Tag: manned space flight

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U.S. Returning to Human Space Flight

President Trump has reconstituted the National Space Council, a step towards fulfilling his emphasis on restoring America’s lead in space exploration and utilization, a hope he included in his inaugural address.

During his tenure in the Oval Office, Barack Obama prematurely ended the Space Shuttle program, then eliminated funding for developing the Constellation system, which had been scheduled to replace the Shuttle as America’s manned space effort.  This rendered the United States dependent on Russia for manned access to orbit. He changed NASA’s budgetary focus from human exploration to endeavors meant to bolster his climate change beliefs. The National Space Council was disbanded.

Writing for The Hill, Mark R. Whittington reported:

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In a dramatic reversal of the prior administration, Vice President Pence’s announcement this month of the restoration of the National Space Council, which he will chair, (the secretaries of Defense, Commerce, and State, will be members) outlined its role in coordinating the White House’s ambitious scientific, commercial and security goals beyond Earth. In his opening remarks to the restored Council, Pence noted “…in recent years, the clarity of our purpose and the confidence of our conviction that propelled the United States to be a vanguard of space exploration seems to have waned. America seems to have lost our edge in space — and those days are over… for too long our government’s commitment has failed to match our people’s spirit and meet our nation’s needs. The truth is that America entered this new millennium without a coherent policy, a coherent vision for outer space. And in the absence of American leadership, other nations have seized the opportunity to stake their claim in the infinite frontier. Rather than lead in space, too often, we have chosen to drift. And, as we learned 60 years ago, when we drift, we fall behind…

“…sending Americans to the moon was treated as a triumph to be remembered, but not repeated. Every passing year that the moon remained squarely in the rearview mirror further eroded our ability to return to the lunar domain and made it more likely that we would forget why we ever wanted to go in the first place. And now we find ourselves in a position where the United States has not sent an American astronaut beyond low-Earth orbit in 45 years. Across the board, our space program has suffered from apathy and neglect. “When the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, we had four years to find an assured way for our astronauts to get into space. In the meantime, we agreed to pay Russia to hitch a ride on their rockets to the International Space Station. But four years turned into five, and five years turned into six, and here we are, in 2017, still relying on the Russians to ferry our astronauts to the International Space Station — at a cost-per-seat that now stands at more than $76 million…rather than competing with other nations to create the best space technology, the previous administration chose capitulation. According to the U.S. intelligence community, Russia and China are pursuing a full range of anti-satellite technology to reduce U.S. military effectiveness, and they are increasingly considering attacks against satellite systems as part of their future warfare doctrine.”

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Trump Restores and Expands NASA’s Key Missions

President Trump’s signing of the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017, the first comprehensive NASA authorization passed by Congress in more than six years, indicates again the White House emphasis on manned space flight, including a return to the moon and human exploration of Mars by 2033, and deep space exploration by robotics as well.  It confirms the President’s desire to reduce the Obama-era use of NASA for activities involving climate change issues. (See the New York Analysis of Policy and Government’s recent examinations of President Trump’s space proposals)

Under the measure, NASA is slated to receive $19.5 billion, a $.2 billion increase. Spending on the space agency only represents 0.5% of the federal budget.

At the signing, Trump stated “With this legislation, we support NASA’s scientists, engineers, astronauts and their pursuit of discovery “America’s space program has been a blessing to our people and to the entire world. Almost half a century ago, our brave astronauts first planted the American flag on the moon. That was a big moment in our history.  Now this nation is ready to be the first in space once again. Today we’re taking the initial steps toward a bold and brave new future for American space flight……It continues support for the commercial crew program, which will carry American astronauts into space from American soil once again — been a long time. It supports NASA’s deep space exploration, including the Space Launch System and the ORION spacecraft.  It advances space science by maintaining a balanced set of mission and activities to explore our solar system and the entire universe.  And it ensures that through NASA’s astronauts and aeronautics research, the United States will remain a total leader in aviation.”

The Act was passed unanimously by Congress. According to the White House, “It authorizes the development and execution of a long-range plan for deep space human exploration; invests in robust science, technology and aeronautics portfolios; and endorses the Agency’s successful efforts to nurture a new commercial market that will boost our economy and create more jobs. Additionally, it guarantees vastly improved health care for the heroes who risk their lives in the exploration of space.”

Demonstrating bipartisan support for the measure (and also for an important state industry) Senator Nelson (D-Florida): stated:  “It puts us on the dual track.  We have the commercial companies going to and from the International Space Station, and we have NASA going out and exploring the heavens.  And we’re going to Mars.”

NASA acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot stated “We would like to thank President Trump for his support of the agency in signing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017. We also want to express our gratitude to a bipartisan Congress for its thoughtful consideration of the agency’s path forward. We are grateful for the longstanding support and trust of the American people, which enables our nation’s space, aeronautics, science, and technology development programs to thrive. Our workforce has proven time and again that it can meet any challenge, and the continuing support for NASA ensures our nation’s space program will remain the world’s leader in pioneering new frontiers in exploration, innovation, and scientific achievement.”

Business Insider outlined several key aspects of the measure, including:

  • An uncrewed launch of SLS and Orion (key elements in returning Americans to space) by next year ,
  • A crewed mission to the moon in 2021, and further trips to the moon and Mars after that date;
  • A road map to send people to Mars by 2033;
  • Expanding permanent human presence beyond low-Earth orbit;
  • Leadership in advanced avionics on Earth;
  • Sending a rover to Mars in 2020,
  • An orbiting satellite to Europa;
  • Hunting for exoplanets; and
  • Researching the use of nuclear-fueled spacecraft; and finding killer asteroids.

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The measure also mandates that NASA “search for life’s origin, evolution, distribution, and future in the universe.”

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NASA’s Course Set to Change, Part 2

The New York Analysis of Policy and Government continues its review of NASA’s role in the Trump Administration.

One mission apparently advocated by the Trump Administration is a relatively quick return to the Moon. According to the Wall Street Journal the Trump White House will seek to expand public-private partnerships for NASA, including, according to White House documents, “a rapid and affordable” return to the lunar surface.

A 2008 NASA report, developed before President Obama entered the White House and changed the agency’s focus to climate change, explained the importance of a return to the moon:

“President Bush’s 2004 proposal to return to the Moon, this time ‘to stay’ with a lunar outpost, has stimulated vigorous debate… Neil Armstrong and his colleagues demonstrated that humans on the spot provide instant interpretation of their environment, guided by color, 3D, high resolution human vision that is only now being approached by robotic systems. Even encumbered by space suits, they could instantly recognize and collect invaluable samples such as the ‘Genesis Rock’ of Apollo 15, an anorthosite that has proven essential to understanding the geologic history of the Moon. When the Apollo 17 rover lost a fender – which might have terminated a robotic rover’s mission – astronauts Cernan and Schmitt managed a field repair and kept driving. All the Apollo astronauts emplaced complex geophysical instrument stations, most operating for years until budget cuts forced them to be turned off…what could such an outpost accomplish? First, it could continue the exploration of the Moon, whose surface area is roughly that of North and South America combined. Six ‘landings’ in North America would have given us only a superficial knowledge of this continent, and essentially none about its natural resources such as minerals, oil, water power, and soil. The Moon is a whole planet, so to speak, whose value is only beginning to be appreciated.

