An article about Jen Scheer, who has become known for her sunrise photographs taken from KSC: New day dawns for shuttle tech: Worker plans to publish book chronicling wee hours at KSC - Florida Today.

She's planning a book of her photos: Kennedy Space Center Sunrises- a photo book by Jen Scheer - Kickstarter
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A story about the competition for hosting the retired shuttles: Museums Vie to House Space Shuttles: Florida in the running for a retiring orbiter, but there are no guarantees it will land one - Sunshine State News

Former NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe is reported to be on the same plane that crashed in Alaska with former Alaskan senator Ted Stevens and seven other people. There is no word yet on O'Keefe's condition:
/-- Former NASA Chief on Alaskan Plane Crash - FOXNews.com
/-- Ted Stevens plane crash also involving former NASA head Sean O'Keefe -- and some history - Top of the Ticket/Los Angeles Times
/-- Former Sen. Stevens aboard downed plane - AP/Washington Post

Update: O'Keefe and his son survived the accident but Sen. Stevens and four others were killed:
/-- Ex-NASA Chief, Son Survive Alaska Plane Crash - CBS News
/-- Ex-NASA chief O'Keefe survives Alaska crash that killed Stevens - USAToday

Here's NASA procurement resource page for the Lunar rover data purchase program mentioned here last Friday: Innovative Lunar Demonstrations Data (ILDD)

NASA announces a data purchase program that could benefit Google Lunar X PRIZE projects:

NASA Seeks Data from Innovative Lunar Demonstrations

WASHINGTON -- NASA has issued a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to purchase specific data resulting from industry efforts to test and verify vehicle capabilities through demonstrations of small robotic landers. The purpose is to inform the development of future human and robotic lander vehicles.

The Innovative Lunar Demonstrations Data (ILDD) BAA will result in multiple small firm-fixed price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a total value up to $30.1 million through 2012. Multiple awards are possible with a minimum government purchase of $10,000 for each selected contractor. A minimum order will be funded using FY10 dollars. Orders above the minimum would be competed among the successful offerors dependent on future budget availability. The deadline for submitting proposals is Sept. 8.

The ILDD BAA challenges industry to demonstrate Earth-to-lunar surface flight system capabilities and test technologies. Data provided to NASA should include information related to landing using a human mission profile; identification of hazards during landing; precision landing; and imagery and long-duration surface operations.

Through the BAA, NASA's Lander Project Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston will increase its knowledge and understanding of design, testing and flight. The input could expedite plans to build and test hardware for future human and robotic landers.

The BAA asks for information about the design and demonstration of an end-to-end lunar landing mission. This includes data associated with hardware design, development and testing; ground operations and integration; launch; trajectory correction maneuvers; lunar braking, burn and landing; and enhanced capabilities.

Awarded contracts will be managed by the Lunar Lander Project Office.

For information about the BAA, visit:
http://prod.nais.nasa.gov
or
http://www.fedbizopps.gov

NASA, and MSFC in particular, starts examining its HLV options and dealing with issues related to the end of the Ares I: NASA Takes Inventory For The Next Steps - Aviation Week - Aug.2.10
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Some commentary on the ISS situation:
/-- The failure of the past and a hint of the future - Behind The Black - Aug.2.10
/-- The ISS Heats Up - Space KSC - Aug.2.10

There's a diversity of astronaut opinions on NASA policy wrt Constellation, commercial crew, etc.:
/-- John Kelly: Astronauts weigh in on space: NASA veterans have varied views on what's best for program - Florida Today - Aug.1.10
/-- NASA Debate ContinuesSpace KSC - Aug.1.10
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This seems very legalistically petty: NASA Cams Closed! (via nasaengineer.com).

Some Apollo 11 related items:
/-- Bob Zimmerman writes about the flag that the Apollo 11 crew left on the Moon: A flag in the dust - Behind The Black.

/-- The Big Event - Space.com - video with Buzz Aldrin narrating the landing

/-- Apollo 11 - NASA - video program from last year's 40th anniversary

/-- Apollo Anniversary Thoughts - Transterrestrial Musings

/-- 7-8:30 pm PT : "The Space Show welcomes back Rand Simberg and Bill Simon to present Evoloterra".

Update: Forgot this one: Celebrate past and future Moondays - Cosmic Log

Yesterday was the 35th anniversary of the docking of Amercian and Soviet space capsules in the culmination of the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project. A reader points to this video about the event: Anniversary of Apollo–Soyuz docking - Scientific American.
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And, of course, we are in the 41st anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, which launched on July 16, 1969 and landed on the Moon on July 20th. The crew returned to earth on July 24, 1969. Here's a super slow-motion video (with narration) of the first 30 seconds of the engines during liftoff of the Apollo 11 Saturn V rocket:

Apollo 11 Saturn V Launch (HD) Camera E-8 from Mark Gray on Vimeo.

Neil Helelamien has spotted an interesting item in the Senate NASA Authorization bill (pdf) that directs the agency to provide for sending up to 50 student payloads (one per state) to orbit per year using "commercially available orbital platforms". The platforms could presumably range from satellites to the DragonLab.

SEC. 1003. SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS COMMERCIAL ORBITAL PLATFORM PROGRAM

A fundamental and unique capability of NASA is in stimulating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education in the United States. In ensuring maximum use of that capability, NASA shall—

(1) establish a program to annually sponsor scientific and educational payloads developed with United States student and educator involvement to be flown on commercially available orbital platforms, when available and operational, with the goal of launching at least 50 such payloads (with at least one from each of the 50 States) to orbit on at least one mission per year;

(2) contract with providers of commercial orbital platform services for their use by the STEM Commercial Orbital Platform program, preceded by the issuance of a request for proposal, not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, to enter into at least one funded, competitively-awarded contract for commercial orbital platform services and make awards within 180 days after such date; and

(3) engage with United States students and educators and make available NASA’s science, engineering, payload development, and payload operations expertise to student teams selected to participate in the STEM-Commercial Orbital Platform program.

The Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft launched on Tuesday has arrived at the ISS: Russian Spacecraft Delivers New Crew of 3 to Space Station - SPACE.com
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A couple of NASA budget related items:
/-- Panel Demands NASA Documents to Support Budget - NYTimes.com
/-- Constellation contractors in Huntsville getting word on how much money remains - al.com (via spacetoday.net)

NASA jobs issues:
/-- Space Coast task force gathers at White House - The Write Stuff/Orlando Sentinel - June.8.10
/-- Playing politics: President’s NASA policy could haunt his party at the polls in Harris County - Houston Chronicle - June.6.10
/-- Officials request millions to aid NASA staff facing job cuts - Houston Chronicle - June.4.10
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NASA may have to wait a long time for a 2011 budget: Appropriations Process Still Waiting for Budget Resolution - spacepolicyonline.com - June.7.10
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The NASA Television YouTube Channel has a continual flow of videos like
this oddly interesting one of the preparation fo the Shuttle Atlantis for towing back to the landing facility after its recent launch.

Among other challenges for NASA, the agency faces "a 'staggering' repair and maintenance bill for the future" in rebuilding its research infrastructure:
/-- Crumbling labs could clip NASA's wings - New Scientist

/-- NASA's Declining Research Facilities Could Prevent Agency From Meeting Important Mission Goals - NRC

A discussion of where the money will come for the crew rescue version of the Orion capsule New Orion Role Raises Funding Challenge - Aviation Week.
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Does seem odd that General Dynamics, Lockheed-Martin, and similar giant companies sometimes get NASA contracts that are categorized as going to small businesses: NASA Sued for Refusing to Release Contracting Data, According to the American Small Business League - MarketWatch.

Congratulations to Pete Worden on winning The Arthur C. Clarke Innovator's Award:
/-- NASA Ames Center Director Receives Arthur C. Clarke Award - NASA
/-- 2010 Arthur C. Clarke Awards Honor Giuliano Berretta And S. Pete Worden - The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation

Worden has been one of the few top NASA managers who really gets it when it comes to understanding the desperate need for NASA to pursue innovative low cost approaches to space exploration and development. If he had been named NASA Administrator in 2005, as had been rumored at the time that he might, the agency would not be in the current Constellation mess. (An even greater tragedy is the accident that killed Pete Conrad, who worked with Worden on the DC-X project and who would have made a magnificent NASA administrator.)

Rob Coppinger tries to find out what is happening with Constellation during this limbo period when it can't be stopped but won't be continued: Constellation: Hyperbola's journey to nowhere - Hyperbola.
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An update on the next Shuttle flight: STS-132 Shuttle Report | Russian payload nestled into Atlantis' bay for launch - Spaceflight Now.

NASA is holding a press teleconference to announce what center will do what in their new plan for NASA
/-- NASA Work Assignments Topic of Media Telecon on Thursday, April 8
/-- NASA’s “next steps” telecon - Space Politics

The Write Stuff/Orlando Sentinel blog gives the distribution of tasks to the NASA centers:
/-- What JSC can expect from NASA reshuffle
/-- Plans for Kennedy Space Center under Obama 2011 budget
/-- Plans for Kennedy Space Center under Obama 2011 budget
/-- KSC to get commercial office under new NASA plan

Andrew Chaikin and collaborators at Analytical Graphics lnc. (AGI) investigate what would have happened if the Apollo 13 capsule had missed its reentry target and skipped off the atmosphere:
/-- Fate of Apollo 13 Crew Might Have Been Much Different Than Originally Thought - Universe Today - Mar.26.10
/-- Apollo 13 Revisited - AGI - Mar.26.10

Will Pomerantz writes about NASA's effort to solicit input from the public via thewww.nasa.gov/open website: William Pomerantz: Building a More Open Government, One Idea at a Time - huffingtonpost.com - Mar.16.10.
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American Aerospace Advisors Inc. is taking commercial reservations for research on Discovery flight STS-133, the final scheduled Space Shuttle mission. It will provide approximately two weeks of microgravity time: American Aerospace Accepting Commercial Reservations for Research On Last Scheduled Space Shuttle Mission - American Aerospace - Mar.8.10 (pdf).

They are working with Nanoracks LLC.

A reader sends in this link about the final test firing by ATK of a Shuttle SRB: Shuttle program’s final launch: ATK, NASA to fire last rocket motor - The Herald Journal [Utah].

The event is scheduled for 11:55 a.m.; a public viewing area on Highway 83 about 20 miles west of Corinne will open at 9:30 a.m.

And here's also a link to an article describing local reaction to the end of Constellation: Obama's plans to scrap Constellation irk those connected to ATK - Standard-Examiner [Utah]

Congrats to NASA and the Endeavour crew on a very successful mission: Space Shuttle Endeavour Lands Safely in Florida - SPACE.com.
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Miles O'Brien has posted a survey here about NASA that he says he will discuss at a Congressional hearing on Wednesday. Jeff Foust points out, however, that voluntary on-line polls have no statistical validity regarding what the general public thinks: Is an online poll worth a committee’s time? - Space Politics - Feb.21.10. (In the comments there, Miles suggests he knows how to use such polls.)