NASA is at a crossroads:

Former Astronaut Charles Bolden will probably be the new head of NASA. But a committee holds much of the fate of NASA in its own expert hands.  This New York Times Augustine article is very useful for painting the big picture.  The Committee held a public meeting on June 17.  The “Agenda Released for U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Meeting,” is from NASA Breaking News (6/16/09).  To quote the press release:

The first public meeting of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 17, at the Carnegie Institute, located at 1530 P Street NW in Washington. The meeting will take place in the auditorium and is open to the public. No pre-registration is required.

The planned agenda is below. All times are EDT.

Pertinent news associated with this big story – These “June 18 News Items,” are by ellegood from Florida Space Report.  To quote a few of the most interesting:

House Passes NASA Budget Bill With Constellation Cut (Source: Florida Today)
A NASA funding bill for next year passed the House on Thursday – without reversing a cut of $566 million to the Constellation human space flight program. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, filed two amendments to the 2010 budget bill covering commerce, justice and science operations, attempting to restore the funding cut. But Democratic congressional leaders did not allow either to be considered. The legislation passed 259-157. Posey and Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-Smyrna Beach, voted against it. Editor’s Note: House members hope to revisit the budget after the Augustine Panel delivers its recommendations to President Obama. (6/18)

Firms Team Up for ISS Supply Ship (Source: BBC)
US and Italian companies are teaming up to build a private re-supply ship for the Space Station. The Orbital Sciences Corporation has engaged Thales Alenia Space to build a pressurized module for its forthcoming cargo vessel, Cygnus. The spacecraft is expected to carry almost three tonnes of food and equipment to the platform. The agreement between Orbital and Thales signed at the Paris air show covers nine Cygnus ships in total. The first is a demonstration flight that must prove to NASA that the commercial freighter design is up to the task, and that the robot vehicle poses no danger to the crew of the station. (6/18)

A Better, Cheaper Rocket Than Ares? (Source: Florida Today)
Executives from several private space companies said Wednesday that they could provide cheaper, more reliable launch systems than those of NASA’s Constellation program. The executives made their comments about alternatives to NASA’s plan for sending astronauts to the moon and on to Mars during the first meeting of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee created by President Barack Obama. After the daylong meeting, committee Chairman Norm Augustine, a former CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp., said some commercial launch efforts appear “further along than I thought.” (6/18)

Doubts Grow About NASA Moon Return (Source: New Scientist)
A senior NASA official expressed doubt on Wednesday that the agency could send astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit without extra money or using vehicles radically different form those it is currently working on. NASA’s space shuttle program manager John Shannon made the remarks in a presentation to a committee reviewing NASA’s human spaceflight plans. Shannon said the space vehicles designed by NASA’s Constellation Program to replace the space shuttle and ferry astronauts to the moon were “well thought out”, but that the agency does not have enough money to make them a reality. (6/18)

SpaceX and Orbital Pitch Falcon and Taurus to Augustine Panel (Source: SPACErePORT)
SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. both briefed the Augustin Panel on their progress with developing their Falcon-9 and Taurus-2 rockets to support NASA and other customers. SpaceX is planning Falcon-9 human spaceflight missions to ISS with their Dragon capsule, and could conduct missions otherwise planned for Ares-1. Orbital is pressing ahead with pressurized and unpressurized cargo-carrying missions to the Space Station. (6/18)

DIRECT Team Pitches In-Line Jupiter-130 as Ares Alternative (Source: SPACErePORT)
Representing the DIRECT team, Steve Metschan pitched the Jupiter-130 concept for an in-line Shuttle-derived launch system. With DIRECT, the Shuttle orbite would be replaced with a top-mount payload carrier for Orion, other payloads, and other upper-stage components. Three Space Shuttle Main Engines would be mounted on the bottom of the External Tank. Existing SRBs would be used.

Metschan said this is not a “paper rocket”, as most of its components are currently operational. Ares-1 and Ares-5, he said, are much more conceptual. The concept is compelling and is based on NASA’s own plans, but has not been embraced by the agency or its contractors, though Boeing is said to be considering it as a concept it would support. (6/18)

Side-Mount Payload Carrier Studied to Replace Shuttle Orbiters (Source: SPACErePORT)
NASA presented an alternative heavy-lift architecture to the Augustine Panel, similar to the “Shuttle-C” cargo carrier design of over a decade ago. The “Side-Mount” concept replaces the Space Shuttle orbiter with a large cargo carrying pod, attached to the External Tank using the same attach-points currently used by the Space Shuttle orbiters. One version would carry NASA’s Orion capsule at the top of the pod.

The side-mount approach would encounter some of the same safety problems as the current orbiters, including foam-strikes and a less-than-ideal crew escape capability if the adjacent ET and SRBs malfunction during ascent. NASA said more analysis would be needed on various aspects of the concept. (6/18)

DIRECT Team Asks Augustine Panel to Halt Dismantling of Production Capabilities (Source: SPACErePORT)
Representing the DIRECT team, Steve Metschan asked the Augustine Panel to request that NASA discontinue its dismantling of critical production capabilities for external tanks and other Shuttle components that would be required for DIRECT or other heavy-lift Shuttle-derived vehicles. (6/18)

Sen. Nelson Addresses Augustine Panel (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
In case the Augustine panel wasn’t under enough pressure, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson today reminded the group that their recommendations on the future of U.S. human spaceflight would carry significant weight with the White House, Congress and space community. “If you decide ‘x’ is going to be the case, then the White House is going to be a lot more likely to embrace ‘x’ regardless of whether I or others disagree with x,” said the Florida Democrat. “You come to the table with extraordinary influence.” (6/18)

To wrap up this roundup I am posting a couple of earlier stories related to the U.S.-NASA/Russian space program :

• “Russia signs deal to ferry astronauts in 2012,” is from Yahoo! News (5/29/09). To quote:
  

  The Russian space agency says it has signed a $306 million deal with NASA to ferry its astronauts to the international space station in 2012.

  Roscosmos said Friday the agreement covers four launches aboard the three-person Soyuz capsules to swap out crews in the orbiting laboratory.

  NASA said Russia would supply comprehensive support for six NASA crew members taking part in long-duration missions.

  The pact extends Russia’s existing contract with NASA for transporting station crew, but seems to represent an increase in Russia’s transport charges.

• “Russian President Vows to Boost Space Industry,” is from Space.com Summary: “Putin announces new Russian space launchpad, booster rocket.”

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