Space Policy Events for January 20-24, 2014

The following space policy events may be of interest in the week ahead.  The House and Senate are in recess this week.

During the Week

This week is a welcome break from the hustle and bustle that greeted the New Year. 

After an exceptionally busy start to the second session of the 113th Congress, the House and Senate are in recess (Monday is a federal holiday — Martin Luther King day), having passed the appropriations bill that funds the government for rest of the fiscal year.  The frenetic pace in Congress was matched by major American Astronomical Society (AAS) and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) conferences just outside Washington at National Harbor, MD during the past two weeks, plus the State Department-led International Space Exploration Forum and the International Academy of Astronautics’ (IAA’s) Space Exploration Conference and Heads of Agencies meetings.   Not to mention several significant launches.   It’s been quite a busy couple of weeks!

This week signals a return to a more normal pace.  Here are the meetings we know about as of Sunday afternoon.

Wednesday, January 22

• NASA Advisory Council (NAC) Planetary Science Subcommittee, NASA HQ, