posted 09-07-2008 08:49 AM               

1. The Russians being good stewards of the facility and reliance on them to sustain "housekeeping" operations

2. Acceptance of the possibility that if relations do continue to sour, we would be leaving the Russians with a space asset that could be used for activities either not commensurate with its charter or contrary to US National/western alliance interests,

3. Non occurrence of a casualty (i.e fire, orbital debris impact, Russian docking mishap) that would require station abandonment and a US launch to initiate damage control.

4. Continued expenditure of operations and maintenance funds for a facility that would be providing little U.S. net return on S&T while our crews are absent from the station.

posted 09-07-2008 02:24 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
Griffin's remarks are from a leaked e-mail obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.

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Statement of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin on Aug. 18 Email

The following is the complete statement of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin regarding the Aug. 18 email published by the Orlando Sentinel:

The leaked internal email fails to provide the contextual framework for my remarks, and my support for the administration's policies. Administration policy is to retire the shuttle in 2010 and purchase crew transport from Russia until Ares and Orion are available. The administration continues to support our request for an INKSNA exemption. Administration policy continues to be that we will take no action to preclude continued operation of the International Space Station past 2016. I strongly support these administration policies, as do OSTP and OMB.

posted 09-27-2008 06:33 PM               

With unanimous support, the House of Representatives today passed H.R. 6063, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2008, authorizing programs at NASA for fiscal year 2009 (FY09). H.R. 6063 initially passed the House on June 18, 2008 by a vote of 409 to 15 and was brought back to the House today, after passing the Senate with minor modifications. The bill will now be sent to the White House for the President's approval.

...The Senate version of the bill added language that directs NASA to suspend any activities between now and April 30, 2009 that could preclude operation of the Space Shuttle after 2010. This will provide an opportunity to the incoming Presidential Administration to evaluate the Space Shuttle's retirement.

posted 09-27-2008 11:12 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Jay Chladek:
Of course, I don't imagine they have any plans to discuss the waiver needed for NASA to procure more Soyuz spacecraft, do they?

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The first measure is a waiver of a law that forbids purchasing space and other sophisticated technology from nations -- in this case, Russia -- that are deemed to be helping Iran and other "unfriendly" countries with nuclear programs. On Wednesday, the House of Representatives included the controversial waiver in a must-pass continuing resolution to keep the government funded, and staff members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation said yesterday that the Senate was expected to do so, as well.

Many members of Congress initially opposed renewing the waiver because of Russia's recent military action in Georgia, but the tactic of tying it to the continuing resolution allowed the measure to sail through. Democrats said the turning point came early this week when presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama wrote a letter to congressional leaders supporting the waiver.

posted 09-27-2008 11:45 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Jay Chladek:
Nice how they managed to get that in during the current financial bailout negotiations.

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What's 2 billion, when you're ready (or not) to "spend" 700+ billion?

I'd rather see the money go to NASA than Wall Street, though!

posted 09-28-2008 05:10 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
That's a separate bill, as described by the Washington Post

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posted 10-15-2008 10:43 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
The bill will now be sent to the White House for the President's approval.

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H.R. 6063, the "National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2008," which authorizes appropriations to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for Fiscal Year 2009; requires NASA to add to its baseline flight manifest two Space Shuttle missions to the International Space Station and take all necessary steps to fly a third additional Shuttle mission; requires NASA to take steps to ensure that the International Space Station remains viable through at least 2020; and affirms congressional support for U.S. space exploration policy;

posted 01-06-2009 04:50 PM               

NASA could extend space shuttle operations to 2012 by adding three flights - at a cost of roughly $5 billion - without dramatically affecting the agency's plan to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020, according to a draft internal report on delaying the planned 2010 retirement of the orbiter fleet.

However, extending shuttle operations to 2015, when a replacement system is slated to become available, would cost more than $11 billion and have severe impacts on lunar exploration hardware development, according to the draft report, prepared by a team at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Both scenarios assume that the additional funding needed to keep the shuttle flying does not come out of the budgets for developing the replacement system, consisting of the Orion crew capsule and its shuttle-derived Ares 1 launcher.

posted 04-13-2009 05:49 PM               

Facing a tight budget, a 2010 deadline to end space shuttle operations and a lack of concrete political support to fund additional flights or stretch out the current manifest, NASA managers are meeting this week to discuss the impact of ending efforts that have been keeping open the option of extending the shuttle program past the current deadline.

In a note to shuttle managers and engineers last week that was obtained by CBS News, shuttle Program Manager John Shannon outlined the issues in stark terms, reflecting the lack of any political action to fund shuttle flights past the end of 2010.

"You have heard me say that 'hope is not an effective management tool' on many occasions," he wrote. "It is my position that we cannot continue to spend money to retain the capability to fly additional space shuttle missions, hoping that someone will recognize the national assets we are giving up.

"We have to take our destiny in our own hands and manage within the limited budget we have been given and ensure that we will fly the full manifest and leave the International Space Station in the best configuration possible."