“The Moon is not only an interesting object of study, but a valuable base for study of the entire Universe, by providing a site for astronomy at all wavelengths from gamma rays to extremely long radio waves. This statement would have been unquestioned 30 years ago. But the succeeding decades of spectacular discoveries by space-based instruments, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, have led many astronomers such as Nobel Laureate John Mather to argue that the Moon can be by-passed, and that instruments in deep space at relatively stable places called Lagrangian points are more effective…

It also tastes good like http://greyandgrey.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/PEF-January-2009.pdf purchase generic levitra other soft ED drugs. Utilizing free viagra without prescription permitted a huge number of ED products on this site such as viagra, viagra no prescription just to name a few, to treat their erection problem. Valerian plants roots along with rhizomes have natural sildenafil pfizer compounds that give valerian its therapeutic premises. Sex and High Blood Pressure High blood pressure condition can degrade our life qualities up to great extent sildenafil india therefore this should be treated effectively using modern medicines. “The Moon may offer mineral resources… of great value on Earth. Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt, working with the Fusion Technology Institute of the University of Wisconsin, has shown that helium 3, an isotope extremely rare on Earth, exists in quantity in the lunar soil, implanted by the solar wind. If – a very big if – thermonuclear fusion for energy is produced on Earth, helium 3 would be extremely valuable for fusion reactors because it does not make the reactor radioactive. A more practicable use of helium 3, being tested at the University of Wisconsin, is the production of short-lived medical isotopes. Such isotopes must now be manufactured in cyclotrons and quickly delivered before they decay. But Dr. Schmitt suggests that small helium 3 reactors could produce such isotopes at the hospital. In any event, research on the use of helium 3 would clearly benefit if large quantities could be exported to the Earth.

“Returning to the most important reason for a new lunar program, dispersal of the human species, the most promising site for such dispersal is obviously Mars, now known to have an atmosphere and water. Mars itself is obviously a fascinating object for exploration. But it may even now be marginally habitable for astronaut visits, and in the very long view, might be “terraformed,” or engineered to have a more Earth-like atmosphere and climate. This was described in Kim Stanley Robinson’s trilogy, Red Mars and its successors Green and Blue Mars. A second Earth, so to speak, would greatly improve our chances of surviving cosmic catastrophes.

“Where does the Moon fit into this possibility? First, it would continue to give us experience with short interplanetary trips, which is what the Apollo missions were. These would demonstrably be relatively short and safe compared to Mars voyages, but would provide invaluable test flights, so to speak. More important, shelters, vehicles, and other equipment built for the Moon could be over-designed, and with modification could be used on Mars after being demonstrated at a lunar outpost…

“… put the arguments for a return to the Moon, and a lunar outpost, in the most general terms: the Moon is essentially a whole planet, one that has so far been barely touched. But this new planet is only a few days travel away and we have already camped on it. To turn our backs on the Moon would be equivalent to European exploration stopping after Columbus’s few landings, or China’s destruction of its giant ships to concentrate on domestic problems in the 15th century.”

The Report concludes tomorrow.

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How Trump Will Change NASA

The federal agency that may experience the most significant refocusing under the Trump Administration is also one the smallest: NASA.

With a budget comprising just one-half of one percent of Washington spending, the lowest level since 1960, NASA was repurposed by Mr. Obama to focus on Earth science in support of his climate change agenda.

While robotic interplanetary probes, largely planned before the outgoing President’s arrival, were allowed to survive, the manned space effort was virtually eliminated.

Mr. Obama prematurely cancelled the Space Shuttle program, then defunded what had been planned to be its immediate manned spacecraft replacement, the Constellation system. Another follow-up, The Orion, progressed at a slow pace, with no prospect of placing U.S. astronauts into orbit until well into the next decade.  NASA currently has to pay exorbitant amounts to rival Russia to put American personnel in space.

Spaceflight Insider  noted that candidate Obama claimed he was one of the “agency’s  biggest fans and even co-opted the space agency’s crewed program-of-record at that time (Constellation) when he used the phrase, ‘Moon, Mars and beyond.’ Upon election, he worked to cancel that very program. In fact, had it not been for the actions of Congress, he would probably have set NASA’s efforts to send crews beyond the orbit of Earth back decades.

