Photo: JAXA Astronaut Satoshi Furukawa Backlit Only By Earthshine
"Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, Expedition 29 flight engineer, holds a still camera while looking through a window in the Cupola of the International Space Station Space Station."
Keith's note: As you can see from this screen shot from the hearing's webcast (shown only on NASA TV) as John Holdren and Charlie Bolden were testifying, that virtually no one other than Rep. Rohrabacher, ranking member Rep. Carnahan, and their staffs even bothered to show up for this hearing. A few selected tweets:
- Rohrabacher: DOJ says that WH can do whatever it wants in terms of diplomacy. My colleagues and I will fight this overreach.
- Rep. Carnahan: I have a different view on how we can engage with China and push ahead with reforms.
- Rep. Wolf "NASA wants to work with the PLA who is killing people for their organs"
- Rep. Wolf is now showing posters and shouting.
- It is now clear why Rep. Wolf needed his own panel - he is taking up the time that 3 witnesses would normally take
- Rep. Wolf is showing more posters and shouting about China blocking UN missions
- Bolden: my predecessor travelled to China to talk about space cooperation while GW Bush was president. I travelled there in 2010.
- Rohrabacher: this came to you from DOJ? Holdren: DOJ's opinion represents the Administration's opinion on this matter & it is binding on me
- Holdren: WH asked DOJ lawyer to be present - that request not granted by the committee - Rohrabacher said he would have granted had he known
- Most absurd aspect of the China/OSTP/NASA hearing: Committee staff refused to allow a DOJ rep to explain its decision for WH to follow
Hearing: Efforts to Transfer America's Leading Edge Science to China
- Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (subcommittee chair) - statement
- Rep. Carnahan (ranking minority member) - No prepared statement
Panel I
- Rep. Frank Wolf - statement/press release
Panel II (new)
- Thomas Armstrong, Managing Associate General Counsel, GAO - statement
- John Holdren, OSTP Director - statement
- Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator - statement
Panel III (new)
- Rick Fisher, Senior Fellow, International Assessment and Strategy Center - statement
- Adam Segal, Ph. D., Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations - statement
Office of Science and Technology Policy--Bilateral Activities with China, October 11, 2011
"Section 1340 prohibits OSTP from engaging in bilateral activities with the government of the People's Republic of China or Chinese-owned companies unless specifically authorized. Because OSTP was prohibited from using appropriated funds to participate in the Innovation Dialogue and the S&ED, OSTP violated the Antideficiency Act."
Wolf Asks Justice Department to Hold White House Science Adviser Accountable for Breaking Law
"Rep. Frank Wolf, chairman of the House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations subcommittee, today asked the Justice Department to hold the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) accountable for breaking the law for leading science policy discussions with China."
Keith's earlier note: Originally Rep. Wolf, John Holdren, Charlie Bolden, and Thomas Armstrong were all on the same panel. Now Wolf is on his own panel - with Holdren, Bolden, and Armstrong on a separate panel from Wolf. Certainly sounds dysfunctional and potentially confrontational to me. While NASA TV will air the hearing, there is no mention of this hearing being carried live at C-SPAN television, C-SPAN radio, or at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs website. So much for openness and transparency on Rep. Wolf's part.
Live Tweeting at NASAWatch
NASA Announces Steven Squyres as New NASA Advisory Council Chairman
"NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has named Cornell University Astronomy Professor Steven W. Squyres, as chairman of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC), an assembly of experts from various fields that offer guidance and policy advice to the administrator of America's space agency.Squyres' scientific research focuses on the robotic exploration of planetary surfaces, the history of water on Mars, geophysics and tectonics of icy satellites, tectonics of Venus, and planetary gamma-ray and X-ray spectroscopy. His best known research includes the study of the history and distribution of water on Mars and of the possible existence and habitability of a liquid water ocean on Europa."
Keith's note: Video: Shenzhou-8 Rendezvous and Docking with Tiangong-1
Senate Passes Budget With Full Funding for James Webb Space Telescope
"The Senate today passed its Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) 2012 Appropriations Bill, which includes full funding for the embattled James Webb Space Telescope, the Hubble successor that will be run largely out of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STscI) in Baltimore."
NASA Acknowledges JWST Replan Will Delay Science Missions, Space News
"Saving the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) -- an infrared deep space observatory now expected to cost $8.8 billion -- means that some other NASA science missions slated for launch after 2015 will have to be delayed, the U.S. space agency acknowledged in a report delivered to Congress in late October. NASA, however, did not say in the report which missions might be delayed."
