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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: February 5, 2015 at 2:09:22 PM CST
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: NASA and Human Spaceflight News - Thursday – Feb. 5, 2015
We were blessed to see so many new Retiree/Graduates today at our monthly NASA Retiree luncheon at Hibachi Grill.Pat Bahr, Ann Patterson, Irene Piatek, Jon Hall,,,,Bob Egusquiza, ,,,,okay hope I did not miss anyone. Binh Luu --just kidding Binh has been retired 2 years practically!Reminder that spouses and friends are welcome too.EP group AMF celebration New Time Building 15 Lobby Wednesday, February 18th 2:00 -4:00Ceremony/roasting from 3-4. Cake and snacks will be served. (Looks like they added Bernie Rosenbaum too!)NASA and Human Spaceflight NewsThursday – Feb. 5, 2015HEADLINES AND LEADSCritical Year for SLS Development Continues With Base Heating TestsEmily Carney - AmericaSpaceNASA is taking further steps bringing the agency closer to taking astronauts into deep space. Just weeks after a development engine test fire, and a month prior to a full-scale booster qualification motor test fire, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) launch vehicle continues its development as short-duration base heating tests continue on small-scale models.Super Sizing Pegasus for SLS core transportChris Bergin - NASASpaceflight.comThe famous Pegasus Barge is deep into its jumboisation phase, as work continues to prepare it for a role in transporting the massive Space Launch System (SLS) stages from their birth place the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF). The upgraded Pegasus is set to transport the first major SLS hardware from New Orleans to the Stennis Space Center for testing as early as next year.For NASA, sending a person to Mars is simple. Dealing with Congress is hard.Joseph Stromberg - VoxNASA is currently embarking on an elaborate, utterly fantastical plan to send humans to Mars. It involves the biggest rocket ever built, a pit-stop at an asteroid, and could cost $100 billion or more over several decades.New Horizons Probe Delivers Pluto Pictures as a Birthday TributeAlan Boyle - NBC NewsIt's been 18 years since Clyde Tombaugh, Pluto's discoverer, passed away — but on Wednesday the late astronomer got a birthday present that would have made him beam with joy: the closest close-ups ever taken of the dwarf planet, delivered by NASA's New Horizons probe.Mission to Europa included in proposed NASA budgetJoe Latrell - Spaceflight InsiderNASA's chief financial officer David Radzanowski had requested $30 million over the next year to start work on a mission to the Jovian (one of four closest satellites of the gas giant Jupiter) moon Europa. His request was granted in the latest White House Space and Sciences budget. The proposed budget covers everything from the Commercial Crew Program ($1.2 billion) to the Asteroid Redirect Mission. It also contains the funding Radzanowski sought for the project.Aeroject Rocketdyne Puts The Smack Into SMAPSatNews DailyRocketdyne, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, helped propel the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket carrying the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite into orbit for NASA.Business On the Moon: FAA Backs Bigelow AerospaceLeonard David - Space.comThe U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's Office of the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (AST) has given thumbs-up regarding private sector operations on the moon.Spaceport awaiting federal funding to make repairsMichael Martz - Richmond Times-DispatchRepairs on the damaged Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island may have to halt in two weeks unless money arrives from a federal spending bill approved by Congress late last year.COMPLETE STORIESCritical Year for SLS Development Continues With Base Heating TestsEmily Carney - AmericaSpaceNASA is taking further steps bringing the agency closer to taking astronauts into deep space. Just weeks after a development engine test fire, and a month prior to a full-scale booster qualification motor test fire, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) launch vehicle continues its development as short-duration base heating tests continue on small-scale models.Engineers from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., are currently working with CUBRC, Inc., in Buffalo, N.Y., in testing two-percent scale models of the SLS propulsion system, which includes two five-segment solid rocket boosters, a core stage with four RS-25 engines (previously used during the space shuttle program), and a model of the entire rocket. These tests will provide NASA with more accurate data to aid in designing flight hardware and the system's base thermal protection system, which must protect the crew and vital systems from heating effects.NASA is aiming to perform an integrated systems test of SLS in late 2018 with Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), which will take an uncrewed Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) and European Space Agency (ESA) service module on a circumlunar flight. The agency announced that for this flight, " … [T]he SLS will feature a configuration for a 70-metric-ton (77-ton) lift capacity." On future flights, the launch system is planned to have a lift capacity of 130 metric tons (143 tons). This capability, described as "unprecedented" by NASA, will be needed to loft the Orion spacecraft and associated hardware to deep space destinations such as Mars, or distant asteroids.But before EM-1 launches in about 3.5 years (crewed missions are projected to start in 2020–2021), engineers must conduct extensive tests to gauge how this new system will perform. Enter the two-percent scale models, which are heated for very short periods of approximately 50-150 milliseconds at a time. Tests such as these are critical, as this new launch vehicle has never been flown in spaceflight history. Manish Mehta, lead engineer for the SLS Base Heating Test Program at Marshall, touched upon this fact."There's a lot of complex work that goes in to such a short-duration test. The timing of the propulsion systems and shock tunnel have to be precise. Although this test program has been technically challenging, there's no heritage data that we can fall back on to predict SLS base environments because this vehicle has never been flown before. There are four engines and two booster rocket plumes that are firing into the base. This results in highly complex flow physics, which is not something you can develop analytically and predict very accurately," he stated.According to NASA: "For the test series, which began in August 2014, the replicas are loaded with propellant, pressurized with hydrogen and oxygen lines and ignited in one of CUBRC's shock tunnels. The shock tunnel replicates both supersonic and hypersonic flight conditions, matching what the rocket's environment will be like during ascent, including temperature, pressure and velocity." These tests allow engineers to duplicate flight conditions (albeit on a much smaller scale) on the ground. The models, designed over a 1.5-year period, may also be reused.This series of 85 tests is planned to run through this summer. Just weeks ago, SLS passed another milestone as a development engine test fire took place at NASA's Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss.In a previous AmericaSpace article, Mike Killian wrote: "Locked down on the A1 test stand, Engine #0525 roared to life for 500 seconds, providing NASA engineers with critical data on the engine's new state-of-the-art controller unit—the 'brain' of the engine, which allows communication between the vehicle and the engine itself, relaying commands to the engine and transmitting data back to the vehicle. Higher inlet pressure conditions, thanks to the engines upgrades, will also be evaluated. The new controller also provides closed-loop management of the engine by regulating the thrust and fuel mixture ratio while monitoring the engine's health and status, thanks to updated hardware and software configured to operate with the new SLS avionics architecture. Engine 0525 is just a development engine, but the information it provides in testing will help perfect the engines that will fly on the SLS, starting with [EM-1] in late 2018."On the morning of March 11, Qualification Motor-1 (QM-1), a full-scale test model of SLS's booster, will fire for two minutes during another critical test. Killian recently wrote: "The colossal 321-foot-tall SLS will thunder toward space on the power of four former (upgraded) liquid-fueled space shuttle RS-25 engines, but even with a combined thrust of nearly 2.5 million pounds those four engines alone won't be enough to provide the 70-metric-ton (77-ton) lift capacity the initial SLS configuration promises. The rocket needs more power at launch to make NASA's ambitious deep-space human exploration plans a reality, and this spring ATK is expected to test fire the largest and most powerful solid rocket booster ever built to help get the job done."In Orion news, the test capsule used during last December's Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) will be put to work again during a mandatory ascent abort test, scheduled to take place in 2018. Called Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2), this mission " … must be flown before any America astronauts will be allowed on Orion's first crewed flight, currently targeted for about the 2020 to 2021 time frame," wrote AmericaSpace's Ken Kremer in December. This test will ensure the Launch Abort System (LAS) will be able to pull the capsule away from the launch vehicle and return astronauts safely back to Earth in the event a contingency occurs during ascent.While NASA is still years out in its timeline from making its first SLS launch, this rigorous schedule of testing shows that soon enough, the science fiction-esque scenes in SLS animations will become science reality.Super Sizing Pegasus for SLS core transportChris Bergin - NASASpaceflight.comThe famous Pegasus Barge is deep into its jumboisation phase, as work continues to prepare it for a role in transporting the massive Space Launch System (SLS) stages from their birth place the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF). The upgraded Pegasus is set to transport the first major SLS hardware from New Orleans to the Stennis Space Center for testing as early as next year.
