The following events may be of interest next week. See our calendar for more information. Note: dates, times and witnesses for congressional hearings are subject to change. Check the committee’s website for up-to-date information.

AIAA Space 2009 Conference and Exposition

• Monday-Thursday, Sept. 14-17 Pasadena, CA

Hearings on the Augustine Committee Report

• Tuesday, Sept. 15 2:00 pm House Science and Technology Committee 2318 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington DC
• Wednesday, Sept. 16 2:30 pm Senate Commerce subcommittee 253 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington DC

Mark-up of the Satellite Home Viewer Reauthorization Act (possible)

• Wednesday, Sept. 16 House Judiciary Committee Washington, DC

Note: The committee has a markup session scheduled on Wednesday (time and location not listed). Congress Daily (subscription required) reports that it will include markup of the Judiciary Committee’s version of the Satellite Home Viewer Reauthorization Act, however it is not currently included on the list of items for consideration on the committee’s website.

NPR’s Science Friday interviewed Lawrence Krauss yesterday. He is the author of the provocative New York Times op-ed arguing for sending astronauts on one-way trips to Mars. His premise is that historically people traveled to new lands with no expectation of returning home and this should be no different. It would save money and one need not worry about their surviving the damaging health effects of cosmic radiation. Dr. Krauss is author of The Physics of “Star Trek,” and Director of the Origins Institute at Arizona State University.

We have just updated three of our fact sheets to reflect recent congressional and other actions:

• Major Space-Related Legislation in the 111th Congress: A Checklist
• FY2010 Funding for Selected DOD Space Programs
• NASA’s Project Constellation

All are available from our left menu under “Our Fact Sheets and Reports.”

The House Science and Technology Committee has just updated its witness list for the hearing on Tuesday about the Augustine Committee report. Apparently NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden no longer will be there. Instead, it will be Norm Augustine, chair of the Review of Human Space Flight Plans Committee, followed by a two-person panel: former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, and the chair of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), Joe Dyer. The hearing is still scheduled for September 15 from 2:00-4:00 pm in 2318 Rayburn.

Bad weather in Florida led NASA to decide to land space shuttle Discovery at Edwards Air Force Base, California today instead of Kennedy Space Center. The landing is set for 8:53 pm EDT.

UPDATED: The shuttle landed successfully at Edwards at 8:53 pm EDT (5:53 pm local time).

Today should see the launch of a new rocket in Japan, the test firing of a new rocket motor in Utah, and the landing of the space shuttle in Florida.

• At 1:01:46 pm EDT (2:01:46 am September 11 Japan Standard Time), the maiden launch of Japan’s H-IIB rocket should lift off carrying the H-II Tranfser Vehicle ( HTV) loaded with supplies for the International Space Station (ISS).
• At 3:00 pm EDT (1:00 pm MDT), ATK will make a second attempt to fire the new rocket motor for the Ares I launch vehicle.
• At 7:05 pm EDT, the space shuttle is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), though weather may be a problem. A second opportunity at KSC is available at 8:42 pm, or the landing could slip until tomorrow or the weekend.

Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA, told The Hill newspaper that the Augustine committee report “confirms his concerns that ‘the emperor has no clothes'” and called on NASA to better explain its human space flight plans. He added that he will work with the Obama Administration and fellow Members of Congress “as we determine the best way to align resources with NASA’s human spaceflight mission” according to the newspaper.

Rep. Mollohan’s Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) subcommittee held NASA’s budget for Constellation to its FY2009 level when it marked up the FY2010 appropriations bill, instead of approving the substantial increase that had been requested. The subcommittee’s position was upheld by the full Appropriations Committee and the House (see our previous article).

The newspaper also quoted Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) as saying that it is time to “step up to the plate” and give NASA the funding it needs, and Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) as emphasizing that it is the President who must take the lead.

NASA has published a report compiling the results of scientific experiments conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) during the past 8 years. Although the program has focused on assembling the ISS during this time rather than utilizing it, more than 100 scientific experiments and technology demonstrations have been conducted.

The report, International Space Station Science Research Accomplishments During the Assembly Years: An Analysis Of Results from 2000-2008, is being released as Washington policy makers debate the future of the ISS. Under current budget guidance, U.S. participation in the ISS program will end in 2015. The recently released summary of the Augustine committee report on the future of the human space flight program argues that it should be extended until 2020 to enhance the country’s return on its investment in building the facility.