"Once upon a time, a bunch of guys got together with a crazy idea - build rockets that go farther and faster than mankind had ever gone before. It's nice to know that America still builds rockets ..."

Letter From Former NASA Astronauts in Support of Commercial Crew Transport

"Dear Senator Mikulski: The 2011 budget request for NASA has generated much debate about the right course for America in space. You have raised the issue of safety as an indispensable component of any new plan for NASA, and we wish to express our appreciation for your leadership in ensuring that safety is at the center of this debate. Both as astronauts and as citizens who care passionately about the future of human spaceflight, we write today to communicate our views on this critical issue. Let us be clear: we believe that that the private sector, working in partnership with NASA, can safely develop and operate crewed space vehicles to low Earth orbit. We have reached this conclusion for a number of reasons:"

Partially Closed Meeting of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, OSTP

"Public Comments: It is the policy of the PCAST to accept written public comments of any length, and to accommodate oral public comments whenever possible. The PCAST expects that public statements presented at its meetings will not be repetitive of previously submitted oral or written statements. The public comment period for this meeting will take place on July 16, 2010 at a time specified in the meeting agenda posted on the PCAST Web site at http://whitehouse.gov/ostp/pcast. This public comment period is designed only for substantive commentary on PCAST's work, not for business marketing purposes. Oral Comments: To be considered for the public speaker list at the July meeting, interested parties should register to speak at http://whitehouse.gov/ostp/pcast, no later than 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, July 6, 2010."

Keith's 23 June note: Well folks, if you like the President's space policy - or hate it - here is a chance to let his Science and Technology advisors hear your thoughts. If you pass on the opportunity its your fault. OSTP has extended the invitation - don't pass on the opportunity. This event will be webcast.

Note circulating in the Suborbital research community: "As you may know, Sen. Nelson's NASA authorization markup kills the CRuSR line item. Yesterday Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico introduced an amendment that would bolster this small but high-profile program, designed to allow students, small companies, and researchers to fly experiments on-board new commercial suborbital space vehicles such as Virgin Galactic or XCOR Aerospace. The amendment would ensure that this program, known as Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research (CRuSR), would be fully funded at $15 million per year and report directly to NASA's Chief Technology Office to give it high-profile status. Please call your Senators to support the Udall Amendment, call Sen. Nelson's office to support it, and ask colleagues to do the same. The Senate NASA authorizing bill full committee vote is tomorrow (Thu 15 Jul)-- please take time today on this important matter!"

Commercial Space in Jeopardy, Call Your Senator TODAY, Space Frontier Foundation

"I urge American citizens interested in the affordable utilization and eventual settlement of space to open their eyes to the attack on NASA's new Commercial Crew Program by pork-hungry legislators. Contrary to the White House's request, the NASA Authorization Bill proposes cutting commercial space by $2.1 billion (up to 66%). Virginia's Senator Warner is ready to ride to the rescue with an amendment restoring full funding to the program, but he needs YOUR help to gain support from other Senators."

Keith's note: Its really somewhat counterproductive for the Space Frontier Foundation to put out a legislative alert and then insult every possible member of Congress that they seek to have people contact to help their cause i.e. calling them "donkeys" and "elephants". Also, Instead of portraying this as a fight against pork (and indicting all of Congress in so doing) perhaps the proponents should be focusing on the virtues of commercialization instead.

Senate's NASA "compromise" emerges. It undoes much of the President's space vision, Houston Chronicle (includes working draft of legislation)

"Sen. John Rockefeller, chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, has submitted the Senate version of the NASA budget this morning. It has been endorsed by Sen. Bill Nelson, a former NASA astronaut who many on the Hill look to for guidance on space issues, as well as Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison."

Senate bill rejects Obama's JSC plans, Houston Chronicle

"Obama requested $6 billion over five years for advanced technologies. The Senate bill requests less than $1 billion over three years."

