The American Astronautical Society (AAS) announced today that it must cancel its annual National Conference in November because new travel restrictions for government employees caused all of the high level NASA officials who were scheduled to speak at the conference to withdraw.  The decision does not affect next week’s AAS Von Braun symposium in Huntsville, AL, which will proceed as scheduled.

AAS President Frank Slazer said in a letter circulated by AAS that the society is not alone in suffering from the absence of government speakers and attendees at its conferences:  “a recent American Meteorological Society conference lost 100 out of 130 NOAA attendees at very short notice,” he wrote.   An AAS conference this summer on International Space Station research also had lower than expected government attendance because of the travel restrictions, he noted.

The November conference was scheduled for November 28-29, 2012 in Pasadena, CA in partnership with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and The Planetary Society. 

“Without key NASA and other government speakers and participants, [AAS] leadership made the painful decision to cancel this conference rather than risk the quality of event that we have consistently worked to provide our membership and attendees,” Slazer explained.

The AAS Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium scheduled for next week in Huntsville, AL, however, is proceeding as scheduled.

Editor’s note:   In the interest of full disclosure, I am Vice President-Public Policy of AAS.   That is not why I make this comment, however.  It is absolutely true that taxpayers’ dollars should not be squandered on unnecessary or exorbitant travel, but meetings of professional societies like AAS provide an opportunity for the public — those very same taxpayers — to learn about what their tax dollars are enabling, and places for the science and engineering communities to interact, leading to better science and engineering.   These new rules are the result of a single agency, the General Services Administration, losing control of its conference planning process, but everyone is being made to suffer.   One can only hope that a more reasonable set of policies that deal with the actual problem will be put in place in the near future.   The Pasadena conference was really going to be terrific — and I say that as a space policy analyst, not an AAS official.  What a shame.

The following events may be of interest in the coming week — beginning today actually (weather permitting).  Congress is in recess, except for pro forma sessions, until after the elections.

During the Week

If the weather cooperates, SpaceX will launch the first operational commercial cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) tonight (Sunday) at 8:35 pm ET.  The forecast is only 60% for favorable weather so it’s a bit iffy for today, but the weather improves tomorrow and Tuesday, so hopefully it wil get off successfully then if not today.  Designated “SpaceX CRS-1” for SpaceX’s first Commercial Resupply Services mission, it should arrive at the ISS on Wednesday if it launches today, where ISS crew members Suni Williams and Aki Hoshide will berth it to the space station using Canadarm2.  NASA will cover the launch and berthing on NASA TV.

Also during the week, the GEOINT 2012 conference will take place in Orlando and several NASA or FAA advisory committees/subcommittees will meet.  Also, World Space Week continues through October 10, with activities around the world.

Sunday, October 7

• Launch of SpaceX CRS-1 mission, 8:35 pm ET, watch on NASA TV or SpaceX’s website
  • Post-launch briefing, 10:00 pm ET

Sunday-Wednesday, October 7-10

• Continuation of World Space Week celebration,  global

Monday-Thursday, October 8-11

• GEOINT 2012, Orlando, FL

Tuesday, October 9

• ISU-DC/AIAA-NCS Space Cafe featuring John Mather (Nobel Prize in Physics, 2006, and senior project scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope), The Science Club, Washington, DC, 7:00 pm ET

Tuesday-Wednesday, October 9-10

• FAA Commercial Space Transportation Adv Cmte (COMSTAC), National Housing Center, Washington DC
• NASA Advisory Council (NAC) Earth Science Applied Science Advisory Group, NASA HQ, Washington DC

Wednesday, October 10

• SpaceX Dragon arrival at and berthing with ISS (if launch is on Sunday as scheduled), 7:30-9:30 am ET (NASA TV coverage begins at 4:00 am ET)
• NAC Earth Science Subcommittee, 12:30 – 2:30 pm, ET, virtual  

Wednesday-Friday, October 10-12

• NAC Heliophysics Subcommittee, NASA HQ, Washington, DC

 Friday, October 12

•  NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), 12:00-1:00 pm CT (1:00-2:00 pm ET), Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

The following events may be of interest in the coming week.   Congress has left town until after the elections.

During the Week

Among the interesting events this week is the release of the results of NASA’s Mars Program Planning Group (MPPG) led by Orlando Figueroa.   NASA set up the MPPG earlier this year after budget constraints led it to terminate a cooperative Mars exploration program with the European Space Agency (ESA).  MPPG’s task is to develop “foundations for a program-level architecture for robotic exploration of Mars that is consistent with the President’s challenge of sending humans to Mars in the decade of the 2030s, yet remain responsive to the primary scientific goals of the 2011 NRC Decadal Survey for Planetary Science.”   Figueroa is scheduled to brief the NRC’s Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science (CAPS) on Tuesday at 10:15 am PT (1:15 pm ET) at the NRC’s Beckman Center in Irvine, CA.   The meeting will be webcast and there are several other very interesting presentations on both Monday and Tuesday.

