The White House has backed away from statements by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden that outreach to the Muslim World is a key priority for the space agency’s international relations efforts. Presidential Press Secretary Robert Gibbs responded to a question on Monday by saying that Bolden was not given this task and that it is not NASA’s job to do such things.

This adds more confusion to an existing firestorm of controversy since Bolden’s remarks were aired on al Jazeera TV recently. Only a week ago, Administration officials were strongly defending his remarks and actions and rightly accusing critics of taking the comments out of context.

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NASA PROGRAM UPDATE

NASA announced three new Centennial Challenges Tuesday, with an overall prize purse of $5 million. NASA’s Centennial Challenges are prize competitions for technological achievements by independent teams who work without government funding.

“NASA sponsors prize competitions because the agency believes student teams, private companies of all sizes and citizen-inventors can provide creative solutions to problems of interest to NASA and the nation,” said Bobby Braun, the agency’s chief technologist. “Prize competitions are a proven way to foster technological competitiveness, new industries and innovation across America.”

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Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center

Space Coast leaders are concerned that a compromise NASA funding bill being advanced by Florida Sen. Bill Nelson will hurt the state’s ability to be competitive in the commercial space sector, the Orlando Sentinel reports:

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Five members of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board have written a letter to Sen. Barbara Mikulski saying that critics are wrong to cite the board’s report in opposing the Obama Administration’s commercial spaceflight plans on safety grounds.

In particular, we have been somewhat surprised to learn that some people, both within and outside of the Congress, have interpreted the new White House strategy for space which gives a greater role to the commercial sector in providing crew transportation services to the International Space Station, as being not in line with the findings and recommendations of the CAIB report.

Our view is that NASA’s new direction can be a) just as safe, if not more safe, than government-controlled alternatives b) will achieve higher safety than that of the Space Shuttle, and c) is directly in line with the recommendations of the CAIB.

The letter, which is reproduced after the break, was signed by CAIB members G. Scott Hubbard, John Logsdon, Douglas Osheroff, Steven Wallace and Sheila Widnall.

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Where Should We Go in Space?
Tell Bill Nye During a Live Ustream Chat

“Tell us where you want to go in space!” said Bill Nye, slated to take the reins as the Planetary Society’s new executive director.

Nye will join Louis Friedman, the Society’s current executive director, on July 14, 2010 to talk with the public about The New NASA Plan — Destinations, during a live interactive video event on Ustream.

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UP Aerospace Spaceloft XL rocket lifts off from Spaceport America in New Mexico on May 2, 2009.

Sky not the limit for rocket maker
Highland Ranch Herald News

[Jerry] Larson, president and chief executive officer of UP Aerospace Inc., has become a pioneer in an industry — not to mention an entire universe — that is largely unexplored. Larson and a group of 15 colleagues from aerospace giant Lockheed-Martin launched their first successful rocket in 2004, and it only fed the desire to break more barriers.

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Space Shuttle

NASASpaceflight.com has details of an additional space shuttle mission that could be flown next June by Atlantis. A four-member crew would fly the ship to the International Space Station with additional supplies and equipment, possibly including a prototype plasma engine.

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NMSA ANNOUNCEMENT

The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) will be issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) on July 12 seeking bids for a contractor to provide regular sightseeing tours of the Spaceport America facilities and construction jobsite to the public. The NMSA wants to start regular weekend tour service as early as September 1, 2010. Prospective bidders are encouraged to obtain details from the RFP section of the spaceport website at https://www.spaceportamerica.com/news/requests-for-proposals.html

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This week in The Space Review: The gap in NewSpace business plans Last week came word that Rocketplane has filed for bankruptcy, ending its long but ultimately unsuccessful effort to develop new suborbital and orbital launch vehicles. Jeff Foust examines how the company’s failure can be linked, at least in part, to a gap in financing models for NewSpace companies. Weather and launch failures Weather is a frequent cause of […]

Monday, July 12, 2010: 2-3:30 PM PDT: We welcome Dr. Mark Lewis and Dr. C. F. Lance Chenault to discuss the upcoming AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference. Not only will be discussing the upcoming conference but also advanced propulsion possibilities. Tuesday, July 13, 2010, 7-8:30 PM PDT: We welcome back Dr. Burton Lee. Burton will discuss the newly announced European Commission Space Research Program, which is now actively seeking US companies […]

SpaceX's Falcon 9 on the pad at Cape Canaveral. (Credit: Chris Thompson/SpaceX)

CSF STATEMENT

As a strong supporter of a robust NASA human spaceflight program, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation is releasing the following statement to address topics related to human spaceflight, including commercial human spaceflight.  Please see items below on the topics of capability, safety, and cost savings:

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What if a big rock heads towards Earth? Cool video of new space vehicle tests, Space Shuttle worker layoff, NASA Boss Charlie Bolden’s Muslim comment, Last Shuttle Fuel Tank, Progress we have a problem, and asteroid ready for close up.