that the Space Shuttle Program can indeed be safely extended beyond the existing plan to retire the fleet after completing the four missions currently remaining to fly by the end of 2010. The key issue now is money not safety.

“Where the money comes from is the ‘big question’. We feel like we’ve addressed [the issue of shuttle] recertification”, said Shannon at a press briefing at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

More missions could be flown if money was available. But there could be up to a two year gap in flights due to the need to restart the production lines for the huge External Tank (ET) which have already been shut down. NASA has only five ET’s remaining in inventory to fly out the current manifest of four, plus 1 more flight if approved by the Obama Administration, (read my earlier article).

The purpose of any additional shuttle missions is quite clear. They would be directed to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) who’s working orbital lifetime has just been extended by five years to 2020 from 2015. However, the ISS cannot operate and conduct the scientific research for which it was constructed without a steady and robust stream of rocket launches to loft new human crews and cargo resupply flights.

“The real issue the agency and the nation has to address is the expense,” said Shannon.

“The shuttle program is fairly expensive. We burn at about a $200 million a month rate. So that gives you a base of about $2.4 billion a year that it would require to continue flying the shuttle, almost irregardless of how many flights you flew during the year. There’s just a base cost there you have to pay to keep the program in business”, explained Shannon.

Shannon’s comments are completely in line with those spoken by NASA KSC Shuttle manager Mike Moses about two weeks ago at the STS 130 post landing briefing. The vast expense which would supposedly be required to recertify the three orbiter shuttle fleet to fly beyond 2010 has frequently been cited by many shuttle detractors to justify a shuttle shutdown.

Shannon and Moses now state that NASA has in effect already recertified the shuttle fleet as part of the requirements set by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) for the Return to Flight in 2005 following the Columbia tragedy during re-entry in February 2003.

President Obama’s highly controversial recent decision to completely cancel Project Constellation (comprising the Orion capsule and Ares 1 and Ares V booster rockets) leaves the US with no near term human spaceflight program to replace the shuttle before its looming retirement and no vehicle to send astronauts to the ISS and beyond to the Moon and Mars as directed by President Bush in 2004.

The US would be left completely dependent on the Russians and their Soyuz capsule to send American astronauts into space for many years to come. Russia recently increased the price for Soyuz seats to $50 million and further increases are expected after the shuttle is retired.

Meanwhile, China is pushing full steam ahead developing a new heavy lift booster – the Long March 5 and is constructing new manned Shenzhou capsules and even the first element of a space station.

China puts its scientists and engineers to work generating innovations on exciting new space projects, while the US voluntarily dismantles its space exploration capabilities, lays off tens of thousands of people – potentially devastating local economies – and loses their accumulated knowledge.

President Obama has directed that NASA should cancel development of the manned Orion capsule and instead fund alternative private companies to develop new space taxis to deliver astronauts to low Earth orbit, or LEO. Critics have questioned the timelines of when the commercial companies can actually produce a manned capsule and whether the safety of astronauts will be compromised by companies seeking profits.

$9 Billion has already been spent on Project Constellation and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says it will cost an additional $2.5 to cancel the ongoing contracts.

At least 9000 jobs will be rapidly lost at the Kennedy Space Center due to the simultaneous shutdown of the Shuttle and Constellation human spaceflight programs. Tens of thousands more jobs will be lost across the country, especially in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and California. Layoffs have already begun.

There has been harsh bipartisan criticism of Obama’s new plan for NASA from some key members of Congress in the Senate and House who cite the new plan as nothing more than a gigantic “job killer” which will also kill Americas 50 year long leadership in Space and terminate manufacturing facilities and infrastructure as well as the accumulated know-how. Many in academia and industry also fear greatly for the future job prospects of students in science & technology, engineering and aerospace.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas) has introduced a new bill to extend the life of the shuttle program until a replacement rocket system is available. Representatives Suzanne Kosmas (D) and Bill Posey (R) of Florida introduced similar legislation in the House of Representatives – which was co-sponsored by other Democrats and Republicans from several states – to extend the shuttle, minimize the human spaceflight gap and accelerate development of a next generation space vehicle.

“Right now we estimate that gap would be about two years from when we’re told [to restart production] to when we’d have the first external tank rolling off the assembly line”, explained Shannon. The gap could be shortened by delaying one or more of the remaining flights.

Shannon said that in response to the Congressional bills, “We kicked off an extension study for each of the program elements to go out and physically touch base with each of the vendors and the sub vendors and the entire supply chain and understand where we might have some issues if we were to restart the program.

“There is this big misconception that there’s all this big supply chain that was shuttle specific only. Shuttle is for the most part a sideline business for these major companies that support the actual program. We will send that information to NASA Headquarters.”

“We’ve addressed the orbiter recertification issues. We are addressing the supply line issues. I don’t expect to find any problems there. The real issue we would have is just in manufacturing. While you have a supply chain, while you can get a workforce back to go and build things like external tanks, there would be some type of a gap”, he added.

Basically, an extension depends on whether the money is available. President Obama decided that he would not fund a shuttle extension and also decided to terminate Project Constellation in the new NASA budget.

The White House has just announced plans for a Florida space summit on April 15 to be held at or near the Kennedy Space Center where President Obama will discuss his new strategy for NASA. He may also announce approval for one more shuttle mission using the final ET being held in reserve in case of a space emergency rescue mission for the currently planned final mission in September 2010.

Based on the very hostile reaction and comments from Congress and local residents and politicians in Florida at a number of recent forums, President Obama should not anticipate to be greeted by a friendly crowd unless he unexpectedly announces a major policy change.

Earlier Shuttle extension and Constellation articles by Ken Kremer

Orion can Launch Safely in 2013 says Lockheed

Shuttle Endeavour Rolled to Pad; Countdown to the Final Five Begins

What Would NASA Do with an Added Shuttle Flight?