NASA Internal Memo: Goddard Libraries Transition to Electronic Services
"Beginning January 1, 2012, the NASA Goddard libraries at Greenbelt and Wallops will transition to an all-electronic activity. In response to changes in the research environment and to Center-driven resource priorities, we will no longer maintain a physical presence but will focus on supporting the research needs of the Goddard community electronically. ... Closing of the physical libraries is a strategic move to repurpose resources and refocus efforts toward enhanced electronic collections and new services vital for Goddard to continue to be productive and competitive in scientific research. "
Keith's note: So what does this mean with regard to the books and other printed items that already exist in the GSFC library i.e. "Closing of the physical libraries"? Is GSFC going to just get rid of everything? And if a book or journal is not in electronic format ... too bad. I am sure historians will just love this. And this is a "strategic move"?
Video: Hacking Kinect - NASA Applications?, NASAHackSpace
Think for a moment: "Remember all of the things in "Avatar", "Star Trek", and other SciFi films that were controlled by people waving their hands over sexy looking devices, wandering around holodecks, or using remotely controlled bodies. When Kinect was first released, Microsoft was against anyone hacking it. A similar thing happened when LEGO Mindstorms was released and hobbyists began to fiddle with the software. As was the case with LEGO, Microsoft has done a complete 180 and has overtly embraced the notion that people can take technology and do things that its originators never imagined. How could Kinect hacks change the way that NASA does things? What would it be like to use Kinect as a whole body interface with 360 degrees of movement while living in microgravity aboard the ISS? Could NASA control Robonaut this way?"
Recent NASAHackSpace Entries:
- NASA Nano-Satellite Launch Challenge
- Thinking Green at NASA
- Inventing the Tractor Beam
- PETMAN: Avatar - Styled Exoskeletons
Elon Musk Named Innovator of the Year Award in Technology by WSJ. Magazine
"WSJ. Magazine's first annual Innovator of the Year Awards honors the most creative, disruptive, and influential individuals in the world today. Musk was recognized for revolutionizing three of the biggest industries in the world -- automobiles, energy and space exploration -- simultaneously. Artist Tom Sachs, whose recent work is based on the imagery of space, presented the award to Musk."
Shooting for the Stars, Wall Street Journal
"Musk launched SpaceX in 2002 and built and designed his own engines from scratch. "I'm head engineer and chief designer as well as CEO, so I don't have to cave to some money guy," he says. He launched his rocket with a team of eight in the control room, instead of dozens. The result: He's offering to send a 10,000-pound payload to geosynchronous orbit for $60 million (compared to an industry standard many tens of millions higher).
Keith's note: Gee, I guess Wall Street Journal reporter Andy Pasztor was not on the selection committee for this award 😉
NASA to Announce New Agreement for Kennedy Facilities Monday
"The new partnership was developed following a Notice of Availability NASA issued in January. The notice was used to identify interest from industry for space processing and support facilities at Kennedy. These facilities have become available for space-related commercial use following the end of the Space Shuttle Program."
Boeing to sign lease for NASA's space shuttle hangar, Reuters
"The company has reached agreement with Space Florida, a state-backed agency working to expand space-related businesses in Florida, to lease Orbiter Processing Facility 3 at the center, Boeing spokeswoman Susan Wells said on Friday."
NASA Statement on Suspicious Terra Spacecraft Events
According to NASA PAO: "NASA experienced two suspicious events with the Terra spacecraft in the summer and fall of 2008. There was no manipulation of data, no commands successfully sent to the satellite, and no data captured. NASA notified the Department of Defense, which is responsible for investigating any attempted interference with satellite operations. While we cannot discuss additional details regarding the attempted interference, our satellite operations and associated systems and information are safe and secure. We are complying with the guidance in the National Space Policy to protect our critical space systems and have created a working group to establish and implement an agency-wide space protection program. NASA built Landsat-7 for the U.S. Geological Survey; all inquiries regarding Landsat-7 should be addressed there."
China key suspect in U.S. satellite hacks: commission, Reuters
"Larry Wortzel, one of the 12 commissioners, told Reuters on Friday. PLA is short for China's People's Liberation Army. Wortzel, a retired U.S. Army colonel and former military attache in China, cautioned that commissioners cannot be sure that the activity in question can be linked to China. But he said Beijing had conducted numerous tests on space warfare systems in 2007 and 2008. "I don't think it is a wild analytical leap to suggest that these hacks could have been part of that matrix of testing," Wortzel said in an email."
