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Independent Safety Experts Call For Shuttle Shutdown
Extending shuttle fleet operations beyond 2010 would endanger astronauts and sap money from efforts to launch human expeditions beyond Earth orbit, an independent safety oversight group said today.

"Continuing to fly the shuttle not only would increase the risk to crews, but also could jeopardize the future U.S. exploration program by squeezing available resources -- and, in the worst case, support -- for the Constellation program," the Aerospace safety Advisory Panel said in a newly released annual report.

Created by Congress to oversee NASA programs after the 1967 Apollo 1 launch pad fire killed three astronauts, the panel acknowledged that keeping the shuttle fleet in operation would minimize a five-year gap between shuttle retirement and the first piloted flights of Ares 1 rockets and Orion spacecraft.

However, the group said, it "does not favor that approach."

The panel of aerospace safety experts said shuttle manufacturing and support capabilities "are dwindling and possibly not restorable."

NASA since 2004 has been closing out contracts with shuttle component manufacturers as well as vendors who support them.

"The contractor manufacturing base and third-tier suppliers are starting to shut down," the group said. "The capability to manufacture and integrate specific long-lead items -- e.g., the external tank -- will very soon be too degraded to restore efficiently, cost-effectively, and in a timely manner."

Key personnel positions are slated for elimination in the first half of the year, the panel said.

A decision to extend the shuttle would require a sweeping reevaluation of crew and mission safety issues.

"Relatively high levels of inherent risk reside in the shuttle design, and these risks rise as more flights are attempted," the panel said.

The group also noted that the Columbia Accident Investigation Board recommended the entire shuttle system be recertified if NASA decided to keep the fleet in operation beyond 2010.

The money required to keep the $3-billion-a-year program in operation also would sap money from Project Constellation -- NASA's effort to return American astronauts to the moon by 2020, the group said.

Doing so would merely postpone or shift the gap in U.S. human spaceflight "while exposing NASA to the increased risk of shuttle flights and deferring the Constellation program," the group said.

On calls to accelerate the development of shuttle successor craft, the group said it "is not convinced" that Ares 1 rockets and Orion spacecraft can be fielded prior to March 2015 even if additional funding is provided by Congress.

"NASA is developing a new system for the first time in years, so it needs sufficient time to identify and resolve problems and reiterate the process," the group said.

The group also concluded that the private sector cannot bridge the gap. "There is no evidence" that commercial cargo and crew transport services will be developed in time to minimize the gap, the group said.

The spacecraft being developed by SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. are not subject to NASA human-rating standards "and are not proven to be appropriate to transport NASA personnel," the group said.

The capability of commercial spacecraft to safely dock with the International Space Station still must be demonstrated," the group said.

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Photo Gallery: Two Ships Perched On KSC Pads             
                            
ABOUT THE IMAGES: Click to enlarge the great shots of shuttle Atlantis (in theforeground) and shuttle Endeavour on Kennedy Space Center's launchComplex 39A and Launch Complex 39B, respectively.

Atlantis is being prepped for a May 12 launch on NASA's fifth and final Hubble Space Telescope servicing flight.


Endeavour rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building late Thursday andnow is being readied to fly a rescue mission if Atlantis sustainsdamage that would endanger its crew on atmospheric reentry.

TheRotating Service Structure at pad 39B swung open to receive Endeavour.The gantry at pad 39A was opened in advance of the delivery andinstallation Saturday of the cargo for the Hubble mission.


The service structures at both pads will remain open for KSC Family Dayon Saturday -- an open house that is expected to draw up to 50,000 NASAand contractor workers along with their families and friends.

The event is not open to the public.

However, there are two ways others can see Atlantis and Endeavour:


++Drive east on State Road 406 toward Playalinda Beach and see the shuttles from side-of-the-road pull-offs.

++Takethe bus tour at the KSC Visitor Complex and see the shuttles from agantry-like viewing site halfway between the Vehicle Assembly Buildingand the pads.

The bus tours are included with regular admission, which is $38 plus tax for adults and $28 plus tax for children ages 3-11.