Pegasus Stretch:Pegasus was specially designed and built for Shuttle External Tanks (ETs), making the 900 mile trip 41 times between 1999 and 2011, delivering 31 space shuttle external tanks: ET-103, ET-105, ET-106, ET-108, ET-110, ET-111, ET-113 and ET-115 through ET-138.Its final role in Shuttle support operations came via the shipping of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) ground support equipment to Stennis from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Pegasus was then mothballed at NASA's Stennis Space Center in 2011.Its transition to its next role began last summer, making a short trip to Amelia, Louisiana – where contractors at Conrad Shipyard LLC were tasked with modifications on the barge, part of the $8.5m contract they earned from NASA to prepare Pegasus for its role with SLS.At 260 feet long, 50 feet wide and 15 feet high Pegasus simply isn't large enough for the role of transporting the large core stages of the SLS."Modifications were needed to the barge due to the sheer size of the SLS – which is more than 50 feet taller than the shuttle, and will launch more than three times as much weight into space," noted Alan Murphy, team lead for the Pegasus project at MSFC."The core stage is 59 feet longer and more than 500,000 pounds heavier, including the ground support equipment, than the space shuttle external tank."The barges have played a role in transporting hardware since the Saturn era.At one point NASA had a fleet of barges, such as the Orion, Poseidon, Pearl River and Palaemon.These barges ferried Saturn IB and Saturn V stages between Marshall Space Center (MSFC); Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF); Mississippi Test Facility (MTF, renamed to Stennis Space Center); and Kennedy Space Center (KSC).Replacing NASA's aging Poseidon and Orion barges, Pegasus became the final barge used for transporting the shuttle ETs in 2002. It will be the sole barge used for SLS core transportation, deep into the 2020s.Modification work will ensure Pegasus will meet the American Bureau of Shipping standards, including load line certification, or verification of the barge's legal loading limit to safely maintain buoyancy during water travel.Stripped down to its bare bones, the Conrad crews have been tasked with installing a new, 165-foot center section for the barge, extending the total length of the barge from 260 feet to 310 feet. A 115-foot center section of the existing barge was removed and the new piece installed.The first planned set of voyages for the Pegasus will be from MAF – after picking up core stage structural test articles (STAs) – before shipping them to MSFC for testing."We look forward to seeing the barge back in the water for a new era of exploration," added Mr. Murphy.For the shipping of cores – Pegasus will be aided by the Self Propelled Module Transporter (SPMT) – that will allow for SLS Structural Test Articles (STAs) and the Integrated Core Stage (ICS) to depart MAF to NASA locations.The SPMT will be able to travel at up to three miles per hour and be capable – when SPMT modules are grouped together – of carrying up to 600,000lbs.A total of four transporters will be required for the SLS Program.Production of the hardware for the first STA elements is continuing at MAF, although the schedule has been delayed a few weeks due to an incident involving a bearing coming loose from the giant Vertical Assembly Center (VAC). No one was injured in the incident.Pegasus will ship the hardware for testing on two test stands, the tallest – Test Stand 4693 – will be 215 feet tall and will host testing on the LH2 tank.The shorter 4697 stand – 86 feet tall – will be used to test the LOX tank and forward skirt.Both of these test stands are currently under construction at the Marshall Space Flight Center.The barge also will deliver the flight core stage from Michoud to Stennis, where it will be tested in late 2016 and early 2017 on the B-2 test stand.The core stage will be installed on the stand – currently undergoing its own modifications – for propellant fill and drain testing and a hot fire test.The Green Run testing on the B-2 test stand will see the four RS-25 engines on the first Core Stage fired for a full mission duration of approximately 500 seconds.Stennis recently celebrated the return of RS-25 testing via the hot fire of unit E0525.For the debut flight – known as Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) – NASA's Liquid Engine Office has selected the first four engines that will loft the monster rocket uphill.The four engines – ME-2045, ME-2056, ME-2058, and ME-2060 – are all established Shuttle veterans with numerous successful missions under their belts.A total of 15 RS-25Ds left the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for their new role, arriving at the Stennis Space Center in 2012.Once testing of the EM-1 core is complete at Stennis, the Pegasus will transport the stage to Kennedy Space Center for preparation and integration into the SLS flight vehicle in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).EM-1 is currently set to launch in July, 2018.For NASA, sending a person to Mars is simple. Dealing with Congress is hard.Joseph Stromberg - VoxNASA is currently embarking on an elaborate, utterly fantastical plan to send humans to Mars. It involves the biggest rocket ever built, a pit-stop at an asteroid, and could cost $100 