Canada’s Long Term Space Plan: Budget Cuts Ahead

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Canadian Space Agency Moves Forward with Executing Next Space Plan, SpaceRef Canada

"The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) will see it's budget peak this year at an all time high of $424.6 million then drop 34% over the following two years according to estimates released yesterday in their annual Report on Plans and Priorities. At the same the agency has completed an overhaul and restructuring of their Program Activity Architecture which in effect begins the execution of the agency's next Long Term Space Plan. While the CSA will in effect be executing the next Long Term Space Plan, the government has not seen fit to release an actual Long Term Space Plan document. This is somewhat surprising in the context that the very stakeholders who contributed to the plan want to see an official strategy document published."

California Space Authority Is Being Dissolved

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Space group disbands after failed Vandenberg project, Pacific Coast Business Times

"The California Space Authority, Inc., (CSA) has initiated the process of dissolving the non-profit corporation in accordance with state law and the by-laws of the organization," the group said in an e-mail statement to supporters. "The CSA board of directors voted unanimously on June 6, 2011, to begin the dissolution process and the members of CSA subsequently voted in favor of corporate dissolution. CSA will cease to operate effective today, June 10, 2011."

NASAology.com

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"Most NASA 'insiders' rely on NASAWatch.com for timely NASA news. Run by a former NASA engineer with an attitude, Keith Cowing gives readers an unofficial [interesting] perspective on space news. Sometimes shocking, always interesting. Take a look NASA Watch."

Please visit NASAology.com for more cartoons.

Suborbital Launch From Wallops Today (Update: Launch)

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Rocket Launch Completed From NASA Wallops

"The launch of a NASA Terrier-Improved Orion suborbital rocket was successfully conducted at 7:16 a.m. EDT today from NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The launch was to test several new rocket and spacecraft technologies."

Keith's 9 Jun note: NASA Wallops is trying to launch a Terrier-improved Orion suborbital sounding rocket from NASA's Launch Range at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia today. At liftoff time @NASA_Wallops Tweeted ... 7:09: "Terrier Armed" ... 7:11 "And we have no launch" ... 7:21: "We have a hang fire. The launch signal was sent, but nothing happened. Now we wait 30 minutes for safety before inspecting the craft." 7:22: "We have a launch window through 10 a.m. If everything checks out we may be able to try again."

There is a live webcast link here that was supposed to start at 6 am EDT but I cannot seem to get it to work. According to a WFF source: "A decision has been made to lower the launcher, take a look at the system and the decide if we should try again today."

It has been months since WFF PAO took the WFF Operations Schedule page offline. Here are the upcoming launches that WFF does not want to tell the public about courtesy of the latest issue of Wallop's "Inside the Gate":

June 9-11 -- 7-10:0 a.m. -- Terrier-Improved Orion
June 23-25 -- 6-9 a.m. -- Terrier Improved Orion
June 27-July 10 -- Evening -- Minotaur/ORS-1
July 5-23 -- Day -- 2 Terrier-Improved Orions/2 Black Brant Vs
July 21-23 -- Day -- Terrier-Improved Orion
August 3-5 -- Day -- Terrier-Improved Malemute

Kei9 June 9:15 am EDT update: A Wallops source reports: "launch scrubbed today - will try again tomorrow"

NASTAR Passes FAA Safety Audit

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NASTAR Center Completes First FAA Safety Approval Audit - Space Training Simulator Centrifuge

"Representatives from FAA AST, Washington, DC, conducted the audit. The audit consisted of a review of conformance to the terms of the Safety Approval as well as a review of the STS-400, including operating and safety procedures, operation and maintenance manuals, and inspection and maintenance documentation. Additionally, the use of the STS-400 in the NASTAR Center space training programs was reviewed and several training profiles were observed."

Soyuz TMA-02M Arrives at ISS

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New Expedition 28 Crew Members Arrive at International Space Station

"The Expedition 28 crew has expanded to six members with the arrival of Flight Engineers Mike Fossum, Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa. The new trio docked to the International Space Station in the Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft Thursday at 5:18 p.m. EDT. The new crew members entered the station's Rassvet module to begin their stay when the hatches were opened at 8:34 p.m."

Reaction to OIG Report on MSL

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Mars Mission May Be In Jeopardy, NPR

"NASA's inspector general issued a significant list Wednesday of items that need to be resolved before the next mission to Mars can be launched in November. Some say the challenges won't be resolved in time, causing the Mars team to miss their launch window. That's a problem because the next window for sending a craft to Mars isn't for two years -- and the cost of rejiggering the program to fit that window might be too high for NASA to stomach."

Mars rover faces contamination issues, Nature

"Furthermore, the report notes concerns with the way that the rover's plutonium-238 power supply has degraded in the two years since the rover's launch was delayed from 2009 to the current window, between October and December of this year."

Next Mars rover faces bumpy ride to launch, New Scientist

"Hundreds of unsolved problems could delay the launch of NASA's ambitious new Mars rover by two years and add more than $500 million to its budget, according to a report from the agency's inspector general. But NASA is downplaying the concerns, saying it is "very confident" that it will meet its intended launch window, which begins in November."