The images all were captured by award-winning Florida Today photographer Michael R. Brown.

Click Read More to see additional photos:

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UCF prof wins NASA grant
A University of Central Florida professor has won one of a dozen NASA grants supporting research into the health and performance of astronauts during long-duration spaceflights, the agency announced today.

Eduardo Salas, a psychology professor, will be the principal investigator for a study titled, "Optimizing Crew Performance in Long Duration Space Exploration: Best Practices for Team Training and Cohesion Measurement."

Salas's expertise includes fostering teamwork, designing training techniques and decision-making under stress, according to his UCF bio. He is also the Human Systems Integration Research Department program director at the university's Institute for Simulation and Training.

A NASA press release did not break down the amounts of individual grants, but all 12 totaled nearly $16 million over three to four years.

The grants were awarded by NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, or NSBRI, a NASA-funded consortium of institutions studying health risks related to long-duration spaceflight, according to the press release.

Salas's proposal was one of 54 submitted in response to a research announcement titled "Research and Technology Development to Support Crew Health and Performance in Space Exploration Missions," NASA said

His grant falls under the purview of NASA's Human Research Program, which studies potential health issues in space and ways to mitigate them during and after missions.

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Report: EELVs Could Safely Launch Orion
Senior NASA managers are reviewing an independent analysis of whether United Launch Alliance's heavy-lift rockets could be viable alternatives to the agency's Ares I launcher, which is being designed to send astronauts into space after the shuttle is retired.

According to a report by NASAspacelight.com, the study indicates that the Delta IV and Atlas V are safer options than NASA has previously stated.

However, a NASA spokesman said today that the study's findings would not shift the agency's focus away from Ares to the boosters developed under the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle, or EELV, program.

"It just doesn't really make sense to change course right now," said Grey Hautaluoma, a spokesman for the Constellation program in Washington, D.C. "Any change at this point would only cost you more money and time, and everybody wants to avoid extending the gap."

That's the projected gap of roughly five years between the last space shuttle flight next year and the first flight of the Ares I carrying a crew in the Orion spacecraft, which is planned by early 2015.

NASA plans to launch astronauts on Russian Soyuz spacecraft during the gap, which threatens several thousand jobs at Kennedy Space Center.

Hautaluoma said NASA asked the California-based Aerospace Corp. to study the issue last December to provide the newly elected Obama administration with an independent analysis of the two systems.

Mike Griffin, NASA's administrator at the time, has been strongly opposed to use of heavy-lift versions of the Delta IV or Atlas V rockets promoted by ULA, the joint venture between Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. formed in 2006.

He has said that they would be twice as risky as the Ares I, whose first stage is based on the shuttle's solid rocket boosters; that some reported Ares design problems needing fixes are normal during development of a new vehicle; and that a change in course would further delay human flights.

He has also said that while EELVs could send crews to the International Space Station in low Earth orbit, they would require significant modification for lunar missions.

According to NASAspaceflight.com, the Aerospace Corp. analysis dismisses some safety concerns with the EELVs, but says the costs to human-rate them would be much higher than ULA has estimated.

Hautaluoma said the study likely would not be released because of the proprietary and "sensitive but unclassified" information it contains. He would not confirm the study's reported findings, saying they were still being evaluated.

"More data is always good," he said. "We're still moving forward with Ares. We thoroughly vetted it several yeers ago and decided it was the right choice."

A detailed NASA budget is expected to be released along with the federal budget in early May, and the document could further clarify timelines for the development of Ares I, the heavy-lift Ares V rocket and Altair lunar lander.

President Obama's nominee to run NASA could be announced before then.

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Hubble Payload Installed in Atlantis
Workers at Kennedy Space Center this morning began loading the 22,544-pound payload that will be hauled to the Hubble Space Telescope into shuttle Atlantis.

The fifth and final Hubble servicing mission is targeted for launch May 12.

Payload loading operations began around 7 a.m. at launch pad 39A and were expected to take about 12 hours, after which electrical connections inside the orbiter's cargo bay will begin to be made.

