posted 05-29-2010 08:16 AM               

First, there are two small companies with actual hardware besides Virgin Galactic which are aiming for suborbital spaceflight using vertical takeoff and landing spacecraft. Armadillo Aerospace plans a modular engine approach which will be remotely piloted but carry a passenger to above 62 miles (100,000 km). Masten will use an engine which can be restarted to launch cargo and then gently land it.

Both companies have launched test flights, with Masten planning to get a test vehicle up to 62 miles in the next year. These are small operations which take an approach of frequent tests and alterations. If successful these companies will offer suborbital flights at a much lower cost than the $200,000 per seat price of Virgin Galactic.

There was a fascinating three hour program today chaired by Jim Logan M.D., a former NASA shuttle flight surgeon, which focused on some of the constraints on future manned exploration. Logan argued that humanity developed at 1 g and that we don't know how much gravity is required for long-term settlement in space. He also emphasized that protection from ionizing radiation (e.g. cosmic rays) has been neglected in planning future lengthy missions beyond low earth orbit. I was surprised to learn that any permanent lunar habitats would have to be under five meters of lunar regolith for adequate radiation protection.

He and a colleague proposed a mission to Deimos, the smaller Martian moon. It would require four launches of a heavy lift rocket carrying 175 metric tons each, and would involve prepositioning logistic supplies on Deimos.

Tonight NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden gave the keynote address in which he firmly defended the administration's new path into space. He was interrupted at the beginning of his talk by an animal activist who rushed the podium before being escorted away. Bolden noted that as a Marine he promised to preserve the Constitution, which protects such free speech. In an aside, he said that he had served under many Presidents, some of whom he said he "despised." He hastened to add that he admired President Obama for many reasons which he said he did not want to enumerate.

In his formal speech, Bolden again argued that Constellation aimed too high and would not have been accomplished with the funds available. He said that new technology was needed to make travel beyond low earth orbit feasible. He stated new technology might make a mission to Mars possible with twice rather than 12 times the mass of the ISS. He acknowledged the criticism that Obama's original plan had no specific goals and timetables. He pointed out that now NASA had direction to do a circumlunar flight in the early 2020's, a flight to an asteroid in 2025, a flight to one of the Martian moons in the 2030's and a Mars landing thereafter. Bolden received a standing ovation at the end of his talk.

posted 05-29-2010 08:42 PM               

The main event was a luncheon address by Lori Garver, NASA deputy administrator. Lori servd for many years as executive director of the National Space Society which sponsors the ISDC, and she had many friends in the crowd.

She gave a passionate defense of the Obama space plan. She insisted that the previous program of record would not work with the funding available-- Ares 1 would not be available when needed for supply to the ISS and a lunar mission would not happen until after 2028 at the earliest.

She said the Obama plan, which she helped develop, aims to reduce the costs of space exploration by using adanced technology, including in-space refueling, inflatable habitats, autonomous docking, and ion engines. She argued that by spending on technology now we will reduce costs in the future.

Besides advancd technology, she said that NASA has to reduce its operational costs.The shuttle infrastructure costs $2 billion a year; using commercial companies for cargo and crew replacement instead to the ISS will allow NASA to do the more difficult things beyond low earth orbit.

She vehemently denied that the Obama plan kills manned spaceflight, suggesting that there will actually be more flights to more destinations. She specifically stated that the administrations goals were dervied from the Augustine Commision's "flexible pathway."

Admitting that NASA will need Congress to approve the new approach, she asked for support. Garver said that NASA's goal is to extend human civilization beyond low earth orbit by sequential missions around the moon, to an asteroid, to a Martian moon, and eventually to land on Mars. She insisted the plan is not "anti-moon" and predicted that we will return to land there.

After the luncheon she had an informal debate at a talk by Scott Pace, a critic of the Obama plan.