Updated at 3:40 p.m.
WASHINGTON ā NASA Administrator Charles Bolden is expected to discuss changes to U.S. President Barack Obamaās plan to scrap the agencyās Constellation program with at least one top lawmaker this week, according to an internal agency e-mail shared with Space News.
In the March 2 document, Michael Coats, director of NASAās Johnson Space Center in Houston, wrote to the manned spaceflight centerās chief engineer, Stephen Altemus, instructing him to establish a āāPlan Bā teamā to draw up āa potential compromise,ā including a series of talking points for Bolden regarding development of a crewed spacecraft, heavy-lift launch vehicle and launch vehicle test program. The e-mail indicates Bolden is to discuss the compromise with House Science and Technology Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) āin a couple days.ā
Bolden, however, said March 4 that he did not request NASA human spaceflight officials to come up with an alternative to Obamaās plan.
āThe Presidentās Budget for NASA is my budget. I strongly support the priorities and the direction for NASA that he has put forward,ā Bolden said in a written statement. āIām open to hearing ideas from any member of the NASA team, but I did not ask anybody for an alternative to the Presidentās plan and budget. We have to be forward thinking and aggressive in our pursuit of new technologies to take us beyond low-Earth orbit, and the Presidentās plan does this. After years of underinvestment in new technology and unrealistic budgeting, we finally have an ambitious plan for NASA that sets the agency on a reinvigorated path of space exploration.ā
Obamaās plan to terminate Constellation, including the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle and Ares family of rockets encountered bipartisan resistance from House and Senate lawmakers during budget hearings held in February.
Coats, in his e-mail, said Bolden agreed to the creation of a team to examine changes to the presidentās plan, adding that Bolden requested ātalking pointsā in advance of his meeting with Gordon, and instructs Altemus to āflesh this out, then report to Charlie through Doug Cooke,ā the head of NASAās Exploration Systems Mission Directorate.
Cooke was not a recipient of the e-mail, though Coats sent copies to his deputy, Ellen Ochoa, Robert Lightfoot, director of NASAās Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., Bob Cabana, director of NASAās Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Constellation Program Manager Jeff Hanley, Orion Program Manager Mark Geyer and Edward Mango, launch director for Constellationās Ares 1-X flight test program. Johnson, Kennedy and Marshall all play central roles in Constellationās development.
āSteve[,] Robert and I talked to Charlie and he agreed to let us set up a āPlan Bā team (my term, since Chairman Gordon asked Charlie about his āplan Bā at the hearing) to look at what a potential compromise might look like,ā Coats wrote, referring to a Feb. 25 hearing before the House Science and Technology Committee in which Gordon urged Bolden to be open to compromise in order to achieve consensus in Congress.
In the e-mail, Coats told Altemus to contact Mango, Geyer and Gary Lyles, NASAās associate director for technical management at Marshall, āto develop that one pager quickly, and set up a team (you can name it anything you wantāI donāt recommend Constellation or Orion).ā
In addition, while Obamaās budget proposal calls for a $6 billion increase to NASAās top-line spending over the next five years, Coats urged Altemus to keep the alternate proposalās cost estimates in mind.
āLiving within the budget is a huge issue, since itās doubtful weāll get more funding,ā he wrote.
Hereās the text of the entire e-mail:
From: Coats, Michael (JSC-Center-Director)(JSC-AA111)
To: Altemus, Stephen J. (JSC-EA111)
Cc: Lightfoot, Robert M. (MSFC-DA01); Cabana, Robert D. (KSC-Center-Director)(KSC-AA000); Mango, Edward J. (KSC-FA000); Geyer, Mark S. (JSC-ZV111); Hanley, Jeffrey M. (JSC-ZA111); Ochoa, Ellen (JSC-AB111)
Sent: Tue Mar 02 12:34:12 2010
Subject: Plan B team
Steve Robert and I talked to Charlie and he agreed to let us set up a āPlan Bā team (my term, since Chairman Gordon asked Charlie about his āplan Bā at the hearing) to look at what a potential compromise might look like. Charlie is meeting with Chairman Gordon in a couple days and asked for a one pager with talking points before his meeting. Please contact Gary Lyles, Ed Mango, and Mark Geyer to develop that one pager quickly, and set up a team (you can name it anything you wantāI donāt recommend Constellation or Orion). Robert and I mentioned the importance of three areas: a human spacecraft development effort; a heavy lift launch vehicle development effort; a launch vehicle test program. Your white paper is a good basis, but please work with Gary, Ed and Mark. Our desire is to establish a team to flesh this out, then report to Charlie through Doug Cooke. Living within the budget is a huge issue, since itās doubtful weāll get more funding. Mike