Space Shuttle Endeavour awaits launch from Pad 39 A on April 29, 2011 at 3;47 p.m. Endeavour and her 6 man crew will deliver the $2 Billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station which seeks to unveil the Unknown and uncover the birth of the Universe. Credit: Ken Kremer
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, April 28 – All systems are GO here at the Kennedy Space Center as the countdown clocks tick down to the final launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour. Supercool cryogenic fuels are now being loaded into the External Tank as of Friday morning. The STS-134 launch is slated for Friday, April 29 at 3:47 p.m. EDT.
Stormy weather, heavy rain and hours of crackling thunder passed over the launch pad Thursday evening and it was very uncertain if the launch could take place as scheduled on Friday. NASA technicians were pulled back from checking the shuttle stack for any signs of damage during the thunder strikes. Luckily there were no thunder strikes with ½ mile of the pad and no damage to the shuttle or the pad launch systems.
Update Note: Progress 42 P just docked at the ISS friday morning:
Universe Today photographer Alan Walters told me that hail fell late Thursday in nearby Titusville, just 12 miles from Shuttle Launch Pad 39 A while I was at the KSC Press Site some three miles away from the pad.
Shuttle launch officials delayed the retraction of the massive Rotating Service Structure (RSS) which protects the orbiter from bad weather and flying debris. RSS retraction had been planned for 7:00 p.m. and finally started just before midnight. The RSS must be pulled away from the orbiter soon in order to commence loading of the cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen fuel into the External Tank.
At Thursdays news briefing, NASA Test Director Jeff Spaulding said that the countdown was proceeding well with no technical problems of any significance. The weather was the only concern with a forecast of 70% favorable conditions due to the potential for exceeding the launch criteria for cross winds.
“Everything’s going well out at pad A,” he said. “We don’t have any issues right now that we’re tracking.”
Local official expect massive crowds of tourists and onlookers numbering 700,000 or more and massive post launch traffic jams.
If you come to the launch bring lots of food and water and expect a LONGGG wait going home or to your hotels. So bring some entertainment and enjoy the shuttle show. The Shuttle launch team is ecstatic and proud that the public is responding with overwhelming interest in this uniquely American enterprise.
The primary task of the STS-134 mission is to deliver the $2 Billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station which. AMS is a particle detector searching for dark energy, dark matter and anti matter to elucidate the birth of the Universe.
Watch for continuing Shuttle Launch Updates here at Universe Today
Lightning Strikes near Endeavour on April 28 at the Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Ken KremerEndeavour unveiled for flight after thunderstorm pass over Kennedy Space Center on April 28. Credit: Ken Kremer
Brush fires send billowing smoke skywards at the Kennedy Space Center on April 27, just 2 days before the last launch of Shuttle Endeavour. Credit: Ken Kremer
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER – A large brush fire suddenly broke out this today (April 27) less than 1 mile fom the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Press Site in the midst of the countdown to Space Shuttle Endeavour’s last launch, set for this Friday, April 29.
Huge plumes of billowing smoke were sent skyward over the spaceport starting around 1 p.m. from the fires and were spread out over more than 100 acres. The fires erupted at some distance behind the NASA Tweeters tent erected at the press site and were located just 3 miles from the shuttle launch pad. The cause of the fires is unknown but occurred after a long spell of dry weather at KSC.
Brush fire view from the countdown clock at press site at the Kennedy Space Center on April 27. Helicopters dumped water from buckets to bring the fire under control. Credit: Ken Kremer
Helicopters and NASA Firefighters were called in to put out the fires. Fire trucks careened past the countdown clock towards the nearby fire. The helicopters flew back and forth all afternoon dumping buckets of seawater onto the wildfires trying to bring it under control.
“The shuttle launch pad was never in any danger due to the Turn basin in between and it hasn’t impacted any launch operations,” KSC spokesman Allard Beutel told Universe Today.
The Universe Today team of Alan Walters and Ken Kremer witnessed the spectacular and potentially frightening scene first hand and onsite.
It looked like Armageddon all afternoon long and was finally contained tonight. Nothing like this ever occurred so close to a launch and its not clear if the fire would have caused a scrub on launch day. Check out our up close photo album.