Our views: Compromise space bill offers promise, problems for KSC, Brevard, Florida Today

"But the bill's catch -- and one that concerns us -- is that it would phase in $6 billion in funding for the commercial rocket program and other research and development projects that could be staged at KSC instead of providing it up front. That has the potential to slow the creation of new jobs and industries -- and diversification of the space industry -- our region needs. For instance, NASA could spend only $456 million on commercial rocket contracts next year with more allocated in later years, providing the companies meet safety and other requirements for flying astronauts."

Senate Committee's NASA Plan Cuts Moon Program, NY Times

"The committee acceded on the cancellation of the Ares I rocket, which is part of the return-to-the-moon program known as Constellation, but called on NASA to start development of a larger heavy-lift rocket in 2011, likely to be based on shuttle components, that could be ready for launching by the end of 2016. The administration had proposed waiting until as late as 2015 to start work on a heavy-lift rocket, which would be needed for human missions to asteroids and Mars."

A small step for bill - but a leap for JSC, Houston Chronicle

"Although the White House has not formally signaled its approval of the Senate plan, there may be enough carrots in the proposed legislation to win Obama's support. "We think this is a great start," said Lori Garver, NASA's deputy administrator. "It accomplishes the major shifts the president set out to have for the space program." An unnamed White House official not authorized to comment said "the bill appears to contain the critical elements necessary for achieving the president's mission for NASA."

Panel approves compromise plan to save space jobs and add shuttle mission, Reuters

"The NASA plan approved by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee supports President Obama's call to end the moon-bound Constellation program, the human space flight successor to the shuttle program. But the three-year NASA spending plan passed by the committee adds a $1 billion shuttle mission to the International Space Station for next summer or fall and leaves contracts, equipment and personnel in place in case other flights are needed."

Adoption of NASA compromise means continued leadership in space exploration (Rep. Frank Wolf), The Hill

"In a rare victory for bipartisanship and the legislative branch, Congress has rallied behind an important compromise plan to ensure continued American leadership in space. Six months after the release of the president's budget -- which effectively mothballed NASA's exploration program -- the Senate and House have sent a clear signal to the White House that such cuts are unacceptable."

Mayor Battle: New NASA Bill Is Good For Huntsville, WHNT

"I am very pleased with many provisions of this bill as it returns us to a balanced mix of commercial and government funded space travel and research and development for future systems. This bill is a breakthrough in moving us much closer to the positions established by Senator Shelby. This bill is good for the Nation, good for Alabama and good for Huntsville."

Senate committee orders a new course -- and new rocket -- for NASA, Orlando Sentinel

"However, Space Coast officials had bought into Obama's plan to spend $10.1 billion to develop capacity for commercial rockets to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, more robotic missions and technology research that the administration had said would produce a new rocket capable of flying humans to an asteroid by 2025. Brevard officials had hoped that Kennedy Space Center and surrounding businesses could compete for more commercial launches and robotic missions as well as chunks of the research money."

- NASA GRC Solicitation: Purchase of Billboard Space for Educational Information: billboard # 1204
- NASA GRC Solicitation: Purchase of Billboard Space for Educational Information: billboard #222
- NASA GRC Solicitation: Purchase of Billboard Space for Educational Information: Cleveland Hopkins Airport

"NASA/GRC has a requirement for the purchase of display units located at the "Arrival" and "Exit" walls at Cleveland Hopkins Airport, Cleveland, OH. These displays will be used for education and information purposes and will be available to us for a period of eight (8) weeks."

- It May Be Too Late for GRC to Advertise, earlier post
- Got Space?, earlier post

Keith's note: It is not that I don't think NASA should do more to present its value to the taxpayers (they should), but I find it rather curious that Congress is directing NASA to market itself to the American public - and that Congress is doing so after years of chastising NASA for trying to market itself to Congress - directly or indirectly - and even putting prohibitions on advertising, marketing, etc. into law. This is really confusing given that Congress is supposed to serve the the public in the first place. How better to do that than to say "hey, come over here and look at this". If GRC can get away with overt advertising (billboards are rather large after all) then why can't other NASA centers do this?

