Gen. Jay Raymond, Chief of Space Operations and head of the U.S. Space Force, routinely stresses that this new military service is vastly different than its predecessors. Created in the 21st Century, it is being built from the bottom up as a digital service. Today he released a report explaining what that means.
Blue Origin opened an auction today to buy the first space tourist seat on its New Shepard rocket for a 10-minute ride to space. The company, owned by Jeff Bezos, is not ready to reveal the price for seats in the future, but for this first one, the highest bid wins. Ultimately not only money, but physical fitness, will determine who gets the coveted seat.
On the fifth try, SpaceX’s Starship prototype finally made it not only up, but down, during a test at Boca Chica, TX. After four landing failures, today’s flight with a modified design demonstrated that it could lift off a launch pad, rise to 10 kilometers altitude, maneuver, and return to a safe landing so close to its point of origin that these flights are referred to as “hops.” …
Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) is getting a crash course in the breadth and complexities of issues facing NASA and commercial space as the new chair of the House space subcommittee. With one hearing behind him, he is gearing up for more to educate himself before making up his mind on thorny issues like who should own Human Landing Systems or what agency should be in charge of civil Space Situational Awareness.
Vice President Kamala Harris officially swore in former Senator Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator this morning. In attendance not only was Nelson’s wife and children, but his two predecessors in the job who served under Democratic and Republican presidents. Nelson said the point was to demonstrate that continuity and bipartisanship are needed to run the nation’s space program.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of May 2-8, 2021 and any insight we can offer about them. The Senate is in recess except for pro forma sessions. The House is in a “committee work week” where committees meet virtually, but the House meets only in pro forma sessions.
Nick Johnson, the former head of NASA’s orbital debris office and a leader in developing the IADC space debris mitigation guidelines, has passed away at the age of 71. Prior to joining NASA in the 1990s, Johnson was a renowned expert on Soviet space programs, publishing comprehensive annual reports for Teledyne Brown Engineering.
The first operational flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico at 2:56 am ET this morning after 168 days in space. It was the first nighttime splashdown since 1968, and the second Crew Dragon landing in the Gulf.
Senior administration officials confirmed this morning that Vice President Kamala Harris will chair the National Space Council. The search for an Executive Secretary is underway. The Council will have a lot of continuity with its predecessor, but Harris will put her own stamp on it. She will also keep a Users’ Advisory Group. They also said that Harris will swear in Bill Nelson as NASA’s new Administrator on Monday.
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter got a new assignment today. Designed as a technology demonstrator simply to prove it could fly on Mars, NASA is so delighted with the results that now Ingenuity will move into an operational role supporting the Perseverance rover as it begins its scientific exploration of the Red Planet.