NuSTAR is a SMEX class high energy x-ray observatory.
It was shut down just at critical design review in spring 2006 by the then NASA associate administrator for Science, due to budget cuts in NASA science.
It has now been revived by the current associate administrator for Science, Alan Stern, and comes back to post-review phase B.
Launch expected in 2011.
The good news is that apparently the funding will NOT come out of the recently announced SMEX request for proposal rounds, that will go ahead with six proposals to be selected for concept study, to be down selected to three missions to launch.
No, I don't know where they got the money from either.
- Log in to post comments
More like this
I heard it from a man who,
heard it from a man who,
heard it from another...
ok, it was an e-mail, but it confirmed the strange tale I had been told.
NASA is about to do a Mad Max on its Science Missions.
Five missions enter, one mission leaves. Literally.
NASA has many houses. Within one is the…
IXO and LISA are dead and disbanded as NASA missions.
We are looking at a very thin pipeline and few new missions for a while, unless there is drastic new direction from above and strong guidance on funding.
NASA is a mission oriented agency.
This is especially true of Astrophysics.
At any given…
Beyond Einstein
1) JDEM
2) LISA
"Recommendation 1: NASA and DOE should proceed immediately with a competition to select a Joint Dark Energy Mission for a 2009 new start.
The broad mission goals in the Request for Proposal should be 1) to determine the properties of dark energ with high precision…
The National Research Council's Assessment Committee for the Beyond Einstein program had a townhall meeting here in the Windy City.
Much to my surprise, I was there also.
The Beyond Einstein program at NASA is in trouble. With cuts and squeezing by the Exploration Development effort, the original…
This is really good news.
It's a clever idea -- need a longer focal length than Chandra? Just attach an erector set!
Important science, and about time NASA commits *some* money to the next 20 yrs of X-ray astrophysics.
Ooh, yeah; excellent news! I could write several very fine proposals for that instrument immediately. :-)