NASA Fire truck at the Countdown clock during brushfires at KSC. Credit: Ken KremerNASA Fire brigade responds to KSC brush fire. Credit: Ken KremerFirefighters at KSC brush fire. Credit: Ken KremerA member of the KSC fire crew assesses the fire situation. Credit: Alan Walters.A helicopter flies through the smoke and haze at KSC on April 27 during the brushfire. Credit: Alan Walters.Photographers set up in attempt to photograph Endeavour on the launchpad, but smoke hinders their view. Credit: Alan Walters.Fire at Kennedy Space Center, April 27, 2011. Credit: Alan Walters.
A view of the shuttle launchpad at Kennedy Space Center as seen by astronaut Mick Fincke flying in his T-38. Click for larger version on Fincke's yfrog page.
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A great picture of shuttle Endeavour sitting on launchpad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, taken by Mike Fincke as he and his crewmates arrived in Florida yesterday to prepare for Endeavour’s final launch, scheduled for Friday.
Update: Another view, below.
Here's another view, including an additional T-38 from astronaut Terry Virts.
Several student experiments will travel with the more famous Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-02 on the shuttle Endeavour. Image Credit: NASA.gov
[/caption]CAPE CANAVERAL – STS-134, the final flight of the space shuttle Endeavour – is set to carry several experiments of students from the middle school, high school and collegiate levels. Two of these payloads are sponsored by the NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium.
The first experiment is one that could provide some guidance on future long-duration space flight missions, it deals with seed germination. As missions take astronauts further and further away from Earth, they will need to be able to produce their own food. Learning everything possible about the effects of micro-gravity on seeds therefore is viewed as relevant and important research.
Student Spaceflight Experiments Program is working to ensure that the shuttle program maximizes its potential as a tool for education. Image Credit: SSEP
“Crystal Lake Middle Schools’ students and staff members are grateful that the Florida Space Grant Consortium has provided funding that will allow one of our student experiments to fly aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in low Earth orbit for 14 days,” said the Magnet Programs Coordinator for Crystal Lake Middle School, Lenecia McCrary. “The students entered a school-wide competition that involved proposing and designing real and practical experiments. The chosen experiment deals with investigating the effects of micro-gravity on apple seed germination.”
A little higher up on the educational ladder is the STEM Bar experiment being flown on STS-134. High school students Mikayla and Shannon Diesch won the 2010 Conrad Foundation Spirit of Innovation Award and will be at the launch watching as Endeavour takes their newly developed STEM Bar to the International Space Station. The STEM Bar was developed using NASA’s food safety standards and certified to fly on STS-134.
Another experiment, one comprised of squid embryos is being spearheaded by the University of Florida and will research the physiological impact of the micro-gravity environment on the animal’s growth and development.
“The Squids in Space project is a cohesive effort in which the full range of NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium supported categories work together on an experiment destined to fly on what will be the last flight of space shuttle Endeavour,” said Florida Space Grant Consortium Director Jaydeep Mukherjee. “This team, which is composed of Florida colleges and high school students and led by University of Florida PhD research scientist Jamie Foster, will connect the three tiers of education in an experiment studying the effects of microgravity on squid embryos.”
This experiment rack will allow astronauts to study how certain bacteria within squid embryos change in the microgravity environment. Photo Credit: NASA FSGC
The inclusion of these student experiments on board Endeavour is viewed by those sponsoring and supporting these student-led experiments as evidence of NASA’s commitment to educational outreach. NASA has to maximize every square inch of space on the orbiters to stock up the space station for the post-shuttle era. As such, clearing room for these experiments highlights is viewed as an expression of the high value that the space agency places on education. After the launch of Endeavour only a single shuttle flight remains in the program, STS-135 which is slated for liftoff on June 28 on space shuttle Atlantis.
Students from the University of Florida are sending squid embryos into space on space shuttle Endeavour's final mission. Photo Credit: NASA FSGC
On April 29th, 2011, the space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to blast off for the last time, delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier to the International Space Station.
If you live in the UK you can watch the launch live on NASA TV and a number of other sites on the internet, but that’s not all you can do! You may be able to watch it fly over the UK with your very own eyes about 20 minutes later!
