Jim Beggs, who led NASA from 1981 to 1985, died on April 23 at the age of 94. Taking the helm of the agency just after the first flight of the space shuttle, he made it his mission to move on to the next step in human exploration — building a permanent space station in Earth orbit. His legacy, the International Space Station, is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary of permanent human occupancy. …
Roselee Roberts, a treasured member of the Washington, D.C. space policy community for more than four decades, passed away on April 22 after a long illness. She would have celebrated her 78th birthday on April 24.
At the White House today, President Trump got a first hand account of how NASA is marshaling its expertise to help combat the coronavirus. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine brought along exhibits from his media teleconference yesterday to showcase how NASA engineers, working from home because of COVID-19, are aiding medical professionals with the development of a low cost ventilator, an oxygen hood, and a system to sterilize surfaces. …
NASA is reaching in, not out, for ideas on how it can help fight the coronavirus pandemic. Already a low cost ventilator designed by JPL and an oxygen helmet developed by Armstrong Flight Research Center in partnership with aerospace companies and others in California are close to getting expedited FDA approval.
NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) said today they consider the May 27 launch date for SpaceX’s first crewed launch to the International Space Station (ISS) to be “feasible.” Also today, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine encouraged everyone to watch the launch virtually, not travel to Kennedy Space Center even though this is the first launch of astronauts to the ISS from the United States in nine years.
Iran launched what Iranian officials heralded as its first military satellite from a new launch site on a new launch vehicle today. Unlike previous Iranian satellite launches by the Iranian Space Agency, this was developed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which the United States considers a terrorist group. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized the launch for violating a United Nations resolution and demonstrating that Iran’s insistence that its space program is civilian, not military, lacks credibility. Other officials characterized it as an example of Iran’s “malign behavior.”
NASA is reorganizing its human spaceflight office to sharpen its efforts at commercializing low Earth orbit (LEO). NASA’s goal is to become only one of many customers using the International Space Station (ISS) and future LEO space facilities. The agency is moving out quickly to respond to a highly critical review of how non-NASA research is managed on the ISS, but acknowledges that it has work to do in convincing Congress that it has a viable plan.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of April 19-25, 2020 and any insight we can offer about them. Congress is in recess, except for pro forma sessions, until at least May 4. …
NASA and SpaceX have agreed to launch Demo-2 to the International Space Station on May 27. Demo-2 is the crewed flight test of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon carrying NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, the first launch of astronauts to the ISS from American soil since the space shuttle program was terminated in 2011. If successful, Demo-2 will open the door for operational flights of Crew Dragon.
Two NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut returned to Earth overnight after many months in isolation aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Ordinarily returning ISS crew members are welcomed with hugs by family, friends and colleagues, but this time will be different because of the coronavirus pandemic. One of the astronauts thinks being on Earth separated from family and friends will feel even more isolated than being on the ISS.