November 4 News Items

KSC "Federal City" Concept Explored as Joint Venture (Source: Space Coast Business)
Within the next two years, the Space Coast will experience a major shift in aerospace employment. One powerful option to counter the expected downturn is a joint venture between NASA and Florida to attract tenant organizations to KSC, similar to those at Ames, Stennis and other NASA centers. Tenant organizations could operate at KSC and surrounding facilities as part of a world-class testing center for the validation of new and advanced technologies of almost any kind. Visit http://scbmagazine.com/viewer/issue/2008-11/page/084 to view the article. (11/4)

Southern California Wary of Pentagon Budget Cuts (Source: AIA)
A slowdown in defense spending would hit hard in Southern California, where Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. are the region's largest private employers. "No matter which party takes control of the White House in January, we will likely see defense spending fall off," says Merrill Lynch analyst Ronald Epstein. Though the $200 billion F-35 fighter jet and the Army's $160 billion Future Combat Systems are frequently mentioned for cuts, some analysts believe the most expensive programs could prove hardest to cut, because their geographic diversity gives them broad congressional support. (11/4)

Dassault Military Jet Eeyed for Satellite Launcher (Source: AIA)
Dassault is attempting to reconfigure its Rafale strike fighter to launch small satellites into orbit. By using several of the plane's weapons store stations, the main launcher could be carried centerline, with solid boosters attached on either side. The French military has expressed interest in the concept, and the U.S. is working on a similar system. (11/4)

How Safe is the Shuttle? (Source: MSNBC)
Both of this year's presidential candidates have called on NASA to look into the idea of flying the space shuttle fleet past its scheduled 2010 retirement date. Now the space agency is providing some sobering estimates of the costs and the risks that would be involved - leading one seasoned space observer to wonder whether the shuttle program should be throttled back rather than extended.

The question NASA has to ask itself is whether each mission between now and the fleet's retirement is worth a 1-in-80 risk of losing the crew. Mike Griffin is saying it's worth that risk for finishing the space station (and fixing the Hubble Space Telescope). But in his view, it's not worth that risk for transporting crew members back and forth - particularly if there's a Russian alternative. (11/4)

Congressional Report Worsens Grim Forecast for Ares, Orion (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
In the latest blow to NASA's next-generation manned spacecraft, congressional investigators have concluded that the Constellation program is likely to cost $7 billion more than budgeted if it is to fly by its target date of March 2015. Without extra money, it could be delayed by 18 months or more. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) cited an array of problems facing the Ares I rocket and the Orion capsule, which NASA hopes will return astronauts to the moon by 2020.

Among them are difficulties in developing an engine for Ares and a heat shield for Orion -- as well as NASA's history of blowing its budgets. "NASA has identified several problems associated with the Ares I that could delay successful development of the vehicle," according to the 18-page report. NASA officials said they are reviewing the report. But the agency's top brass have insisted repeatedly that the program is on track. The CBO projected the need for $7 billion more after comparing Constellation to 72 past NASA projects, which had similar cost increases. The estimate of an 18-month delay comes after an examination of likely technical delays and cost overruns. Click here to view the article. (11/4)

Lockheed Martin Team Completes GPS III Review (Source: Lockheed Martin)
The Lockheed Martin team developing the next-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) spacecraft, known as GPS III, has successfully completed on-schedule an Integrated Baseline Review (IBR) with the U.S. Air Force, an important program milestone that precedes the Preliminary Design Review. GPS III will improve position, navigation, and timing services for the warfighter and civil users worldwide and provide advanced anti-jam capabilities yielding superior system security, accuracy and reliability. (11/3)

DIRECT Team Pins Jupiter Rocket Hopes on New Administration, Congress (Source: ERAU)
Given continued problems with NASA's Ares-1 vehicle, the "DIRECT" team behind the Shuttle-derived Jupiter-120 launch vehicle architecture believes now is the time for their concept to be considered as a serious alternative. Although many rank-and-file engineers at NASA support the Jupiter-120 concept, the DIRECT team believes the agency's senior management has wrongly committed to an Ares architecture that is increasingly expensive, less capable and more trouble-plagued than first envisioned. They believe NASA's contractor community has chosen to fall in line behind the Ares concept, so as not to anger their customer.

