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In a public teleconference held today, the Augustine Committee discussed updates to the scoring of the exploration strategy options outlined in its Summary Report. After reiterating that ranking the options themselves was beyond their mandate, committee members briefly explained the evaluation method and criteria they used to designate values between the options.

The committee's task today was to assign scoring values to the baseline option (Option 3 - Program of Record with less constrained funding), which it had not done at its last public meeting. Three of the eight criteria in particular required additional discussion in order to ensure that all the options were evaluated on the same basis.

The committee members agreed to give a (-2) value on the Global Partnerships criterion since failure to extend the life of the International Space Station beyond 2015 would discourage further involvement from international partners. The baseline option was also assigned a (-1) value on the Mission Safety Profile criterion, taking into account the added risk associated with a Moon landing (the same value applied to any option that included lunar landings). The committee clarified that the parameters for risk assessment are based only on mission profile and do not include an evaluation of the risks associated with specific launch vehicles, for example Ares 1 versus an alternative. Finally, it was also decided to assign the baseline option a (-1) value on the criterion of National Skill, based on the impact of the "Shuttle-gap" between decommissioning of the Space Shuttle and the availability of a new system and the resulting inability to utilize the nation's skilled space transportation workforce fully.

The committee also decided that the Science Knowledge criterion will include the ability for humans to service space-based science observatories, a beneficial capability that was highlighted in the August 5 presentation to the committee by Marcia Rieke representing the ongoing National Research Council astrophysics Decadal Survey (Astro2010).

NASA announced today that the likelihood of the Apophis asteroid colliding with Earth in 2036 is significantly less than earlier thought. The new estimate is that the chance of an "encounter" with Earth in 2036 is four in a million instead of one in 45,000. The findings will be presented at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division of Planetary Sciences meeting in Puerto Rico tomorrow.

Most members of the Texas congressional delegation sent a letter to President Obama urging him to spend up to $3 billion more in stimulus funding on NASA for FY2010. Congress already allocated $1 billion for NASA when it passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("the stimulus bill") earlier this year.

In the letter, Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn along with 26 of the 32 House members who represent Texas noted that only 15% of the $787 billion in stimulus funds had been spent as of last month. Citing the Augustine committee's summary report, the congressional delegation argued that "a robust space program that enables us to explore new frontiers is critical to maintain America's proud tradition of exploration and its leadership in space." They also highlighted the importance of the NASA civil servant and contractor workforce "in today's global competitive economic environment."

As reported in the Houston Chronicle, "The two senators and 19 Republican House members who signed the letter voted against the economic stimulus in February; the seven Democrats who signed the letter voted for it."

SpaceX's Falcon 9 has passed "acceptance testing" for the first and second stages. The first test flight of the Falcon 9 is scheduled for "one to three months" after it arrives at Cape Canaveral, FL next month, according to a company press release. Considerable attention is focused on the Falcon 9 as both a commercial cargo transport vehicle to the International Space Station, and possibly for taking crews back and forth to ISS as well. The Augustine committee's report on options for the future of human space flight gave the concept of "commercial crew" a boost.

The Senate is scheduled to resume consideration of the FY2010 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill today (Wednesday) at approximately 10:30 am under a unanimous-consent agreement that was reached yesterday. The bill was brought to the floor on Monday, but only two opening statements were made--by Senator Shelby (R-AL), ranking member of the CJS subcommittee, and Senator Conrad (D-ND), who presented the Budget Committee's scoring of the bill.

As part of his remarks (available in the Congressional Record), Senator Shelby once again defended the Constellation program as he did during a hearing on NASA's budget earlier this year. The Senator, addressing the President of the Senate, said "Mr. President, I am baffled by NASA's path forward on the Constellation program." Criticizing the Augustine committee, he said that some of its findings "would guarantee that other nations, such as Russia, China and India will be waving to us as they fly by the space station on their way to the moon and other planets." He wants NASA to continue with the Constellation program -- "the program that has the greatest likelihood of success." The text of his floor speech is also available on the Senator's website.

The Senate passed the FY2010 Department of Defense (DOD) appropriations bill (H.R. 3326) today. The next step is a conference committee. Congress Daily (subscription required) reports that negotiations with the House have been ongoing for several weeks and the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Inouye (D-HI), hopes to have the conference completed by the end of this week.

Congress Daily also reports that the House and Senate informally are close to agreement on the DOD authorization bill. Formally, the House was only expected to name its conferees tonight, with a meeting of the conference committee scheduled for tomorrow and a House vote expected on Thursday, according to the newspaper. Not sure about the difference between an authorization and an appropriation? See our "What's a Markup?" fact sheet.

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) teamed with The Space Show to host a panel discussion on the Augustine committee report. A podcast of the discussion is available at: http://www.thespaceshow.com/detail.asp?q=1236.

Panelists were former astronaut Frank Culbertson, currently Senior Vice President of Orbital Sciences Corp; Elliott Pulham, CEO of the Space Foundation; Scott "Doc" Horowitz, former astronaut and former NASA Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems; John Klineberg, former Director of NASA/Goddard, former President of Space Systems/Loral and former CEO of Swales Aerospace; Jim Muncy, President of PoliSpace and a long-time proponent of entrepreneurial space; and Bob Dickman, Executive Director of AIAA.

The FY2010 authorization bill for the Intelligence Community (H.R. 2701/S. 1494) remains stuck as negotiators try to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions. One of the sticking points is competing proposals for the country's spy satellites, according to Congress Daily (subscription required).

The bill is under a veto threat because of language concerning which Members of Congress must be notified about the most sensitive intelligence matters, but spy satellites are another bone of contention. As reported from their respective committees, the House version (H. Rept. 111-186) supported the Obama Administration's proposal under which the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) would buy and launch new electro-optical intelligence satellites and buy more data from commercial imagery companies. The Senate version (S. Rept. 111-55) would have NRO buy more satellites that are cheaper and less sophisticated, a plan that critics call "untested and therefore riskier" according to Congress Daily.

The Senate began debating the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill today (H.R. 2847). Regarding the Senate Appropriations Committee's action on NASA's part of the bill, the Obama Administration's Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) cites only the reduction of $18.7 million from the request for the innovation program as a problem.

Unlike the House-passed bill, the version being debated by the Senate includes full funding for the Constellation program. The House cut that request back to the FY2009 level, sparking concern by the Administration as expressed in the SAP that was released at that time. The differences between the House and Senate versions will have to be reconciled during conference.

The Senate is expected to conclude debate on the DOD appropriations bill (H.R. 2847) tomorrow (Tuesday) and possibly pass the conference report on the Department of Energy bill (H.R. 3183)..

President and Mrs. Obama will host an event at the White House on Wednesday night, October 7, in celebration of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA). The "White House Star Party" will begin with the President speaking at 8:00 pm EDT (to be streamed live on the White House website -- whitehouse.gov). More than 20 telescopes will be set up on the White House lawn and middle-schoolers will be shown "the beauty and mysteries of the night sky." The event is by invitation only.

Don't forget the Friday event at the National Academies, also in celebration of the IYA.