Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com’s tidbits for September 16, 2019. We’re catching up on a bunch of things again from new jobs for Janet Kavandi and Chris Shank to the Schriever Wargames to Vikram’s somersault to Brad Pitt’s new movie Ad Astra to Maezawa-san’s plans for going to the Moon. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of September 15-21, 2019 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
Not surprisingly, President Trump’s nominee to be the next Secretary of the Air Force strongly supported efforts to create a Space Force as part of the Air Force at her confirmation hearing today. Barbara Barrett called it a “key imperative” and vowed to make it an agency focused on capability in space, not bureaucracy. At the same time, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the FY2020 defense appropriations bill, providing the requested funding for the Space Force.
Two of NASA’s field centers will be getting new Center Directors in the next few months. Janet Kavandi, Director of Glenn Research Center, and George Morrow, Acting Director of Goddard Space Flight Center, have announced their retirements. Coupled with other resignations, by the end of this year at least half of the leaders of NASA’s 10 nation-wide centers will be new to the job since Jim Bridenstine became Administrator.
NASA officials provided an update on the Artemis program today indicating that it is on track to achieve the goal of landing astronauts on the Moon by 2024 and going to Mars thereafter. When people will land on Mars is dependent on policy and national priorities that will be determined by others, not NASA, according to the head of the Mars Architecture team at Johnson Space Center (JSC).
Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com’s tidbits for September 10, 2019: Japan’s HTV-8 launch scrubbed due to fire on launch pad; ISRO updates Moon lander status; NASA’s Langley Research Center gets new Director. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
An establishment ceremony was held today at Peterson AFB, CO, the initial home of U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM). Gen. Jay Raymond, Commander, and Gen. Joseph Dunford, Jr., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, outlined the new Command’s purpose and goals. At the same time, Congress returned from its summer recess to work on finalizing the FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and whatever it will say about creating a new Space Corps or Space Force as a sixth military service.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of September 8-14, 2019 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
India’s Chandrayaan-2 lander/rover failed to successfully land on the Moon today (EDT). Communications were lost 2.1 kilometers before the expected touchdown. Speaking to the Chandryaaan-2 team hours later, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the mission an “amazing journey” and assured them “the best is yet to come.” [UPDATED September 8, with news about locating it on the surface.]
The Trump Administration released its list of R&D priorities for the FY2021 budget today. Space exploration and commercialization make the list of the top five areas of investment needed to maintain American science and technology leadership during what it refers to as the Second Bold Era. No budget numbers are included, but the document from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) signals what to expect when the budget request is released in February.