In a review, The Council on Foreign Relations  (CFR) reported that “Space policy experts agree that NASA faces short- and long-term challenges, including new budget pressures, aging infrastructure, the rise of competing spacefaring nations, and the lack of a strong national vision for human spaceflight. An independent assessment conducted by the National Research Council in 2012 questioned plans for not pursuing a return to the moon: ‘[The] lack of national and international consensus … undermines NASA’s ability to establish a comprehensive, consistent strategic direction.’ The report also noted that a crewed mission to Mars ‘has never received sufficient funding to advance beyond the rhetoric stage.”

The mothballing of American manned spaceflight was seen as a betrayal.  During his first campaign for office, Mr. Obama, in a speech to NASA workers, promised that he would support placing U.S. personnel in space on American craft .  Following the election, he moved to eliminate the manned space program.

Restoring the space agency to its glory days, along with the economic, scientific and prestige benefits that engenders, fit precisely with President-elect Trump’s “Make America Great Again” emphasis. In comments reported by the Planetary Society  he stated:

“I will free NASA from the restriction of serving primarily as a logistics agency for low-Earth orbit activity—big deal. Instead, we will refocus its mission on space exploration. Under a Trump Administration, Florida and America will lead the way into the stars…A cornerstone of my policy is we will substantially expand public private partnerships to maximize the amount of investment and funding that is available for space exploration and development. This means launching and operating major space assets, right here, that employ thousands and spur innovation and fuel economic growth.”
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Space News  provided a summary (excerpted below) of the Trump Administration’s space plans:

  1. A “commitment to global space leadership”
  2. A reinstitution of the National Space Council, headed by the vice president, to oversee all government space efforts to seek efficiencies and eliminate redundancies.
  3. Human exploration of the solar system by the end of the century
  4. Shifting NASA budgets to “deep space achievements” rather than Earth science and climate research.
  5. Development of small satellite technologies that in particular can provide resiliency for the military, and also develop satellite servicing technologies.
  6. Seek world leadership in hypersonics technology, including for military applications.
  7. Hand over access to and operations in low Earth orbit to the commercial sector.
  8. Start discussions about including more “private and public partners” in operations and financing of the International Space Station, including extending the station’s lifetime.
  9. Require that all federal agencies develop plans for how they would use “space assets and space developments” to carry out their missions.

The growing role of the private sector, which began both as necessity and opportunity during the Obama Administration, would continue.

The Washington Post and others have reported that Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Oklahoma) a leading space exploration supporter and former Navy pilot is being considered to lead NASA.

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NASA Seeks to Protect Earth from Asteroid Impacts

NASA is taking steps to deal with the ultimate global disaster, a holocaust that could occur anytime from a few weeks to a few thousand years from now, but which has a significant probability of happening and that, in the distant past, already caused the mass extinction of planetary life, ending the reign of the dinosaurs.

The U.S. space agency is implementing an Asteroid Grand Challenge, designed to accelerate NASA’s efforts to locate potentially hazardous asteroids through non-traditional collaborations and partnerships. Part of the program will be to explore ways in which potentially hazardous asteroids could be deflected away from Earth.

NASA’s JPL facility  has announced that it “has formalized its ongoing program for detecting and tracking near-Earth objects (NEOs) as the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO). … [It] will also take a leading role in coordinating interagency and intergovernmental efforts in response to any potential impact threats.”

NASA reports that more than 13,500 near-Earth objects of all sizes have been discovered to date — more than 95 percent of them since NASA-funded surveys began in 1998. About 1,500 NEOs are now detected each year.

According to John Grunesfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, “Asteroid detection, tracking and defense of our planet is something that NASA, its interagency partners, and the global community take very seriously. While there are no known impact threats at this time, the 2013 Chelyabinsk super-fireball and the recent ‘Halloween Asteroid’ close approach remind us of why we need to remain vigilant and keep our eyes to the sky. NASA has been engaged in worldwide planning for planetary defense for some time, and this office will improve and expand on those efforts, working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal agencies and departments.

