When the Horse Has Left The Barn

Wayne Hale's NASA Blog: Shutting Down the Shuttle

"Hey, I am the biggest shuttle hugger there is. I think it is the best spacecraft ever built. But I also deal in the real world. Where does the money come from? Where do the people -- who should be working on the moon rocket -- where do they come from? We started shutting down the shuttle four years ago.

That horse has left the barn."

NASA and Challenger Center Sign Space Act Agreement

NASA and Challenger Center Combining Efforts for Students

"NASA and the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, Alexandria, Va., announced Thursday a cooperative Space Act Agreement to work together to encourage students to focus more on science, technology, engineering and mathematic studies and programs. Through hands-on interactive educational activities, NASA and the Challenger Center will engage students, their teachers, their families, and the general public to help increase overall science and technology literacy."

Mythbusting - Then and Now

No Rest for the Myth-Makers, Free Space

"Parts of the show are pretty goofy, but I enjoyed watching a chop-chop version of the scientific process in action. I hope I?m not ruining the ending for anyone who missed it last night and wants to catch a re-run, but Mythbusters says the only hoax going on is the one put forth by people who say the moon landings are a hoax. Unfortunately, this probably won?t make a whit of difference to anyone who doesn?t ascribe to rationality and logic -- the foundations of science, even science-lite like Mythbusters -- and it?s concerning that these attributes have waned faster than the bull market."

Computer Virus Discovered on ISS

NASA Discovers Computer Virus Aboard the International Space Station

"Reader note: This information was discussed at the ISS 30P SORR last week:

Special Topic on Virus detected onboard

- W32.Gammima.AG worm. This is a level 0 gaming virus intended to gather personal information.
- Virus was never a threat to any of the computers used for cmd and cntl and no adverse effect on ISS Ops."

Virus Infects Space Station Laptops (Again), Wired

"NASA declined to name the virus, but SpaceRef.com, which broke the story, reported that the worm was W32.Gammima.AG worm -- a worm first detected in August 2007 that installs software that steals credentials for online games."

Space Station computer infected, Houston Chronicle

"A laptop computer aboad the international space station detected a virus with a low level threat late last month, NASA acknowledged Tuesday."

McCain, Vitter, and Hutchison Want To Consider Shuttle Flights Past 2010

McCain asks Bush to tell NASA not to dismantle shuttle infrastructure, Orlando Sentinel

"Sen. John McCain -- joined by Republican colleagues Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and David Vitter of New Orleans -- sent a letter to President Bush this week, saying that in light of tensions with Russia, the White House should tell NASA to stop any further dismantling of the shuttle infrastructure for at least a year to keep open the possibility of more shuttle flights beyond 2010."

Full text of letter

A Farewell Message Worth Reading

Editor's 25 Aug note: The following farewell message was openly sent to several hundred employees at NASA MSFC. It is well worth reading.

Editor's 26 Aug Update: The author of this memo has responded with additional comments.

From: Finckenor, Jeffrey L. (MSFC-EV32)
Sent: Monday, August 25, 2008 8:23 AM
To: [Hundreds of people at NASA MSFC and Elsewhere]
Subject: Farewell Address

I wanted to let you know that I am leaving NASA. I am leaving civil service and going to work on Army helicopters, within walking distance of my current desk. My last day here is September 5.

In my 19 years here I have always been struck and humbled by the amazing level of talent of all of you. As well as how friendly, helpful and dedicated so many people have been. During much of my career here I've been tickled that I could actually get paid to do things that were so much fun.

As many of you can probably guess, the immediate cause of my departure is the CAD/PDM issue, but even I realize that this is just a symptom of much larger, agency wide problems. It just happens to be the particular symptom I'm close to and know something about. Over the last few years numerous people have asked if there was any hope the CAD/PDM problem could be fixed. My answer was usually that "I'm still here, so I still have hope". Well, I no longer have hope. With catastrophic level risks accumulating across the program, and a steadfast refusal to accept reality, it's become clear to me that as bad as things are they are going to have to get a whole lot worse before the pieces can be picked up and we can get something that works.

Once Upon A Time NASA Flew Epic Missions

Review: Fly Me To The Moon, OnOrbit.com

"I had a chance to see the new animated feature "Fly me to the Moon" the other day - in IMAX. If you manage to suspend concern for strict adherence to Apollo mission profiles and the laws of physics, its a fun little movie. While the humans rendered in this film are less than is possible with state of the art CGI, the main characters are very well done. And some of the scenes are rather dramatically imagined. There are also some humorous references to both "2001 A Space Odyssey" and the classic Simpson's episode "Deep Space Homer"."

Twittering XCOR Rocket Flights

Editor's note: Check out the rocketshadow Twitter feed from XCOR. Henry Vanderbilt got tapped for right seat with Rick Searfoss flying. Check in to see how that flight is going.

Russia Update

US reviewing 'entire relationship' with Russia: White House, AFP

"The United States is reviewing its "entire relationship" with Russia, the White House said Monday, charging that Moscow was still violating a ceasefire deal for the Georgia conflict. "We're reviewing our entire relationship with Russia, both for the medium term and the long term," said spokesman Tony Fratto, who charged there is "no question that Russia has not lived up to the ceasefire agreement."

US-Russia chill threatens NASA space program, AFP

"In an election year, it was going to be very difficult to get that waiver to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to an increasingly aggressive Russia," Nelson said. "Now, I'd say it's almost impossible."

When the shuttles retire, Baltimore Sun

"Congress should approve the waiver NASA needs to keep sending astronauts to the space station as planned, and it ought to be prepared to do more if Russia proves uncooperative. America must remain a leader in space. The U.S. space program is at a crucial juncture, and the country can't afford to let it be held hostage to dust-ups abroad with Russia or to partisan bickering at home."

Using the ISS To Do Military Recon?

Cosmonaut Photographed South Ossetia From ISS, Aviation Week

"On Aug. 9 Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko used a digital camera equipped with an 800mm telephoto lens and a video camera to photograph "after-effects of border conflict operations in the Caucasus," according to the ISS status report for that day published by NASA on its website."

NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 9 August 2008

"Also working from the discretionary task list, Oleg Kononenko conducted another session of the Russian GFI-8 "Uragan" (hurricane) earth-imaging program, using the D2X digital camera with the F800 telephoto lens and the HVR-Z1J SONY video camera. Uplinked target areas were glaciers on the north slope of the main Caucasus Ridge, the Dombai region, after-effects of border conflict operations in the Caucasus ..."