Latest news with #DanaWeigel
Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Business
- Gizmodo
ISS Conference Scrapped as NASA Budget Cuts Threaten Crew and Cargo
The International Space Station (ISS) still has a few years left in orbit before it's due for retirement, but the future of the orbital lab is looking a little shaky as NASA is forced to tighten its purse strings. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), which operates the ISS National Lab, is canceling an upcoming space station research conference, SpaceNews reported. The ISS Research and Development Conference was due to be held at the end of July in Seattle, but CASIS announced this week that, after consulting with NASA, 'the current regulatory and budgetary environment does not support holding' the annual conference this year. The announcement comes a little over a month after the release of the current administration's so-called skinny budget, which included funding for NASA in 2026. The budget proposes a $6 billion cut to the agency, 24% less than NASA's current $24.8 billion budget for 2025. The budget also proposes reducing the size of the ISS crew ahead of its planned retirement in 2030, when it's expected to be replaced by multiple commercial space stations. Funding for the ISS could be reduced by a quarter, from $1.24 billion to $920 million, according to the proposed budget for 2026. 'Crew and cargo flights to the station would be significantly reduced,' the budget proposal read. 'The station's reduced research capacity would be focused on efforts critical to the Moon and Mars exploration programs.' During a briefing held in late May, Dana Weigel, NASA's ISS program manager, revealed that the space agency had already been facing resource issues regarding the space station before the 2026 budget proposal. 'The station has been faced with a cumulative multi-year budget reduction,' Weigel is quoted in SpaceNews as saying. 'That's the challenge that I've had that we've been managing through today. That has left us with some budget and resource challenges that result in less cargo.' The cargo includes supplies for onboard crew members. For more than two decades, the space agency has maintained a crew of at least four NASA astronauts on board the ISS, along with international crew members from Russia, Japan, Canada, and other countries. NASA has previously flown four or five cargo missions a year, but the agency has only planned for three drop-offs in 2025. 'We're evaluating the potential for moving to three crew,' Weigel said during the briefing. 'That's something that we're working through and trying to assess today.' NASA is also considering extending the duration of missions on the ISS from six to eight months, Ars Technica previously reported. Meanwhile, five commercial space stations, including Orbital Reef, Axiom Station, and Starlab, are currently in the works but nowhere near being ready to host astronauts in low Earth orbit. The ISS maintains a steady presence of orbital science above Earth's surface, which would leave behind a major gap to fill.
United News of India
21-05-2025
- Science
- United News of India
Flight Readiness Review for Indian Astro piloted ISS mission today
Chennai, May 21 (UNI) NASA will hold the flight readiness review mission for the AXIOM-4 mission t0 be piloted by Indian Astronaut Subanshu Shukla for the International Space Station (ISS) on June 8. According to NASA the mission will be launched on June 8, 2025 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Dana Weigel, ISS programe Manager said on May 21 the station programme will hold the flight readiness review for this mission. Apart from Group Captain Shukla who is the pilot of the Ax-4 mission the other four crew members are Commander Peggy Whitson of the U.S., Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu of Hungary. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Ax-4 crew aboard a Dragon spacecraft to the ISS from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Sarah Walker, director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX, said the teams are currently carrying Dragons final integration campaign. 'We expect to transport the Dragon to our hangar next week to be integrated with the rocket for launch,' she said. The launch was scheduled for this month but was deferred by a few days due to some testing activites. Nasa and Isro will host a joint public downlink event to showcase the strength of the international collaboration and the shares commitement to expanding the access to space. As part of the mission, both NASA and ISRO will conduct five joint science investigations along with two outreach programmes. It may be noted that ISRO and the Eruopean Space AGency (ESA) have entered into an agreement to collaborate in microgrvity research in the upcoming Axion-4 mission, which will mark India's first crewed (ISS) mission. ISRO said it had recently entered into a pact with ESA to cooperate on activities related to Astronaut Training, Mission Implementation and Research Experiments. This agreement provides an opportunity for undertaking joint microgravity experiments. In this regard, microgravity research experiments by Indian Principal Investigators (PIs) have been jointly shortlisted by ISRO and ESA for implementation on ISS during Axiom-4 mission: They were Comparative growth and proteomics responses of cyanobacteria on urea and nitrate in microgravity, impact of Microgravity on Growth and Yield Parameters in Food Crop Seeds. It said currently, these shortlisted microgravity experiments are under various phases of evaluation in view of safety driven operational philosophy of human spaceflight missions. Further, ISRO and ESA will be jointly carrying out human research and other scientific and technology demonstration experiments. In addition to these, cooperation in microgravity research with other space agencies during Axiom-4 mission is also being actively pursued. The field of microgravity research with potential applications in human health research, physical sciences, material sciences, novel pharmaceutical development and biotechnology offers significant opportunities to national scientific community. The Indian Human Space Program, maiden Gaganyaan mission, aims to encourage and support the Indian scientific community in microgravity research activities through flight opportunities in ISRO's missions as well as joint international efforts. UNI GV 0630
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA to Participate in Next Private Astronaut Mission Teleconference
