Aeronautics and Space Report of the President Fiscal Year 2011 Activities Aeronautics and Space Report of the President Fiscal Year 2011 Activities The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 directed the annual Aeronautics and Space Report to include a “comprehensive description of the programmed activities and the accomplishments of all agencies of the United States in the field of aeronautics and space activities during the preceding calendar year.” In recent years, the reports have been prepared on a fiscal-year basis, consistent with the budgetary period now used in programs of the Federal Government. This year’s report covers Aeronautics and SpaceAeronautics Report of the President activities that took place from October 1, 2010, through September 30, 2011. TABLE OF CONTENTS National Aeronautics and Space Administration . 1. Fiscal Year 2011 Activities 2011 Year Fiscal • Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate 1 • Science Mission Directorate 18 • Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate 35 Department of Defense . 49 Federal Aviation Administration . 63 . Department of Commerce . 71. Department of the Interior . 97. Federal Communications Commission . 121 U.S. Department of Agriculture. 125 National Science Foundation . 137 . Department of State. 147 Department of Energy. 151 Smithsonian Institution . 157. Appendices . 163 . • A-1 U S Government Spacecraft Record 164 • A-2 World Record of Space Launches Successful in Attaining Earth Orbit or Beyond 165 • B Successful Launches to Orbit on U S Vehicles 166 • C Human Spaceflights 168 • D-1A Space Activities of the U S Government—Historical Table of Budget Authority in Millions of Real-Year Dollars 169 • D-1B Space Activities of the U S Government—Historical Table of Budget Authority in Millions of Inflation-Adjusted FY 11 Dollars 170 • D-2 Federal Space Activities Budget 171 • D-3 Federal Aeronautics Activities Budget 172 Acronyms . .173 . 1 Fiscal Year 2011 Activities 2011 Year Fiscal NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate The Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate was newly formed in August 2011. It merged the Exploration Systems and Space Operations Mission Directorates, creating an organization dedicated to enabling human and robotic space exploration. HEO operates the International Space Station (ISS) and is developing technologies and capabilities for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO). It manages the commercial crew and cargo developmental programs, the construction of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), the development of a new heavy-lift rocket known as the Space Launch System (SLS), launch operations, space communications, rocket propulsion testing, human health and safety, and exploration technology development, the last of which enables human exploration of deep space. Space Operations Space Shuttle/International Space Station The Space Shuttle flew its final three missions and the last flights of each of the three orbiters in fiscal year (FY) 11, capping 32 years of operations and 135 mis- sions by completing the assembly and outfitting of the International Space Station. Altogether, these three flights carried nearly 120,000 pounds of hardware, equip- ment, and supplies to the ISS. 2 The ISS began FY 11 with Expedition 25 crewmembers Douglas Wheelock (U.S.), Shannon Walker (U.S.), and Fyodor Yurchikhin (Russia) living on board. They were joined on October 10, 2010, by Scott Kelly (U.S.), Alexander Kaleri (Russia), and Oleg Skripochka (Russia), who launched on a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. A Russian Progress cargo vehicle carrying several tons of supplies docked with the ISS on October 30, 2010. On November 2, 2010, the ISS program celebrated 10 continuous years of human occu- pation in low-Earth orbit. On November 15, 2010, Russian crewmembers Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Skripochka conducted a spacewalk in Russian Orlan space- suits, doing maintenance activities and replacing science experiments over the course of more than 6 hours on the outside of the Russian segment. On November 25, 2010, Wheelock, Walker, and Yurchikhin undocked their Soyuz return vehicle from the ISS and returned to Earth, landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan and ending Expedition 25. Expedition 26 began on November 25, 2010. Astronaut Kelly (now ISS com- mander) and cosmonauts Kaleri and Skripochka remained on board and were joined by the rest of Expedition 26 on December 17, 2010, when a Russian Soyuz vehicle carrying Catherine Coleman (U.S.), Paolo Nespoli (European Space Agency [ESA]), and Dmitri Kondratyev (Russia) docked with the ISS. Skripochka and Kondratyev conducted two Russian Orlan spacewalks, on January 21, 2011, and February 16, 2011, which focused on maintenance on the Russian segment, as Aeronautics and SpaceAeronautics Report of the President well as removing and replacing several external science experiments. The Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle-2 (HTV-2) Kounotori berthed to the ISS