Obama readies to blast NASA, Bob Zubrin, Washington Times
"Word has leaked out that in its new budget, the Obama administration intends to terminate NASA's planetary exploration program."
NASA Planetary Science Not Being Killed, Says NASA Official, Universe Today
"This would all be horrible if true, but the director of NASA's Planetary Science division, Jim Green assured members of the NASA Advisory Council's Planetary Science subcommittee that it is not."
Planetary Science Lives, NASA Official Says, Space News
"Speaking at an Oct. 27 meeting of the NASA Advisory Council's Planetary Science subcommittee, Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science division, took issue with an opinion piece claiming the agency was gutting its robotic exploration program following a pair of upcoming missions."
Keith's note: OK Bob. Please show show us the budget documents wherein OMB intends to "terminate NASA's planetary exploration program." No one else seems to know about this. Maybe you can reveal hard proof to support your claim next week at your event with the Planetary Society.
NASA Launches Multi-Talented Earth-Observing Satellite
PCAST Meeting Featured Bolden (2011), earlier post
"Bolden also refered to NPOESS as "one of my nightmares" and that it is "also one of John Holdren's nightmares" and "we won't talk about that unless you really want to".
- Hearing on Polar Weather Satellites(2011), earlier post
- The NPOESS "Headache" Just Got Worse(2011), earlier post
- NPOESS Woes Continue (2009), earlier post
- Prepared Statements from Yesterday's NPOESS Hearing (2007), earlier post
- Another NPOESS Hearing (2006), earlier post
- More NPOESS Woes (2006), earlier post
- NPOESS Over Budget and Behind Schedule (2006), earlier post
- NPOESS Team Faces The Music (2005), earlier post
Keith's note: Obviously Paul Martin has said nothing. I did not expect that he would - certainly not in response to anything I did or did not do on NASAWatch. For what it is worth there is extreme concern at senior levels of the agency (as expressed to me) that this sad episode has resulted in a black eye for NASA when in fact it was the NASA OIG who was responsible for this mess. Alas, hundreds of stories appeared in newspapers and online - with the fault focused on "NASA" in the headlines and lead sentences.
Due to the fact that Inspector Generals are independent of the agency they "inspect" (this is actually a very good thing) NASA has near zero ability to affect the behavior of the IG's office - or publicly comment on it. Paul Martin is apparently quite comfortable with not explaining to taxpayers (he works for them too) why an elderly woman was roughed up and detained by half a dozen police officers with weapons and then released - with no charges filed after 5 months. That is his call to make. Alas, only a truly insensitive creep would think that it was O.K. not to at least express regret that this situation happened to a small, elderly woman the way that it did. But Martin is tone deaf and oblivious to the real world aspects of what his office does.
To those of you who questioned why I used NASA Watch the way I did to make this point - well its simple: this is a matter of conscience for me. I make no apologies. This is just plain wrong. I have done things like this before and I will most likely do so again.
- It's up to you Mr. Martin. Say something., earlier post
- NASA IG Refuses To Comment on Official Abuse of Elderly Woman, earlier post
- NASA IG Sends Cops in Flack Vests After 74 Year Old, 4'11" Grandmother, earlier post
In Memory: Planetary Geologist Ronald Greeley
"Ronald Greeley, a Regents' Professor of planetary geology at Arizona State University who has been involved in lunar and planetary studies since 1967 and has contributed significantly to our understanding of planetary bodies within our solar system, died Oct. 27, in Tempe. He was 72. Greeley, a pioneer in the planetary geology field, served as the director of the NASA-ASU Regional Planetary Image Facility and principal investigator of the Planetary Aeolian Laboratory at NASA-Ames Research Center."
Huntsville and Houston mayors ask Obama for quick action to save space jobs, Huntsville Times
"The mayors point out that both cities have already lost jobs because of the end of the shuttle program and cancellation of the Constellation space exploration projects. Meanwhile, a number of components of the SLS are built and await completion of the rockets and trips into space."
Budget fight rages over James Webb Space Telescope, Washington Post
"But if Congress provides less than the $530 million that NASA says the project needs next year, the schedule will slip further and costs will continue to rise. In 2006, NASA estimated that Webb would cost $2.4 billion and could launch in 2014. In 2008, the price tag rose to $5.1 billion. A congressionally mandated report released last year found that NASA had underestimated costs and mismanaged the project. This summer, NASA said it had already spent $3.5 billion on the project and needed a total of $8.7 billion to launch in 2018."
