Events of Interest: Week of May 21-26, 2012
The following events may be of interest in the coming week. The Senate is in session through Saturday, then will take a week off for the Memorial Day recess. The House left for its Memorial Day recess on Friday (other than pro forma sessions) and will return on May 30.
During the Week
The marquee event for the week will be whether SpaceX tries again to launch its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). The first launch attempt today (May 19) was scrubbed with less than one second to liftoff when the engine chamber pressure on one of the Falcon’s nine engines was too high. If the problem can be fixed in time, the next launch opportunity is May 22 at 3:44 am ET. Another possible launch opportunity is May 23 at 3:22 am ET, but NASA and SpaceX did not know immediately if the range was available at that time. Stay tuned for updates from SpaceX or NASA.
Separately, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) will markup its version of the FY2013 National Defense Authorization Act this week. Subcommittee markups are early in the week, with the Strategic Forces subcommittee marking up on Wednesday at 9:30 am. Full committee markup begins later that day at 2:30 and continues the next day. The meetings are closed to the public so are not listed below. The House passed its version of the bill, H.R. 4310, yesterday.
Tuesday, May 22
- Possible second launch attempt for SpaceX, Cape Canaveral, FL, 3:44 am ET
Tuesday-Thursday, May 22-24
- AIAA/IAF Global Space Exploration (GLEX) Conference, L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, Washington, DC
Wednesday-Friday, May 23-25
- National Research Council Space Studies Board Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science (CAPS), Keck Center, 500 5th Street, NW, Washington, DC
Thursday-Monday, May 24-28
- International Space Development Conference, Grand Hyatt Washington, Washington DC
Friday, May 25
- NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, 10:00-11:00 am CT (11:00-12:00 ET)
User Comments
SpacePolicyOnline.com has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate. We do not post comments that include links to other websites since we have no control over that content nor can we verify the security of such links.