Congressional Hearing on ISS Status and Issues

The following is a rough transcript for the question segment of the House Committee hearing on Science and Technology for the ISS: Status and Issues:

Udall Q: How much will the taxpayers have paid for the station total?
Gerstenmaier: Be more specific. There are many costs that are indirectly related. Lets get back to that when you have the specifics

Udall: The station lives off consumables brought up by the shuttle. How important are these?
Gerstenmaier: we have 2 contingency flights that are ready to bring up spares in the manifest. This gives us breathing room if the commercial launch supply can’t deliver as soon as we would like. "Wwe just activated a lot of our systems on the outside of the space station" and they consume supplies.

Udall: You speak to the risk that we would incur if we didn’t fly those two contingency shuttle flights.
Gerstenmaier: We have seen some components perform much better than we had expected, and others that have not performed as well. The solar array rotator units and the CMG (control momnet gyros) have not performed as well, and that’s why we have the contingency flights.

Udall: Are those part of the manifest?
Gerstenmaier: They are part of the manifest, but they haven’t been approved or funded yet

Udall: Any backup plan if those flights cant be flown?
Gerstenmaier: If they don't fly, we will asses the risk of not having those spares.

Chaplin: If the spares to get pushed off until the COTS vehicles become available, the COTS vehicles might not be able to bring up the large spares. Or they might not be able to fit the spares planned for the contingency with the other parts that they need to bring.

Hall: You mentioned the risks if they cant fly. What if we do fly? With NASA's reliance on Soyuz, could you provide us with details about the reentry problem? What actions are being taken by the Russians to ensure safety?

Gerstenmaier: Both flights had a ballistic reentry. It spun like a bullet rather than flying with a controlled trajectory. Both vehicles had a failure of the service module to separate from the service module. The lower section did not properly release. The Russians saw that for the first vehicle and showed us conclusively that that is what happened because there was telemetry coming across a cable that should have been severed. It has not yet been proven conclusively what happened with this most recent vehicle. The fact that this problem has happened with two vehicles means that there is probably a design problem or a manufacturing change and we are going to look at that.

Hall: You may have to answer this in writing. In order for NASA to continue buying Soyuz, congress has to approve an exception to the Iran non-proliferation act. What would be the consequences if Congress did not pass that exception this year but it didn’t happen until next year.

Gerstenmaier: We really need that now. It takes 3 years to get the vehicle built. We need to get that approval this summer. We need a US presence to operate the US segment and we need the Soyuz to get us there. The only way to get them there initially is with the Soyuz. It is mandatory that congress approve the exception the Iran non-proliferation act.

Hall: Or we might have to abandon the ISS if congress doesn’t approve it and we don’t want that. It has a bad effect on the international partners.

Lampson: I may sound like a broken record about the Alpha Magnetic Spectometer. There is a lot of hope that that can be sent up. I hope that the contingency flights do get funded. Is there a possibility that the AMS can go up the shuttle before the shuttle program ends. What other hardware has been developed that isn’t scheduled for flight? is NASA going to launch it?

Gerstenmaier: In terms of the AMS we don’t see a spot in the current shuttle management. If I took those spares off of the spares for AMS, then I wouldn’t have the spares that would be needed. The contingency flights could not be used for the AMS because the space is needed to run the AMS itself.

Other hardware was cancelled before it was ready to be flown, including the CAM. However, the Cuppola will still go up. Combustion research will still go up. Our goal is to outfit station with the best racks that we can and we are still on track.

Gerstenmaier: I'll look and see if there is any other hardware that is ready to fly but isn’t on the manifest and get back to you.

Lampson: Is it worth congresses money to complete this other hardware (CAM) to fly it and launch?

Gerstenmaier: I'm an engineer who builds the stuff, I don’t have the best answer for that.

Lampson: If we hadn’t shut down the X-33 we might not have needed to rely on the Soyuz. We canceled it at the end of the X-33 and it cost more to shut down the project than it would have taken to complete it.