Fueling Stations vs. Monster Rocket, Dana Rohrabacher, Space News
"At the end of our July 12 House Science, Space, and Technology Committee hearing, "A Review of NASA's Space Launch System," I asked NASA Administrator Charles Bolden about the relative cost of using the technology of on-orbit propellant depots instead of relying on new large heavy-lift launch vehicles. He replied that he believed the studies had been done, and the fuel depot solution proved to be more expensive, and promised to get me the full answer. As of this writing, I am still waiting for that answer. It has been more than three months, and NASA has not provided any analysis, or any data at all, that shows why depots are not a good solution or why they are more expensive."
- Rohrabacher Demands Release of NASA's Recent On-Orbit Fuel Depot Analysis, earlier post - Update on NASA's Hidden Fuel Depot Studies - NASA Studies Show Cheaper Alternatives to SLS, earlier post
Keith's note: To reiterate and reinforce my post below with regard to the inability of NASA Inspector General Paul Martin to address the manner with which a 74 year old woman was roughed up by law enforcement officials participating in a NASA IG investigation. She has yet to be charged with any crime.
Since Paul Martin's staff have already been leaking investigation details to the media, this whole "no comment" charade is utterly moot. Martin now needs to say something publicly and take some responsibility. Not to do so reflects directly on the White House - they appointed him. It also besmirches the entire agency and everyone who works there.
To underscore that point, NASA Watch will lie dormant until Friday. It's up to you Mr. Martin. Say something.
Feds grab granny in moon rock sting (with video), CBS
"Davis recalled, "Someone is grabbing me from the back. Now they're pulling me out of the booth and they have a hold of me pretty darn good, and the force was like, unnecessary ... because I'm like 110 (pounds). I'm four-foot-eleven." Davis claims the agents bruised her arm and tailbone during the incident, but the emotional wounds are far worse. "I felt humiliated," Davis said. "I felt, this may not be proper to say, but I tell you, I felt raped. I really did."
Keith's note: This is all rather pathetic - still no public comment from the NASA Inspector General as to why this small, elderly woman was physically abused like this. Yet after many months she has yet to even be charged with anything. The standard OIG line is "no comment on an ongoing investigations". Yet clearly OIG staff was blabbing to the media before this story got hit the fan. Just whose best interests are being served here? I can't imagine that Charlie Bolden has nothing to say about this.
The NASA IG staff have already abrogated the "no comment" policy by virtue of the considerable detail with which news reports about this "ongoing case" have been sourced. NASA Inspector General Paul Martin should be personally embarrassed by this whole episode and should take the professional - and personal - responsibility to address the manner in which this elderly woman was treated. Not to do so borders on abject cowardice on Martin's part. What kind of person condones the treatment of a little old lady like this?
NASA IG Sends Cops in Flack Vests After 74 Year Old, 4'11" Grandmother, earlier post
NASA evacuates astronauts from deep-sea training
"NASA evacuated a crew of astronauts Wednesday from an underwater lab off the coast of Florida where they were training for a trip to an asteroid, due to the approach of Hurricane Rina. "Crew decompressed overnight and will return to surface shortly. Hurricane Rina just a little too close for comfort," the US space agency said in a message on the microblogging site Twitter. The NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) team climbed aboard support boats that were waiting at the surface and they were expected to be on dry land by 9:00 am (1300 GMT)."
Keith's 11:05 am EDT note: Nothing from NASA PAO on this. Just a picture on Twitter and this tweet "Crew has left Aquarius on their way to the awaiting support boats. On dry land soon." (earlier Tweet here)
I find it to be rather odd how NASA JSC PAO did not bother to tell anyone about this the way they tell people about everything else. Decompression for a return to the surface takes 17-18 hours - so they made this decision early yesterday afternoon - yet no one at JSC PAO said anything at the time. That is a deliberate decision to withhold information from the public - for no obvious reason.
If something similar happened on a shuttle mission or on the ISS, you know that NASA PAO would have been all over this - and not releasing that information would cause a firestorm in the media. Perhaps this is not as good of an analog of space travel as some would think since JSC PAO is either out of the loop or, as it seems, part of a deliberate plan to withhold critical information by NASA JSC managers. This is not a good sign of how missions of exploration should be conducted in the future.
NASA'S NEEMO Mission Ending Early Due To Hurricane Rina
"The six aquanauts of the NEEMO crew left the facility, where they lived for five days, and returned to the surface of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in Key Largo on Wednesday morning."
Keith's 12:35 pm EDT note: 22 or so hours after decompression began (and one would expect 24 or more hours after a decision was made to evacuate NEEMO) NASA JSC PAO finally gets around to issuing a press release.