The highly sensitive payload is held by four large carriers: the Flight Support System, or FSS; the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier, or SLIC; the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment carrier, or MULE; and the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier, or ORUC.

The payload includes two new state-of-the-art science instruments, the Wide Field Camera-3 and Cosmic Origins Spectrograph; equipment for challenging repairs to two more instruments that aren't working, the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph; and replacement batteries, gyroscopes and thermal blankets.

Also heading into orbit is a data processing computer to replace one that failed last fall, causing the mission to be postponed from October.

All the hardware is designed to extend the school bus-sized observatory's life at least through 2014, and possibly years longer. It's discovery power could be increased by up to 70 times.

The telescope was launched in 1990 and is still running on its original batteries.

A crew of seven astronauts, led by three-time shuttle flyer and Hubble mission veteran Scott "Scooter" Altman, hopes to refurbish Hubble for the last time during an 11-day mission that includes five spacewalks.

You can read more about the mission in NASA's official STS-125 press kit, "The Final Visit to Hubble".

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Update: ULA weighs in on Ares debate
A news report Tuesday said an Aerospace Corp. analysis commissioned by NASA had presented United Launch Alliance's heavy-lift boosters as more viable alternatives to the agency's proposed Ares I rocket for launching crews to the International Space Station and the moon.

Asked about the analysis, ULA today offered the following statement:

"United Launch Alliance is aware of the public discussion of alternatives to Ares I and speculation regarding the use of Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles to support NASA crew launch requirements. We believe that at the current time these evaluations are most appropriately conducted within the government. Accordingly, we have responded to data requests from NASA and the Aerospace Corporation and will continue to do so to support any government evaluation. We are not prepared to discuss the data publicly."

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Kosmas: Eliminate "Arbitrary" Shuttle Deadline
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, whose district includes Kennedy Space Center, is backing the effort to eliminate an "arbitrary" 2010 deadline for NASA to retire the space shuttle.

The cost: an extra $2.5 billion in fiscal year 2011.

In a letter sent to congressional budget leaders today, the New Smyrna Democrat supported a provision pushed by Florida Sen. Bill Nelson that would give NASA the money needed to fly out nine remaining shuttle flights with a more flexible schedule that allowed missions to slip into 2011.

The next flight is targeted to launch May 12 to the Hubble Space Telescope. The rest would be to the International Space Station.

The Senate's budget proposal includes the extra funding, but the House's budget does not. The two budgets must be reconciled in conference committees.

Kosmas and Nelson argue that the deadline to retire shuttles by the end of 2010 creates schedule pressure that could endanger astronauts' safety, risks leaving the space station unfinished if flights can't be completed on time and ensures at least a five-year gap in U.S. human spaceflight.

NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel last week recommended retiring the shuttle as planned for safety reasons and to focus resources on development of the shuttle's replacement, the Constellation program.

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Atlantis Crew Excited for Hubble Mission
Seven months after their mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope was postponed, Atlantis astronauts said today they were thrilled the mission is approaching again and they felt better prepared for it.

"We used our time wisely with this slip to try and take ourselves up to another level," said mission commander Scott "Scooter" Altman, a retired Navy captain making his fourth shuttle flight, during a media briefing at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The fifth and final mission to service the observatory - launched 19 years ago on Friday - is still targeted for launch May 12 from Kennedy Space Center.

But managers said today they will try to push that date forward by one day if possible, to get three attempts in before range schedules would force them to take a week off. A launch date decision is expected next Thursday.

The Hubble mission was nearing a liftoff last October when a critical computer on the telescope failed, prompting a delay.

Now the Atlantis crew plans to install a replacement computer during the first of the 11-day mission's five consecutive spacewalks.

The additional job limits the time available to attempt a complex repair of an important science instrument on the telescope, the Advanced Camera for Surveys.

In addition to that repair, the crew plans to install two new state-of-the-art instruments and repair another that has stopped working since astronauts' last servicing mission seven years ago.

