Keith's note: Of course, NASA JSC PAO continues to totally ignore this activity - even though local residents driving by the center can hear loud noises and see lots of smoke. Why won't Mike Coats let people see these rocket tests through official channels - just like he promotes astronaut visits to City Hall and e-waste recycling events? Or are such mundane things more worthy of JSC PAO attention than actual hardware development and testing?

Project Morpheus (not linked from the JSC home page)

NASA Proposed Rule: Cross-Waiver of Liability Clauses

"NASA proposes to revise the NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) to consolidate and make changes to three currently-existing cross-waiver of liability clauses. The changes include consolidation of the three clauses into two clauses and retitleing the two clauses to more closely align the clauses with current mission programs including International Space Station (ISS) activities, and Science or Space Exploration activities unrelated to the ISS. The existing Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV) clause will be broadened to apply to contracts and subcontracts related to a launch of any kind other than one involving the International Space Station. The International Space Station (ISS) activities cross-waiver of liability clause is revised and its applicably broadened to include Space Shuttle activities related to the ISS. Accordingly, the Space Shuttle services clause will be deleted in its entirety with all Space Shuttle activity falling under one of the two remaining clauses."

SpaceShipTwo's First "Feathered" Flight Marks Latest Milestone for Virgin Galactic

"Early on Wednesday 4th May 2011, in the skies above Mojave Air and Spaceport CA, SpaceShipTwo, the world's first commercial spaceship, demonstrated its unique reentry 'feather' configuration for the first time. This test flight, the third in less than two weeks, marks another major milestone on the path to powered test flights and commercial operations. SpaceShipTwo (SS2), named VSS Enterprise, has now flown solo seven times since its public roll-out in December 2009 and since the completion of its ground and captive -carry test program."

China unveils its space station, Nature

"The International Space Station (ISS) is just one space-shuttle flight away from completion, but the construction boom in low-Earth orbit looks set to continue for at least another decade. Last week, China offered the most revealing glimpse yet of its plans to deploy its own station by 2020. The project seems to be overcoming delays and internal resistance and is emerging as a key part of the nation's fledgling human space-flight programme. At a press briefing in Beijing, officials with the China Manned Space Engineering Office even announced a contest to name the station, a public-relations gesture more characteristic of space programmes in the United States, Europe and Japan."

Holdren's Response to Ban on China Science Partnerships Draws GOP Ire

"The Obama Administration has carved out a loophole in the recent congressional ban on scientific interactions with China that would permit most activities between the two countries to continue. But that interpretation doesn't sit well with Republicans in the House of Representatives who drafted the language, one of whom said today that ignoring the ban could imperil funding for NASA or other science agencies."

How Lunar Orbiter Images Were Recorded 45 Years Ago

April 1967: "Fifty Years of Data in One Week: Recently, Oran W. Nicks, NASA's Director of Lunar and Planetary Programs, remarked: "one astronomer has said that more information has been obtained in the first seven days of the Lunar Orbiter I project than in the last 50 years of study of the Moon." Truly, the matchless cooperation and inspired creativity exhibited in the design and construction of Lunar Orbiter spacecraft and, supporting equipment by NASA, the scientific community, and American industry has helped us to take those longer-strides that President Kennedy called for in 1961 when he first spoke of the Apollo landing of a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the earth."

Space science: Along for the ride, Nature

"Three days after Discovery 's launch ... two planetary scientists are talking with a group of fellow researchers about what should come next. Sipping his drink, Daniel Durda laments that after half a century, only about 500 people have flown in space. Access to humanity's final frontier is still restricted to people employed by a handful of powerful governments and corporations, plus the occasional joyriding mega-millionaire. "I'd prefer for anyone to be able to go, for any reason they choose," says Durda, of the Boulder, Colorado, branch of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)."

- Video: First Suborbital Scientist Class Trains at NASTAR Center, earlier post
- Videos: Flying SpaceShipTwo in a Centrifuge, earlier post

Keith's note: I will be part of suborbital scientist training program at NASTAR next week. I hope to bring you more video and updates - including a personal look at what it is like to fly a SpaceShip Two profile in a centrifuge. We hope to live stream some of us riding a full 6G Virgin Galactic flight on Wednesday. Stay tuned.