Committee Approves Hutchison Cosponsored Bill to Preserve America's Human Spaceflight Capabilities- Measure Balances Commercial Space Investment and Robust Mission for NASA

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

Featured Legislation - The NASA Authorization Act of 2010

"The bill would authorize NASA appropriations for FY 2011-2013 with the same top-line budget values as the President's request to Congress. The bill would support an overall growth in science, aeronautics, and space technology and define a long-term goal for human space flight to expand a permanent human presence beyond low-Earth orbit. Key objectives of this goal would include full utilization of the International Space Station (ISS), determining the ability of humans to live in space for extended periods of time, maximizing the role of space exploration and technology in current and future missions, advancing knowledge and inspiring young people into higher education, and building upon international partnerships."

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010: Section-by-Section

"TITLE II - POLICY, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT AND EXPLORATION

Sec. 201 - United States Human Space Flight Policy - The U.S. shall rely upon non-U.S. human space flight (HSF) capabilities only on a temporary basis under circumstances where no U.S. capability is available. Reaffirms policy of 2005 NASA reauthorization stating that the U.S. will maintain an uninterrupted HSF capability and operation in low-earth orbit (LEO) to maintain national security and leadership in exploration and utilization of space.

Sec. 202 - Goals and Objectives - The long-term goal of U.S. HSF efforts shall be to expand permanent human presence beyond LEO through establishment of a long-term LEO presence via the space station and commercial capabilities; to determine if humans can, in fact, live in an extended manner in space; lay foundation for sustainable economic activities in space, maximize role of HSF in advancing knowledge of the universe, national security and global competitive posture.

Sec. 203 - Assurance of Core Capabilities - Sense of Congress that the ISS, technology developments, Shuttle and follow-on transportation capabilities authorized under this act form the foundation for initial missions beyond LEO. Development of the follow-on transportation system will allow for the capability to restart and fly the Shuttle, if directed by Congress or the President, prior to completion of the final Shuttle mission. Authorizes refurbishment of manufactured external tank of the Shuttle designated as ET-94

Sec. 204 - Independent Study on Human Exploration of Space - Provides for an assessment by the National Academies of the President's plan for HSF and exploration."

CSF Lauds Senators Warner, Boxer, Tom Udall, and Brownback for Support of Commercial Spaceflight

"Following today's executive session of the Senate Commerce Committee, the President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, Bretton Alexander, stated, "Thanks to Senators Warner, Boxer, Udall, and Brownback, American industry won a victory today. But this legislation must be improved so that we create more sustainable American jobs, instead of exporting jobs to Russia. This compromise committee bill represents progress from the original draft, but there is still a long way to go to get to where the Augustine Committee said NASA needs to be."

Greater Houston Partnership Applauds bi-partisan compromise bill

"The Greater Houston Partnership today praised the bipartisan Senate authorization bill, a compromise effort marshaled by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison that would extend the life of the space shuttle program by a year; accelerate development of a heavy-lift launch vehicle; and preserve elements of the Constellation program."

Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Bill Nelson to Discuss Major Breakthrough on NASA Reauthorization Bill

"[Thursday], U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida), Chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Science and Space, will be joined by a number of their colleagues at a press conference on Thursday, July 15 at 11:45 a.m. EST in the Senate Radio and TV Gallery to discuss a major breakthrough on the NASA reauthorization bill. Tomorrow morning before the press conference, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will meet in an executive session to mark up the NASA reauthorization bill."

Senate committee votes today on compromise manned-space bill, Orlando Sentinel via Boston Herald

"And indeed, a senior administration official said the White House likely would not oppose the measure because it gives commercial rocket companies funding -- though less than what Obama had sought -- even as it speeds up design of a heavy-lift rocket that under Obama's timetable would not have flown until 2025. "While we are still in the process of reviewing the details of the draft, the bill appears to contain the critical elements necessary for achieving the president's vision for NASA and represents an important first step towards helping us achieve the key goals the president has laid out," said the aide, who was not authorized to speak on the record."