The crew will also install new batteries, gyroscopes and "cookie sheet" thermal protection expected to extend Hubble's life at least through 2014, and possibly years longer.

The iconic telescope is known for discoveries that have improved understanding of the expansion and structure of the universe, the birth and death of stars and the formation of planets, mission scientists said.

"Hubble can continue to work on these problems," said Dave Leckrone, Hubble project scientist, at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

The mission's spacewalkers include veteran Hubble repairmen John Grunsfeld and Mike Massimino, who are making their third and second visits to the telescope, respectively.

The crew's first-time flyers are pilot Gregory Johnson, robotic specialist Megan McArthur and spacewalkers Micheal Good and Drew Feuestal.

Grunsfeld said the crew was looking forward to its challenging work on the critical final mission to Hubble.

"Hubble needs a hug," he said.

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NASA to try to launch Atlantis a day early

NASA is working to launch space shuttle Atlantis to the Hubble Space Telescope a day earlier than planned, on May 11.

The Air Force's Eastern Range does not have dates available after for about a week after May 13, said LeRoy Cain, deputy shuttle program manager, during a briefing this morning.

NASA prefers to have three launch opportunities before standing down. May 20 would be the next available date.

The launch of a weather and climate observation satellite on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket is expected to be delayed past its most recent May 20 target date.

The Eastern Range tracks all rockets launched from KSC and Cape Canaveral to make sure they don't stray off course and endanger people or property. A spokesman could not immediately confirm why launch dates were unavailable for a week, but it could be due to planned military exercises.

Cain said teams believe the 11th is doable, but a decision would be made at a flight readiness review next Thursday.

The main challenge is the readiness of the Hubble payload.

A slip past May 20 could force Endeavour's next mission, now targeted for launch June 13, to slip to July.

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Nelson keeps pressing for Bolden to be NASA chief
From Eun Kyung Kim in Washington:

Seems that U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson isn't the only one backing his friend, Charles Bolden, to be the next NASA administrator.

"I happened to bump into Sally Ride today, and she said the same thing: Charlie would be great," Nelson said Thursday afternoon during a meeting with reporters on an unrelated topic.

Bolden co-piloted the 1986 space shuttle flight that included Nelson, and his name is among the few considered as potential candidates for NASA administrator.
Nelson said he's not sure why the White House continues to delay making an announcement.

"There is some political center that is slow walking this. And I don't know what it is, who it is, or why," the Orlando Democrat said. "But all of the competition has either dropped out or been put someplace else? I don't know anybody else who is in serious contention."

In addition to Ride, the first American woman in space, Nelson said another NASA icon also has lobbied the Obama administration on naming an adminstrator quickly.
"I've had John Glenn call the White House and weigh in on this," he said.

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Please, don't rush this job
Today, we're starting a weekly column about space issues. I hope to prompt civil discussion of issues. The column will appear Mondays in the print newspaper, but Flame Trench readers will see it here early, every Sunday afternoon. I hope you enjoy the column and the resulting discussion. If you want to weigh in, you can click comment below or just e-mail me directly here. Here's the first column.

September 30, 2010, can't become the new February 19, 2004.

The two dates seem arbitrary because they are. They may seem unrelated, but they're not.

September 30, 2010, is technically the deadline for finishing the last space shuttle mission and retiring the fleet.

February 19, 2004, was the deadline for finishing construction of the International Space Station. That was before Columbia.

Under intense pressure to keep space station building on schedule and within budget, managers harped on that date. They installed screen-savers on workers' computers counting down the seconds. The message: hurry up, time is running out on your program.

Then we lost the Columbia astronauts. Investigators blamed the accident in part on schedule pressure, saying it drove people to make bad tradeoffs favoring on-time flights over safety. They wrote, "most of the shuttle program's concerns about Columbia's foam strike were not about the threat it might pose to the vehicle in orbit, but about the threat it might pose to the schedule."

Fast-forward to 2009. NASA's shuttle program is again working against the clock. I believe managers, engineers and front-line shuttle workers learned the agonizing lessons of Columbia and will not repeat those mistakes on purpose. But, the influence of schedule pressure can be subtle.

