NASA’s Jim Free shows projected launches and other milestones for NASA exploration and space operations. The March 31 date for the Ax-1 mission is new to me; it was Feb. 28.
Free says the reorg of HEOMD into separate exploration and space ops mission directorates still going through approval processes (OMB, Congress, unions), hope “in the near term” all stakeholders approve.
Current manifest of Artemis missions. Artemis 2 is mid-2024 but will depend how well Artemis 1 goes (crew selection is later this year, which is what you’d expect for a 2024 launch.) Artemis 4 is currently planned only for Gateway; after Artemis 3 next landing is Artemis 5.
NASA ISS Director Robyn Gatens says NASA-Roscosmos crew barter agreement has passed Roscosmos review and is with the Russian foreign ministry. Expect to have astronauts back on Soyuz, in exchange for Russian cosmonauts on Crew Dragon, this fall.
Some updates on other ISS issues (air leak in Zvezda, Nauka thruster firing, ASAT debris).
Gatens says CASIS is doing well managing the ISS national lab altering implementing recommendations of independent review. Starting to see more demand from ISS national lab users than resources available.
A chart by Gatens on how NASA foresees transferring current ISS activities to commercial space stations (which NASA calls Commercial LEO Destinations, or CLD).
Patricia Sanders, chair of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, mentions in committee discussion that both she and Jim Free are testifying before the House Science Committee Thursday. Good to know, since the committee hasn’t disclosed a witness list yet. science.house.gov/hearings/keepi…
Now the Science Committee releases the witness list for the hearing: William Russell (GAO), Paul Martin (NASA Inspector General) and Dan Dumbacher (AIAA) join Free and Sanders.
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NASA’s Amit Kshatriya tells the NAC HEO committee they’re targeting “around the 15th or so” of February for SLS rollout, followed by wet dress rehearsal by the end of the month.
Mark Kirasich describes progress on the HLS award to SpaceX. SpaceX completed five milestones when protests/suits about award were cleared.
Kirasich says the draft RFP for the Lunar Exploration Transportation Services (LETS) program, which will procuring landing services for missions after Artemis 3, should be released this spring.
Not a lot new on the NASA/Boeing Starliner briefing right now. They have now removed two valves from the spacecraft to be sent to NASA MSFC for analysis, including CT scans.
NASA’s Steve Stich says that NASA’s plan is still, once Boeing’s Starliner gets certified, to alternate between Starliner and Crew Dragon missions to the ISS. Looking to add additional flights to the contracts (especially for SpaceX.)
Stich: I have no reason to believe that Boeing won’t be successful in getting Starliner operational.
From the ongoing public hearing on Starship/Super Heavy launches from Boca Chica.
The presentation was otherwise a recap of the draft environmental assessment released last month. Now a Spanish version of the same presentation before going on to public comment.
Now time for public comments. More than 100 people have signed up; each gets up to 3 minutes. Could be a while.
Senate appropriators: we think NASA should fund two HLS landers, not one, so we’ll increase the program’s budget by… 8%.
Curious item in Earth science: Senate appropriators want NASA to “support the development and demonstration of a prototype on-orbit robotically assembled Earth Science Platform.” No funding specified for it, though.
As others have noted, the report does not explicitly fund the SOFIA airborne observatory. NASA sought to terminate the program in its budget request but the House restored funding.
NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) chair Patricia Sanders on this week’s HEOMD reorganization: effectiveness of any organizational change depends on execution. Agency does have two capable leaders for the new organization (Free and Lueders).
Sanders also reiterates a longstanding concern of ASAP that there is no lead federal agency for space traffic management; a “critical safety issue” still not addressed by Congress.
ASAP’s David West says the Crew-2 Crew Dragon will do a 360-degree flyaround of the ISS after undocking in November; the first by a US spacecraft since the shuttle era.