billion or more over several decades.The agency's engineers think they can make it work. But the biggest obstacle here isn't technological.The biggest obstacle is the insane politics of space exploration.NASA's current plan for Mars is a result of multiple political compromises over the last decade. The agency is building a new space capsule (called Orion), along with the largest rocket ever (called Space Launch System, or SLS). In the mid-2020s, NASA plans to use those systems to land astronauts on an asteroid that has been redirected by another probe to orbit the moon. Then, as technology keeps advancing, Orion and SLS should be ready for a Mars trip by 2033.The problem is that lawmakers have approved some of these steps — but may kill funding for others. Orion has already begun testing, and an SLS test flight is scheduled for 2018. But House Republicans are now skeptical about the asteroid mission (which came out of an earlier political compromise) and could kill it altogether. That would leave NASA's new rocket with nothing to do for decades, since the technology to get humans all the way to Mars won't be ready before the 2030s.In other words, it's possible that we'll have the most sophisticated human space exploration system of all time, but no money or plan to send it anywhere. "SLS and Orion, by themselves, cannot do very much," says John Logsdon, former director of the Space Policy Institute. "And there's just not going to be enough money for an exploration program unless something changes drastically."So NASA's Mars plan is a potential disaster. But it's also a product of the convoluted, politically driven process by which NASA is forced to plan its missions. When it comes to space, short-term thinking and partisanship don't lead to effective long-term planning — putting the future of human space exploration in doubt.New Horizons Probe Delivers Pluto Pictures as a Birthday TributeAlan Boyle - NBC NewsIt's been 18 years since Clyde Tombaugh, Pluto's discoverer, passed away — but on Wednesday the late astronomer got a birthday present that would have made him beam with joy: the closest close-ups ever taken of the dwarf planet, delivered by NASA's New Horizons probe."This is our birthday tribute to Professor Tombaugh and the Tombaugh family, in honor of his discovery and life achievements — which truly became a harbinger of 21st-century planetary astronomy," New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, said Wednesday in a news release about the images.The pictures, taken on Jan. 25 and Jan. 27, were the first views of Pluto acquired during an imaging campaign that will climax on July 14 with the first-ever flyby of that icy mini-world, 3 billion miles from the sun.New Horizons is still roughly 126 million miles (203 million kilometers) away from Pluto — which means the dwarf planet and its largest moon, Charon, show up as mere dots. But the view is due to improve in the months ahead: By May, the pictures taken by New Horizons' LORRI camera should outdo the best that the Hubble Space Telescope can manage.These pictures are meant primarily to help the New Horizons team adjust the spacecraft's course. On the basis of radio data, navigators already know they''ll need to make a slight course correction — something on the order of 1 meter per second (2.2 mph) in velocity, Stern said. Getting a visual fix will improve the accuracy of the adjustment, for next month's scheduled engine maneuver as well as course corrections to come."This is the beginning of a torrent of images between now and June, homing in for the encounter," Stern told NBC News. By the end of June, the New Horizons team expects to take more than 1,000 pictures of Pluto, he said.Wednesday's image release was timed to celebrate what would have been Tombaugh's 109th birthday. The astronomer was born in Streator, Illinois, on Feb. 4, 1906, and discovered Pluto in 1930 at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona."Of course dad would be thrilled about the New Horizons mission, and about the success to date of that mission," Tombaugh's son, Alden Tombaugh, said in a NASA video. "He always wanted to know more about everything that was out there."In a sense, Clyde Tombaugh is part of the mission: A smattering of Clyde Tombaugh's ashes was included as a payload on the spacecraft, with an inscription hailing him as the "discoverer of Pluto and the solar system's 'third zone.'"Mission to Europa included in proposed NASA budgetJoe Latrell - Spaceflight InsiderNASA's chief financial officer David Radzanowski had requested $30 million over the next year to start work on a mission to the Jovian (one of four closest satellites of the gas giant Jupiter) moon Europa. His request was granted in the latest White House Space and Sciences budget. The proposed budget covers everything from the Commercial Crew Program ($1.2 billion) to the Asteroid Redirect Mission. It also contains the funding Radzanowski sought for the project.A concept for more than 15 years, the Europa Clipper is designed to make 47 flybys of the icy moon. The altitudes of the encounters will range from a high of 1675 miles (2700 km) to a "low" of just 15 miles (25 km). As proposed, the Europa Clipper may launch sometime in the mid 2020s. The goal of this new mission is to determine if the