Ares I: Is it on or off? Decision probably will come soon on NASA rocket, Huntsville Times.

"The future of NASA seems to be in a tense hold - not unlike the delays that sometimes plague rocket launches - waiting for a presidential directive to set its future course. At stake is the Marshall Space Flight Center-managed Ares I rocket, a space shuttle replacement with its future in doubt and more than 1,500 jobs across the Tennessee Valley hanging in the balance."

Keith's note: Ares 1 is dead, folks. DEAD. So is the use of Orion in LEO for trips to the ISS. Use of Orion to destinations in cis-lunar space? That is still open. Ares V as currently designed is dead but there will be a heavy launch vehicle - the debate is between an inline shuttle-derived launch vehicle for crew and cargo and a sidemount shuttle-derived launch vehicle. The sidemount concept is losing favor - fast - due to crew escape concerns. Watch for a significant commercial focus such that NASA may well use a commercial provider to launch crews into space - in a vehicle that meets NASA specs - on a launch vehicle (not necessarily the same each time) that also meets NASA specs. NASA may well be about to bow out of providing human launch services - at least for LEO. Details? Watch for Charlie Bolden's speech at the 11 Feb session of FAA's AST conference. The news for MSFC is not good - and it is not necessarily good for JSC either.

Marshall Space Flight Center managers in Washington meeting about NASA launch studies, Huntsville Times

"A team of managers and engineers from Marshall Space Flight Center are in a meeting this afternoon at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC briefing key leaders on various studies that outline a variety of NASA programs, a senior space agency spokesman told The Times today. "A team from Marshall is at NASA HQ today to brief senior managers on one of many engineering studies," said Mike Cabbage, NASA spokesman. "This is an informational meeting only. Decisions on future space flight plans will be made by the president. It remains premature for anyone to speculate about these plans before the president announces his decision."

Uncertain Future for NASA's Next-Gen Ares Rocket, Space.com/Fox

"As the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama prepares to propose changes to NASA's human spaceflight program in the president's 2011 budget request to lawmakers Feb. 1, an independent NASA safety advisory panel is warning the space agency against abandoning its current plans."

Panel Warns NASA About Outsourcing Risks, Wall Street Journal

"As part of that campaign, they have challenged the safety of the start-up ventures, which are proposing to use rockets that haven't been fully tested and, in some cases, haven't yet flown. "It is the panel's position," according to the latest report, that none of the commercial ventures vying for NASA business are "currently qualified" to meet human-safety standards, "despite some claims and beliefs to the contrary."