“With more than 90 percent of NEOs larger than 3,000 feet (1 kilometer) already discovered, NASA is now focused on finding objects that are slightly bigger than a football field — 450 feet (140 meters) or larger. In 2005, NASA was tasked with finding 90 percent of this class of NEOs by the end of 2020. NASA-funded surveys have detected an estimated 25 percent of these mid-sized but still potentially hazardous objects to date.

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“Even if intervention is not possible, NASA would provide expert input to FEMA about impact timing, location and effects to inform emergency response operations. In turn, FEMA would handle the preparations and response planning related to the consequences of atmospheric entry or impact to U.S. communities.”

A space agency “asteroid initiative” study concluded that the “Asteroid Grand Challenge (AGC)… is seeking the best ideas to find all asteroid threats to human populations, and to accelerate the work that NASA is already doing for planetary defense. The Asteroid Initiative will leverage and integrate NASA’s activities in human exploration, space technology, and space science to advance the technologies and capabilities needed for future human and robotic exploration, to enable the first human mission to interact with asteroid material, and to accelerate efforts to detect, track, characterize, and mitigate the threat of potentially hazardous asteroids.”

Similar to spectacular science fiction films about asteroid threats, a NASA attempt to deflect a menacing object would involve a human crew. The AGC study outlined “concepts for extra-vehicular activity (EVA) systems, such as space suits, tools, and translation aids that will allow astronauts to explore the surface of a captured asteroid, prospect for resources, and collect samples.”

Unfortunately, NASA’s plans for manned space flights continue to be pushed further into the future.  President Obama prematurely ended the Space Shuttle program, then cancelled its successor, the Constellation.  The newest version, the Orion spacecraft, essentially an updated and enlarged Apollo-era vehicle, will not take astronauts into space until 2023.

NASA’s limited budget has concentrated attention on the White House’s environmental issues rather than the space agency’s original human exploratory mission.

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America’s vanishing manned space program

The debate over America’s human presence in space has begun.

Since the start of the Obama Administration, NASA’s emphasis has altered dramatically, as financial support for exploration and space operations, including human flight, has been slashed by 7.9%. Meanwhile, earth science, including both legitimate research as well as questionable endeavors primarily designed to bolster the President’s climate change agenda, experienced a 41% increase. A General Accounting Office study found that “NASA had not matched resources to requirements” for programs related to human space flight.

In addition to funding shifts, ideological changes were imposed as well. NASA chief Charles Bolden made a bizarre remark .  in 2010  that one of NASA’s chief goals was to reach out to Moslems.

Critics have not hidden their disdain for the course NASA has been given under the current White House. John L. Casey, a former White House space policy advisor, stated in a recent exclusive interview on the Vernuccio/Novak Report that NASA was engaging in “data doctoring” to support global warming theory advocates and essentially ignoring its core mission.

Human space flight was essentially removed from NASA’s short-term goals in 2010 when Mr. Obama cancelled the Constellation program,after prematurely ending the space shuttle program. The U.S. remains dependent on Russia to place astronauts in space. While underfunded work very slowly proceeds on plans for the future Orion crewed vehicle and the related Space Launch System, both are essentially updates on concepts originally designed in the late 1960’s and do not represent a significant path for a return to American preeminence in space. Neither of these efforts will actually be capable of putting astronauts in space, if ever, until after the Obama Administration leaves office.
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The White House counters criticism by stating their support for NASA’s manned space efforts, emphasizing its support ($438.8 increase requested) for development of commercially operated spacecraft, part of a modest $519 million hike in the agency’s overall budget. However, the Orion and Space Launch System programs, which are the only significant NASA efforts to restore America’s ability to put astronauts into space, would endure a combined $2.8 billion reduction in the 2016 budget.

House Science Committee Chair Lamar Smith (R-Texas), quoted in Spacenews, noted “The President’s words mean nothing if crucial priorities such as SLS and Orion aren’t given the funding they need in his budget request.”