NASA Decides To Start Releasing More Dawn Imagery

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Keith's note: According to NASA HQ PAO a movie compilation of Dawn approach imagery for Vesta will be released on Monday. The original plan had been to release this video on Friday but the delay in the launch of Aquarius pushed this back until next week. A plan is also being assembled whereby JPL releases one image per week until Dawn arrives at Vesta. This is a great start - but given that Cassini [example] - and MER [example] teams post raw stuff - warts and all - almost the instant they get it, one would hope that JPL PAO could be internally consistent and do the same with Dawn imagery as they do for other missions. The more they release, the more the public will come to understand just how it is that NASA does what it does - and do so by looking over robotic shoulders as a new world comes into view for the very first time.

Why is JPL Sitting on Dawn Images? (Update: Still Waiting), earlier post

NASA OIG Report on Mars Science Laboratory Released

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NASA OIG: Final Report: NASA's Management of the Mars Science Laboratory Project

"Our analysis of the Project's current estimate to complete development indicates that even the $537 million figure may be too low. Our analysis is based on the earned value management system budget data and estimates of the additional work that will be needed to address unknowns. We estimate that $581 million may be required - $44 million more than management's latest estimate. Based on our calculations, unless managers request additional money the Project may have insufficient funds to complete all currently identified tasks prior to launch and may therefore be forced to reduce capabilities, delay the launch for 2 years, or cancel the mission."

Keith's note: A media teleconference is now getting underway with NASA PAO and SMD's Dave Lavery.. Replays of this conference will be available at 888-567-0444. Notes below.

SMD concurs with report and has begun to implement reccommendations. Lavery: Contamination issues with manufacturing have been dealt with and the process now meets requirements. We are fully on schedule to make a launch this Fall. Software developement will continue during cruise to Mars. The original intent was to have it done before launch but this approach has been done before with MER. There may be some software updates as well once the rover is on Mars and surface and vehicle conditions have been fully understood. There is no plan to descope any of the capabilities of MSL due to software issues. Final mission cost: $1.8 billion - add in operations and the total life cycle cost is $2.5 billion.

Editors note: it is important to note that software updates to spacecraft en route to - and after arrival at - destinations is a capability NASA has demonstrated for decades. One look at the regular updates to Voyager spacecraft bears testimony to this approach.

Lavery: If we were to miss this launch opportunity we would need a larger launch vehicle and have to redesign the interface with the launcher. We'd need to add costs for the team to stay engaged and replan the mission since we'd be landing at a time when dust levels would be higher.

Building Upon Kennedy’s Space Legacy – Half A Century Later

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An Open Letter to Neil Armstrong, Gene Cernan, and James Lovell, Dennis Wingo, SpaceRef

"Recently, a joint letter was penned by three legendary Apollo lunar astronauts berating the Obama Administration for "Grounding JFK's Space Legacy" and declaring that a coherent plan for maintaining America's leadership in space exploration is no longer apparent. While it may be that the current administration's plans are not perfect - and a new national debate on space appropriate - these plans stand head and shoulders over the plan that was the latter implementation of the Constellation program. Furthermore, these space veterans have been misinformed pertaining to the reasons for the demise and cancellation of the Constellation program."

Flat Budgets Ahead For NASA?

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NASA Spending Shift to Benefit Centers Focused on Science & Technology

"Euroconsult, the leading international consulting and analyst firm specializing in the space sector, along with the consulting firm Omnis, today announced the findings of a study today foreseeing a significant shift in NASA spending toward Earth science and R&D programs and away from legacy spaceflight activities. According to the report "NASA Spending Outlook: Trends to 2016," NASA's budget, which will remain flat at around $18.7 billion for the next five years, will also be characterized by significant shifts from space operations to technology development and science."

CIO: Changes Ahead at NASA IT

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NASA Internal Memo: Transformation of Agency Information Technology (IT) Services

"The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) is integrating and consolidating many IT services throughout the Agency. This new effort is called the IT Infrastructure Integration Program, or I3P. It will affect every employee who uses IT services such as: desktops, laptops, networks, etc.  The scope of I3P is broad, entailing consolidation, improved governance, and central management of IT services in the areas of service desk and ordering, Web services and technologies, enterprise business and management applications, integrated communications/network services, and end-user services.  Roll-out schedules will vary by each Center. Each Center's Chief Information Officer will send out more detailed information, but below you'll find a high-level summary of the new program."

Will Nano Technology Become the Next "Natural"?

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Marketers of consumer goods are always looking for the next big "hook." For example, with high-fructose corn syrup out of favor, we now see the spectacle of soft drink makers proudly proclaiming that their dentition-rotting products contain "real sugar." So what about nano technology? In the past co

Healthcare IT and "Meaningful Use"

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There are some things the current administration does very well, and other things they fall short on. Where on this vague spectrum does the CMS's concept of "meaningful use" fall? What's been your experience so far with the implementation of EHR in your organization? Is there hope of qualifying for

Apple's Newly Planned Headquarters is Pentagon-Big

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From Discovery News - Top Stories:

A building that looks like a spaceship will land in Cupertino in 2015. Ask yourself, is it good that a company headquarters is roughly the size of the Pentagon? Or should that be a red flag? I jest. Somewhat. But that's basically the size of Apple's

Electric Diwheel With Active Rotation Damping

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From Geeks are Sexy Technology News:

Students from the University of Adelaide's School of Mechanical Engineering have build a pretty cool human operated diwheel as a school project, and I must say, the thing looks REALLY fun to drive, even though it might make me a bit nauseated after a