Enter the new President and a slew of new members in Congress. The DIRECT team hopes the likelihood of leadership changes within NASA, coupled with the new Administration's purported desire for serious review of the Constellation program, will embolden the agency and its contractor community to take a more serious look at Jupiter, including as part of an external review of alternatives for Constellation's space transportation architecture. Companies like USA and communities like Florida's Space Coast, they argue, are natural allies for a Jupiter launch system that better leverages the Space Shuttle's infrastructure and workforce than Ares-1 would, and could be ready years sooner than Ares. Visit http://www.directlauncher.com/ for information. (11/4)

Governor Encourages UAV Operations at KSC (Source: EOG)
Florida Governor Charlie Crist, in a letter to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), encouraged the agency's ongoing consideration of Kennedy Space Center as a location for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations in support of hurricane research. "I believe this vital NOAA activity can take advantage of a convergence of interests and resources in Florida, and I encourage you to explore ways to leverage these to our mutual benefit...This represents an exciting opportunity to develop a vibrant university/government/industry collaboration devoted to both [UAV] R&D and [UAV] operations, particularly in a Florida region which will be hard-hit by the economic impacts of the Space Shuttle's retirement." Embry-Riddle has been working with NOAA and NASA at KSC to establish this UAV program. (11/4)

SpaceX Unveils DragonLab Free-Flyer (Source: SpaceX)
SpaceX is introducing a new commercial product called DragonLab, a free-flying, reusable spacecraft capable of hosting pressurized and unpressurized payloads to and from space. DragonLab will launch to orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle. DragonLab provides a platform for in-space experimentation, including recovery of pressurized and some unpressurized payloads, as well as deployment of small spacecraft. As a complete system, DragonLab provides for all aspects of operation: propulsion, power, thermal control, environmental control, avionics, communications, thermal protection, flight software, guidance, navigation and control, entry, descent and landing and recovery. (11/4)

For Florida There are Two Gaps (Source: ERAU)
By now everyone has heard of the post-Shuttle "gap." But the gap means different things to different people and the differences are not trivial. One "gap" refers to the lack of U.S.-based Post-Shuttle access to the International Space Station (ISS), for both cargo and crew. This gap can be filled in several ways, including COTS and COTS-D commercial capsule services, an accelerated Ares-1, modified EELV rockets, and the Jupiter shuttle-derived rocket. The other "gap" refers to the transition time between the Space Shuttle and the next NASA vehicle for human exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This gap can be filled with Ares-1 and Ares-5, or with the Jupiter launch system.

The ISS-transport gap is an important one to fill, but it is the second gap that poses greater concerns for Florida, because the launch system developed to fill it will employ a greater share of KSC's existing workforce, and any multi-year delay in developing it will result in an irretrievable loss of uniquely skilled workers. Filling the ISS-transport gap with COTS or EELV will do nothing to accelerate the development of Ares or Jupiter as Lunar and Mars exploration vehicles. On the other hand, filling the ISS-transport gap with Ares-1 or Jupiter may not be feasible in the time frame desired, and would do nothing to advance the goal of turning LEO transport services over to the commercial sector.

From Florida's perspective, considering the employment and investment impacts of both gaps, the best solution might be to fill the ISS-transport gap with COTS and/or EELV, while pressing ahead with development of Ares or Jupiter for exploration missions. The state and industry are already developing infrastructure for COTS at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, and an additional $2 billion may be coming to NASA to shorten the exploration vehicle gap. (11/4)

When’s the Right Time for COTS-D? (Source: SpacePolitics.com)
Last week the Space Frontier Foundation announced it had found a funding source for the human spaceflight option (”Capability D”) of COTS: the $2 billion in additional funding that McCain and Obama promised for NASA during the presidential campaign. “It’s time that our national leaders give American entrepreneurs a shot at closing this gap. Let’s take the two billion dollars in the candidates’ plans and fund up to five winners of COTS-D,” Foundation chairman Berin Szoka said. But the two companies currently funded by NASA under COTS have very different viewpoints on when COTS-D funding should be turned on.

SpaceX wants to get started as soon as possible. The sooner NASA enables the $300-million option in its current agreement, said a SpaceX official, the sooner the company can get started on long-lead items like an escape tower for the Dragon spacecraft, which will take 18-24 months to develop. She said there’s no risk to NASA, since the agency only pays under the terms of the COTS agreements when the companies actually achieve stated milestones. “There’s no downside here."

A contrasting viewpoint came an Orbital Sciences official. “I don’t think it would even be prudent for NASA to fund a Capability D without seeing tangible process on the cargo side,” he said. “The path that we’re on, as a company, is probably the most prudent for NASA, which is to really put resources into making sure this cargo system is operating reliably and repeatably, and then move on to Capability D.” (11/4)