posted 01-31-2010 06:52 PM               

NASA Announces Two News Conferences To Discuss The 2011 Budget And A Bold New Approach To Exploration

NASA will hold news conferences on Monday, Feb. 1, and Tuesday, Feb. 2, to discuss the fiscal year 2011 budget request and announce bold new developments in the nation's civil space effort.

On Monday, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Chief Financial Officer Beth Robinson will brief reporters about the agency's fiscal year 2011 budget during a teleconference at 12:30 p.m. EST. This is a change from the previously announced 3 p.m. Monday news conference in the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

On Tuesday, Administrator Bolden, Dr. John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, will introduce new commercial space pioneers, launching a game-changing way of developing technology to send humans to space.

The announcement will take place at 10 a.m. in the National Press Club's ballroom. NASA Television and the agency's Web site will carry the briefing live.

To listen to the news conferences online, visit: nasa.gov/newsaudio.

In addition to the two NASA events, Deputy Administrator Lori Garver will participate with Dr. Holdren in a briefing by the Office of Science and Technology Policy about the federal government's 2011 research and development budget. The briefing will take place at 1 p.m. EST, Monday, Feb. 1 in the auditorium of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The event also can be viewed online.

NASA budget and supporting information will be posted at 12:30 p.m., Feb. 1, at: nasa.gov/budget

posted 02-01-2010 09:28 AM               

The Federal Budget - Fiscal Year 2011:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration drives advances in science, technology, and exploration to enhance knowledge, education, innovation, economic vitality, stewardship of the Earth, and solutions to national and global challenges. The President's Budget invests an additional $6 billion in NASA over the next five years - an overall $100 billion commitment to the agency.

Build the Foundation for a Bold New Course for Human Space Flight

NASA's Constellation program -- based largely on existing technologies -- was based on a vision of returning astronauts back to the Moon by 2020. However, the program was over budget, behind schedule, and lacking in innovation due to a failure to invest in critical new technologies. Using a broad range of criteria an independent review panel determined that even if fully funded, NASA's program to repeat many of the achievements of the Apollo era, 50 years later, was the least attractive approach to space exploration as compared to potential alternatives. Furthermore, NASA's attempts to pursue its moon goals, while inadequate to that task, had drawn funding away from other NASA programs, including robotic space exploration, science, and Earth observations. The President's Budget cancels Constellation and replaces it with a bold new approach that invests in the building blocks of a more capable approach to space exploration that includes:

• Research and development to support future heavy-lift rocket systems that will increase the capability of future exploration architectures with significantly lower operations costs than current systems - potentially taking us farther and faster into space.
  
• A vigorous new technology development and test program that aims to increase the capabilities and reduce the cost of future exploration activities. NASA, working with industry, will build, fly, and test in orbit key technologies such as automated, autonomous rendezvous and docking, closed-loop life support systems, in-orbit propellant transfer, and advanced in-space propulsion so that our future human and robotic exploration missions are both highly capable and affordable.
  
• A steady stream of precursor robotic exploration missions to scout locations and demonstrate technologies to increase the safety and capability of future human missions and provide scientific dividends.

Expand America's Drive to 21st Century Space Exploration

• $369 million for a new agency-wide technology development and test program aimed at increasing the capabilities and reducing the cost of future NASA, other government, and commercial space activities.
  
• $183 million to extend operations of the ISS past its previously planned retirement date of 2016. NASA will deploy new research facilities to conduct scientific research and test technologies in space. New capabilities could include a centrifuge to support research into human physiology, inflatable space habitats, and a program to continuously upgrade Space Station capabilities.
  
• $600 million to complete the final five shuttle missions, allowing for a safe and orderly retirement of the Space Shuttle program even if its schedule slips into Fiscal Year 2011.

Invest in New Science, Innovation, and Jobs

• $1.2 billion for transformative research in exploration technology that will involve NASA, private industry, and academia, sparking spin-off technologies and potentially entire new industries.
  
• $150 million to accelerate the development of new satellites for Earth Science priorities.
  
• $170 million to develop and fly a replacement of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, a mission to identify global carbon sources and sinks that was lost when its launch vehicle failed in 2009.
  
• $500 million to contract with industry to provide astronaut transportation to the ISS, reducing the sole reliance on foreign crew transports and catalyzing new businesses and significant new jobs.

Increases Scientific Understanding of the Solar System and Universe

• $3.2 billion for science research grants and dozens of missions and telescopes studying the planets and stars - including new missions such as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, missions to study the Moon, and two Mars exploration missions.
  
• $14 million ($420 million over five years) for a mission to the Sun, flying through its outer atmosphere to better understand how it is heated and how it ejects the stream of charged particles known as the solar wind.
  
• Increase funding to detect asteroids that could potentially pose a hazard to the Earth.