Bill Nelson's proposal unsettles Space Coast EDC, opinion, Florida Today

"A NASA Authorization Act that is likely to clear a U.S. Senate committee today could squander a rare opportunity for the Space Coast to transform its economy, local economic development officials said Wednesday. "The risk that this future may be bargained away for one more attuned to the needs of Alabama, Texas and Utah, in the name of political expediency, demands a response," leaders of the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast wrote in a letter to Sen. Bill Nelson."

Better course on space, opinion, Orlando Sentinel

"By most accounts, Mr. Obama's proposal has failed to take off in Congress. Advocates of prolonging the shuttle program don't like it. Neither do lawmakers who represent districts counting on money and jobs from Constellation. Its prospects for passage are dim. But if Congress doesn't agree on an alternative, current space policy would survive by default. That would mean another year of work on Constellation -- billions over budget and years behind schedule -- and no real effort to reorient NASA's course."

Keith's note: According to Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation staffer Jeff Bingham posting as "51DMascot" at NASASpaceflight.com this morning, when asked to compare Nelson's and Hutchison's separately proposed legislation:

"Very good question...take a look at them side-by-side with respect to the human spaceflight portions...remember, the Hutchison bill (S. 3068) was focused on just the Human Spaceflight portions of NASA Authorization; this is a full authorization bill, so includes all of NASA, from a policy perspective. At the time she introduced her bill, it was noted that it could reflect a potential consensus direction that could form the core of a full NASA authorization bill."

The markup happens today at 10:00 am EDT in room 253, Russell Senate Office Building. Nelson and Hutchison will be announcing their "major breakthrough" after that mark up.

NASA KSC Solicitation: LIFE-LIKE ROBOT

"NASA/KSC has a requirement for a 5'9" Life-Like Robot, brand-name Engineered Arts Limited, RoboThespian, or equal. The solicitation (14 pages) is attached and includes: terms and conditions of order, salient characteristics for life-like robot, and questions/answers to inquiries about the Request for Information (RFI) that was previously posted."

Keith's note: I will be the last person to say that NASA does not need to enhance the way that it interacts with the public. The cooler that interaction is, the more you are going to reach people in a memorable way. I have no doubt that RoboThespian is cool. But at a time when NASA is off developing a real (and much, much cooler) robot that will work in space (Robonaut) why not try and use something that resembles actual NASA robots to do education and public outreach? RoboThespian is manufactured overseas in the UK (Wales). Quite frankly, at a cost of between $54,000 to $119,000 wouldn't you think that KSC could find an American company that offers something that will fit the bill? Indeed, Disney World is an hour west of KSC in Orlando and they have lots of animatronic robots - indeed, its their specialty.

Maybe we could get RoboThespian and Robobaut to compete for the job ... like they do on Futurama ...

The Kepler Asteroseismic Investigation: Scientific goals and the first results

"So far data have been available from the first 7 month of the mission containing a total of 2937 targets observed at a 1-min. cadence for periods between 10 days and 7 months. The goals of the asteroseismic part of the Kepler project is to perform detailed studies of stellar interiors. The first results of the asteroseismic analysis are orders of magnitude better than seen before, and this bodes well for how the future analysis of Kepler data for many types of stars will impact our general understanding of stellar structure and evolution."

White House denies NASA remark on Muslim outreach, AP

"The White House is contradicting the NASA administrator's claim that President Barack Obama assigned him to reach out to Muslims on science matters. ... White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday that such activities are not among Bolden's assigned tasks. He said administration officials have spoken with NASA about the matter."

White House: No Muslim outreach for NASA, Washington Post

"Despite his sterling credentials as a former astronaut and military man, Bolden has been a bit of a headache for the White House: Some say he was nominated reluctantly for the post only after Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) (Bolden's former space shuttle crewmate) insisted that Obama appoint him. Since then, he cried at his first meeting with agency workers and has upset lawmakers and NASA veterans with the administration's new plans for space exploration."

Muslim Outreach Not the Job of NASA, White House Says, Fox News

"But [White House Press Secretaty] Gibbs on Monday appeared to deny that Bolden was asked to focus on Muslim outreach at all. Asked whether Bolden misspoke, Gibbs said: "I think so." He said he wasn't aware of Obama speaking to Bolden about his comments."