Yes! You can watch the Shuttle fly over the UK roughly 20 minutes after launch (launch time is currently set for 3:47 p.m. EDT – 8:47 p.m. UK Time) if the timing is right and skies are clear. It will be accompanied by its bright orange external fuel tank as it sails across the sky.
I was lucky to see and actually film this in August 2009 with the launch of STS-128 Space Shuttle Discovery.
How to see it? Go outside roughly 15 – 20 minutes after launch and you could see two bright objects similar to what the ISS looks like when it passes over, moving at roughly the same speed. These bright objects in parallel to each other will follow a similar track in the sky to what the ISS does, but it will be the Shuttle Endeavour and its separated external fuel tank!
Hope for clear skies and that the launch isn’t delayed, as this may be our last chance ever of seeing a space shuttle fly over the UK just after launch.
American astronauts aboard an Orion spacecraft could be launched on a Lunar fly by mission in 2016 atop NASA’s Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle. Credit: Credit: Lockheed Martin
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER – Despite utilizing just half the work force originally planned and cutting back further on the original test program, Lockheed Martin is now accelerating the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) launch schedule and aiming to achieve an Earth orbital flight by 2013 and a human crewed flight as early as 2016. The first Orion crew cabin has been built and construction of the second spacecraft has begun.
What’s more is that a bold “manned mission beyond low Earth orbit and even a lunar fly by is possible in 2016 if NASA’s new heavy lift rocket is developed in time,” says John Karas, vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Human Space Flight programs, in an exclusive interview with Universe Today. A bipartisan majority in Congress recently approved funding for the Heavy lift booster and mandated that the first flight occur in 2016.
“In order to go to the moon, we need NASA’s new heavy lifter,” Karas explained. Orion was designed with the capability to fly human crews to low Earth orbit (LEO) and the International Space Station, as well as beyond to deep space, the Moon, Asteroids, Lagrange Points and Mars.
Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for Orion under a multi-year contract awarded by NASA in 2006.
First Orion Crew module
Orion crew module during recent installation of back shell panel at Lockheed Martin’s Vertical Test Facility in Denver, Colorado. Credit: NASA
Karas told me that the streamlined test program would involve flying one Orion mission per year – of increasing complexity – from 2013 to 2016. “Lockheed Martin is working with NASA to determine what are the right launch vehicles and the right missions.”
American astronauts could return to the moon in 5 years after a more than 40 year long hiatus.
Orion crew module at Lockheed’s Denver Space Faciilty. First Orion Crew module being outfitted with doors, windows and thermal protection system and more at Lockheed facilities in Denver. Credit: NASA
“Right now we are building a brand new crew cabin for the first Orion mission; OFT-1. But everything depends on the budget.”
“For the inaugural Orion test flight in 2013 NASA is considering a Delta IV Heavy booster rocket,” Karas said. “The Atlas V is not powerful enough to send the whole 50,000 pound spacecraft into orbit. With an Atlas we could only launch an Orion crew module. You would have to have delete the Service Module (SM) and /or other subsystems.”
“Orion would be lofted some 7,000 miles out, and then sent back for Earth reentry to simulate something close to lunar velocity, around 80% or so. So we would definitely be testing the deep space environment. Therefore the test flight would be a lot more involved than just a simple Earth orbital reentry.
“For the first Orion mission, we will put as much capability on it as possible depending on the budget,” Karas amplified. “But it’s unlikely to have solar arrays without a few hundred million more bucks. The capability is money limited.”
“The 2014 flight could be a high altitude abort test or perhaps something else.”
“Then a full up unmanned test flight would follow in 2015,” Karas explained.
“If we have a heavy lifter, the 2016 flight with the first human crew could be a deep space mission or a lunar fly by lasting more than a week.”
Orion crew module boosted by upper stage to the Moon and deep space. Credit: Lockheed Martin
Lockheed has already constructed the initial Orion crew vehicle – known as the first article or Ground Test Article (GTA). The Orion GTA first article was built at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans, LA where I inspected it after the structural framework was welded into one piece.
Following the installation of mass and volume simulators and a successful series of pressure tests, the first article was then shipped in February this year to the company’s new state-of-the-art Space Operation Simulation Center (SOSC) located in Denver, Colorado.
