CENJARS

Please read the below e-mail I received today and voice your concern to Washington!

http://www.supportconstellation.com

As supporters of space exploration, we were very disappointed to learn that the proposed Federal budget for 2011 would cancel NASA’s Project Constellation and the planned return to the Moon.

Constellation is tasked with developing boosters, spacecraft, and other systems to provide a safer replacement for the Space Shuttle, one that would enable a return to the Moon for the specific purpose of developing the ability for humans to live on another world. Unlike Apollo, Constellation is designed to run on a comparatively constrained budget. Constellation’s Ares boosters are based on Space Shuttle technology, reducing their development costs and improving safety and reliability.

Since 2004, NASA has made a lot of progress with Constellation. New rocket engines have been designed and tested. A new launch pad has been built at the Kennedy Space Center, and a massive new launch tower has just been completed. Prototype Orion capsules are being tested, even as prototype moon rovers are trekking through the desert. Design work on Altair lunar landers and next-generation space suits is well underway. And last October, NASA conducted the successful first launch of Project Constellation, the Ares I-X Development Test Flight. After decades of literally going in circles, we’re finally on our way back to the Moon, and heading out to Mars.

Now, the Obama administration has proposed to cancel Constellation and cut exploration funding by more than 50% in favor of a “flexible path” of technology development and the use of commercial launch services for astronauts. While technology development is a very good idea, it’s not a substitute for an actual mission with a real goal. Without a goal and a specific plan, we believe that NASA, however well intentioned, will simply end up spending a lot of money without actually going anywhere. It’s happened before. We don’t want it to happen again. And while we believe that commercial launches for cargo will be a reality in the relatively near future, the fact is that commercial launch services for astronauts are further down the road. Spaceflight is a difficult, dangerous enterprise, and it would be foolish to gamble the future of our nation’s space program by abandoning systems that are already well into development. With so much progress already made, we believe that canceling Constellation would be a serious mistake.

The good news is that the proposed budget is just that: A proposal. Over the next few weeks, Congress will review the proposal and will make whatever changes it deems necessary. Constellation can be saved if Congress sees that their constituents want it. That’s why we’re asking you to support Constellation by sending faxes to Congress and the President.

Here’s a website that we’ve put together with more information on Constellation, plus resources on how to reach your elected officials.   We know that your time is valuable, but if space exploration is of interest to you or your group, would you please take a moment to check it out?

http://www.supportconstellation.com

We hope that you will agree with us, and that you will join us by enlisting your organization to send faxes to Congress and the President, asking them to restore funding to Project Constellation, and asking them to restore America’s commitment to the future. Congressional budget hearings are starting, and the time is now to make a difference.

Space exploration is vital source of technology and innovation for our society and jobs for our technical professionals. The space program is one of the most effective means to stimulate economic growth, both in the short term and the long run. And exploration inspires our young people, even as it helps us comprehend the wonders of the final frontier, now and in the future. Please join us in making that future a reality by faxing letters and by spreading the word to your friends. We very much need your help, and we need it today.

Sincerely,

-Michael and Denise Okuda

http://www.supportconstellation.com

CENJARS will be co participating with the Radical Rocketeers in the event. We encourage you to come as well as bring others… see info below.

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Family Rocket Build, Feb 13th

On Feb 13^th, 10am-2pm, @ the 4H office meeting room, 550 West Hanover Ave, Morris Plains, NJ.

This event is to expose the beginner to the exciting hobby of “model rocketry.”  Each participant WILL BUILD THEIR OWN MODEL ROCKET  and cost will be approx $16, which will entitle them to: 1 rocket kit; 1 voucher for a motor, redeemable @ rocket launch on 2/27 @ Northbranch Park, Bridgewater, NJ.

Refreshments will be provided @ “rocket build.”  (A parent is required to be with each child.  Recommended for children ages, 8 on up)

Any questions can be directed to: Glenn, (908)-325-2504 or email: garmtn@gmail.com

February 7th launch is cancelled due to weather! . Have fun digging out!

Folks,

The weather looks like it may not be cooperating for this Sunday’s launch. At this point I will give it a 50/50 chance for the launch to happen due to the expected snow and predicted winds. I will not be out of the country beginning today so I may not be able to update this site with the latest information.

Please contact Richard Gunther – CENJARS President prior to the launch to confirm if it is happening or not.

Rich can be reached via e-mail at:

glockumgunther@gmail.com

Also keep in mind we will NOT have a rain/snow date for the February launch.

There is a Family Rocket Build with the Radical Rocketeers scheduled for February 13th (see post below) as well as a scheduled launch after that build at North Branch Park (GSSS launch site) on February 27th.

Our next launch after the February one is March 7th at 1pm.

NASA

Obama budget proposal scraps NASA’s back-to-the-moon program

By Joel Achenbach

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The Obama administration is killing Constellation, NASA’s ambitious back-to-the moon program. The decision represents a thunderous demolition of the Bush-era strategy at the space agency, which had already poured $9 billion into a new rocket, the Ares 1, and a new crew capsule, Orion.

Both were years from completion. And now both have been spiked by the administration’s 2011 budget, released Monday. The budget includes $2.5 billion over the next two years to shut down Constellation.

Instead of continuing to develop the Ares 1 and Orion, the administration wants to invest $6 billion over five years in a commercial space taxi to carry astronauts into low Earth orbit. The budget would also funnel billions of dollars into developing new space technologies, such as the ability to refuel spacecraft in orbit. What isn’t in the budget is a specific target for exploration.

Change does not come easily in the complex and highly political enterprise that is space travel. The Obama plan triggered immediate protests on Capitol Hill.

“The president’s proposed NASA budget begins the death march for the future of U.S. human spaceflight,” Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) said Monday. “If this budget is enacted, NASA will no longer be an agency of innovation and hard science. It will be the agency of pipe dreams and fairy tales.”

Rep. Pete Olson (R-Tex.) said, “This is a crippling blow to America’s human spaceflight program.”

But Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), whose state stands to lose 7,000 jobs when the space shuttle program ends next year, signaled that he will not fight to keep Constellation alive: “When the president says he’s going to cancel Constellation, I can tell you that to muster the votes and overcome that is going to be very, very difficult.”

The change in course is hardly shocking given the events of the past year. Obama appointed a committee, led by retired aerospace executive Norman Augustine, to examine options for human spaceflight. The Augustine panel saw no chance that Constellation could succeed in its goal of a 2020 moon landing.

Administrator Charles Bolden said Monday that NASA will pursue technology that will enable astronauts to explore the solar system.

“Imagine trips to Mars that take weeks instead of nearly a year,” Bolden said.

Elon Musk, founder and chief executive of SpaceX, a company that could bid on a commercial contract to launch astronauts, said the administration was being realistic in its cancellation of Constellation.

“There is no way there’s the appetite for another Apollo-like program with Apollo-like budget expenditures,” Musk said.