National Space Society-Adopt the Senate Version of the NASA Authorization Act 2010

This following article comes from the National Space Society's own blog...

The National Space Society Calls for House to Adopt the Senate Version of the NASA Authorization Act of 2010

The National Space Society (NSS) is today reaffirming its longstanding and unwavering commitment to further space exploration and development, by calling on the Executive and Legislative branches to incorporate their various proposals into a Unified Space Policy so that the United States can once again begin to move beyond low Earth orbit. Congress and the Administration need to work together to determine the best path forward relative to our space program, including how best to leverage the necessary partnership between the public and private sectors relative to launch capabilities and how best to maintain a skilled work force.

The NSS emphatically requests that the House of Representatives adopt the Senate version of the NASA Authorization Act of 2010.

NSS believes that the Senates bipartisan NASA Authorization Act of 2010 represents the most promising of the options that have been proposed to date. The Senate bill provides a framework for compromise, which will be required in order to obtain the widespread political support necessary to pass and fund a set of programs that together will enable the United States to once again move beyond low Earth orbit. Significantly, the Senate bill seeks to make use of the work force and infrastructure made available by the imminent retirement of the Space Shuttle by speeding the development of a new Heavy Lift Vehicle (HLV), which the bill specifies should be in service by 2016. The Senate bill tasks NASA with developing and building an evolvable system which can incorporate emerging technological advances, and also demands that NASA and Congress work together to accomplish this task within a specific, affordable, and sustainable budget.

In addition, the bill also preserves the primary initiatives included in the Administration’s budget proposal, such as support for using commercial providers to transport cargo and crew to and from the International Space Station, funding for technology development programs, and a firm commitment to science. Indeed, the Senate bill specifically authorizes development of in-space capabilities such as refueling and storage technology, orbital transfer systems, innovative in-space propulsion technology, communications, and data management. Although the amounts allocated in the Senate bill for commercial crew and technology development are less than the amounts proposed by the Administration, they still represent a significant increase in funding for and commitment to both commercial space and technology development.

As Congress and the Administration continue to work together, we urge that the following concepts be included in the new plan:

Heavy Lift Vehicle: As set forth in the Senate bill, the selection and development of a new Heavy Lift Vehicle (HLV) must begin in the very near term. NSS maintains that development should commence no later than the 2011 date set forth in the Senate bill. The missions that the new HLV will be slated to accomplish must be identified and sufficient funding must be provided to achieve those missions. The design of the vehicle should be mission-enabling, while at the same time being focused on efficiency, affordability, and sustainability.

Commercial: The new commercial launch industry must be supported. Successful development of such an industry can not only dramatically reduce the cost of launch but can also enable NASA to focus its resources beyond low Earth orbit. In addition to creating a new major industry for the 21st century, embracing commercial options can help to create a new fiscal culture at NASA.

Technology Review: NSS supports the focus on research and development of new enabling technologies, such as advanced propulsion. However, to keep such technology development programs focused, NSS calls on NASA to define and prioritize the most promising technology concepts to advance human space exploration.

Timelines and Destinations: NSS believes that the Congress and the Administration need to establish firm timelines and destinations. NSS believes that we should set a goal to send humans to at least one intermediate destination beyond low Earth orbit, such as an asteroid, within the next ten years and to land humans on Mars by no later than 2030. By doing this, we will gain valuable knowledge and keep the country, and our skilled workforce, fully engaged in the program. If it is to succeed, this new path will require a sustained, generational commitment to NASA’s long-term mission. It will also require incentives for private sector and international participation. NSS acknowledges the financial constraints under which the U.S. government will be operating in the next few years. Tax dollars should be spent wisely, which is why we are making these requests. The National Space Society looks forward to working with Congress, NASA, and the Administration to guarantee that the United States remains a leader in space exploration.

With the world all caught up if we should burn a book or not, for me; its nice to stick with something I have a better grasp on.

40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing!

When I signed up to do this national blog posting on the 20th of July, I thought I would only stick with the

Colonies in Space book. But so much has come out this past week that I cannot just ignore it for a "simple book report." I decided to combine the original article I was working on with all the expanded news of the day. The LRO, the death of Walter Cronkite on July 17, 2009 at the age of 92.

I view Colonies in Space by T.S. Heppenheimer as a book of dreams. As a young man, I was totally behind the idea of the L-5 Society back then, now the

National Space Society; for colonizing outer space. And for me, that book and the one by Gerald K. O'Neill was the blueprint on how to do it. And yet, we didn't act on any of it. Words and more money dropped down going nowhere very fast studies. And the government just keeps on rolling along ignoring the majority of the people and paying attention only to those who can lobby Congress and get our so called representatives reelected once again.

Colonies in Space had bases on the moon to mine minerals, process them, then ship them up out of the lunar gravity well to the L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5 building sites. Super size spinning wheel space stations capable of holding thousands of people and the even bigger O'Neill class space colonies (the spinning cylinder Ala "Babylon 5").