Also of particular note this week are —

• a meeting of NOAA’s Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing (ACCRES), the first in three years, on Monday afternoon;
• a talk by Steve Isakowitz, who has broad experience in both government — including the White House Office of Management and Budget and NASA — and industry and now is with Virgin Galactic, at the Space Policy and History Forum on “Launching to the Future, Learning from the Past — Historical Perspective of Space Transportation,” also Monday afternoon; and
• a Canadian Embassy (in Washington) celebration of the first 50 years of Canadian space activities with a focus on the future — “servicing, repurposing and mining of space resources,” all day Wednesday.

Here’s the complete list of events for the coming week.

Monday, September 24

• NOAA Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing, NOAA auditorium, 1301 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD, 1:00-4:00 pm ET
• Space Policy and History Forum Featuring Steve Isakowtiz, Virgin Galactic, National Air & Space Museum, 600 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC, 4:00 pm ET

Monday-Tuesday, September 24-25

• National Research Council Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science (CAPS), NRC Beckman Center, Irvine, CA (meeting wil be webcast)
  • Figueroa briefing on Mars Program Planning Group, Tuesday, 10:15 am PT (1:15 pm ET)

Tuesday, September 25

• NSF-NASA-DOE Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (AAAC), National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA, 1:00-2:00 pm ET

Wednesday, September 26

• Canada’s First 50 Years in Space, Canadian Embassy, Washington, DC, 9:00 am – 7:30 pm ET

Thursday-Saturday, September 27-29

• Space Generation Congress 2012, Naples, Italy (in conjunction with the International Astronautical Congress, which begins October 1)

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney just released a white paper on his plan for “Securing U.S. Leadership in Space.”

The four key Romney space priorities are:

• Focusing NASA
• Partnering Internationally
• Strengthening Security
• Revitalizing Industry

More to come on this from SpacePolicyOnline.com later today.

Mitt Romney’s newly released space policy paper adds little to the generic statements he has made so far in his presidential campaign.

The white paper is predictably full of anti-Obama rhetoric and promises to maintain U.S. preeminence in space, but says little about how Romney would fulfill that promise other than making clear that, whatever is needed, NASA will not get any more money.   Asserting that space is “critical” to technological innovation, the global economy, national security and “international standing,” the white paper sheds no light on how the space program would be different under his leadership.

As he has said in the past, Romney again pledges that — after he is in office — he will pull together the best minds from NASA, the Air Force, industry, and academia to “set goals, identify missions, and define a pathway forward that is guided, coherent, and worthy of a great nation.”   In other words, he does not like what the Obama Administration is doing, but does not have any ideas of his own right now and will ask others for their advice if and when he is elected President.

What he does say now is that “A strong and successful NASA does not require more funding, it needs clearer priorities.” 

As for national security space, he “will direct the development of capabilities that defend and increase the resilience of space assets” and “deter adversaries seeking to damage or destroy the space capabilities of the U.S. and its allies.”  What that means exactly is not clear, especially in terms of the resources that would be allocated to national security space or its priorities.

Romney’s position on commercial space has been a subject of speculation.   Traditional Republican support for the private sector versus the government has not held true with respect to the commercial crew program where congressional Republicans and Democrats alike remain skeptical.   

The policy paper released today says that under Romney’s leadership NASA will be a “constructive partner” with the private sector.  NASA will “set the goals and lead the way” in human space flight, and “look whenever possible to the private sector to provide repeatable space-based services like human and cargo transport to and from low Earth orbit.”  In the meantime, the “private sector will handle commercially viable activities….”

That sounds very much like what the Obama Administration already is doing. 

Overall, it is difficult to determine from this new policy statement how the U.S. space program would be different under a Romney Administration.  Not that it needs to be different.   In fact, many argue that what the space program most needs is stability.

The International Institute of Space Law (IISL) has released the problem that forms the basis for the upcoming 2013 Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court competition.

The annual competition for law school students features four regional rounds in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.  The winners of the regional rounds compete in semi-final and final competitions in conjunction with the IISL annual colloquium that is held in conjunction with the annual International Astronautical Congresses.   The 2013 collloquium will be in Beijing, China.

This year’s problem concerns legal issues that might arise by the abandonment of a lunar installation by one country and the occupation of part of that installation by another country.   More information about the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court competition is available at the IISL’s website.

 

For those of you who were intrigued by Laura Delgado’s summary of last week’s Secure World Foundation (SWF)/Space Foundation panel discussion, the podcast of that meeting is now available.

Peter Marquez, former White House Director of Space Policy in the latter years of the George W. Bush Administration and early years of the Obama Administration, was one of the speakers at the event, which focused on space security and international cooperation in space.  SWF has released the podcast on its website.

Among other things, he compared the current status of development of an International Space Code of Conduct to being digested over a thousand years in the stomach of the Star Wars creature the sarlaac.   His comments on that and other issues begin at 20:26 on the recording.   Other speakers are:

Introductions

• Brendan Curry, Vice President of Washington Operations, Space Foundation
• Tiffany Chow, Program Manager, Secure World Foundation

Panelists:

• Mr. Sam Black, Director of Policy, Satellite Industry Association (SIA)
• Mr. Peter Marquez, Vice President of Strategy and Planning, Orbital, Former White House Space Policy Director
• Ms. Jessica Powers, Director for Engagement, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Space Policy), U.S. Department of Defense
• Mr. Frank Slazer, Vice President for Space Systems, Aerospace Industries Association (AIA)

Moderator: Victoria Samson, Washington Office Director, Secure World Foundation