NASA To Work Issue Over the Weekend and Targets Monday for Launch of Endeavour, SpaceRef

"It will be 24 hours from the scrub time before technicians can access Endeavour's aft cabin Load Control Assembly (LCA). The LCA, a switchbox, is now where engineers think the problem is. By dinner time Saturday managers feel they will be able to start troubleshooting the problem after they've gained access to the LCA. Managers will meet Saturday night and Sunday morning to discuss progress on the issue. If they are to launch on Monday NASA will have to make that call no later than early Sunday afternoon so that by around 3 pm EDT they can begin preparations for launch."

Space Shuttle Endeavour on Track for a 3:47 Launch

This morning at 6:22 p.m. EDT the loading of the space shuttle's external tank with 500,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen began and the topping off of the tank's propellants will continue until launch time. All systems onboard Endeavour are functioning normally. There is a 70 percent chance of favorable weather for launch. The primary weather concern is for low cloud ceilings and crosswinds at the Shuttle Landing Facility.

8:53 am EDT Update: There is an issue which the KSC team is working with the pressure in the fuel tank in the right OMS pod, but they believe it can be corrected. They are trying a crossfeed between the OMS tanks.

9:40 am EDT Update: KSC is reporting that the OMS pressure issue has been resolved. Both left & right tanks are balanced & below pressure limits.

10:25 am EDT Update: The President is scheduled to arrive at KSC at 2:00 pm today.

12:30 pm EDT Update: We have a 48 hour scrub due to the failure of both heaters for Auxiliary Power Unit 1. A press briefing will be held later this afternoon to discuss the issue.

1:00 pm EDT Update: We NOW have a 72 hour scrub. NASA believes it has a problem in one of the load control assembly boxes, most like a short in that box or in the electrical lines to that box but won't know for sure until they can access the area and do detailed troubleshooting. They have to get into the aft of the orbiter and they'll first put in a platform set but the location is such that it will take some time to get to the load control assembly.

1:05 pm EDT Update:According to James Dean of Florida Today, President Obama will still visit KSC today.

1:30 pm EDT Update:The next launch attempt will be no earlier than
Monday at 2:33 p.m. EDT.

NASA Scrubs Space Shuttle Endeavour Launch at Least 72 Hours

"During today's countdown, engineers detected a failure in one of two heater circuits associated with Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) 1. Heaters are required to keep the APUs' hydrazine from freezing on orbit. Attempts to activate the heater were not successful and engineers now believe the problem might be associated with a Load Control Assembly, which is a switchbox, located in the aft end of Endeavour, or an electrical short in the wires leading into or out of the switchbox."

The shuttle crew left for the pad just minutes before the launch was scrubbed.

And minutes later before they reached the pad the crew turned around and head back to the Operations and Checkout Building.

Space Shuttle Endeavour's Final Launch Inspires Hands-on Public Engagement

"When Space Shuttle Endeavour makes its final trip into space it will be under the watchful eye of a high altitude balloon built and flown by students and volunteers from across the U.S. This will be the second flight of a camera-equipped payload, the first having been successfully flown during in February 2011 when images were obtained of Space Shuttle Discovery's launch from a vantage point of over 100,000 feet. This balloon mission will be conducted by Quest for Stars, a non profit educational organization, in coordination with the Challenger Center for Space Science Education and the Coalition for Space Exploration."

NASA Commercial Crew Program Requirements Workshop

"Save the Date of May 24 and 25 for NASA's Commercial Crew Program Requirements Workshop. The workshop purpose is to introduce the Commercial Crew Program's requirement set and to discuss the key features of each of the documents. The workshop location will be near Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Details concerning the requirement set, workshop agenda/location, and registration information will be posted within 2 weeks."

Hosted Payload Alliance Shares Perspectives With Panel of U.S. Government Officials in First Organizational Meeting

"A major goal of the Hosted Payload Alliance is to serve as a bridge between government and private industry to foster an open dialogue between potential users and providers of hosted payload capabilities," said Don Thoma, chairman of the HPA Steering Committee. "The fact that we brought together such a large and diverse group of attendees for the first general meeting of the Alliance is a clear validation of the need for this sort of forum."

Keith's note: Of course, JSC PAO will never let you see this video if they can help it. That officially sanctioned roadblock not withstanding, this team deserves credit for going around JSC PAO anyways and showing people what they are doing - warts and all. Bravo guys. Keep at it.