It is critical for our reputation to the world that if we want to work with with other countries on science related projects we need to do what we say that we are going to do. "I hope and pray that we don’t loose our position to other nations in this space race"

Rorabacher: Can you tell us about the willingness of the Russians and their likylyhood to expand our cooperation to make up for the loss of the shuttle?

Gerstenmaier: We have really come to work together through this project. When the Columbia was lost the Russians rose to that challenge and provided the Soyuz. If it weren’t for the Russians and their support, we would not have a space station. They need us as much as we need them. We give them power. They recognize that they can not run the station without us, but they will want compensation to provide the flights.

Rohrabacher: are they capable for delivering spares to keep the us segment operating?

Gerstenmaier: they can not provide our spares. We will have commercial re-supply give our supplies. The European ATV can also bring up US supplies. The Japanese have a test propulsion article and it might be able to provide spares for us.

Rohrabacher: But what do we have that is online or that hasn’t only flown once?

Gerstenmaier: The thing thats online is the European ATV.

Rohrabacher: so the ATV will provide us the capability that can provide the spares ability that we need.

Gerstenmaier: we will need a combination of vehicles.

Rohrabacher: We have been short sighted. It was hard to project that we could have lost the shuttles. Congress and this committee have been unwilling to prioritize. Its not that there has not been enough money to spend, but we haven’t been able to say "no" to things that have taken money away from completing the international space station. We heard about today that microscopic imaging and storage would help us utilize this great asses in a way that would let us achieve more. Is there any thought as to what it would cost to provide that to the station?

Gerstenmaier we have a -80 degrees freezer that can provide cold storage and some small centrifuges. We need to talk with the scientific community and make sure that we have what is available to the scientific community.

Rohrabacher: There is great value to be achieved with what we have constructed. If we can achieve billions of dollars of return for only a couple of million dollars of equipment. Maybe the private sector would be willing to pay the millions to get the billions of return. We should be thinking creatively and out of the box about how we can work with the Russians about how to think that way. Udall and I will be traveling to Russia to talk about this. Any advice that NASA has about this for how we can talk to the Russians would be appreciated.

Udall: we are running out of time for this hearing. NASA’s agreement is that the station operate until 2016. What would it take to get that extended?

Gerstenmaier: COTS or Orion could keep us going. We need some small studies that are done with the Russians for the life of the station and we have contracts and agreements with the Russians to continue the sustaining engineering work

Udall: But the Russians won’t provide escape ability once the Orion is operational or when a crewed COTS return comes online. When do you see the Orion becoming totally operational

Gerstenmaier: 2016 is when it will be totally online. I know that’s at the end of the station life. Regarding COTS, it would be best to ask the commercial sector when they think that they will be ready.

Udall: what do the COTS companies need to do to be ready?
Gerstenmaier: the recent Soyuz incidents show what a hard thing it is to dock for 6 months and come down and land. COTS will have many engineering milestones to achieve.

Udall: How important is it that NASA can purchase any tools that they need from Russia? Will the ISS be endangered if we don’t allow NASA to buy these things from Russia?

Gerstenmaier: the pump in the quest airlock is Russian provided and it must be provided by Russia. There are many other components that are small and must be provided for the life of the station

Udall: lots of suppliers work with Russians
Gerstenmaier: some of the cots bidders use Russian components and engines so they will need congressional authorization if the COTS participant that uses Russian components is selected

Udall: You talk about the Soyuz landing 400K away from their landing zone. If that happened in Colorado, they would land in mountain peaks. In Russians area they don’t have that. Could you elaborate?

Gerstenmaier "There’s is a lot of land that is open... Its not nearly as pretty as Colorado. They landed near some farmers who had started a brush fire before they had landed.

Udall: the astronauts opened the hatch say the fire, and closed the hatch. The parachute caught fire and was consumed in the brush fire. The Kazak farmers got there by the the that they opened that hatch.