“At Denver, we are going to finish the assembly of the first article by July of this year so it looks like a spacecraft – adding the doors, windows, thermal tiles and more,” Karas said. “Then it undergoes rigorous acoustics tests until September – known as Shake and Bake – to simulate all aspects of the harsh environment of deep space.”
The next step after that was to send it to NASA Langley for intensive water drop landing tests. But that plan may well change Karas told me.
“The first article – or GTA – is flight worthy. So we don’t want to break the spacecraft during the water landing tests. In the newly revised plan it may be used on the 2nd Orion flight in 2014 instead of reserving it for ground tests only. It would fly with a service module, but not solar panels. The first article could even be the first flight vehicle if the program funding is insufficient.”
Orion prototype crew cabin - GTA
Orion cabin view with astronaut crew hatch and window openings at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, LA is now undergoing testing and integration at Lockheed’s new state-of-the-art Space Operation Simulation Center (SOSC) in Denver, Colorado. Credit: Ken Kremer
“We have only half the budget for Orion that was planned earlier by NASA,” Karas stated.
“1500 less people are working on Orion since 1 year ago from the start to the end of 2010 – and that number includes all the subcontractors. We had to lay off a lot of people, including some folks we intended to hire.”
“MAF is now focused on building the composite structures of the first Service Module with about 200 people. That’s about half of what should have been about 400 folks. The earlier work at Michoud (MAF) focused on the metallic structures of the cabin for the first article,” said Karas.
To a large degree, launching astronauts to deep space is more a matter of sheer political will power then solving technical issues. And it all comes down to the bucks.
If NASA’s Heavy lifter is not available an alternative scenario with other expendable rockets would have to be developed to achieve the escape velocity required to send a crew of astronauts to the Moon.
Lockheed Martin has independently proposed a stepping stone approach that would send astronauts in Orion spacecraft to challenging deep space targets such as the Moon, and elsewhere such as Asteroids, Lagrange points and Mars that have never been done before and which I’ll feature in upcoming articles.
“Exploration missions that are affordable and sustainable will inevitably lead to technological innovation, to scientific discovery, and to public inspiration and spark an interest in STEM careers that can help the United States counter the overwhelming numerical disadvantage in college graduates it faces in these disciplines in developing third-world nations,’ says Karas.
President Obama plans to attend the last launch of Endeavour on April 29, 2011 at the Kennedy Space Center. President Obama last visited the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 15, 2010 and outlined the new course his administration is charting for NASA and the future of U.S. human spaceflight. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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President Barack Obama and the entire First Family apparently plan to attend the final launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour, according to government officials and multiple news outlets. Endeavour is slated to blast off on the STS-134 mission next Friday, April 29 from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida at 3:47 p.m. EDT.
There has already been intense drama surrounding the STS-134 mission because it is being commanded by Mark Kelly. Kelly is the husband of U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona who was critically wounded by gunshots to her head at point blank range during an assassination attempt while attending a meet and greet with her constituents on Jan. 8, 2011. Six people – including a nine year old girl and a federal judge – were killed and a dozen more were wounded that awful day.
Space Shuttle Endeavour awaits her final launch on April 29, 2011 from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, FL Credit: Ken Kremer
The Presidents appearance at the STS-134 launch will almost certainly lead to skyrocketing interest, but has not yet been officially announced by NASA and the White House. The event is not yet listed on the presidents official schedule.
However, a tweet by the staff of Congresswoman Giffords on her official website states Obama will attend; “We are very happy that Pres. Obama is coming to Mark’s launch! This historic mission will be #Endeavours final flight.”
NASA spokesman Allard Beutel told me today, “I cannot confirm whether the president will be coming to launch next week. If he’s coming, which I can’t confirm, we are a White House agency.”
“We always welcome a visit from the President,” Beutel said.
Security is always tight at KSC during a shuttle launch. A visit by President Obama will certainly lead to even tighter security controls and even more massive traffic jams.
Giant crowds were already expected for this historic final spaceflight of Space Shuttle Endeavour, NASA’s youngest Orbiter, on her 25th mission to space.
Endeavour is carrying the $2 Billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) ) on a 14-day flight to the International Space Station, a premier science instrument that will collect cosmic rays, search for dark energy, dark matter and anti matter and seeks to determine the origin of the Universe. See my photo below of the AMS from inside the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) at KSC with the principal investigator, Nobel Prize winner Prof. Sam Ting of MIT.