In a business demanding perfection, it's the little unnoticed decisions that can add up to catastrophe. Subtle pressure is there in the form of the 2010 deadline. NASA needs to fly nine more missions to complete the shuttle's mission, which is to finish building and outfitting a space station that can stay in orbit a decade or so.

That's as many as nine missions in about 19 months, or almost six launches per year. Since return to flight, NASA has flown about three times a year. Even that has required near-flawless preparation by crews at Kennedy Space Center and some (recent) good luck with the weather.

Nothing is impossible, but flying shuttles every other month or so is as close as it gets. With three orbiters left, stricter safety rules and slim budgets, flying these last missions is going to be hard enough without the tick-tock of the clock booming in the background. Making matters worse: an exodus of talented people fleeing for more secure jobs.

So, what needs to happen?

First, President Obama needs to name a NASA administrator or empower acting leader Christopher Scolese to begin the realignment of priorities that the president promised during the campaign. NASA appears almost paralyzed by the lack of guidance and conflicting rumors about which way the president plans to go next.

Second, someone must determine if all the flights scheduled are needed. If so, leaders need to make clear that the shuttles will be retired upon completion of their mission and not some date on the calendar.

On the other hand, if it's determined that the U.S. can't afford to fly past 2010, then it needs to be made clear that missions at the tail end of the schedule are optional and will be canceled if they can't be flown safely by then. Right now, there seems to be much confusion and debate on this point.

You can't rush this job. We've learned that lesson twice, the hard way.

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Former NASA Chief Griffin Takes A New Job
Former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin has a new job: "eminent scholar" and professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at University of Alabama in Huntsville.

"Michael Griffin is recognized worldwide as a leading authority on aerospace engineering and as a visionary for American space flight. We believe his contributions to this university will be of tremendous value," David Williams, president of the university, said in a statement.

"Dr. Griffin's appointment as a professor and eminent scholar will help raise the visibility of our aerospace engineering program to an even higher level. His achievements, both from a technical standpoint and as an academician, make him a valuable addition to our campus and provide great opportunities for this university."

Corporate leaders praised Griffin's appointment.

"In business, public service and leadership in space, Mike Griffin has always exemplified the best in engineering, sound management and future vision," Jim Albaugh, President and CEO of The Boeing Co.'s Integrated Defense Systems, said in a statement. "I'm confident that he will inspire a new generation of engineers and visionaries at a time when more than ever we need young people to aspire to reach the great goals in innovation and technology."

In 2005, then-President Bush appointed Griffin as the 11th NASA Administrator. He served in that role until the Obama Administration took office on Jan. 20.

Griffin previously served as Head of the Space Department at the Applied Physics Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University, and he played a leading role in numerous other space missions through employment at the APL, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Computer Science Corporation.

Prior to joining APL, he served in many executive positions with aerospace-related companies and he has held several academic appointments. Dr. Griffin has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, the Johns Hopkins University, and George Washington University.

Griffin said he and his wife, Rebecca, look forward to his new role.

"Everyone I have talked to in Huntsville, beginning with Dave Williams and his senior staff at UAHuntsville, university trustees, and local industry and community leaders, has been incredibly gracious in welcoming Rebecca and me to the Huntsville community," Griffin said in a statement.

"I intend to remain actively involved in all aspects of U.S. defense and civil space programs," he added, including such activities as teaching, research and helping develop the next generation of aerospace designers and leaders.

Griffin is expected to assume his duties in mid-May.

A member of the National Academy of Engineering and the International Academy of Astronautics, Griffin is an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society, and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.

He is the recipient of many honors and awards, including the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, the AIAA Space Systems Medal and Goddard Astronautics Award, and the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest award which can be conferred on a non-government employee. He is also the 2009 recipient of the National Space Club's Goddard Trophy, and the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement.

