NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine told members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Wednesday that NASA is considering launching the first mission of its Orion crew capsule in 2020 using commercial rockets rather than the agency's Space Launch System (SLS). The mission, which won't carry crew, will test the capsule in deep space during its three weeks around the moon.
Why it matters: The admission that the long-delayed SLS may not be ready in time to launch the first Orion mission in 2020 comes in the wake of development delays and cost overruns of what would be NASA's most powerful rocket ever developed. It also delivers a blow to Boeing, which is one of the main contractors for the SLS, and a potential boost to another private sector launch company, like United Launch Alliance or Elon Musk's SpaceX.
A storm is forecast to move out of the Southwest and rapidly intensify over the plains of Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas on Wednesday, bringing a wide array of life-threatening weather hazards for a large part of the country.
Why it matters: The storm is likely to intensify at a rate that will qualify it as a meteorological "bomb" — short for bombogenesis, which describes non-tropical storms whose central pressure drops by at least 24 millibars in 24 hours. In fact, this storm is likely to rival some of the most intense weather systems on record in parts of the Plains, as measured by its minimum central air pressure.