As President Obama Marks Final Launch of Endeavour, Nation Looks to Commercial Space for the Future, Commercial Spaceflight Federation

"John Gedmark concluded, "We'll finally be able to realize the sci-fi future people have been dreaming about, one that inspired an entire generation of dreamers and innovators. People are again imagining a future like we saw in the landmark film '2001: A Space Odyssey', where private spacecraft offered frequent flights into space. This is going to be one of the most exciting stories of the 21st century, and we are just at the beginning of that story."

NASA Briefing With Commercial Crew Development Award Winners

"NASA will host a media briefing at 11 a.m. EDT Thursday, April 28, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to highlight the four companies selected for the second round of the agency's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev2) efforts."

- Blue Origin's Crew Transportation System, earlier post
- CCDev2 Selections Announced (Update), earlier post

Keith's note: NASA will host a media briefing at 11 a.m. EDT Thursday. The briefing will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed at: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv. Tweets from CSF can be found at @csf_spaceflight

Keith's note: A new SpaceX Commercial Crew video shows Dragon landing - on Mars.

Brush Fire at KSC Near Media Center, SpaceRef

A small brush fire started shortly before 1:00 pm near the Kennedy Space Center media center. At present KSC fire personnel have responded to the fire and a NASA PAO representative has said they expect to have it under control soon. As you can see by these pictures fire personnel have been stationed near the media center. Inside the media center a Lego demo was ongoing and activity is normal.

Keith's note: According to Marc Boucher this brush fire is clearly spreading and flames are visible from locations near the press site. Here's a new photo taken moments ago from the press site.
SpaceflightNow is streaming live video of the fire.

Not an everyday site at the KSC countdown clock.

Smoke billows past just east of the media center.

White House Threatens Science Blog Over Use of Logo, Electronic Frontier Foundation

"When Keith Cowing made an innocuous post about a meeting of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology on his long-running science policy blog, Space Ref, he didn't imagine that it would trigger a phone call from the White House. But that is exactly what happened, and the White House was not calling to congratulate him on his excellent science policy coverage. Cowing's offense? Including an image of the seal of the Executive Office of the President of the United States in his blog post. According to Cowing, White House staffer Rick Weiss objected to the seal's placement in proximity to an ad, which White House lawyers worried might be construed as an endorsement of the product."

White House bullies science blog over use of logo, TG Daily

"Cowing's use of a government logo isn't deceptive either. The seal is clearly used in relation with the news article and the ad is no closer on his blog than ads are on news websites and in most newspapers and magazines. In actuality, the seal of the Executive Office of the President of the United States is widely used all over the internet. Sometimes it's even used in close proximity to advertising. The threatening calls from the White House seem more like attempts to curb free speech than anything else. It's quite pathetic actually. It raises the question; doesn't the White House have better things to do than bully bloggers who are involved in free speech? Sadly we live in a world where the White House needs more training on how the First Amendment works."

White House Threatens Blog For Accurately Using White House Logo, Techdirt

"The latest involves the White House, who apparently got upset that blogger Keith Cowing (of SpaceRef.com -- a blog about science/space policy) included the White House logo in his post about a meeting of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. In response, the White House actually called Cowing and demanded he take down the logo."

Weißes Haus: Anruf nach Verwendung ihres Logos, gulli

"Blogger Keith Cowing staunte nicht schlecht, als er vor ein paar Tagen einen Mitarbeiter des Weißen Hauses am Telefon hatte. Der rief ihn nicht etwa an, um ihm für seinen Eintrag zu gratulieren. Er wurde vielmehr aufgefordert, das offizielle Siegel des Weißen Hauses aus seinem Blog zu entfernen. Die verwendete Grafik sei einer Anzeige gefährlich nahe, so die Erklärung der Rechtsabteilung."

It's a Unanimous "Go" for Endeavour

"The Space Shuttle Program Mission Management Team voted unanimously to proceed toward Endeavour's scheduled liftoff at 3:47 p.m. EDT Friday. Mike Moses, chair of the Prelaunch Mission Management team, reported that it was a very short meeting and everything is in great shape and ready to go."

NASA Invites 150 Lucky Twitter Followers To Endeavour Launch

"NASA invited 150 lucky people to a behind-the-scenes perspective from the press site at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final launch of space shuttle Endeavour on Friday, April 29. The launch is scheduled for 3:47 p.m. EDT."

NASA Solicitation: Flight and Payload Intergation Services for Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles

"This notice is issued by the NASA/DFRC to post a draft RFP via the internet, and solicit responses from interested parties. This document is for information and planning purposes and to allow industry the opportunity to verify reasonableness and feasibility of the requirement, as well as promote competition."