President Obama last visited KSC on April 15, 2010 and gave a major policy speech outlining his radical new human spaceflight goals for NASA. Obama decided to cancel NASA’s Project Constellation ‘Return to the Moon’ Program and the Ares 1 and Ares 5 rockets. He directed NASA to plan a mission for astronauts to visit an Asteroid by 2025 and one of the moons of Mars in the 2030’s. Obama also decided to revive the Orion crew module built by Lockheed Martin, which is now envisaged for missions beyond low earth orbit (LEO), and invest in development of new commercial space taxis such as the Dragon spacecraft by SpaceX for transporting astronaut crews to the ISS.
Spokesman Beutel said that during the April 2010 visit, “The President met with space workers.” He could not comment on details of the president’s plans for the STS-134 visit and said information would have to come from the White House.
The last time a sitting president watched a live human space launch was in 1998 when then President Bill Clinton attended the blastoff of the return to space of Astronaut and Senator John Glenn. Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth back in 1962. Glenn’s first flight took place a little over a year after the historic first human spaceflight by Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961- which occurred exactly 50 years ago last week.
Congresswoman Giffords is recovering from her wounds and Shuttle Commander Kelly has said that she would like to attend the STS-134 launch. But no official announcement about her attendance has been made by NASA and depends on many factors including decisions by the doctors treating her in a Houston area hospital.
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) and Nobel Prize Winner and Principal Investigator Sam Ting of MIT - inside the Space Station Processing Facility at KSC. The STS-134 mission of shuttle Endeavour will deliver the AMS to the ISS. The AMS purpose is to try and determine the origin of the Universe. . Credit: Ken KremerClose up of Endeavour crew cabin, ET, SRB and astronaut walkway to the White Room. Credit: Ken Kremer
Launch sign at Kennedy Space Center counts down the days to the STS-134 launch of shuttle Endeavour. Photo credit: NASA/KSC › Larger Image
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The launch date for the long-awaited Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) to the International Space Station has been set for Friday, April 29, at 3:47 p.m. EDT on from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 14-day STS-134 mission is shuttle Endeavour’s final scheduled flight. After a flight readiness review today, NASA and contractor managers determined the shuttle and station’s equipment, support systems and personnel are ready to go.
The other notable aspect of the mission is that Mark Kelly is commanding, and his wife, Representative Gabrielle Giffords is tentatively expected to attend the launch, just months after she was shot in the head. This certainly will bring a unique aspect to the launch, at least for the media coverage, drawing attention to the mission to those who might not normally take notice.
For those who always pay attention to shuttle missions, however, two aspects make this mission noteworthy: the AMS and Endeavour’s final mission. The mission will also feature the last four spacewalks by a shuttle crew.
The AMS is designed to measure cosmic rays to search for various types of unusual matter, such as dark matter and antimatter. The instrument’s experiments will help researchers study the formation of the universe.
Professor Sam Ting, AMS Principal Investigator, with the AMS in the background. Credit: Chase Clark.
Also during the flight, Endeavour also will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier 3, a platform that carries spare parts to sustain station operations after the shuttles are retired from service. During the scheduled spacewalks, astronauts will do maintenance work, install new components, and perform a complex series of tasks to top off the ammonia in one of the station’s photovoltaic thermal control system cooling loops.
The crew consists of Kelly, Pilot Greg H. Johnson, NASA Mission Specialists Michael Fincke, Andrew Feustel and Greg Chamitoff and European Space Agency Mission Specialist Roberto Vittori. They are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy on Tuesday, April 26, for final launch preparations.
STS-134 is the 134th shuttle mission, Endeavour’s 25th flight and the 36th shuttle mission to the station.
Universe Today will be on hand live to cover the launch from Kennedy Space Center, and provide updates as the mission progresses.
SpaceX was one of four companies whose proposals were selected as part of the Commercial Crew Development 2 (CCDev2) contract. Image Credit: SpaceX
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NASA has announced the winners of the four second-round agreements under the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev2) program. These companies will now be awarded between $22 million and $92 million for their proposals. These funds will be used to help the winning commercial firms to develop and improve their concepts for bringing NASA astronauts to space.