ingredients for biological life reside beneath the moon's icy surface – something that scientists who have examined the world suspect might just be possible. This makes Europa potentially one of the best places besides Earth to find life within our solar system.The Europa Clipper is designed to carry a large assortment of instruments in its school-bus sized frame. It also has to stand up against the intense radiation belts of the Jovian system. Mission planners believe they can overcome these obstacles and create a probe capable of surviving the extreme environment.Scientists think Europa contains a liquid ocean below the ice – one that is possibly capable of supporting life. Recent studies have concluded that Europa, the sixth largest moon in the solar system, may harbor more than three times the total volume of water here on planet Earth. Europa also appears to be affected by processes similar to plate tectonics as evidenced by geysers on the moon's surface. If these assumptions are proven correct, the possibilities for life (even microbial life) on the Jovian moon increase dramatically.Before the Europa Clipper can be launched on its incredible journey, the proposed budget for funding must first travel the gauntlet of Congressional committees, budget rewrites and re-allocations. Still, the Europa Clipper has its fans. Rep. John Culberson, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee that funds NASA, is a big fan of a Europa mission and will be pleased with this part of the budget proposal. Ted Cruz, now chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees NASA, is also a supporter. But there are many Congressional Democrats and Republicans who may resist this proposal.In total, the Europa Clipper mission can expect $255 million to be allocated to the project over the next 5 years. That is of course dependent on the funding surviving the budget process.Aeroject Rocketdyne Puts The Smack Into SMAPSatNews DailyRocketdyne, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, helped propel the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket carrying the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite into orbit for NASA.SMAP was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Aerojet Rocketdyne propulsion included an RS-27A booster engine and an AJ10-118K upper-stage engine."Water is integral to almost every process on Earth—from sustaining the life of plants and animals, to weather dynamics on the planet, to erosion forces shaping the lands, and so many others," said Steve Bouley, vice president of Space Launch Systems at Aerojet Rocketdyne. "It's critical that the science community understands the dynamics of water movement so it can be properly managed on Earth, not just for humans but to protect and enhance the global natural environment. We are honored to be part of such an important mission."SMAP is an Earth satellite mission designed to measure and map the planet's soil moisture andfreeze/thaw to better understand terrestrial water, carbon and energy cycles. Using an advanced radar and radiometer, SMAP will be able to peer beneath the clouds, vegetation and other surface features to monitor water and energy fluxes, helping to improve flood predictions and drought monitoring. According to NASA, data from the three-year mission will play a crucial role in understanding changes in water availability, food production and other societal impacts of climate change.The RS-27A and AJ10-118K engines have helped place payloads into space aboard the Delta II launch vehicle for the U.S. Air Force, NASA and commercial spacecraft missions. The RS-27A is a liquid-fuel rocket engine developed by Aerojet Rocketdyne for use on the first stage of the Delta II. It provides 200,000 pounds of thrust at liftoff. The engine is a modified version of its predecessor, the RS-27. The AJ10-118K engine is also a liquid-fuel rocket engine for the upper stage and produces approximately 10,000 pounds of vacuum thrust for orbital insertion.Business On the Moon: FAA Backs Bigelow AerospaceLeonard David - Space.comThe U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's Office of the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (AST) has given thumbs-up regarding private sector operations on the moon.In a Dec. 22 letter to Bigelow Aerospace, the FAA's AST — in consultation with the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and other federal agencies, including NASA and NOAA — "is prepared to support Bigelow Aerospace's trailblazing initiative."The letter is in response to a Bigelow Aerospace "payload review" tied to commercial development of the moon.Protect assets and personnelThe FAA/AST letter, obtained by Inside Outer Space, encourages the private space firm to continue to invest in the development of Bigelow Aerospace's lunar habitat to support public and private sector activities."Moreover, we recognize the private sector's need to protect its assets and personnel on the Moon or on other celestial bodies," the FAA AST letter explains. "Supporting non-interference for private sector operations will enhance safety and only add to the long history of preserving ownership interests in hardware and equipment."Furthermore, the letter explains that the Department of State's fundamental concern is that the national