Hall: I wanted to thank this group. I want to recognize that Gerstenmaier is the best program manager that NASA has ever had. Thank you.

Udall: This is very important testimony. The record will remain open for further questions from the panel. This hearing is now adjourned.

NASA Turns to Private Cargo

Aviation week reports that Michael Griffin, administrator of NASA, has expressly excluded cargo transport in a request to congress requesting that they authorize purchasing crew transport on Soyuz capsules. He plans on stocking up the space station with supplies (water, spare parts, etc) during the shuttle flights, and consuming those during any gap between the shuttle's retirement and when a COTS supplier comes online.

His letter names both the Soyuz and the unmanned progress as excluded from future purchased cargo transport. Griffin states that the white house is on board with this strategy. This development is interesting to consider in light of the earlier confusion about Griffins COTS vision, when he manifested his lack of confidence is a crewed COTS option.

This news comes on the heels of a novel new contract that NASA has signed with Hamilton Sundstrand this week for the purchase of water on the space station. Hamilton Sundstrand will produce a machine that combines Carbon Dioxide form the astronauts breathe with Hydrogen generated by the electrolysis of water when making the station's oxygen. The machine will produce water, which will be cycled back into the water recovery system, and methane that will be vented overboard. The agreement is that NASA will only pay for water produced on the station by this machine, but not for its development. If the machine does not work, NASA does not pay. Such an approach encourages Hamilton Sundstrand to produce at the lowest cost and highest quality while protecting NASA from paying for a defective product.

These are good signs that our nation's space agency is shifting toward a more friendly way of working with industry to create sustainable partnerships that are a high value to tax payer dollar.

NASA Administrator on KSC Job Cuts, COTS Expansion

Michael Griffin has told the the space subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee that KSC will endure substantial job loss as the shuttle is retired at 2010.

Subcommittee Chairman Bill Nelson suggested that the COTS program, which currently is contracting SpaceX and Orbital Sciences to develop commercial crew and cargo transportation to the space station, be accelerated to somehow help with the workforce situation at KSC. It is unclear how this could work, but Griffin promised to return and report back on the prospect.

COTS expansion would be a very good thing, and senators getting interested in COTS expansion would be an important step in promoting a sustainable space exploration program.

COTS on the Moon

The Hyperbola blog reports from the NASA/AIAA 3rd space exploration conference that NASA is considering extending the COTS program to the surface of the moon. This has not been incorporated yet into NASA's budgetary plan. Contact your congressman and tell them why COTS is a valuable program and why they need to grant NASA a larger budget with an expanded COTS program to ensure our nations success in returning to the moon.

Canada's Nova Scotia Space Industry Decision

Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil of Nova Scotia has charged the government there to throw their weight behind securing the presence of failed COTS bidder PlanetSpace to launch from their shores.

Canadian residents of the region should throw their weight in with Stephen McNeil to the leaders of the government there.

PlanetSpace seeks to develop point to point space travel as well as parcel delivery as it prepares to bid for services in COTS phase 2 when it comes up in 2010

Public Meeting Today about Commercial Launch Complex

At 6 p.m. today NASA will hold a public meeting regarding constructing commercial launch facilities at Cape Canaveral in the Titusville City Council chambers, and again at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Feb. 28 at New Smyrna Beach Public Library.

COTS Award to Orbital Sciences

NASA has selected Orbital Sciences as a winner of a $170 Million contract to provide commercial cargo and crew transportation to the space station. The announcement was made this afternoon.

Some significant details regarding this win include:

• Launch would likely not be from Florida, but Virginia, which has many perturbed
• NASA will invest $170 million
• Orbital will build a maneuvering spacecraft called Cygnus
• Orbital will build a Taurus II rocket to launch the Cygnus and modular pressurized and unpressurized cargo
  

Contact your congressman to call their attention to this historically significant event and urge them to provide more funding to the COTS program.

Public meetings on Commercial Launch Complex at KSC

NASA is holding 4 public hearing as preparation on a decision to build a private launch complex at the Kennedy Space Center.