He has taught courses in spacecraft design, applied mathematics, guidance and navigation, compressible flow, computational fluid dynamics, spacecraft attitude control, astrodynamics, and introductory aerospace engineering. He is the lead author of numerous technical papers, as well as the textbook Space Vehicle Design, and is a Registered Professional Engineer in Maryland and California.

He previously served as both the Chief Engineer and the Associate Administrator for Exploration at NASA, and as the Deputy for Technology of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization. Prior to joining SDIO in an executive capacity, he played a key role in conceiving and directing several "first of a kind" space tests in support of strategic defense research, development, and flight testing. These included the first space-to-space intercept of a ballistic missile in powered flight, the first broad-spectrum spaceborne reconnaissance of targets and decoys in midcourse flight, and the first space-to-ground reconnaissance of ballistic missiles during the boost phase.

Griffin obtained his B.A. in Physics from the Johns Hopkins University, which he attended as the winner of a Maryland Senatorial Scholarship. He holds Master's degrees in Aerospace Science from Catholic University, Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California, Applied Physics from Johns Hopkins, Civil Engineering from George Washington University, and Business Administration from Loyola College of Maryland. He received his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland.

University of Alabama in Huntsville is a research-intensive, public coeducational university accredited to award baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degrees. The university has colleges of business, engineering, liberal arts, nursing and science, and a school of graduate studies.

The university is ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the 150 best national doctoral universities in the nation.

The school is a Space Grant university, and is among the national leaders in NASA-sponsored research. The campus is located near NASAâ

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NASA Conducts Key Shuttle Payload Key Test
NASA is marching through a major payload test today as the agency and its shuttle fleet operators gear up for the planned May 11 launch of shuttle Atlantis and seven astronauts on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

With the 18-story spaceship perched on launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, NASA and United Space Alliance are in the midst of a two-day test aimed at verifying electrical connections between shuttle payload elements, their carriers, the orbiter and the flight deck.

The Integrated Verification Test began today and is scheduled to be completed Tuesday. An end-to-end test of communications links between the cargo, the shuttle, NASA's Launch Control Center and NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system will follow later this week.

The tests are expected to be complete by the time senior NASA managers meet for an executive-level Flight Readiness Review on Thursday.

NASA will hold a press conference after the conclusion of the review, and you can watch it live here in The Flame Trench. The briefing is scheduled for no earlier than 6 p.m. Thursday, and you can click the NASA TV box at the right hand side of this page to launch our NASA TV viewer and live coverage.

The Atlantis astronauts plan five spacewalks on consecutive days to service the Hubble Telescope for a fifth and final time.

Nestled in the shuttle's cargo bay is a variety of gear that includes:

++Two new state-of-the-art science instruments: the Widefield Camera 3 and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph.

++New batteries to replace original equipment that has been operating since the observatory was launched aboard Discovery 19 years ago.

++New gyroscopes designed to keep the observatory flying in a stable manner -- a capability critical to precisely pointing at celestial objects.

The astronauts also plan to repair two telescope instruments: the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph.

The crew includes mission commander Scott Altman, pilot Gregory "Ray Jay" Johnson and five mission specialists: robot arm operators Megan McArthur and spacewalkers John Grunsfeld, Andrew Feustel, Mike Massimino and Mike Good.

The astronauts are due in at KSC on May 8 -- the same day the countdown for launch picks up at the nation's shuttle homeport.

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Budget Could Extend Shuttle Deadline
Congressional budget planners have agreed to funding that might allow NASA to fly out remaining space shuttle flights after the current 2010 deadline.

The extra $2.5 billion needed in the 2011 fiscal year wouldn't be appropriated until next year.

But Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, whose district includes Kennedy Space Center, said plans for the funding effectively eliminated an "arbitrary" retirement deadline and would benefit Kennedy Space Center workers facing layoffs next year.

"This budget is a significant step towards maintaining safety, minimizing the spaceflight gap, and preserving the highly skilled workforce at Kennedy Space Center and throughout Central Florida," she said in a statement.

The full House and Senate could vote on the budget plan as early as today, according to Kosmas' office, or later this week.