High-Priority Performance Goals

Given the new investments identified in the President's FY 2011 budget for NASA, additional high-priority performance goals are expected to be formulated in the near future.

posted 02-01-2010 11:37 AM               

NASA - Budget Information - FY 2011 Budget

• FY 2011 Budget Overview (387 KB PDF)
  
• Administrator Bolden's Statement (68 KB)
  
• Deputy Administrator's Remarks at OSTP Budget Announcement (68 Kb)
  
• Office of Management and Budget: FY 2011 NASA Fact Sheet
  
• NASA Budget Details From OMB
  
• Joint Statement From NASA Administrator Bolden and John P. Holdren, Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy (112 Kb PDF)
  
• Statement from Buzz Aldrin: A New Direction in Space (13 Kb PDF)
  
• Statement From Norman R. Augustine (11 Kb PDF)

"So as much as we would not like it to be the case, and taking nothing away from the hard work and dedication of our team, the truth is that we were not on a path to get back to the moon's surface. And as we focused so much of our effort and funding on just getting to the Moon, we were neglecting investments in the key technologies that would be required to go beyond."

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"We're going to start by using the International Space Station as the national lab that it was envisioned to be."

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"NASA remains on track to fly out the remaining Space Shuttle manifest of five flights safely by the end of calendar year 2010. The FY 2011 Budget provides the additional resources required to do so, ensuring that the Shuttle workforce will be fully utilized during that time."

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"I am pleased to announce that NASA will award approximately $50M to further the commercial sector’s capability to support transport of crew to and from low Earth orbit. Through an open competition, NASA has awarded Space Act Agreements to:

• Blue Origin of Kent, Washington;
  
• The Boeing Company of Houston, Texas;
  
• Paragon Space Development Corporation of Tucson, Arizona;
  
• Sierra Nevada Corporation of Louisville, Colorado; and
  
• United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado

...for the development of crew concepts, technology demonstrations, and investigations for future commercial support of human spaceflight. We will be discussing these awards in more detail, and introducing you to the space pioneers behind them tomorrow at our event at the National Press Club."

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"At $3.1 billion over five years, an aggressive, new heavy lift research and development program will focus on development of new engines, propellants, materials and combustion processes, ultimately leading to innovative ways of accessing space to go beyond low Earth orbit."

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"In addition to the trailblazing technology programs, the President’s budget provides $3 billion over five years for robotic exploration precursor missions that will pave the way for later human exploration of the moon, Mars and nearby asteroids."

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"This new path is a big change. I realize that. But it is not a change from the guiding principles of NASA. It makes America stronger. It enables us to draw more strongly on the ingenuity of the commercial sector and create deeper ties with our international partners. We can't underestimate the rich promise of space exploration to draw nations together, and this budget gives us the means and the guidance to build even stronger alliances in the future. And it will inspire the young people of our Nation and the world to engage with us on an incredible journey of discovery. This change will be difficult and it will require that we all work together - Congress and the Administration, industry and academia, existing international partners and new, non-traditional international partners. Together we can fulfill the vision supported by this budget."

Critical Technology Demonstrations

Led by NASA's Exploration Directorate, components include:

• Flagship demonstration program:
  • Pursues projects that are generally funded at $0.4-$1.0 billion over lifetimes of less than 5-years, and that can include partnerships with international, commercial and other government entities.
    
  • Demonstrates critical technologies such as in-orbit propellant transfer and storage, inflatable modules, automated/autonomous rendezvous and docking, closed-loop life support systems, and other next-generation capabilities.
• Enabling technology development program:
  • Pursues smaller scale (less than $100 million generally) and shorter duration projects that are competitively selected and also can involve commercial, academic, and international partners.
    
  • Demonstrates a broad range of key technologies, including in-situ resource utilization and advanced in-space propulsion.

Heavy-Lift and Propulsion R&D

• Led by NASA's Exploration Directorate, this program will investigate a broad scope of R&D activities to support next-generation space launch propulsion technologies.

• This program seeks to both reduce costs and shorten development timeframes for future heavy-lift systems.

• Target R&D activities include:
  • New approaches to first-stage launch propulsion;
    
  • In-space advanced engine technology development and demonstrations; and
    
  • Foundational - basic - propulsion research.
• Projects may include intra-governmental, commercial, academic and international partnerships.

Robotic Precursor Missions

• Led by NASA's Exploration Directorate, this program will send robotic precursor missions to the Moon, Mars and its moons, Lagrange points, and nearby asteroids to scout targets for future human activities, and identify the hazards and resources that will determine the future course of the expansion of human civilization into space. Projects will generally support missions that are less than $800 million in life-cycle cost.

• Research goals include testing technologies and operational concepts and making observations that can benefit future human activities in space.

• Missions may include:
  • Landing on the Moon with a robot that can be tele-operated from Earth and can transmit near-live video.
    
  • Demonstrating a factory to process lunar or asteroid materials for use for various purposes.