regulatory framework, in its present form, is "ill-equipped" to enable the U.S. Government to fulfill its obligations under the Outer Space Treaty with respect to private sector activities on the moon or other celestial bodies."This response represents one small step for Bigelow Aerospace and one giant leap for lunar development," said Mike Gold, Director of Washington, D.C. Operations & Business Growth for Bigelow Aerospace, LLC.Economic growthIn 2013, after completing a Space Act Agreement on behalf of NASA to identify potential next steps for commercial space development, Bigelow Aerospace determined that the best destination for future private and public sector activities is the moon.Unlike asteroids or Mars, Bigelow Aerospace believes that the moon has the potential to support near-term opportunities for economic growth."As is the case with any new frontier, prospects remain uncertain, but the moon offers a variety of minerals and resources that could support mining or other forms of commercial operations," Gold added. "Bigelow Aerospace sees its role in lunar development as the historic equivalent of the Hudson Bay Company, providing the necessary habitats, equipment, and transportation for entrepreneurs to execute their business plans. Bigelow Aerospace wants to enable individuals, companies, and countries to transform the moon into a dynamic arena for imagination and innovation."Beginning of a processDoes the FAA now have jurisdiction over the moon? Does this letter fully resolve the legal vacuum that has existed for low-Earth orbit (LEO) and beyond LEO commercial operations?"This is the beginning of a process, not the end," Gold said. "This response represents a first step by the AST to use what authority it has to create a safe and attractive environment for commercial lunar development. The first step is always the most challenging, and we're grateful to the FAA AST and their colleagues at the Department of State for this decision."Spaceport awaiting federal funding to make repairsMichael Martz - Richmond Times-DispatchRepairs on the damaged Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island may have to halt in two weeks unless money arrives from a federal spending bill approved by Congress late last year.Dale K. Nash, executive director of the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, told a legislative subcommittee Wednesday he is "about two weeks away from getting to the point we can't go further" in repairing damage at the spaceport from the Oct. 28 explosion of a rocket carrying cargo for the International Space Station."We really can't go and finish without funding," Nash told the Senate Finance transportation subcommittee.The delay is tied to carrying out the omnibus federal spending bill's $20 million appropriation for NASA to ensure that the money goes to repair of the spaceport, which operates at the national space agency's Wallops Island Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore."NASA is fully aware of the intent of the $20 million they didn't expect to get, but they got," said Kevin Hall, spokesman for Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., who worked with Sen. Timothy M. Kaine, D-Va.; Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.; and members of both states' congressional delegations to secure the funding.Hall said his office is investigating the reason for the delay but is "trying to help the state navigate this process."Bill Readdy, chairman of the space flight authority board, said the delay is the result of ambiguous language that must be reconciled in legislation that rolled together multiple spending measures.Readdy expressed confidence the money will come, because NASA wants an additional commercial facility to launch rockets to resupply the space station.But he acknowledged any delay in repairs could affect the timing of resuming commercial flights from the spaceport."It all right now comes down to funding," he said.The commercial flights are governed by a memorandum of understanding and launch services agreement that Virginia reached with Orbital Sciences Corp. in 2009 and revised in 2012. The revised agreement did not provide for insurance of the state's roughly $100 million investment in the launch pad.The catastrophic failure of Orbital's Antares rocket Oct. 28 forced the company to look for other options to launch commercial flights to resupply the space station under a contract with NASA.The Fairfax County-based company announced that it would contract with a commercial flight facility at Cape Canaveral, Fla., to launch at least one supply mission by year's end with an option for another.Virginia's deal with Orbital requires the company to compensate the state for launching from another site. Nash said he could not reveal the amount.Nash hopes to have the pad repaired and tested by the end of this year, which would allow flights to resume from Wallops early next year.And that brings the plan back to funding to complete repairs."We can ill afford a delay," said Sen. Frank W. Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, the subcommittee chairman."We have a large investment in this project," Wagner said. "It's an investment we want to see a return on."ENDMore at www.spacetoday.net
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