MAIN ARTICLE: NASA freezes space station supply contract.
New contracts put on hold.
Poll Results: If you missed yesterday's poll please take it now as it had a low turnout.
Star Trek: In the News. Star Trek's new leading man says: 'No nudity in Star Trek'. Scroll down to read the latest, click subscribe for news on space.
Yesterday's Comments: "Puzzled: Why would Obama Push Back against AIA? ... because the first organization with the initials "AIA" that leaped to mind was "the AMERICAN INSTITUTE of ARCHITECTS". Why the Hell would Obama be tangling up with them right off the bat - that came out of left field. DOH - "American Industries Association". As the late Gilda Radner aka Rose Rosana-Dana would say: "never mind!" - cmoreNC
Today's Poll: The poll "which of the three recommendations should have the highest priority?" lists three exploration goals, which do you feel should be on the top of the list.
NASA announced that the International Space Station will not be getting the supplies that the, 500 million dollar gamble, Commercial Orbital Transportation System or COTS was supposed to deliver. Earlier it was reported that (see "NASA contract threatens COTS plans?", 'Americans in Space', Jan 04, 2009) there may be some trouble with the awards NASA made earlier this month.
NASA awards to space station cargo haulers on hold
"CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – NASA is suspending contract awards to two firms selected to fly cargo to the International Space Station (ISS after a third contender formally protested the outcome of the competition, officials said on Thursday.
PlanetSpace, a Chicago-based partnership set up by three of the U.S. space agency's prime contractors -- Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing Co and Alliant Techsystems Inc -- filed its protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office on Wednesday contesting contracts awarded last month.
The contracts worth $3.5 billion went to start-up Space Exploration Technologies of Hawthorne, Calif. and Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp. They called for a total of 20 flights to the space station to deliver cargo after the space shuttles are retired in 2010.
The GAO declined immediate comment on the protest, other than to say that NASA would have 30 days to respond to the complaint and that it would issue a ruling by April 29."
The award of 3.5 billion dollars (see "NASA awards $3.5 billion for COTS - ISS resupply.", 'Americans in Space', Dec 23, 2008) was dived between SpaceX and Orbital.
THE MATCHUP:
Orbital Sciences - Taurus II - Cygnus - 237.5 million per flight.
"Taurus II rocket will be capable of delivering up to 2,300 kg of cargo to the ISS and will be able to return 1,200 kg of cargo from the ISS to Earth."
SpaceX - Falcon 9 - Dragon - 133.3 million per flight.
"The Dragon spacecraft is made up of a pressurized capsule and unpressurized trunk used for Earth to LEO transport of pressurized cargo, unpressurized cargo, and/or crew members. Initiated internally by SpaceX in 2005, Dragon will be utilized to fulfill our NASA COTS contract for demonstration of cargo re-supply of the ISS." ( 2500 Kg cargo )
The third launch proposal, NASA had signed a space act agreement with PlanetSpace, was not considered a viable alternative.
PlanetSpace teamed up with Lockheed Martin, ATK and Boeing and put forward the ISS Commercial Resupply Services or (CRS 'pdf 7 pages)
(image - PlanetSpace)
PAGE 2:
This is the second segment on know your prospace representative. Yesterday a list of members who voted for the COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCH AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2004. Here is another 14 who voted for commercial space. If you know any of these who have an above interest in commercial space please leave a comment.
FLORIDA:
F. Allen Boyd, Jr. (GovTrack.us page)
F. Allen Boyd, Jr. (official website)
Florida’s 2nd District
Corrine Brown (GovTrack.us page)
Corrine Brown (official website)
Florida’s 3rd District
Kendrick Meek (GovTrack.us page)
Kendrick Meek (official website)
Florida’s 17th District
GEORGIA:
Sanford Bishop, Jr. (GovTrack.us page)
Sanford Bishop, Jr. (official website)
Georgia’s 2nd District
James (Jim) Marshall (GovTrack.us page)
James (Jim) Marshall (official website)
Georgia’s 8th District
David Scott (GovTrack.us page)
David Scott (official website)
Georgia’s 13th District
HAWAII:
Neil Abercrombie (GovTrack.us page)
Neil Abercrombie (official website)
Hawaii’s 1st District
ILLINOIS:
Jesse Jackson, Jr. (GovTrack.us page)
Jesse Jackson, Jr. (official website)
Illinois’s 2nd District
INDIANA:
Peter Visclosky (GovTrack.us page)
Peter Visclosky (official website)
Indiana’s 1st District
LOUISIANA:
Rodney Alexander (GovTrack.us page)
Rodney Alexander (official website)
Louisiana’s 5th District
MARYLAND:
C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (GovTrack.us page)
C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (official website)
Maryland’s 2nd District
MINNESOTA:
Collin Peterson (GovTrack.us page)
Collin Peterson (official website)
Minnesota’s 7th District
MISSISSIPPI:
Bennie Thompson (GovTrack.us page)
Bennie Thompson (official website)
Mississippi’s 2nd District
MISSOURI:
William Clay, Jr. (GovTrack.us page)
William Clay, Jr. (official website)
Missouri’s 1st District
POLL RESULTS:
A very low turnout so not much discuss today. Seems when AIA is in the headline it guarantees a low turnout.
STAR TREK: In the News.
Pine: 'No nudity in Star Trek'
"Back in November, the actor, who will portray a young Captain Kirk in JJ Abrams new Star Trek movie, hinted that co-star Zoe Saldana removes her shirt in one saucy scene.
But now Pine is keen to rule out such an idea, insisting the film will be family friendly."
YESTERDAY'S COMMENTS:
"Hard, in our current environment, but as an element in rebuilding respect for science it could be very useful. Space science is always one of the most appealing representatives of all the sciences. Building Science" - subo03
"If Musk could get 12-24 launches a year out of a single vehicle, and you have 3 vehicles or so, thats not to bad a flight rate - not as high as I'd really like, but that'd be quite impressive.
Also, I shoudl offer up the following point - Docking technology is not the same as berthing technology - Docking tech probably isn't ready for true standardization (at least, thats what I understood from talking with Jon Goff, my co-author)" - Ferris Valyn
TODAY'S POLL:
This poll continues on the 12 recommendations covered a couple days ago, this recounts numbers 3, 4, and 5. Which one of these three should have the highest priority.
This seems like a classic tale in space. Utilize the station, as it is almost paid for, build two new, human crewed, rockets and explore past LEO or use robots. You decide:
Section 2: Space Exploration Keeps America on the Cutting Edge of Education, Discovery and Innovation.
U.S. Space Exploration Policy and Constellation Program.
(3) Recommendation:
"Both the U.S. Space Exploration Policy and the Constellation Program should be treated as national priorities and given the funding and support
needed to keep development on its current schedule and to minimize the impending gap in U.S. human spaceflight."
Maximum Utilization of International Space Station.
(4) Recommendation:
"The International Space Station should be fully utilized as a national laboratory:
Continue support by providing adequate funding to successfully operate and supply the orbiting laboratory as it enters into the utilization phase.
Encourage and enable all U.S. government agencies to utilize the space station’s capabilities in order to increase the return on our investment.
Continue to provide funding and support for the Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) designed to provide commercial resupply and, eventually, crew delivery to the space station."
NASA’s Science Programs.
(5) Recommendation:
"The NASA science program should receive the funding necessary to provide a wide suite of robotic missions and other research."
Other NASA Diaries on DKOS