These concepts cover both launch vehicles and the spacecraft that ride on them. NASA has selected Blue Origin and granted them $22 million, Sierra Nevada Corporation with $80, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) with $75 million and Boeing with $92.3 million.
SpaceX said via Twitter that they will be ready to fly the first manned mission three years after receiving these new funds.
Sierra Nevada Corporation's Drewm Chaser was the only shuttle shaped spacecraft selected, the other two proposals selected were capsules. Image Credit: SNC
“The next American-flagged vehicle to carry our astronauts into space is going to be a U.S. commercial provider,” said Ed Mango, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager. “The partnerships NASA is forming with industry will support the development of multiple American systems capable of providing future access to low-Earth orbit.”
The CCDev initiative was started back in 2009 with the intent of jump-starting the aerospace community into expanding U.S. spaceflight capabilities. CCDev2 is designed to speed up this process and reduce the gap in the nation’s human spaceflight abilities (when space shuttle Atlantis completes its final mission this summer, the U.S. will essentially lose the ability to send astronauts into orbit).
Established aerospace company Boeing submitted and was one of four that one with its capsule-shaped proposal. Image Credit: Boeing
CCDev2 saw an explosion of proposals for a variety of spacecraft, SpaceX, Orbital Sciences, Boeing, Blue Origin, Alliant Techsystems and Sierra Nevada all submitted ideas. It is hoped that new space markets might arise out of this project which could see an expansion of customers – both commercial and government.
“We’re committed to safely transporting U.S. astronauts on American-made spacecraft and ending the outsourcing of this work to foreign governments,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “These agreements are significant milestones in NASA’s plans to take advantage of American ingenuity to get to low-Earth orbit, so we can concentrate our resources on deep space exploration.”
In an effort to keep the shuttles flying for a while longer, United Space Alliance (USA) entered their own proposal for CCDev2 - the space shuttle. Photo Credit: Jason Rhian
A wide range of both established and new space companies entered submissions. Utah’s Alliant Techsystems (ATK) had proposed Liberty, a partnership between them and the European space company Astrium (the producers of the Ariane rocket). Orbital Sciences entered a mini space shuttle and United Space Alliance (USA) entered a proposal that would have seen the space shuttles Endeavour and Atlantis continue to fly under the rebranded Commercial Space Transportation System.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden discusses the recently announced NASA budget. Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
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With the US’s attention firmly focused on the budget with calls to cut spending in every possible non-essential programs, supporters of the U.S. human space flight program were concerned that NASA would be on the frontline to take a hit. But Congress spared the space agency from prospective cuts and announced that NASA’s budget would remain at current levels, and its budget be $18.5 billion for 2011. It took the body months of vitriolic back-and-forth arguing that culminated in last-minute negotiations, including language that includes the building of a Space Launch System heavy-lift vehicle.
NASA is at a historic crossroads as the agency has been directed to support smaller commercial space firms provide access to low-Earth-orbit (LEO) while the agency tries to send astronauts beyond LEO again.
The wording of the budget states that the Space Launch System heavy-lift vehicle “shall have a lift capability not less than 130 tons and which shall have an upper stage and other core elements developed simultaneously.” That’s different from the language in the 2010 authorization act, which calls for initial development of an SLS that can place 70-100 tons into LEO that would later be upgraded to a 130-ton capacity.
As it currently stands, NASA is dependent on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to send U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station. Russia has recently increased the cost of a single seat onboard the Soyuz to $63 million, making it even-more important that NASA maintains funding at least at current levels.
“We appreciate the work of Congress to pass a 2011 spending bill. NASA now has appropriated funds to implement the 2010 Authorization Act, which gives us a clear path forward to continue America’s leadership in human spaceflight, exploration and scientific discovery. Among other things, this bill lifts funding restrictions that limited our flexibility to carry out our shared vision for the future,” said NASA’s Administrator Charles Bolden. “With this funding, we will continue to aggressively develop a new heavy lift rocket, multipurpose crew vehicle and commercial capability to transport our astronauts and their supplies on American-made and launched spacecraft. We are committed to living within our means in these tough fiscal times – and we are committed to carrying out our ambitious new plans for exploration and discovery.”
Lifted, finally, was the so-called “Shelby provision” from the 2010 appropriations act that prevented NASA from terminating Constellation programs.