Then it's up to appropriatons subcommittees to determine actual funding levels later this summer for fiscal year 2010, and next year for 2011.

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson had won inclusion of the additional 2011 funding in the Senate's budget proposal, but it was not in the House proposal, which Kosmas voted against.

According to a statement from the joint budget conference, the funding was added "in anticipation that the funding is needed for the remaining eight space shuttle missions to safely fly and to complete the construction and equipping of the international space station."

Nelson and Kosmas, among others, argued that a hard deadline at the end of 2010 would create schedule pressure that could increase risks to mission safety.

President Obama's budget blueprint in February had called for the addition of one shuttle flight only if it could be flown safely by the end of 2010. Funding for that mission - which would bring to nine the number currently left to fly - is not yet approved.

NASA and other federal agencies are expected to release detailed 2010 budgets early next month.

NASA is targeting a May 11 liftoff of shuttle Atlantis to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. The other eight planned missions would complete assembly of the International Space Station.

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Atlantis will undergo minor repair
A dropped tool during payload loading operations last week will require a repair to shuttle Atlantis after all, NASA said today.

The patch to a radiator panel inside the orbiter's left payload bay door is not expected to impact a targeted May 11 launch to the Hubble Space Telescope, said KSC spokesman Allard Beutel.

The repair, which must carefully avoid potential contamination of Hubble's highly sensitive payload, is precautionary to ensure that launch vibrations don't worsen the crack, he said.

Photographs taken Monday revealed the small surface crack, after inspections under magnification last week showed no damage beneath the radiator's metal faceplate or to delicate freon loops.

The minor damage occurred during loading of the payload into Atlantis last Wednesday when a socket fell off a wrench, grazed two employees and caused the dent.

Atlantis astronauts this afternoon had a chance to see the payload and cargo bay for themselves, conducting a walk-down of the payload at launch pad 39A in a brief final training visit before their launch.

The standard pre-launch activity wasn't possible when the crew visited earlier this month because the payload had not yet been installed.

Tests of the payload's electrical connections with the orbtier were continuing for a second day and expected to conclude this evening.

After the payload tour, mission commander Scott Altman and pilot Gregory Johnson began practicing landings in the Shuttle Training Aircraft, a Gulfstream jet modified to handle like the shuttle on descent.

The entire crew, which also includes mission specialists Drew Feustel, Mike Good, John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino and Megan McArthur, was expected to return to Houston in T-38 jets by this evening.

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Atlantis will undergo minor repair
A dropped tool during payload loading operations last week will require a repair to shuttle Atlantis after all, NASA said today.

The patch to a radiator panel inside the orbiter's left payload bay door is not expected to impact a targeted May 11 launch to the Hubble Space Telescope, said KSC spokesman Allard Beutel.

The repair, which must carefully avoid potential contamination of Hubble's highly sensitive payload, is precautionary to ensure that launch vibrations don't worsen the crack, he said.

Photographs taken Monday revealed the small surface crack, after inspections under magnification last week showed no damage beneath the radiator's metal faceplate or to delicate freon loops.

The minor damage occurred during loading of the payload into Atlantis last Wednesday when a socket fell off a wrench, grazed two employees and caused the dent.

Atlantis astronauts this afternoon had a chance to see the payload and cargo bay for themselves, conducting a walk-down of the payload at launch pad 39A in a brief final training visit before their launch.

The standard pre-launch activity wasn't possible when the crew visited earlier this month because the payload had not yet been installed.

Tests of the payload's electrical connections with the orbtier were continuing for a second day and expected to conclude this evening.

After the payload tour, mission commander Scott Altman and pilot Gregory Johnson began practicing landings in the Shuttle Training Aircraft, a Gulfstream jet modified to handle like the shuttle on descent.

The entire crew, which also includes mission specialists Drew Feustel, Mike Good, John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino and Megan McArthur, was expected to return to Houston in T-38 jets by this evening.

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Scolese Testimony on NASA Budget
Christopher Scolese, NASA's acting administrator, this morning is testifying about the agency's fiscal year 2010 budget before the U.S. House's Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies.

