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Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com's tidbits for November 14, 2018: NG-10 ISS cargo launch delayed; climate change hearings to kick off 116th Congress; SpaceX Falcon 9 gets highest NASA LSP rating. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
NG-10 ISS Cargo Launch Delayed
No need to get up early tomorrow (Thursday) morning to watch the Northrop Grumman-10 (NG-10) cargo launch to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch was scheduled for 4:49 am ET from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the coast of Virginia.
However, this has been postponed, however. By the time mission managers had to make a decision this morning, the probability of breaking the deadlines was 90 percent, meaning it was 10 percent chance the mission could launch. At Doug Voss, deputy chief of the Range Management and Mission Management Office at Wallops, said the bad weather.
The launch was rescheduled for Friday, November 16, at 4:23 am ET. It will be the 10th launch in this series of Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) missions originally awarded to Orbital Sciences Corporation. It has grown to ATK and has become Orbital ATK, which has been acquired by Northrop Grumman and is now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. This is the first launch to carry an "NG" rather than Orb or OA designation. The Antares rocket will launch a Cyngus spacecraft filled with 7,400 pounds of supplies, equipment and experiments to the ISS.
Hours later, Russia will launch its next cargo mission to ISS – MS-10 Progress – from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Cygnus will arrive at the ISS on Sunday morning at 4:30 am ET. MS-10 Progress will dock just 19 hours later.
The ISS is a busy place right now. The next crew launch, Soyuz MS-11, is scheduled for December 3 and has SpaceX cargo mission on December 4. Assuming Soyuz MS-11 successfully discharges ISS, the three current ISS crew members will return to Earth in their Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft on December 20.
Climate Change Hearings to Kick Off 116th Congress
The top Democrats (Ranking Members) on the House of Representatives today announced that they will be holding a change of heart. These assignments have not been made yet, but the three are expected to take the reins of their respective committees.
The three are Rep. Eddie Bernie Johnson (D-TX), Ranking Member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee; Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee; and Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Committee.
In a press release, the three said they plan to "hit the ground running with a series of hearings early in the next Congress on how best to fight this growing global crisis." [Click the link in the tweet to read more.] The hearings will be taken over, but other details have not been announced.
RELEASE: Committee Leaders @RepEBJ, @FrankPallone, and @RepRaulGrijalva Announce Series of Climate Hearings Over Two Day Early Early Years Year: //t.co/YpCrBYMtQD
– Science Committee (@SciCmteDems) November 14, 2018
The House of Representatives, Johnson issued a statement expressing the interest of the House SS & T Committee. One of the three priorities[a]ddress the challenge of climate change, starting with acknowledging it is real, seeking to understand what climate science is telling us, and working to understand the ways we can mitigate it. "Johnson is a strong defender of NASA's Earth science program.
Climate change will be a hot topic for Democrats in the next Congress. As reported by Politico, "youth activists, flanked by Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, flooded House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's office" yesterday urging action on climate change. [https://tinyurl.com/ya348q26] Pelosi said it was "inspired by the energy and activism" of the group and is recommending the reinstatement of a "climate change". It is not clear how many of her fellow Democrats agree on the need for a separate committee.
SpaceX Falcon 9 Gets Top NASA LSP Rating
NASA's Launch Services Program (LSP) has awarded SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket its top rating, Category 3, meaning the rocket now can be used for NASA's most expensive and complex scientific missions. In a November 8 statement, SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell called it "major achievement" and "another key milestone in our close partnership with NASA."
NASA uses four categories, A, B, C, and D to designate a mission's risk tolerance. Class A missions are the most expensive and designed to have the lowest risk; Class D are the most risky and least expensive. Rockets that receive a Category 3 rating can be used for Class A and B missions.
LSP rates rockets for launching robotic missions only. Falcon 9 for commercial crew missions.
NASA spokeswoman Cheryl Warner explained via email that "the requirements, the standards, and the overall processes" for robotic and crewed missions are "distinct." The LSP certification is for the rocket only. The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) certifies the entire system – the rocket and the spacecraft. In SpaceX's case, that's the Falcon 9 Block 5 Rocket and the Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Under its commercial crew contract with NASA, SpaceX will launch seven Falcon 9 Block 5 missions before using it for crews. NASA will use the missions of Crew Dragon / Falcon 9 for CCP missions. "
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Last Updated: Nov 14, 2018 11:30 pm ET
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