National Space Society 'attacks' budget proposal

Robert Block
The Write Stuff
Orlando Sentinel

In the latest broadside attack on President Barack Obama’s new space policy, an influential space group has criticized the White House plans for NASA, saying that they needed “focus” and should concrete on developing a new heavy lift rocket to take humans back to the moon by 2025.

The National Space Society, which was once headed by NASA’s current deputy administrator Lori Garver and chief of Staff George Whitesides, said in a press release dated Feb. 5 that the White House plans to increase spending on science, technology and commercial space companies to ferry astronauts for the international space station were commendable.

“However, we believe the President’s 2011 budget request would leave the job only partly done,” the release said. “NSS calls for the President and Congress to restore funding for human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit.”

Ten days ago, the White House announced it intended to scrap the Constellation program that was supposed to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2020 because it was “unsustainable” and was never going to work. Members of Congress and NASA contractors immediately attacked the policy, saying that America risked surrendering its leadership role in space if Obama’s plan were implemented.

Read the full post HERE.

“Gateway” architectures: a major “Flexible Path” step to the Moon and Mars after the International Space Station?

Harley Thronson and Ted Talay
Space Review

With NASA’s commitment to the International Space Station (ISS) now all but certain for at least through the coming decade, serious consideration may be given to extended US in-space operations in the 2020s, when presumably the ISS will exceed its “sell by” date. Indeed, both ESA and Roscosmos, in addition to their unambiguous current commitment to ISS, have published early concept studies for extended post-ISS habitation (e.g., these European and Russian studies, and references therein). In the US, engineers and scientists have for a decade been working both within and outside NASA to assess one consistent candidate for long-term post-ISS habitation and operations, although interrupted by changing priorities for human space flight, Congressional direction, and constrained budgets. The evolving work of these groups is described here, which may have renewed relevance with the recent completion of a major review of the nation’s human space flight program.

The “Gateway” architecture has been evaluated since 2000 as a single, large-volume, multi-purpose, free-space habitat. It was from the start proposed to be simultaneously the next major on-orbit facility after the ISS, operating as a key human space flight “stepping stone” on the way to Mars, supporting lunar surface operations, including space depots, while serving as a “work site” for major satellite repair and upgrade; that is, achieving multiple priority NASA goals via a single facility. The “Gateway” was first studied in depth by NASA’s Decade Planning Team (DPT) and its successor, the NASA Exploration Team (NEXT) (see “Lunar L1 Gateway Conceptual Design Report,” EX15-01-001, hereafter referred to as “Gateway Design Report”). Produced by the NASA JSC Advanced Development Office, this extensive architecture study was developed in response to requirements in coordination with the DPT and NEXT.

Interesting Important Reading, as always,
from the Space Review, HERE.