NEWSPAPER
NATIONAL SPACE SYMPOSIUM 2007
OFFICIAL SUPPLEMENT
INSIDE
WARNING ON SPACE WEATHER
Officials at NOAAs Space Environment Center Space are trying to raise awareness of
space weather issues, such as solar flares (below), which can disrupt satellite and
communication systems in orbit and on Earth.
See Page 8
AIDES URGE MORE DOD SPACE SPENDING
Adam Harris (left) and Josh Hartman (right), aides to the House Appropriations
defense subcommittee, discussed defense spending on space programs in an April
10 panel discussion.
See Page 4
RISK OF GETTING NEW TECH TO SPACE
Eugene Tattini (right), deputy director of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said
engineers at the lab are free to experiment as they shepherd technologies
across the valley of death to flight readiness.
See Page 18
To Guard Against Ares Slip, NASA
Weighs Buying Extra Test Hardware
BRIAN BERGER,
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.
W
hile it does not yet
have the budget to
do it, NASA is con-
sidering building more turbo
pumps and other J-2X engine
hardware to keep a test stand
catastrophe from further de-
laying the Ares 1 rocket's ar-
rival on the launch pad.
Doug Cooke, NASA deputy
associate administrator for
exploration systems, said dur-
ing a panel discussion at the
23rd National Space
Symposium here April 10 that
development of the Ares 1
upper-stage engine an
updated version of the Apollo-
heritage J-2 engine is the
central driver, aside from
budget, that will determine
when the Ares 1 is ready to
enter service launching the
Orion Crew Exploration
Vehicle.
NASA had at one time
hoped to field the space shut-
tle replacement as early as
2011, but budget issues have
forced the U.S. space agency
to push back the delivery date
to 2015. However, agency offi-
cials have said that if NASA
were given more of Ares' and
Orion's budget sooner, the
new system still could be ready
to enter service in mid 2013.
Meeting with reporters earli-
er in the day, Cooke said to
prevent testing setbacks
involving the J-2X from hold-
ing up development of Ares 1,
NASA is trying to find the
budget to build more turbo
pumps and other components
that could be damaged or
destroyed as Marshall Space
Flight Center and Pratt &
Whitney Rocketdyne start put-
ting the engine through its
paces.
"What you don't want to
have is a project that is so thin
on the test hardware that you
have a failure and then you
are down for months or a year
because you don't have any-
thing to go replace it and you
have to go and build another
part. We're working on trying
to make that more robust than
initially it was laid out," Cooke
said, adding, "in the budget,
we are looking for a way to
build more test hardware to
be more robust in that arena."
Cooke said NASA has not
made a final decision on what
additional J-2X hardware, if
any, it would order. "We're not
finalized on that yet," he said.
NASA awarded Canoga Park,
Calif.-based Pratt & Whitney
Rocketdyne a contract last
year to build five development
engines followed by two certifi-
cation engines used to demon-
strate the J-2X's performance
and lifetime limitations. The
Doug Cooke (above), NASA deputy associate administrator for exploration systems, said to prevent testing setbacks
involving the J-2X from holding up development of Ares 1, NASA is trying to find the budget to build more turbo pumps
and other components that could be damaged or destroyed as the engine is put through its paces.
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J-2X PAGE 3
BRIAN BERGER,
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.
NASA's 2007 operating plan,
sent to Congress in mid March
for review, formalizes the cancel-
lation of a planned 2011 robotic
lunar lander mission and details
the latest cost estimates for a slew
of other missions.
Canceling the robotic lunar
lander that was supposed to have
followed the 2008
Reconnaissance Orbiter to the
Moon would save NASA $105.8
million this year, according to the
operating plan.
The lander was canceled in
part to help NASA absorb a near-
ly $700 million shortfall in its
exploration systems budget with-
out having to delay near-term
work on the Ares 1 rocket and
Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle.
Those two programs still would
be funded at $2.55 billion this
year under the plan.
No other cancellations are
detailed in the operating plan, a
copy of which was obtained by
Space News.