WASHINGTON, May 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will join a media teleconference hosted by Axiom Space at 10:30 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, May 20, to discuss the launch of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. Briefing participants include: Dana Weigel, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA Allen Flynt, chief of mission services, Axiom Space Sarah Walker, director, Dragon mission management, SpaceX Sergio Palumberi, mission manager, ESA (European Space Agency) Aleksandra Bukała, project manager, head of strategy and international cooperation, POLSA (Polish Space Agency) Orsolya Ferencz, ministerial commissioner of space research, HUNOR (Hungarian to Orbit) To join the call, media must register with Axiom Space by 12 p.m., Monday, May 19, at: The Ax-4 launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on the company's Falcon 9 rocket is targeted no earlier than 9:11 a.m., Sunday, June 8, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the mission aboard the space station, a four-person multi-national crew will complete about 60 research experiments developed for microgravity in collaboration with organizations across the globe. Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. The first private astronaut mission to the station, Axiom Mission 1, lifted off in April 2022 for a 17-day mission aboard the orbiting laboratory. The second private astronaut mission to the station, Axiom Mission 2, also was commanded by Whitson and launched in May 2023 for eight days in orbit. The most recent private astronaut mission, Axiom Mission 3, launched in January 2024; the crew spent 18 days docked to the space International Space Station is a springboard for developing a low Earth economy. NASA's goal is to achieve a strong economy off the Earth where the agency can purchase services as one of many customers to meet its science and research objectives in microgravity. NASA's commercial strategy for low Earth orbit provides the government with reliable and safe services at a lower cost, enabling the agency to focus on Artemis missions to the Moon in preparation for Mars while also continuing to use low Earth orbit as a training and proving ground for those deep space missions. Learn more about NASA's commercial space strategy at: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE NASA
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
'Beautiful launch': NASA, SpaceX send Dragon spacecraft with 6,700 pounds of cargo to ISS
Generating window-rattling sonic booms in the cloudless predawn air, NASA and SpaceX teamed up Monday, April 21, to launch a Falcon 9 rocket on a resupply run to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center. "Excellent and beautiful launch we had," Dana Weigel, NASA's ISS program manager, said during the agency's launch broadcast. The CRS-32 mission lifted off at 4:15 a.m. EDT from pad 39A under pristine weather conditions from the Cape, carrying more than three tons of cargo to the orbiting outpost. Weigel's post-liftoff remarks came about 11 minutes after the Falcon 9 first-stage booster touched down at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, completing its third mission. Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral Looking ahead, the Dragon should wrap up its roughly 28-hour trek and dock autonomously with the ISS about 8:20 a.m. Tuesday, April 22. The spacecraft is logging its fifth mission after previously flying the CRS-22, CRS-24, CRS-27 and CRS-30 missions to the ISS. A NASA breakdown of the 6,659 pounds of cargo packed inside the Dragon: Crew supplies: 3,236 pounds. Science investigations: 562 pounds. Vehicle hardware: 562 pounds. Spacewalk equipment: 419 pounds. Computer resources: 18 pounds. Zebulon Scoville, deputy manager of NASA's Transportation Integration Office with the ISS program, told reporters the Dragon's supply list includes 1,262 tortillas for ISS crew members. 'Typically we do try to fly some fresh fruits or vegetables — or even some ice cream we've flown in the past with the crew," Scoville said during a Friday prelaunch media teleconference. "This time, we tried to prioritize some of the more shelf-stable foods that have a longer shelf life, compared to some of those more perishable items,' Scoville said. The Dragon should remain at the ISS for about one month, then return to Earth carrying about 4,000 pounds of items, Youmei Zhou, a SpaceX propulsion engineer, said during the launch broadcast. "This is our 52nd Dragon mission overall and the 47th to the space station, with 31 of those on re-flown Dragons," Zhou said. Monday's Falcon 9 liftoff marked Florida's 31st orbital rocket launch thus far this year from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and adjacent KSC. As a reminder, the Cape established a new record of 93 annual launches just last year. "Along with food and essential equipment for the crew, Dragon is delivering a variety of science experiments, including a demonstration of refined maneuvers for free-floating robots," a NASA post-launch press release said. "Dragon also carries an enhanced air quality monitoring system that could help protect crew members on exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, and two atomic clocks to examine fundamental physics concepts, such as relativity, and test global synchronization of precision timepieces," the press release said. For the latest news and launch schedule from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@ Twitter/X: @RickNeale1 Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: NASA, SpaceX launch Dragon with 6,700 pounds of cargo to space station
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NASA seeks 2026, 2027 ISS private-mission proposals
April 2 (UPI) -- NASA officials want to send two private missions to the International Space Station over the next two years and are seeking proposals to make it happen. "We are in an incredible time for human spaceflight with more opportunities to access space and grow a thriving commercial economy in low Earth orbit," NASA's ISS program managers Dana Weigel said Wednesday in an online announcement. "NASA remains committed to supporting this expansion by leveraging our decades of expertise to help industry gain the experience needed to train and manage crews, conduct research and develop future destinations," Weigel said. "Private astronaut missions are a key part of this effort, providing companies with hands-on opportunities to refine their capabilities and build partnerships that will shape the future of low-Earth orbit." NASA officials eventually want to place a "continuous human presence" in low Earth orbit aboard the ISS, which orbits the Earth about 270 miles above its surface. NASA previously supported three private missions to the orbiting ISS space lab over the past three years and has a fourth planned no sooner than May. Axiom Space accomplished the prior three missions and will undertake this year's mission, according to NASA. Each of the private missions including docking at the ISS for up to 14 days with mission timing dependent upon other missions scheduled at the ISS and the amount of space traffic going to and from it. The ISS has been active for more than 20 years and is a "critical test bed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit," according to NASA. NASA is accepting proposals by interested parties until 5 p.m. May 30.