You can watch the hearing live by clicking on the image above to launch a NASA TV viewer.

The discussion follows the president's February release of a budget blueprint providing NASA with $18.7 billion next year, but precedes release of a more detailed budget next month.

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NASA Honors Former Florida Today Columnist
A former Florida Today columnist, three other veteran aerospace reporters and a public affairs officer were honored by NASA today for their efforts to chronicle the nation's space program at Kennedy Space Center.

The name of the late Milt Salamon, who worked as a local columnist at Florida Today and its predecessor Today for almost three decades, was permanently inscribed on a Roll Of Honor called the "Chroniclers" at the NASA News Center at the agency's Launch Complex 39 Press Site.

A wall on the east side of the NASA News Center now includes gold plates inscribed with the names of Salamon as well as Sue Butler of the Daytona Beach News Journal and the Associated Press; the late Jerry Hannifin of Time magazine; the late Rudy Abramson of the Los Angeles Times; and the late Frank Colella, the first manager of Public Affairs at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

The Chroniclers Wall recognizes the career achievements of the writers, journalists, broadcasters and communicators who covered the agency at KSC for more than 10 years and have retired or are no longer working in aerospace journalism. Famous names on the wall include former CBS News anchor Walter Chronkite, Jules Bergman of ABC News, author Martin Caiden, local radio personality Mercer Livermore, Roy Neal of NBC News and longtime Associated Press Aerospace Writer Howard Benedict.

NASA noted the special role Salamon played in writing about the people who have worked at Kennedy Space Center and lived on the Space Coast. Many ended up as characters in columns written by Salamon, who was known for putting the names of KSC workers and others in the community in bold print in the newspaper.

"He probably wrote more about the ordinary people who worked here than anybody else," said Hugh Harris, former director of public affairs at KSC.

The addition of Salamon and the others brings to 62 the number of names on the Chroniclers Wall.

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Top NASA Candidate Lyles Takes Name From Hat
A top candidate for the NASA Administrator job reportedly has taken his name out of consideration because taking the post would cause too much of a financial hardship for his family.

Retired Air Force General Lester Lyles, 62, told the Dayton Daily News that Obama Administration officials had indicated he was the top candidate for the job and appealed to his patriotism to try to get him to take the post.

Lyles, the former chief of Air Force Space & Missile Systems Command, is one of several rumored candidates for the job, and only one of them appears to remain in the running.

Retired Air Force Gen. Scott Gration, a key military and foreign policy advisor to the president, took another administration job as special envoy to Sudan.

Steve Isakowitz, a former NASA Comptroller, is staying on as Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Energy.

Former U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, who has ties to NASA's Johnson Space Center, appears to be out of the running. Lori Garver, a top space policy advisor to Obama who was a Clinton administration appointee to NASA, has been mentioned as a likely candidate for the NASA Deputy Administrator job.

And that leaves former astronaut Charlie Bolden, who has the backing of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, who flew with Bolden on a shuttle mission in January 1986.

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NASA Might Scale Back Plans For Lunar Return
This just in from Eun Kyung Kim of Gannett News Service:

WASHINGTON - NASA hinted it may have to scale back its plans for returning astronauts to the moon as scheduled.

During a hearing today before a House appropriations panel, lawmakers repeatedly questioned NASA's acting administrator about whether the agency's current budget proposal will provide enough money to send Americans back to the moon by 2020.

Chris Scolese, NASA's acting chief, acknowledged it might: "I anticipate that we would have some changes. I just can't tell you what those changes would be," he said.

"We're still looking at options for what do we mean by the moon. Do we mean a colony on the moon? That's clearly very expensive. Are we looking at something along the lines of what we did with Apollo?" he said.

"It will probably be less than an outpost on the moon, but where it fits between sorties -- single trips to the moon to various parts -- and an outpost is really going to be dependent on the studies that we're going to be doing."

Scolese spoke during testimony on the agency's $18.7 billion budget request for 2010 before members on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies.