How Star Trek artists imagined the iPad... 23 years ago, Ars Technica

"To understand the thinking that led to the design of the Star Trek PADD, we spoke to some of the people involved in production of ST:TNG (as well as other Star Trek TV series and films), including Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda, and Doug Drexler. All three were involved in various aspects of production art for Star Trek properties, including graphic design, set design, prop design, visual effects, art direction, and more. We also discussed their impressions of the iPad and how eerily similar it is to their vision of 24th century technology, how science fiction often influences technology, and what they believe is the future of human-machine interaction."

NASA and Israel Space Agency Sign Statement of Intent for Future Cooperation

"During a meeting Tuesday at NASA Headquarters in Washington, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Israel Space Agency Director General Zvi Kaplan signed a joint statement of intent to expand the agencies' cooperation in civil space activities. The signing followed a meeting between Bolden, Kaplan and Professor Daniel Hershkowitz, Israel's minister of Science and Technology. It advanced discussions that began when Bolden visited Israel in January."

What's missing from the bold plans for human spaceflight, editorial, Washington Post

"But with the funding for NASA set around $19 billion and not likely to change, bold plans for humans in space are simply not feasible. Something must give. If the administration and Congress truly want human spaceflight, they need to fund it adequately. Piecemeal funding that dooms programs to failure is a waste of money -- especially when so many truly vital space functions, from the satellites that supply maps and communications to the telescopes that allow us to glimpse distant worlds, could benefit from such support."

NASA Seeks Data from Innovative Lunar Demonstrations

"NASA has issued a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to purchase specific data resulting from industry efforts to test and verify vehicle capabilities through demonstrations of small robotic landers. The purpose is to inform the development of future human and robotic lander vehicles.

The Innovative Lunar Demonstrations Data (ILDD) BAA will result in multiple small firm-fixed price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a total value up to $30.1 million through 2012. Multiple awards are possible with a minimum government purchase of $10,000 for each selected contractor. A minimum order will be funded using FY10 dollars. Orders above the minimum would be competed among the successful offerors dependent on future budget availability. The deadline for submitting proposals is Sept. 8."

Space Station EVA Unable To Remove Failed Ammonia Pump - More EVAs Ahead

"The next spacewalk to complete the removal of a failed ammonia pump module and installation and activation of a new pump module on the International Space Station's S1 Truss will take place no earlier than Wednesday. Expedition 24 Flight Engineers Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson completed the first spacewalk to remove and replace the pump module at 3:22 p.m. EDT Saturday. As the result of an ammonia leak in the final line that needed to be disconnected from the failed pump module, the day's tasks were only partially completed."

Mini-RF Has Just Completed its First Month of Polar Mapping

"The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's Mini-RF has just completed its first month of systematic polar mapping. These mosaics cover from 70° to the pole for both the north (top) and south (bottom) polar regions. The left-hand images show radar brightness whilst the right-hand color images also show the circular polarization ratio."

Telescope promises new look at universe -- if NASA can get it into space, Orlando Sentinel

"When it works, and if it works, the James Webb Space Telescope could revolutionize astronomy by peering so deep into space that scientists soon could study the dawn of time. But construction of NASA's next big telescope has been so hurt by delays and cost overruns that even its staunchest champion in Congress reached a breaking point. In a letter dated June 29, U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., all but ordered NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden to assemble a panel of outside experts to ensure the Webb project doesn't break its latest promise: a 2014 launch on a $5 billion budget. "We like the concept of the Webb, but I tell you, we're not in the overrun business," said Mikulski, who chairs the Senate subcommittee with oversight of NASA's budget."

Senate Approves Bill Championed by Senator Hutchison to Preserve America's Human Spaceflight Capabilities

"The Senate today approved bipartisan legislation championed by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Ranking Member on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, to safeguard America's human spaceflight capabilities while balancing commercial space investment with a robust mission for NASA. The bill is also supported by Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Senators Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), David Vitter (R-La.) and George LeMieux (R-Fla.)."

Bill challenges NASA to evolve, mind budget, Bill Nelson and Kay Bailey Hutchison, Orlando Sentinel

"Still, our legislation would reduce the time we would have to depend on Russia for access to the space station by extending the shuttle for another year. It would thus keep in place much of the talent at the Kennedy and Johnson space centers. Our legislation would push NASA's development of a new heavy-lift rocket forward, with the goal to fly by 2016. And it would make a significantly higher investment in commercial space ventures, specifically by accelerating development of both commercial cargo and crew carriers. Our congressional initiative also would keep the space station and its immense research opportunities going through at least 2020."

Keith's note: GSFC PAO has taken to bragging a bit. This little gem is posted at the bottom of some photo captions on their Flickr account: "NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe."

Is this accurate? I'm not exactly certain that it is. The words they use are not exactly defined i.e. "organization". Perhaps GSFC PAO could provide the statistics upon which they make this claim.

Desert RATS 2010: NASA and Challenger Center Hardware Interface Tests (photos)

"Two power interface tests were conducted today at NASA JSC between the GSW7000 solar/wind generator system and NASA's Habitat Development Unit (HDU) and Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV). The SEV and the HDU, along with the GSW7000 will all participate in the Desert RATS 2010 activities later this month and into September."

NASA Desert RATS 2010: Challenger Center Hardware Arrives at JSC (photos), earlier post

"[The NASA system that we reviewed for this audit] is a core system used to process, store, and distribute vital Agency intellectual property, such as [. . .], and crucial program and project information. [The reviewed system] is categorized as a "high-impact system" under Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Publication 199, "Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems," February 2004. As such, a compromise of security controls1 for a high-impact system could result in severe adverse impact, leading to degradation in or loss of NASA's mission capability, harm to individuals, or life-threatening injuries. In October 20[XX], NASA awarded a 4-year contract to [a contractor] for, among other things, operation of [the reviewed system]."

Full report

Keith's note: I can certainly understand redacting information that would compromise national security. But this report is often incomprehensible due to the huge number of redactions. Simply redacting the entire report would have made more sense. Plus, if there really was a concern about keeping the contractor/system from being identified, why give hints as to when the contract being discussed was awarded? If I really wanted to take the time I could go back and look at NASA press releases from the month of October between 2000 and 2009 and search back through one of more easily accessible websites for NASA contract awards as well.

NASA Moves Space Station Repair Spacewalk To Saturday

"The first of two spacewalks by NASA astronauts to replace a failed ammonia pump on the International Space Station has been moved to Saturday, Aug. 7. A second spacewalk is planned for Wednesday, Aug. 11, to complete the repairs. Teams of flight controllers, engineers, and spacewalk experts have made significant progress in preparing for the first spacewalk, but need an additional day to get ready. The additional time allows for final procedures to be sent late Thursday to the station, giving the crew a full day to review the plans developed by Mission Control. Managers also moved the second spacewalk to Wednesday to give the crew more time to rest and prepare."

Down to the Wire for Station Repair Spacewalks, CBS

"NASA astronauts and engineers are refining plans for two spacewalks by astronauts Douglas Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson to replace a large ammonia pump module that shut down Saturday, knocking out one of the International Space Station's two cooling loops. The astronauts hope to carry out the first spacewalk Friday morning, starting at 6:55 a.m. EDT, and a second excursion Monday to finish the job, one of the so-called "big 14" on a list of critical components that require spacewalk repair if problems crop up. NASA managers initially targeted Thursday for the first spacewalk and Sunday for the second, but decided late Monday they needed more time to review procedures."

International Space Station Repair Spacewalk Planned for Friday

"NASA has decided to wait until Friday to conduct a spacewalk to replace a failed ammonia pump module on the International Space Station. Mission managers, program managers, flight controllers, engineers, astronauts and spacewalk experts made the decision Monday evening after continuing to analyze and refine engineering requirements, and reviewing the results of an underwater practice session."

Keith's note: Word has it that Mark Geyer has decided to cut the Constellation Flight Test Office budget by 75%. This is the same group that recently completed the very successful Pad Abort 1 (PA-1) launch. The remaining budget will only be enough to mothball equipment and facilities. The majority of the team is located at DFRC but the program is managed at JSC.

Secretary Of Commerce Meets With NASA Workers, WFTV

"The U.S. Secretary of Commerce met with soon-to-be laid off employees Wednesday at the Kennedy Space Center before he had to report to President Obama. The meeting is about finding the best way to spend $40 million meant to help laid off shuttle employees. The money won't be enough to help all the workers who will lose their jobs. The Secretary of Commerce wouldn't say exactly how he is going to propose using the money, but he hinted it could be used as business incubators."

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke tours KSC labs, pledges support, Florida Today

"Locke suggested the money would likely strive to attract or expand technology and alternative energy businesses, promote research and partnerships with higher education institutions, and finance ideas proposed by local economic development leaders."

Keith's note: Word has it that Andrew Hunter is moving from ESMD to become the second Deputy CFO.

SpaceX Unveils Heavy-Lift Vehicle Plan, Aviation Week

"The U.S. government should lead development of a nuclear thermal propulsion system for a future Mars mission and leave new heavy-lift launchers to commercial entities, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) says. Unveiling conceptual plans for a family of Falcon X and XX future heavy-lift vehicles at last week's AIAA Joint Propulsion conference here, SpaceX McGregor rocket development facility director Tom Markusic said, "Mars is the ultimate goal of SpaceX."

Keith's note: These are two presentations from the meeting by Tom Markusic: "SpaceX Propulsion" and "SpaceX overview" (Broken links fixed)

Frank Sietzen, Jr: "As the final flights of the Space Shuttle draw near, already some of us are awash in nostalgia for the winged beast, not withstanding its ruinous cost. For nearly a majority of Americans now living, there has never been an American spacecraft other than the Shuttle. Generation after generation have been born and grown to adulthood with the Shuttle missions flying, in many respects, transparently in the background, part of routine life. For millions all over the world, for some who love and for many who hate America, the Space Shuttle and its astronaut crews flying daring missions have become symbols of the American nation-an iconic self-image of who Americans like to think they still are: adventurers, risk takers, explorers. In times of triumph as well as moments of darkness."

But it is more than memories and nostalgia: can we now see the Shuttle in its historical context? Can we properly evaluate the unique role it has placed in the U.S. space program? Can we begin to assess its true legacy? And, most importantly, how to apply "lessons learned" to the next generation of government-owned or privately operated orbital spacecraft.

Looking back across the nearly four decades since President Richard M. Nixon made establishment of the "Space Transportation System" a national goal in January, 1972, the Shuttle design, shaped by political and budget limitations, looks truly incredible. From a 12-foot cone weighing 10,000 pounds, America moved in a single leap to a reentry vehicle 122 feet in length and 78 feet tall weighing 200,000 pounds, capable of carrying 50,000 pounds of cargo to orbit and back.

The early Shuttle missions - satellite deployments, retrievals and repair - are missions that could never be approved in today's risk averse culture (and some of which were banned following the Challenger accident). The operations cost of the Shuttle system, devoid of space tugs and orbital maneuvering vehicles, soared along with the machine's flights. But on missions flying Spacelab modules and Spacehab units, the orbiter came close to achieving its storied promise as a space-going truck.

Until the Columbia accident, the administration of Sean O'Keefe was trying to assess how much longer to fly the Shuttles, and what level of upgrades to approve and fund (think SLEP I and II). It was conceivable that NASA might keep the Shuttles flying well past 2020. After Columbia, O'Keefe got Presidential approval to end the Shuttle era with "completion' of the ISS- a flexible designation. Bounded by the sacrosanct CAIB requirement of recertification much past 2010, the outlines of retirement were emerging as Discovery returned to flight five years ago this summer.

It is also clear that the series of commercial and government replacements for the entire Shuttle system is to be some form of capsule-and-booster system, the Sierra Nevada HL-20 notwithstanding. And with the political battle needed to add just one more flight to the existing manifest, the Space Shuttle era is ending in political disarray and uncertainty.

NASAWATCH posters, here's my essay questions this week:

- Was retirement of the Shuttle following ISS completion appropriate? If not why not?
- What technological lessons have we learned from 132 (135) Shuttle missions, the good and the bad?
- How will space operations of the next manned spacecraft incorporate the Shuttle experience?
- How do you personally assess the era of the Shuttle? And
- Give us some of your personal memories and experiences of the Shuttle in your life and career.

For me, I must admit I came of age during the Shuttle's time, so I have feelings of nostalgia as its era comes to a close. I was a public official sitting in the Louisiana Governor's office when Challenger went down. Just weeks before, I had participated in the latest Dial-A-Shuttle broadcast, then a program by the National Space Institute. I would eventually participate in about a dozen of those programs, adventures for an all-too willing Shuttlehugger (then) that led to many friendships that I still nurture today. The existence of the Shuttle program led me on a path, as a writer, that would take me from the bayou to the beltway and more opportunities than I had ever deserved to come my way. Had there been no Shuttle program, I might well be still there today, still pining to escape. But that's another story. So, for me, it's personal.

In the spring of 1984 NASA sent the prototype Space Shuttle, named OV-101 Enterprise to be the anchor space agency exhibit at the Louisiana World's Fair in New Orleans. The Shuttle was to make the final lap of the trip by barge to the fair site, on the Mississippi River in downtown New Orleans. But before the Shuttle was loaded onto the barge, it made a flyover of the city aboard the 747 carrier aircraft used to transport the flying Shuttles Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis from the west coast landing site at Edwards dry lake to the Florida launch site (the Shuttle Endeavour would be added to the fleet to replace the lost Challenger). It was a cloudless blue sky that greeted me and a handful of my fellow Amoco Production Company employees who had gathered on the roof of our office building to see the spectacle unfold.

