NASA's Pad Abort 1 Test

This morning NASA successfully tested the launch abort system for the Orion spacecraft at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The test went off at the planned 9AM launch time. The abort system lifted a boilerplate Orion capsule to about 6000 feet at which point the jettison motor separated the LAS from the Orion capsule and activated the parachute recovery system on the Orion. The three large recovery parachutes deployed as planned and the Orion gently landed in the New Mexico desert.

Neil Armstrong blasts President's Space Plan

Neil Armstrong, an astronaut who prizes his privacy above all else, has publicly come out against President Obama's plan for NASA. In a letter that was published on MSNBC.com, he called Obama's decision to cancel the Orion spacecraft "devastating" to US Human Spaceflight.

Armstrong's Letter

The letter was signed by Armstrong, Gene Cernan, Apollo 17 commander and Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 commander. Many within NASA as well as outside of NASA have come out against Obama's plans which cancels the majority of US Human Spaceflight and put more money in an elaborate R & D program with no end result or ultimate destination as well as an extension of the ISS mission to 2020.

In response to the mounting criticism of his space plan, MSNBC reported that Obama is willing to revive development of Orion but for use as an ISS lifeboat which would launched unmanned and autonomously docked to the ISS for use an emergency escape vehicle and nothing else. The lifeboat Orion would have minimal systems to act as only a rescue/reentry vehicle and would not have any of the needed equipment/systems for lunar or Martian missions. Also Obama would accelerate the development of a heavy launch vehicle though without a capsule to place atop this HLV and no destination to which to send a payload, one has to wonder what it will be used for except for launching large satellites.

MSNBC: Obama revives capsule from cancelled program

MSNBC: First Moonwalker blasts Obama's Spaceplans

While this is a small step forward it still is not enough. There is still no destination, and there is still no means of reaching low Earth orbit let alone the moon even with the lifeboat Orion. Can the lifeboat Orion still designed with eventual missions to the moon and Mars in mind? Yes but again there is no commitment on part of the administration to go that far. The criticism by Neil Armstrong is certainly going to weaken the any leverage that Obama may have in Congress to get his vision for NASA passed. Tomorrow the President will visit KSC to make an announcement of his plans for NASA.

President Obama: No Bucks and no Buck Rodgers

NASA Photos

Yesterday, A NASA contractor put the last segment of a 345 foot long tower meant to support the Ares 1 rocket and Orion spacecraft. It took about 9 to 10 months to build up the launch platform and tower though there is still much work to be left like adding all the ground support equipment (GSE), fueling and venting lines, swing arms and the Crew Access Arm. The schedule would have been to finalize the design of the GSE and umbilical arms by the end of this year as well as put the construction and installation of this equipment out for the bid. Construction and testing in 2011 and installation in 2012. Verification and validation will take place would have taken place in the 2012-2013 time frame and would have been ready for Ares I soon after that. NASA has built a tower that now has no purpose. In the last 5 years NASA has spent over $9 billion on the Constellation program and many of the visible milestones that have been accomplished include the following:

• Successful design and launch of the Ares 1-X test rocket


• Successful test firing of the 5 segment first stage for the Ares I with another test slated for later this year
  
• Successful testing of elements for the Orion launch escape tower
  
• NASA was about two months from performing the first pad abort testing of the Orion launch escape tower
  
• Start of construction of a high fidelity Orion ground test article
  
• Successful and timely construction of the mobile launcher (ML) for the Ares I rocket

It took 9 months to build the mobile launcher main structure. Now, I wonder how long it will take to bring it all down? What a way to spend $9 billion and get almost nothing for that money.

That's because President Obama has decided that America has no place in space. In reports that are coming out in the media, Obama is going to increase NASA budget but only for commercial transportation of astronauts and cargo to the ISS. No bucks, no Buck Rodgers as they said in "The Right Stuff." Another quote from that same movie is also very prophetic: "Funding makes this bird go up." Well funding for NASA isn't enough to get a model rocket off a launch stand. Our country, the only country to land humans on the moon will not be going back to the moon and instead we'll be putzing around in low Earth orbit if the President has anything to say about NASA direction. President Obama has diminished the very essence that makes this country great...the ability to overcome immense obstacles to achieve a great goal or accomplishment. Granted we've accomplished that goal over 40 years ago, but going back to the moon was going to be a stepping stone for our country to going further out into the Solar System.

Oh humans will go back to the moon and beyond. They just won't be Americans but more than likely Chinese, Russians, Indians and Europeans. To be clear, I wish those country's luck as they leave low Earth orbit and further human kinds knowledge of the cosmos. The US will be stuck in low Earth orbit in the International Space Station and that hurts.

