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NASA's "Moon Bombing" For Water Ice Tonight—A Quick Explanation October 8, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : LCROSS, Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter, NASA, Obama, private sector, water , 1 comment so far

NASA’s surprisingly controversial “moon bombing” with the LCROSS craft is set for tonight, at 4:30am!

A lot of people (and I mean a lot–Twitter has been on fire , 38 Tweets on it in past ~30 seconds) are wondering why NASA’s doing this, and some are expressing levels of outrage.

A quick explanation: Water ice is important to moon colonies (and beyond—the oxygen and hydrogen can be used to make rocket propellant, which is incredibly expensive to launch off of Earth; and thus, the Moon could be a cost-effective ‘gas station’ for Mars and beyond), and this event tonight is a key study to whether it exists in shadowed craters sensors can’t see into.  (See this great article from Universe Today for more on why water on the Moon is valuable.)

The LCROSS will drop it’s spent Centaur rocket (non-explosive, basically a large piece of metal) into the Cabeus A crater, and the LCROSS itself will follow into the crater, taking readings as it goes (and eventually impacts the same location).

The $79 million spent on the mission could pay itself back for the U.S.—private space development is a rapidly growing industry, one that Obama has suggested could be valuable to an economic turnaround. Companies are already set for a variety of commercial applications (including an extremely promising alternative energy, as explained there by Apollo 17 astronaut/geologist Jack Schmitt) , but the presence of valuable water ice gives them another lucrative motivation.

This will be a historic event—the mainstream-public attention alone has guaranteed that, and the successful discovery of water ice will be yet another spur to an already charging “base race” back to the Moon  (for resources, this time) :)

You can watch the impact live on NASA TV at 4:30am PST (and there’s even a free watching event at OMSI here in Portland, OR.)

NM Gov. Bill Richardson To Be Cleared of Federal Probe August 27, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Bill Richardson, Obama, private sector , add a comment

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a prominent private space advocate and President Obama’s initial choice for Commerce Secretary, will be cleared of the federal probe that derailed his nomination to the Commerce Dept., according to an Associated Press report.

At the time of Richardson’s withdrawal from the commerce appointment in January, Obama said “I look forward to his future service to our country and in my administration.”  Now that he’s finally cleared, Richardson is sure to be appointed somewhere in the near future.

His original Commerce appointment had a space tinge to it: Richardson’s flagship economic project in New Mexico has been Spaceport America.

Obama has voiced support for private space (“Amplify NASA’s reach” with commercial efforts and “unleash the genius of private enterprise to secure the United States’ leadership in space”), and with the Augustine commission‘s recent grim assessment of Constellation’s future, the development of private space could be taking a leading role in American space efforts soon—and Richardson will probably be at the forefront of it:

“Here’s what I want to be sure of … that the Obama administration is pro-commercial space … that the administration is pro-space, pro-government space, pro-commercial space.” -Bill Richardson, when asked about a potential role in the Obama administration last year

Keep a close eye on Richardson, as I’m confident Obama has space-related plans for him; and those plans could have a significant impact on the future of NASA.

The Dog Days of Augustine? Panel Delivers Grim Outlook on Constellation Budgeting August 13, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Augustine Panel, economy, NASA, Obama , 1 comment so far

The Obama-initiated, Norm Augustine-led Human Space Flight review panel has delivered a sobering, pessimistic take on the future of Constellation budgeting:

“The money available has declined considerably since the program began…On the other hand, the Constellation program has proven to be more difficult than it was thought to be. It will be difficult with the current budget to do anything that’s terribly inspiring in the human spaceflight area.” -Norm Augustine (as reported by the Orlando Sentinel)

The panel has concluded that at least an additional $3 billion a year would be needed for NASA to return to the Moon by 2030.

“We are on a path right now, for a system that requires [roughly] double the current budget just to operate. If Santa Claus brought us this [Constellation] system tomorrow, fully developed, and the budget didn’t change, our next action would have to be to cancel it.”- Panel member Jeff Greason (as reported by the Orlando Sentinel)

Considering the economic climate, $3 billion more a year seems extremely unlikely to me (and others), so it looks like reform to Constellation will be on the way, if not outright cancellation or replacement.

If not Constellation’s current path…what, then?

“As president, Barack Obama will establish a robust and balanced civilian space program… In achieving this vision, Obama will reach out to include international partners and to engage the private sector to amplify NASA’s reach. Obama believes that a revitalized NASA can help America maintain its innovation edge and contribute to American economic growth.” -Barack Obama’s campaign space plan

Going back to the economic climate, and Obama’s obvious personal and political motivations to have the recession turn around during his first term, having NASA “contribute to American economic growth” instead of leeching an additional $3 billion a year out of it may direct his next moves regarding the organization’s “revitalization”. (Which now seems like it could be a more dramatic change than was imagined before—with Obama certainly no stranger to the idea of change.)

Recent developments, such as the ISS contracts given in January and the awarding of stimulus funds towards private space, could be steps in a stronger private ‘amplification’ direction than was anticipated before. Amplifying NASA with private space is the option that helps the economy the most (or at all), and with Obama’s future tied to the economy, it seems logical to me that we could be seeing even more along that path, now that Constellation has been rather grimly assessed by Obama’s review panel…

A Stimulating Development?: NASA Assigns $50 Million in Stimulus Funds for Commercial Orbital Passenger Service August 10, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : economy, Obama, Paragon, private sector, Space Shuttle, SpaceX , 1 comment so far

In an interesting economic development, NASA said today that $50 million in economic stimulus funds will be going towards developing commercial passenger service to orbit (to replace the retired Space Shuttle and to avoid pricey seats on the Russian Soyuz).

Private company SpaceX won one of two cargo contracts for the ISS back in January, and the Dragon craft they are using is designed to be modifiable to a human-passenger mode. NASA is holding a workshop this Thursday for SpaceX and other interested firms (quoted by the Reuters article as Ball Aerospace, Airborne Systems, Boeing, Tether Applications, Retro Aerospace, Emergent Space Technologies, Davidson Technologies, and Paragon Space Development Corp., many of whom appear specialized for certain systems).

Obama’s campaign space plan had hinted at this in the past—the idea of private U.S. space industry as stimulus. Frontiers do have a way of pushing economies along, so this could to be a road to developments much like the railroad projects of old. Considering the potential, Obama’s campaign plan, and certain past Obama decisions, there could be a lot more of this to come, and soon…

Moon Colonization: An American Historical Perspective July 20, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : American History, Apollo, Frontiers, Obama , 3comments

Louisiana Purchase

On this, the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the map above demonstrates not only where America stood in 1803; in a sense, it is where America stands now.

The Apollo 11 mission is often compared to Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery. They are indeed, similar: bold scientific missions of exploration, with eventual political and economic goals in mind, mandated by a President with a dreamer’s eye and performed by a squad of mostly military hands (with important civilian assists). Incredibly dangerous, incredibly unlikely, and completed incredibly well.

Lewis and Clark’s expedition was followed, eventually, by a wave of frontier colonization that has resulted in the Union’s most populous state and also the metropolis I currently reside in (Portland, Oregon). It was the spark for generations of expansion that took America places it could hardly have even imagined.

“You’re familiar with the phrase ‘man’s reach exceeds his grasp’? It’s a lie: man’s grasp exceeds his nerve.” -David Bowie as Nikola Tesla in “The Prestige“

“Man’s reach exceeds his imagination!”- Hugh Jackman as Robert Angier, later on in “The Prestige“

Those same quotes could be applied to America, today. 40 years after Apollo 11′s own journey of discovery, America is on the verge of repeating its history: we stand at the cusp, along with other nations, of a new colonial era, the true wave of integration to follow that initial step the explorers took.

America’s government, and perhaps more importantly its companies, now have Moon settlement (and mining) within their grasp. The potential that Kennedy’s mandate—and Jefferson’s before him—spoke of now has the technology in place to be readily met, the same way that the railroads led to the true opening of the West.

The time is now; the lunar colonial era is our era, and our generation. In my mind, there’s no time to waste—the Louisiana Purchase had significant foresight, and perhaps there are decisions that could be made now, that could have similar impact on America’s role in developing this new frontier (a resource-rich swath of land being added to humanity that is nearly the size of Asia).

America was a leader in reaching the Moon, and now we can lead in developing the Moon. Mankind’s past colonial eras have done many wrongs, particularly America’s; so perhaps this is a time for us to correct our past, to take steps to lead by example in ensuring a smooth and peaceful rollout of humanity onto the Moon (mutually beneficial to everyone).

The moon is there for us; our grasp exceeds our imagination, today. Let’s see what we can do.

Augustine Panel Members Announced, Charter Signed; Public Meetings Set June 1, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Augustine Panel, NASA, Obama , 1 comment so far

 

The  Norm Augustine-led 90-day review panel for Constellation is now official, with the remaining panel members announced and the first meeting set.

Initiated by President Obama a few weeks ago, the panel was formed to see if more cost-effective alternatives to the current Constellation slate can be found. 

The charter (PDF) signed by interim adminstrator Chris Scolese today identifies four primary goals the panel will look at, as well as two secondary goals:

a) Expediting a new U.S. capability to support utilization of the International Space Station (ISS);
b) supporting missions to the Moon and other destinations beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO);
c) stimulating commercial space flight capability; and
d) fitting within the current budget profile for NASA exploration activities.
Secondary goals: Examine the amount of R+D and robotic support needed to make missions more effective/affordable; and explore opportunities for international cooperation.

So that’s the framework with which the panel will be working under, with the first public meeting set for Wednesday, June 17th from 9am-5pm at the Carnegie Institution for Science in DC (Map).

Here’s a link-a-riffic look at the members of the panel:

Keep an eye here for developments as the panel begins to meet…

It's Official: Obama Nominates Charles Bolden as NASA Administrator May 23, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : African-American History, Charles Bolden, NASA, Obama , add a comment

It’s official: President Obama has now nominated former astronaut Charles Bolden to be the first African-American Administator of NASA.