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, 7/12/2010 - NASA Excerpts

"Q I wanted to ask you, there are some comments that the NASA Administrator, Charles Bolden, made a couple weeks back that drew some interest, specifically from conservatives who are wondering why we he said that one of the charges that the President gave him when he got the job was that he had to focus on outreach to the Muslim world. Why is the NASA Administrator doing that?

MR. GIBBS: That's an excellent question, and I don't think -- that was not his task, and that's not the task of NASA."

Keith's update: It looks like Charlie Bolden did NOT get the direction to do outreach to Muslim countries from President Obama after all.

Charlie Bolden: Stealth Middle East Diplomat? (video) earlier post

"When I became the NASA Administrator - before I became the NASA Administrator - he charged me with three things: One was that he wanted me to re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, that he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with predominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering."

White House, NASA, Defend Comments About NASA Outreach to Muslim World Criticized by Conservatives, ABC, ABC

"In response to criticism, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said in a statement that "The President has always said that he wants NASA to engage with the world's best scientists and engineers as we work together to push the boundaries of exploration. Meeting that mandate requires NASA to partner with countries around the world like Russia and Japan, as well as collaboration with Israel and with many Muslim-majority countries. The space race began as a global competition, but, today, it is a global collaboration."

Keith's note: I cannot seem to find any statement on this topic at the White House website - or online at NASA.gov. Nor have I seen a confirmation from the White House that specifically confirms what Bolden said on Al Jazeera i.e. that "[President Obama] wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with predominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering."

Bolden was quite clear that there was specific direction from the President with regard to Muslim countries as one of the three things that President Obama charged him to do as NASA Administrator - with outreach to Muslim countries being "perhaps foremost" of the three.

Is Utah emerging as rival to KSC?, Orlando Sentinel

"Frank DiBello, the president of Space Florida, the state's aerospace development body, is not pleased. "We don't want to sacrifice Florida seed corn for an increased R&D role to be politically expedient and save jobs for Utah and other states," DiBello told a Brevard County jobs-development meeting Saturday. "The Senate bill kills outright the promise of a real R&D opportunity for KSC. It's not good for Florida. I don't know who Bill Nelson is listening to, but it's not his constituents," DiBello said."

Letter from Former Columbia Accident Investigation Board Members Regarding Crew Safety

"As former board members of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), we agree with your view that assuring crew safety is an essential element in the discussion of future U.S. crew transportation systems. As members of the CAIB, we have also noted with interest recent space policy discussions where our report has been cited. In particular, we have been somewhat surprised to learn that some people, both within and outside of the Congress, have interpreted the new White House strategy for space which gives a greater role to the commercial sector in providing crew transportation services to the International Space Station, as being not in line with the findings and recommendations of the CAIB report. Our view is that NASA's new direction can be a) just as safe, if not more safe, than government-controlled alternatives b) will achieve higher safety than that of the Space Shuttle, and c) is directly in line with the recommendations of the CAIB."

Commercial Spaceflight Federation Responds to Recent Misperceptions Related to U.S. Human Spaceflight

"As a strong supporter of a robust NASA human spaceflight program, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation is releasing the following statement to address topics related to human spaceflight, including commercial human spaceflight. Please see items below on the topics of capability, safety, and cost savings."

Cross-posted from the original on my NASA.gov blog

Under President Obama’s Open Government Initiative, NASA is exploring new ways to share with the public the exciting science we take part in every day. NASA has a long history of sharing its discoveries with the public, but figuring out how to present it in a way that is both easy to understand and simple to use frequently poses a challenge. By partnering with private industry, NASA has the opportunity to take advantage of existing technology innovations that can deliver science data in a format that is more publically consumable.

