WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today issued the following statement regarding NASA’s implementation of the NASA Authorization Act of 2010, particularly with regard to the direction of U.S. human spaceflight programs:

“Today NASA is scheduled to formally receive the independent cost assessment for the Space Launch System (SLS) that was requested by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). I expect this independent assessment will confirm what myself and the NASA technical staff have known for many months – that the SLS plan is financially and technically sound, and that NASA should move forward immediately.

“I remain very concerned about continuing delays. The 2010 NASA Authorization Act required NASA to bring forward a plan by January 10, 2011. The political leadership at NASA and at OMB has dragged their feet on implementation. After many requests for NASA to comply with the law, the Commerce Committee finally initiated a formal investigation earlier this summer. While that investigation is ongoing, I reiterate my call to NASA and the Administration to proceed with its SLS development program immediately, in compliance with the law.

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If we needed any more evidence that our elected representatives should leave technical decisions to technical experts, Aviation Week provides it:

Senators who agree that NASA is taking too long to develop a design and procurement strategy for the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) that Congress ordered last year cannot agree among themselves on exactly what that design should be.

At issue is what kind of power will be used in the strap-on boosters needed to get the SLS off the pad, pitting powerful senators from both sides of the aisle against members of their own political parties in a letter-writing campaign to the executive branch aimed at generating jobs for their constituents.

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NASA PR — WASHINGTON — NASA’s partnership with industry to develop transportation to the International Space Station reaches another milestone on Wednesday, Aug. 24. The cargo module for Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Cygnus spacecraft, which will carry supplies to the station, is scheduled to arrive at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 4 p.m. EDT. During the next several months, Orbital’s engineering team will integrate the PCM with the Cygnus […]

Google Lunar X Prize Team Barcelona Moon has tested a prototype lunar rover designed to deal with those pesky moon rocks.

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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (Credit: www.kremlin.ru)

In June 2010, Russian president Dmitri Medvedev visited Silicon Valley in search of a model for how to modernize his country’s economy, which is deeply dependent upon natural resources. Dropping in on Twitter, conferring with Apple’s Steve Jobs and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and securing a $1 billion commitment from Cisco, the Russian leader laid out his plans to replicate the the valley in a brand new city called Skolkovo just outside of Moscow.

“In Russia, we have money, and in a number of cases, big money. But we don’t have Silicon Valley. That’s why this money should be spent correctly. It should be given to the right hands and there should be correct rules,” he during a speech, which he read from an Apple iPad.

The Skolkovo project took another step forward this week with the signing of separate agreements by Energia and Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev Company during the MAKS 2011 air show in Moscow. The companies agreed to set up R&D facilities within the innovation center.

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Thursday was not a good day for Russian and Chinese launch crews. Russia has lost contact with the Express-AM4 communications satellite after it was launched by a Proton-M.  Neither the rocket’s Briz-M upper stage nor the satellite has communicated with ground controllers. Roscosmos has located the upper stage in orbit, but the satellite’s location is unknown. The Express AM-4 satellite was designed for digital TV broadcasting. This is the third […]

Spacewalker Mike Fossum carries the Robotic Refueling Mission module from shuttle Atlantis to its temporary platform on the International Space Station on July 12, 2011. A robotic maneuver in September 2011 will transfer RRM to its permanent location on station’s ExPRESS Logistics Carrier-4. Credit: NASA

NASA PR — NASA’s groundbreaking Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) will reach a key milestone in September when the International Space Station (ISS) robots transfer the module to its permanent home on space station’s ExPRESS Logistics Carrier-4. Robotic operations for the technology demonstration are currently slated to begin soon afterwards.

A joint effort between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, RRM is designed to demonstrate the technologies, tools, and techniques needed to robotically service satellites, especially those not built with servicing in mind.

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Google Lunar X Prize competitor White Label Space will unveil its rover prototype during a press event in Tokyo on Monday, August 29. The video above was made to promote the event.

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