Obama is giving NASA more money to have them spend it on companies that will get US astronauts only to the ISS and no further. Big effing deal, Mr. President. Why don't you just continue hitching rides on Russian Soyuz and save even more money? Oh right, we don't want to send any American jobs overseas. Forget that with the demise of the Shuttles and now Constellation program the US stands to lose more jobs than gain with the development of domestic commercial space transportation. And those jobs that will be lost are high paying tech jobs to boot!

The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel which is an independent safety arm of NASA recommended against switching to unproved commercial systems to transport astronauts into space and to continue with the Constellation program. Apparently, astronaut safety is not a priority to the Obama Administration as is the space program in general.

To be fair, some of this is not the fault of the current administration. President Bush told NASA to go to the moon but neither he nor Congress gave them the money necessary to do the job thus NASA was falling behind the effort to develop Orion and Ares according to the time line that they laid out. And truth be told, NASA has been virtually ignored since July, 1969. No one cared about going to the moon or Mars or doing anything else and NASA has been forced to do more with less since that time. Same story different time. Now a little glimmer of hope is that reaction to the President's proposal is almost all negative and much of the negative reaction is bi-partisan in nature.

At the end of the day, the administration says they want to inspire children to study math, engineering and the sciences. What better way to inspire kids to go into these subjects than having a robust and world leading human spaceflight program?

Just a few days ago, I took my two young children to see the IMAX movie, "Magnificent Desolation" which chronicles America's missions to the moon. There is a scene in this movie where children talk about wanting to go to the moon and explore the Solar System. Sadly, the closest these kids and others like them who dream of flying to other worlds in the Solar System is by watching documentaries and Hollywood movies. America's astronauts will be staying in low Earth orbit for the forseeable future.

One Small Step....

Today marks the 40th anniversary of a mind boggling milestone. 50 years ago people would not believe that humans had the capability and the drive to send human to the moon and return them safely back to Earth. But it was feat that was done and repeated 5 more times not counting the two flights to the moon that preceded Apollo 11. This is an important milestone not only for the US but for the human race. It reminds us that anything is possible and the the realm of the impossible can be actually overcome by human endurance, persistence, ingenuity and intelligence. It redefined our view of not only ourselves and our capabilities but also our view of the universe.

Today the US and other nations are looking at the moon again and further out to Mars but it won't be any easier or less expensive compared to the feat 40 years ago despite advances in computer technology, safety systems and materials. NASA is aiming to return US astronauts to the moon by 2020 though they have a very long way to go and numerous technical challenges yet to overcome with the Ares I, Ares V, Orion CEV and the LSAM vehicles that will get them there. It now all depends on our willingness to expend time, material and, more importantly, money if we want to get there. The President and Congress has the fate of this endeavor in their hands just as they did back in the 60's. I hope we have the perseverance to see it through.

On a personal note, 20 years ago in March 1989, Neil Armstrong paid a visit to Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. It was special moment for me as an a student and someone who has held a lifelong fascination and interest not just in aviation but space. Meeting and talking to Neil Armstrong is something that I still replay in my mind. What is fascinating the most was his ease at speaking to us and the fact that he wanted to share in experiences. It was as if he felt at home and comfortable surrounded by aspiring engineers at the school. The discussions not only focused on Apollo 11 but also what he did before and after NASA (like the Rodger's Commission to investigate the Challenger Accident). One particular memorable story didn't even have anything to do with Apollo 11 but about his time as a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base. He was flying in the front seat of a two seat jet aircraft (forgot the type) with none other than Chuck Yeager in the rear seat. Well they had to land because of an unspecified emergency and after they landed found themselves stuck. Neil Armstrong remembers Chuck Yeager laughing in the back seat because Armstrong got themselves stuck in the mud and couldn't get free no matter how much thrust he throttled. A great story by a man who is not embarrassed to talk about it. It also bought home how involved he was with other great of aviation and how he himself helped advance aviation and spacecraft design himself.

Ares 1-Y CGM Launch Video

Ok a little off topic but here's a cool video of the planned launch of NASA's ARES 1-Y test flight. Here it will use an acutal 5 segment SRB derived from the shuttle solid rocket motor as well as an actual 2nd stage but a dummy second stage engine and a dummy Orion capsule. The Launch Abort System tower (LAS tower) is real and NASA wants to test the high altitude capability of the LAS Tower to pull the Orion off the "stick" in case of an emergency. The test launch is planned for September 2013 and will not carry any astronauts.

Great videos on NASA's Constellation Program

Here's a switch from the usual 787 stuff.

NASA has embarked on returning Americn's to the moon by 2020. Here are a couple of great videos produced by NASA detailing what they're doing.

Video 1

Video 2