A blue-ribbon committee has held its first public meeting on the future of NASA's human spaceflight program.
The 10-member panel, chaired by retired Lockheed Martin chairman Norman Augustine, is to present its recommendations to President Obama in late August.
Last week, it heard competing proposals for getting a new US launcher and crew vehicle capability into place as quickly as possible.
NASA's current plan, known as Constellation Systems, is expected to cost $35 billion and be ready to carry astronauts into space by March 2015. That would leave a five year gap after the space shuttles are retired next year in which NASA will have to pay the Russian Federal Space Agency to ferry US astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
But United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of the Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin, proposed an alternative in which the Delta IV Heavy rocket used to carry satellites into orbit for the military and other customers could be upgraded for astronauts and be ready in 2014.
A third plan known as Direct, would shift components of the space shuttle into a new series of rockets. That option would also be cheaper and faster than the NASA plan, its advocates said.
Finally, SpaceX, which has won funds as part of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) project, to develop an unmanned cargo vessel called Dragon to deliver supplies to ISS, has a proposal to adapt its Falcon IX rocket for human spaceflight, in a three-to-four year timeframe.
Meanwhile NASA has announced delays to the next two space shuttle flights as they attempt to track down a hydrogen leak on the launchpad.
David Kramer
Background documents
Summary of past human space flight reviews.
NASA's Constellation program review.
United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy proposal.
Aerospace Corp. study of EELV vs. Ares.Direct launcher proposal.