Node 2 nadir port on January 27, 2011, carrying more than 5,300 kilograms of both pressurized and unpressurized supplies to the ISS. Due to the arrival of Space Shuttle Discovery, the HTV-2 had to be moved to the Node 2 zenith port during Shuttle docked operations and then moved back to the nadir port after the Shuttle’s departure. The HTV-2 remained at the ISS until March 28, 2011. A Russian Progress vehicle docked with the ISS on January 30, 2011, carrying some 2,600 kilograms of cargo. On February 24, 2011, the ESA-provided Automated Transfer Vehicle-2 (ATV-2), named Johannes Kepler, docked with the ISS, carrying more than 7,000 kilo- grams of supplies and equipment. The ATV-2 remained at the ISS until June 20, 2011, when it undocked and then burned up in the atmosphere. February 2011 marked the first time that each ISS partner with a flight vehicle had one at the ISS 3 at the same time: Space Shuttle, ATV, HTV, Progress, and Soyuz. Activities 2011 Year Fiscal The first Space Shuttle flight of the fiscal year, which was the final mission of Space Shuttle Discovery, launched on February 24, 2011, following about four months of delays due to weather scrubs and technical reviews of a cracked stringer on the external tank. STS-133 commander Steve Lindsey; pilot Eric Boe; and mission specialists Alvin Drew, Steve Bowen (whose flights on STS-132 and STS-133 made him the first American astronaut to fly back-to-back missions), Michael Barratt, and Nicole Stott delivered the last U.S. pressurized module (the Permanent Multipurpose Module, or PMM) and an external stowage platform (the EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to the Space Station [EXPRESS] Logistics Carrier 4, or ELC 4) to the ISS, as well as equipment and supplies. During Discovery’s almost nine days at the Station, Bowen and Drew performed two spacewalks for maintenance work and installation of new components. Discovery’s visit to the Station was extended by two days so that its crew could help outfit the PMM, which previously had served as the reusable Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) Leonardo. Leonardo had visited the Station seven times previously as a cargo carrier before being refurbished to serve as a per- manent 2,472-cubic-foot addition to the orbiting laboratory. Among the 6,000 pounds of Leonardo cargo was Robonaut 2, a human-upper-torso-like robot that could be a precursor of devices to help during spacewalks. About 2,000 pounds of additional cargo for the Station was carried on the Shuttle’s mid- deck. Space Shuttle Discovery returned to Earth on March 9, 2011, after which Discovery began nearly a year of safing activities in preparation for permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. Expedition 26 ended on March 16, 2011, when Kelly, Kaleri, and Skripochka left the ISS on their Soyuz vehicle and returned to Earth. Kondratyev, Coleman, and Nespoli remained on board to begin Expedition 27, which was joined by Ron Garan (U.S.), Andrei Borisenko (Russia), and Aleksandr Samokutyayev (Russia) when their Soyuz docked with the ISS on April 6, 2011. On April 12, 2011, the crew celebrated the 50th anniversary of the launch of Yuri Gagarin (the first man in space) as well as the 30th anniversary of the first launch of the Space Shuttle. 4 A Progress cargo ship carrying approximately 2,600 kilograms of cargo docked with the ISS on April 29, 2011, where it remained until October 29, 2011. Space Shuttle Endeavour began its final mission, STS-134, with a morning launch on May 16, 2011. The six-person crew included commander Mark Kelly; pilot Gregory H. Johnson; and mission specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel, and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori. One of Endeavour’s primary mission objectives was the delivery and installation of the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer 2 (AMS-02) to the ISS. AMS-02 is a particle physics detector designed to search for dark matter and for antimatter, which was first proposed by British physicist Paul Dirac in the 1920s. Endeavour also delivered spare parts for ensuring continued safe operations of the ISS after the Shuttle fleet was retired, including two S-band communication antennas, a high-pressure gas tank, and additional spares for the Station’s Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), or Dextre. Endeavour also transferred its Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) to the ISS. Following the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia, two OBSS systems were developed from systems similar to those used to build the orbiter’s robotic arm; the new systems allowed the orbiters to inspect their thermal protection systems to ensure that they could return home safely. As part of the crew’s work on the ISS, Shuttle astronauts Feustel, Chamitoff, and Fincke conducted the last four extravehicular activities (EVAs) by a Shuttle crew. Mike Fincke also surpassed Peggy Whitson’s record for time spent by an American in Aeronautics and SpaceAeronautics Report of the President space, logging a total of 382 days in orbit.