Yesterday, NASA and Microsoft unveiled the latest version of WorldWide Telescope, featuring the highest resolution and most complete map of Mars images ever released. Over 13,000 images from NASA’s HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, each with a resolution of about 100 times that of a 10 megapixel point-and-shoot camera, have been mapped onto a 3D globe of the Martian surface. They offer unparalleled views of spectacular surface features, including imagery of the Mars Phoenix Lander site and Olympus Mons – the highest peak in our solar system.

Soaring above Mars in WorldWide Telescope

Bringing all of these incredible images to user’s desktop computers is not an easy feat. With hundreds of terabytes of data available, the images must be made available “on demand” as users fly across the Martian surface, only loading terrain data when necessary. To accomplish this, the intelligent robotics group at Ames Research Center turned to NASA’s Nebula cloud computing platform. Nebula provides flexible and efficient science-class compute and storage services that easily scale to meet the needs of NASA scientists and researchers. Nebula was one of three Flagship Initiatives in NASA’s Open Government Plan and is one of the primary tools that is enabling NASA to more easily collaborate with private industry, academia and engage with the public in ways never before possible.

Nebula turned the 13,000 images from HiRISE into half a billion smaller images that can be served in real-time to a broadband connection. Creating this huge mosaic took two weeks of number crunching on 114 of Nebula’s central processing units. The project demonstrated the powerful capabilities of Nebula, which has been utilized in situations as diverse as hosting federal spending data on USAspending.gov to providing a mechanism for amateur astronomers across the globe to upload their images of the LCROSS impact on the lunar south pole.

Technology innovations like Nebula are integral in NASA’s efforts to partner with industry to create products and services that make NASA’s data more easily consumable to public audiences. As we move forward in creating an environment of even greater transparency and participation at NASA, we hope to deliver even more engaging experiences that provide the American public with better insight into the cosmos, planet earth, and the work going on at NASA.

Thanks to Gretchen Curtis for providing input on this post!

NASA Needs Integrated Strategy to Control Mission Costs, NRC

"NASA should develop a broad, integrated strategy to contain costs and maintain schedules as earth and space science missions are planned and designed, says a new report by the National Research Council. The report also calls on NASA, Congress, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to consistently use the same method to quantify and track costs."

NASA DFRC Solicitation: Two Different Interactive Robots With Accessories

"NASA/DFRC has a requirement for (quantity 2) Interactive Robot Characters with accessories. The specifications are: Two different interactive robot characters will be required for usage with the varied targeted audiences. One male "wise-looking" robot such will be suitable for all audiences whereby a female of somewhat ethnic background may add additional comfort to a more diverse audience or when wanting a female to speak at an all female event. Both robots will offer voice modifiers to raise or lower their pitch, remote controls, batteries, chargers, voice hearing transceivers, MP3 player, instruction booklet, and warranty. Since the male robot will be used more often, he will have moving arms. Additional clothing is needed that can be worn by either robot includes a flight suit, lab coat, and astronaut suit and also where robots can be suited in any children's clothing to adapt to seasonal changes or target audiences."

Keith's note: Yesterday we learned about KSC's interest in buying a Welsh robot (complete with accent) to greet visitors. Today we learn that DFRC wants to procure a more ethnically diverse collection of droids, cylons, bots, etc. to interact with the public - one model that is "wise" and another model that is "ethnic" and "female" - and both can also act like "children". Alas, despite the focus on diversity, the male robot still gets to do more work than the female robot.

Keith's note: According to Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation staffer Jeff Bingham posting as "51DMascot" at NASASpaceflight.com on 11 July:

"I assure you, the FY 2011 numbers will appear to be "underfunded" for Commercial crew, because activities in that year wiill be focused heavily on concept development, common technology development, human-rating requirements, review of procurement approaches and performance milestones and funding "gates' that must be accomplished with assurance before any authority to proceed o a procurement effort is initiated, and not before the end of FY 2011. But there will still be a stated commitment to the support and development of such capabilities--including requirements for a crew-rescue capability, meaning six-month on-orbital lifetime certification, etc. Those are the kinds of things that you might expect would constitute the closet thing to articulating the "walk before you run" approach for which there is large consensus in the Congress vis-a-vis commercial crew."