The plan does, however, quan-
tify the extra funding NASA will
have to spend this year to main-
tain the launch schedules of sev-
eral major programs, including
the James Webb Space Telescope
and the Mars Science Laboratory.
Keeping James Webb on track
to launch in 2013 will cost $478.5
million this year, $9.9 million
more than NASA previously had
anticipated spending on the pro-
gram in 2007, according to the
documents.
Maintaining the Mars Science
Laboratory's 2009 launch date
will cost NASA an extra $62.7 mil-
lion this year, pushing the mis-
sion's total price tag, including
launch and several years of oper-
ations, to $1.75 billion.
NASA expects to spend $141.7
million completing the Gamma
Ray Large Area Telescope this
year, $16.6 million more than it
was banking on due problems
with the observatory's avionics
and main instrument. Total price
tag for the mission, due to
launch this November, is now
$871.7 million.
The Kepler planet-hunting tel-
escope also is costing more than
expected.
Delaying the launch of the
planet-hunting mission to
November 2008 will require an
additional $36.7 million for 2007
and increase the total cost of the
project to $649.3 million, accord-
ing to the operation plan.
Last year's doubts about the
flight-worthiness of the Delta 2
rocket that delayed the launch of
the Time History of Events and
Macroscale Interactions during
Substorms mission by four
months added $3.9 million to the
cost of the five-satellite project.
A NASA official said the agency
would not comment on specifics
of the operating plan since it was
still before Congress for review.
NASAs 2007 Operating Plan Details
Lunar Lander Cancellation, Cost Growth
NATIONAL SPACE SYMPOSIUM 2007
OFFICIAL SUPPLEMENT
SPACE NEWS
3
April 12, 2007
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first hot fire test of a full-up
engine is on track for 2010 at
NASA's Stennis Space Center in
Mississippi, according to Walt
Janowski, the company's J-2X
program manager.
While the J-2X was chosen in
part because of its human space-
flight heritage, Cooke told
reporters that the engine's pedi-
gree will not exempt it from a
rigorous testing program to
prove that its ready to launch
astronauts.
"It's got enough in modifica-
tions, [that] were going to have
to do full testing on it," Cooke
said. "There's no doubt about
that."
Recognizing how tricky devel-
oping a new engine or even
modifying an existing one
can be, NASA continues to study
back-up engines it could turn to
for the Ares 1 upper stage
should it encounter insurmount-
able problems with the J-2X.
"We have looked at possible
backups but those are still in
study right now," Cooke said.
"The primary path we want to
stay on is J-2. We're doing every-
thing we can to make that
robust."
Cooke acknowledged that one
of the engines getting a second
look is the space shuttle main
engine. NASA initially planned
to use a modified version of that
engine for the Ares 1 upper
stage, but decided in 2005 to go
with the J-2X instead since it also
could be used for the Moon-
bound upper stage NASA would
need to build for the heavy-lift
Ares 5 rocket.
Cooke said NASA remains con-
fident in the J-2X and said that
there was not much of an effort
being put into the analysis of
alternatives.
"It's actually kind of a 'back
burner' kind of look at this
point," he said.
Later, during the panel discus-
sion in which Cooke was joined
by the executives of three firms
helping NASA develop its new
human space transportation sys-
tem, the assessment of Ares' and
Orion's technical progress was
upbeat.
Michael Kahn, Alliant
Techsystems' vice president of
space launch systems, outlined
the hardware and tooling the
company is building in prepara-
tion for the first flight test of a
four-segmented version of Ares
1, now dubbed Ares 1-X, in 2009,
followed by the first hot fire test
of the five-segment booster
NASA intends to use as the rock-
et's main stage.
John Karas, Lockheed Martin
Space Systems vice president
and general manager for space
exploration, said Orion is mak-
ing steady progress, highlighting
the spacecraft's multi-engine
launch abort system as the so-
called critical path item pacing
Orion's development.
He said subscale tests of the
launch abort system, which is
being developed by Dulles, Va.-
based Orbital Sciences Corp.
under subcontract to Lockheed
Martin, would begin in less than
a year with full-scale test slated to
commence in about two years.
J-2X
FROM PAGE 1
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