Following the Republican capture of the Senate in the 2014 elections, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx) was named as chair of the Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness. He is seeking to re-emphasize NASA’s original mission, and noted, at the start of hearings on NASA’s 2016 budget:

“As we begin the process of putting a road map together for the future of NASA there is one vital question that this committee should examine. Should NASA focus primarily inwards or outwards beyond lower-Earth orbit? Since the end of the last administration we have seen a disproportionate increase in the amount of federal funds that have been allocated to the Earth Science program at the expense of and compared to Exploration and Space Operations, Planetary Science, Heliophysics and Astrophysics which I believe are all rooted in exploration and should be central to the core mission of NASA.”

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Still Lost in Space

Increasingly, NASA appears to be adrift, still capable of great individual deeds but without a clear direction.

Although it continues to get verbal support, the goal of placing American astronauts on Mars was for all practical purposes abandoned by the Obama Administration. So, too, was the Constellation program, which was supposed to be the successor for the Space Shuttle.  That decision also effectively ended U.S. plans to return to the Moon.

There is no current means for US citizens to reach space other than by hitching a ride on Russian craft, a severe humiliation for what was once the world’s preeminent space agency.

Advocates of manned space flight angrily point out that if the White House was intent on cancelling the follow-up to the Shuttle program, it could have kept the Shuttle program alive for several more years.

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NASA’s woes extend beyond manned space flight.  One of the most crucial endeavors the Space Agency is engaged in is cataloging interplanetary objects that could potentially strike the Earth with catastrophic consequences, producing results similar to that which caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. A report just released by NASA’s Inspector General discloses that a lack of structure and resources threatens this mission which is, literally, a matter of life and death for the entire planet.

There is some good news, coming primarily from the private sector.  NASA has contracted  with Boeing and SpaceX to build a “Space Taxi” to take Americans to and from the Space Station, freeing the U.S. from dependence on the Russians.

Nasa, announcing the deal, stated in a press release that “U.S. astronauts once again will travel to and from the International Space Station from the United States on American spacecraft under groundbreaking contracts NASA announced Tuesday. The agency unveiled its selection of Boeing and SpaceX to transport U.S. crews to and from the space station using their CST-100 and Crew Dragon spacecraft, respectively, with a goal of ending the nation’s sole reliance on Russia in 2017.”

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Why is America dependent upon Russia for space technology?

The irrational policy of dependence upon Russia for launching American astronauts into space, and using Russian rocket engines for American military payloads is unraveling.  This was an almost inevitable result, and the key question to be addressed is what led the U.S. to the bizarre position of reliance on a geopolitical rival for these key functions.

In a statement by Moscow’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and Head of the Federal Space Agency Oleg Ostapenko on international space cooperation ,  the Russian Federation outlined its plans to cease providing these space-related products and services to the U.S. in response to American sanctions in the wake of the Ukraine crisis as well as several other complaints.

Ironically, the Space Station, the chief current destination for space farers, was originally an American concept (originally called Space Station Freedom) initiated by President Reagan. It was eventually merged with Moscow’s plans for a MIR-2 outpost.  Construction of the project was largely a joint US-Russian endeavor, with the space shuttles playing a vital role.  Other nations also participated.
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The entire incident again calls into question the logic of eliminating the space shuttle program before a new craft could be substituted, ending America’s ability to launch astronauts until an uncertain date in the distant future. Originally, this inability was to be relatively brief, as a new system (Constellation) was to be developed in a relatively brief span.  However, the Obama Administration placed its financial priorities elsewhere, and it is unlikely that American astronauts will return to space in NASA craft within the decade.

It also brings into focus the decreased emphasis on building the high-tech engineering and scientific infrastructure the U.S. needs to insure that the nation has the economic and military security it requires. This vital issue has dramatic ramifications both financially and geopolitically, and needs to be resolved rapidly.