President Biden told European allies today that the Mars Perseverance and Mars Sample Return missions are examples of how the United States and Europe can work together and “secure our futures together.” It is the second time in two days Biden has talked about Perseverance, calling Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk yesterday to extend congratulations on its successful landing. Perseverance is the first of three U.S.-European missions that eventually will return samples of Mars to Earth.

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NASA will try again next week to conduct a full duration Space Launch System (SLS) core stage “Hot Fire” test. The first attempt last month ended early because of how the test parameters were set, not hardware problems. If all goes well this time, the first SLS launch, Artemis-I, could still take place this year, but NASA will take it step by step and is not making any promises.

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President Biden, Vice President Harris and a host of congressional leaders sent NASA congratulations today after the successful landing of the Mars Perseverance rover on Mars.  The car-sized rover, equipped with a helicopter and a system to collect samples for later return to Earth, survived the perilous “Seven Minutes of Terror” from the top of the Martian atmosphere to a safe landing in Jezero Crater at 3:55 pm EST today.

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NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover survived the Seven Minutes of Terror and successfully landed on Mars at 3:55 pm Eastern Standard Time today. Despite COVID-imposed social distancing restrictions that limited how many people could be in mission control, team members were just as ebullient as ever when touchdown was confirmed.

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U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM) is getting ready to sign a Memorandum of Agreement with NASA.  NASA signed one with U.S. Space Force last fall, but this one will be operationally focused as befitting USSPACECOM’s mission. One area of cooperation among all three will be planetary defense — protecting Earth from asteroids and comets. Separately, NASA announced a slight delay in the launch of its DART planetary defense mission.

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In less than 24 hours, NASA’s latest rover will land on Mars. With an 11 minute time delay, the Mars Perseverance rover will be on its own as it descends through the Mars atmosphere during “Seven Minutes of Terror” when everything must go just right for it to settle gently at Jezero Crater. In addition to an array of scientific instruments, Perseverance is carrying a tiny helicopter, Ingenuity, that will be the first aerial vehicle to fly on another planet and a system to collect samples that will be returned to Earth by later missions.

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The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) will hold the first space-related hearing of the 117th Congress next week.  Between the January 6 failed insurrection, the inauguration of President Biden, and the second impeachment trial of former President Trump, Congress is off to an uneasy start this year. The key committees that set policy and funding for space activities now at least have decided on their memberships and are gearing up for action.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of February 14-20, 2021 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate will meet only in pro forma sessions this week, but several House committees are holding hearings.

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A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concludes that if the goal is to send humans to Mars in 2039, an aggressive nuclear propulsion research and development program is needed and there is no time to waste.

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Today China became the sixth member of the group of countries and space agencies to successfully place a spacecraft into orbit around Mars. Tianwen-1 entered orbit less than 24 hours after the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) Hope probe did the same thing. Getting into orbit is only the first step for Tianwen-1, however. In a few months, it will detach a lander/rover to descend to the surface of Mars, a perilous journey. The United States is the only country to land successfully and its next attempt, with Mars Perseverance, is just a week away.

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