Since the publication of that book, the concept of the Space Elevator has been better fleshed out. Easier to get payloads out of Earth's gravity well up to low or high earth orbit or even up to geostationary orbit. Space tourism is taking shape now.

Since the publication of that book, we think we have discovered water on the Moon, Mars, Europa, the moons of Saturn and beyond. Settlements for colonization on Mars has a better chance of making it now. Back then - it was just theory, now, we are getting some hard factors from our robot rovers.

Since the publication of that book, we have discovered a way to detect planets beyond our own solar system.

Bases on the Moon and on Mars could be built by robots and as Buzz Aldrin proposed recently, we should consider one way travel to Mars - i.e start colonizing Mars from the very first landing. Using Phobos as a staging base and a launch point to venture down to the planet's surface instead of trying to do it straight from Earth.

On a more personal note. I was nine years old when Neil Armstrong took that first step on the moon. I am 49 and a half years old as I write this post. Here is one of the Sunday comics that struck me as being just right for this posting.

So, what is wrong with this picture?

Nothing but symbolic. The death of our dreams I think.

What I consider to be a back stabbing Congress - laying flat on its back for anybody just to get themselves reelected and not care for the greater good of America (and by extension, the rest of humanity) by cutting back on funding for NASA in the 1970s. Making compromises with the shuttle craft and a space truck that went nowhere but up and down. Towards the end of its service life, two shuttles have bitten the dust (the last one taking a former Air Force ROTC classmate of mine from Texas Tech - Rick Husband).

I remembered when there was talk (and as it turned out, nothing but talk) of being on our way to Mars by the end of the 1980s. Surely by the early 1990s we would have been able to reach Mars. America was SO screwed by the idiots we keep on sending back to Washington DC.

And Finally, the biggest news this weekend leading up to the 20th is the following news item:

"LRO Sees Apollo Landing Sites"

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has returned its first imagery of the Apollo moon landing sites. The pictures show the Apollo missions' lunar module descent stages sitting on the moon's surface, as long shadows from a low sun angle make the modules' locations evident.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC, was able to image five of the six Apollo sites, with the remaining Apollo 12 site expected to be photographed in the coming weeks.

The satellite reached lunar orbit June 23 and captured the Apollo sites between July 11 and 15. Though it had been expected that LRO would be able to resolve the remnants of the Apollo mission, these first images came before the spacecraft reached its final mapping orbit. Future LROC images from these sites will have two to three times greater resolution.

"The LROC team anxiously awaited each image," said LROC principal investigator Mark Robinson of Arizona State University. "We were very interested in getting our first peek at the lunar module descent stages just for the thrill -- and to see how well the cameras had come into focus. Indeed, the images are fantastic and so is the focus."

"Not only do these images reveal the great accomplishments of Apollo, they also show us that lunar exploration continues," said LRO project scientist Richard Vondrak of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "They demonstrate how LRO will be used to identify the best destinations for the next journeys to the moon."

The spacecraft's current elliptical orbit resulted in image resolutions that were slightly different for each site but were all around four feet per pixel. Because the deck of the descent stage is about 12 feet in diameter, the Apollo relics themselves fill an area of about nine pixels. However, because the sun was low to the horizon when the images were made, even subtle variations in topography create long shadows. Standing slightly more than ten feet above the surface, each Apollo descent stage creates a distinct shadow that fills roughly 20 pixels.

The image of the Apollo 14 landing site had a particularly desirable lighting condition that allowed visibility of additional details. The Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package, a set of scientific instruments placed by the astronauts at the landing site, is discernible, as are the faint trails between the module and instrument package left by the astronauts' footprints.

(All images credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University).

The LRO, for me; puts to reset the nonsense that the United States of America never did travel to the moon much less land on it. so for all of you conspiracy lovers out there -

Happy 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Landing on the Moon!

UPDATE: July 20, 2009. 11:44am. Last night on Coast to Coast AM, hosted by George Knapp this time, a caller claimed that the Apollo moon landings were (still) all fake. IN fact, Buzz Aldrin supposedly told his mother that his Apollo 11 landing was fake and she ended up committed suicide. Its these wackos (is the kindest word I can come up with at this time) that have poisoned not just the spirit of American space exploration, but basic (I think) civility.

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Ref NASA webpage.(http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/apollosites.html)

Steve Eves And His 1/10th scale Saturn V Moon Rocket

Found this on the National Space Society blog page.  See link below. At 1/10th scale, the Saturn V is 36 feet tall.  He is hoping to get into the record books as flying the largest model rocket in history.  He is hoping to reach 3 to 4,000 feet in altitude with this monster.

I'm rooting for his success.

UPDATE:  April 30, 2009.  It's Flown!  Check out the New Scientist.com website for the YouTube video. 

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Ref. blog.nss.org  (http://blog.nss.org/?p=786)

New Scientist.com ( http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17053-video-shows-launch-of-worlds-largest-amateur-rocket.html)