In it's hay day, Cape Canaveral had multiple launches per year. Recently they are hard pressed to have one a year.

They are considering building these facilities in conjunction with their efforts with COTS and the retirement of the space shuttle. SpaceX is already planning on launches from the cape. Mario Busacca, at KSC, said "Here's the bottom line: In order for NASA to make a good decision, we need the public input, we need to understand what their issues are and how any decision we make is going to affect the public."

Building the complex would cost half a billion dollars. "NASA would provide the real estate, but the state or commercial companies would have to pay to build and operate the complex."

Go to the meetings. Tell them what you think.

"Public hearings are scheduled at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Feb. 25 in Titusville City Council chambers, and at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Feb. 28 at New Smyrna Beach Public Library."

For direct questions, contact Mario Busacca at 321-867-8456. You can send him an email, too

House Subcommittee Evaluates NASA Budget: Not Enough Money

The House Science and Technology reviewed NASA's 2009 budget today and listened to Administrator Michael Griffin's comments. The following quotes are some excerpts from his testimony. On purchasing Soyuz flights from the Russians after shuttle retirement:

"NASA needs this legislative authorization in 2008, because the Russians require 36 months lead-time to fabricate and build new Soyuz vehicles, and thus we will need to finalize contractual agreements late this year."

"The past several appropriations cycles have resulted in funding reductions for Exploration in favor of other priorities."

"American taxpayers are today paying Russian aerospace engineers to do work that should be done by Americans."

"NASA satellites supply more global climate change data than those of any other organization in the world"

"I believe the greatest challenge we face is to maintain a unified sense of purpose throughout the difficult transition from Shuttle to Constellation systems."

Ranking member Bart Gordon said:

"I believe that the Administration has to date failed to provide resources to NASA that are adequate for what it has asked NASA to do and what it agreed to in the Authorization Act."

and member Mark Udall said:

"The Administration has chosen not to request any additional funding for the Constellation program in this latest budget request, despite congressional encouragement from both sides of the aisle to do so. . . I intend to work hard this year to develop legislation to reauthorize NASA"

Florida Today's Eun Kim reports "Griffin also dismissed the idea of extending the life of the aging Shuttle, citing findings by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board that advised against it. . .'It is in the nation's interest to replace the shuttle as soon as possible,' Griffin said."

The presidents 09 Budget is to small for NASA. Congress can increase NASAs budget above what the president has requested.

The Senate committee on Science will review NASA's 2009 budget on February 27th.

Email, Fax, Call, and Visit your Congressmen and tell them exactly how much and for what they should increase NASA's 2009 budget. Then tell the president that he had better not resist Congresses efforts to increase NASA's budget when they return the budget for him to sign.

SpaceX Passes Design Review

SpaceX has completed a preliminary design review for using its' Dragon space capsule for use on the international space station. If SpaceX can close the Shuttle/Orion gap, it will have a profound and game changing impact on space exploration in America. Dragon will accomplish what Orion is suppose to do, but it will have done it faster and cheaper than Orion. It will mean that we do not have to purchase services from the Russians or the Europeans, it will enable Bigelow Aerospace to populate their space stations, and it could enable as yet unimagined orbital endeavors.

SpaceX is participating in NASAs COTS program, which initially awarded half a billion dollars to private companies to develop these capabilities. Contact your congressmen and tell them that COTS is a fantastic program and it should be expanded.

Email, Fax, Call, and Visit your Congressmen to tell them that this is a good program. Tell them to give NASA more money to fund this program or programs like it.

COTS on the Move Again

The Government Accountably office has denied Rocketplane Kistler attempt to retain money that had been conditianlly rewarded to them earlier to compete alongside SpaceX in delivering crew and cargo to the International Space Station. This allows for selection of one of four finalists for the remainder of the money: Spacehab, Andrews Space, Orbital Sciences, and PlanetSpace. The Space Prize act and COTS are both aimed at getting private space companies more involved in spaceflight.