After quite the long saga, Sen. Bill Nelson‘s primary choice ended up as the nominee, with Obama advisor Lori Garver (head of Obama’s space transition team) selected as deputy administrator.

Here’s a video of Sen. Bill Nelson discussing the Bolden appointment:

President Obama Initiates 90-Day Review Panel For Constellation May 10, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Constellation, NASA, Norm Augustine, Obama , add a comment

Coinciding with his budget proposal last week, President Obama announced the creation of a 90-day review panel led by Norman Augustine  (pictured above) to look at NASA’s Constellation program, and any adjustments that could be made to its missions (for both cost and effectiveness).

Augustine (a former Lockheed-Martin President and CEO )  is a veteran of a number of space-related committees, including (as Space Politics‘ excellent post notes) a March 2004 hearing of the House Science Committee on the then-freshly-minted Vision for Space Exploration:

“[I]t would be a grave mistake to try to pursue a space program “on the cheap”. To do so is in my opinion an invitation to disaster. There is a tendency in any “can-do” organization to believe that it can operate with almost any budget that is made available. The fact is that trying to do so is a mistake—particularly when safety is a major consideration.”-Norman Augustine, at the 2004 Vision for Space Exploration hearing (as reported by Space Politics)

Augustine is the only member of the panel so far, with the rest to be named soon. NASA Watch says that “A better choice to lead this review could not have been made“–check out and chime in on their forum on who else should join him, and things you would say to his panel, given the opportunity.

“We are planning to spend billions of dollars on the human space flight program and it’s wise to be sure we’re spending that the way we should…New information becomes available all the time. And similarly, we have a new administration and it would probably be imprudent on their part not to examine this major of a program to be sure such a long term undertaking is still on a course that makes sense to them.” -Norman Augustine, during his 5/8/09 teleconference (as reported by CNET.com)

Sounds like this is a ‘friendly’ review, if you will, and something that a lot of good could come out of. It could also give Obama more time to name his NASA administrator (see my theory on why he’s taking so long.)

Keep an eye here for updates on the additional panelists as they’re announced, and any info that comes along from this :)

A Theory: Obama Waiting for Gov. Bill Richardson, to Nominate Him as NASA Administrator? May 4, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Bill Richardson, NASA, Obama , 1 comment so far

President Obama has gone a long time without naming a new NASA administrator, with many at NASA growing nervous and some (including Sen. Bill Nelson) puzzling over what the delay is for:

“There is some political center that is slow walking this, and I don’t know what it is, who it is or why.” -Sen. Bill Nelson,  as reported by Florida Today (via SpacePolitics.com)

As leading administator candidates have been dropping off the list left and right, few strong candidates seem to remain.

After Nelson’s “slow-walking” comment, I got to thinking about what events in the near future Obama could possibly be waiting for, and remembered a series of events and Obama comments from this past January…

Back in January, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was Obama’s choice for Commerce Secretary, but withdrew from consideration due to a “pay-to-play” investigation that Richardson underestimated the duration of (video).

At the time, Obama stated that he expects to have Richardson back at some point:

“Although we must move quickly to fill the void left by Gov. Richardson’s decision, I look forward to his future service to our country and in my administration.” -Barack Obama’s statement regarding Richardson’s withdrawal

As the video linked above of Richardson’s additional comments and other sources suggest, Richardson and Obama believe the investigation will eventually come out in Richardson’s favor, at which point Richardson would be clear for an appointment somewhere.

Richardson’s space credentials are strong, as are his political ones. With things not going so hot for Richardson as Governor of New Mexico since the withdrawal, he’s probably also eager to move on to something new. Things do appear to be progressing to a degree (April 29th article) in regards to the investigation.

Obama is mysteriously waiting  to nominate a NASA administrator…the investigation into Bill Richardson may be waning soon…and Obama stated he expects Richardson to be back , presumably once Richardson is cleared enough of wrongdoing to ease his acceptance by Congress—which, by the way, is now also effectively filibuster-proof anyhow (thanks to Sen. Arlen Specter’s recent defection).

Could Obama simply be waiting for Richardson’s storm to blow over, in order to nominate him as Administrator?

Obama's NASA Administrator List Thinning With Appointments March 22, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : African-American History, NASA, Obama , add a comment

The candidate list for the new NASA Administrator (previous being Mike Griffin, who has since begun working on starting GriffinSpace, LLC) under President Obama has been thinning as of late through various appointments.

Scott Gration, originally thought a leading contender, was recently posted as envoy to Sudan; and now today, other leading candidate Steve Isakowitz has been reappointed to his current role as the CFO of the Department of Energy.

This leaves two candidates, barring any dark horses: Lester L. Lyles, and Sen. Bill Nelson‘s favorite, Charles Bolden–a former astronaut and Deputy Administrator nominee.

To keep up on all the latest skinny on NASA’s internal goings-on, I highly recommend two great blogs that cover the subject well: Space Politics and NASA Watch :)