Rep. Steven Palazzo

On Wednesday, the House Subcommittee on Space met under Chairman Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.) to mark up NASA’s budget for FY 2014 and 2015.

The $16.6 billion measure not only cuts the Obama Administration’s request by $1.1 billion, it includes a number of provisions designed to tie the hands of the NASA Administrator, protect key projects favored by Congress, and shift power away from the Administration.

In this edition of “Palazzo Vision: The Road to Pork,” we take a closer look at what the chairman and his merry band of government hating, pork loving comrades want to do to NASA’s Space Act Agreements.

What lies after the break is not for anyone with a weak stomach, heart condition, chronic ulcers or who is under the age of 18. You have been warned.

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The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket is seen on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) Pad-0A at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

From Orbital Sciences Corporation:

Currently, priority on the WFF range has been given to NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Experiment Explorer (LADEE) mission, which is being launched aboard a Minotaur V rocket (which is designed, built and operated by Orbital). The LADEE mission has a launch window of September 6-10, with the target launch date being the 6th. Following the launch of the Minotaur V from Pad 0B at Wallops, Orbital is scheduled to conduct the launch of the COTS Demonstration Mission from Pad 0A during a window of September 14-19, with the target date being the 14th. Should preparations and processing for the LADEE mission encounter an unexpected delay, Orbital will continue to integrate the Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft to be in a position to conduct the COTS Demonstration Mission as early as the end of August, giving NASA additional options to maximize the launch manifest from Wallops.

Read the full mission update below.

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Virgin Galactic President Steven J. Isakowitz (Credit: Virgin Galactic)

MOJAVE, Calif. (VG PR) — George Whitesides, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Galactic, today announced the appointment of Steven J. Isakowitz as President of Virgin Galactic LLC. Isakowitz has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer since he joined the company in 2011. He will continue to report directly to Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company.

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Aerojet Rocketdyne mechanical test technician sets up the thruster for flow testing in preparation for the 22N firing test. (Credit: Ball Aerospace)

BOULDER, Colo. (Ball Aerospace PR) – Ball Aerospace and Aerojet Rocketdyne have met the first milestone in demonstrating a more environmentally friendly spacecraft fuel by completing an end-to-end checkout of the 22 Newton thruster required for NASA’s Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM).

Ball is leading an industry and government team that will develop and fly the GPIM to demonstrate a high-performance, non-toxic fuel alternative to conventional hydrazine. This will bridge the gap between characterizing the functionality of an integrated propulsion system, and the technology development needed for eventual use of green propellant in space.

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Another fine day for Russia’s space program. A Proton crashes with three GLONASS satellites.

A special outside group of experts is being established to review the manufacturing chain at the Khrunichev State Space Research Center as investigators found a likely culprit for what caused one of the company’s Proton rockets to crash shortly after launch last week from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

“We’re setting up a technology inspecting group now that will include experts from other aerospace companies, the ones who are not linked to the causes of the accident in any way, not the Krunichev Center people,” Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told Echo of Moscow radio. “They will inspect the whole technological chain at the enterprise where the Proton M rocket was manufactured.”

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The boilerplate test article was modified at Langley Research Center in Virginia for Orion recovery testing (Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann)

By Linda Herridge,
NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Engineers and technicians at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Langley Research Center in Virginia and Lockheed Martin Space Operations in Denver, Colo., prepared unique hardware that was used in a fit check June 25-28 of equipment that will be used to recover Orion upon splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The recovery operations are led by the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy.

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Nick Litwin, an engineering student at Carnegie Mellon University, checks a fastener on the Astrobotic Technology lunar lander. (PRNewsFoto/Carnegie Mellon University, Tim Kaulen)

PITTSBURGH, PA, JULY 9, 2013 (Astrobotic PR) — Astrobotic Technology Inc. has unveiled lower pricing for its lunar delivery services in its updated Payload User’s Guide released today. Now scientists, advertisers, engineers, artists, and other lunar visionaries can secure space aboard Astrobotic’s 2015 lunar mission for 30% less than previously published rates. The mission will explore a lunar skylight thought to be an entrance to a subsurface cave network.

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Artist’s conception of Ariane 6. (Credit: ESA)

PARIS (ESA PR) — In November 2012, European Ministers responsible for space, meeting in Naples, Italy, approved the start of preparatory activities for Europe’s next-generation Ariane 6 launch vehicle.

The objective of Ariane 6 is to maintain guaranteed autonomous access to space for Europe, while minimising exploitation costs and suppressing any support to exploitation.

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Video Caption: The Next Generation Canadarm project showcases unique Canadian robotic hardware and software technology designed to support future space missions and repairing and refueling existing satellites. (Credit: Canadian Space Agency) Please follow Parabolic Arc on Facebook and Twitter.

The NanoRacks centrifuge for the ISS. (Credit: NanoRacks)

An audit [PDF] by the NASA Office of Inspector General (IG) reports the space agency has made progress in more fully utilizing the research capabilities of the International Space Station, but it still has a way to go to use the facility’s full potential.

Since the station was completed in 2011, the number of hours devoted to experiments, the number of experiments, and the overall utilization of the facilities capabilities have all increased.

Completion of the Commercial Cargo and Commercial Crew programs would help in more fully utilizing the space station’s research capabilities, the report states. All three shuttle replacements now under development have seven seats apiece. The station houses six astronauts because Russian Soyuz vehicles are limited to three astronauts each. An additional crew member would significantly increase the time devoted to research.

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