Gliding silently across the cityscape came the ungainly pair. The 747's pilot made repeated sweeps over downtown New Orleans, so that the lunchtime crowd could see the craft, beautifully lit by the golden afternoon sun. Later, it rode that slower means of transport, the barge, for the last leg of the trip to the fair site. Just off the Mississippi River, NASA had built its exhibit, with the Enterprise as the main attraction.

Later, as a freelancer, I had an office of sorts on the grounds of the fair. As soon as I entered the fair site, I was transformed into a space writer. I followed the Astronaut Class of 1984 around when they came calling. I interviewed the STS-41C and D crews, including a dark eyed crewmember named Judy Resnik. I described the 41D pad abort for local TV sitting inside a NASA mockup of the Shuttle flight deck. I listened to Brian Duff's tales of Reagan watching Shuttle videos at Camp David. I interviewed, thanks to a friend's intervention, the entire Apollo 11 crew - in the time when they did few such interviews. In short, I had a blast. On weekends, I'd take the bus from my house in the Gentilly section of the city to the fair. Early in the mornings, just after the fair's doors opened, there were few tourists about. I had to pass the Enterprise to get lunch or an ice creme cone, and I got comfortable seeing the silent ship in every time of day, often cloaked by crowds but sometimes just standing alone. The year was filled with Shuttle missions - including the Challenger's race to save the Solar Max satellite and a flight that tested orbital refueling (only using water, not rocket fuel).

I went to KSC to see Discovery launch on 51G and in Houston flew the Shuttle simulator for an ascent run during 41G. Although used as a prototype for atmospheric testing, the Enterprise was the same size as, and looked much like its sister ships that would fly the flights to space and back. On one afternoon, I stopped to see a young boy and his father that stood ahead of me at the front of the Enterprise display. Looking up from the floor, the Shuttle looked enormous as it sat on its landing gear atop a small stand. The blond-headed boy exclaimed "Wow dad! Look how big it is!". "It really is big", his father replied, "much bigger than I thought". All of those who fought so hard in Congress, and the thousands of spacers nationwide that fought to make the Shuttle a reality would have understood the affect it had back then on the public. It was big, much bigger than anyone thought. The largest manned spacecraft ever brought to operational status, the Shuttle dwarfed the space capsules of the past and future. In its huge size lay both its achievements and its limitations.

The voyages of the Space Shuttle brought America of age in living and working in space. But it would take at least a generation before we knew if the lives of the American people were made better for having lived during the era of its flights.

Keith's 30 July note: In case you haven't noticed Charlie Bolden has been invisible for several weeks after the Muslim outrech media storm. No one in the media has interviewed him. He hasn't been quoted. He's just been, well, invisible. He surfaced yesterday at a stealth visit to GSFC. NASA only admitted this via Twitter a few minutes ago. No doubt he will disappear again. You can tell if he is arriving (or departing) stealthily if you hear this noise. This way he can avoid the media more easily.

Keith's 5 Aug note: Charlie Bolden emerges! Photo at a NAC meeting: "And here's the @NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden presenting award to NASA Advisory Council (NAC) Chair Ken Ford"

More Detail Sought On Commercial Crew Plan, Aviation Week

"Members of the panel's commercial space subcommittee expressed dissatisfaction with some of the information they have received from NASA managers on the agency's approach to what is known as commercial crew. Panel members complained that the agency has not been clear on just how it would use commercial vehicles to deliver astronauts to the ISS, which the panel found would make it difficult for industry to set up the kind of public-private partnerships NASA seeks. The NAC subcommittee wants a better strategy for spending the $6 billion requested for commercial crew transportation over the next five years. "We strongly feel that you need to go do this, because what we're hearing from you is all over the map," said Bret Alexander, who as chairman of the commercial space panel will ask the full NAC to endorse his subcommittee's position at the JPL meeting."

Kepler Science Status: Statement to Ames Center Director

"Recently there have been reports to the effect that Kepler has discovered many Earth-like planets. This is not the case. Analysis of the current Kepler data does not support the assertion that Kepler has found any Earth-like planets. Kepler is producing excellent results and is on a path to achieving all its mission requirements and actually determining the frequency of Earth-size planets, especially in habitable zones. We will announce our results when they become available and are confirmed."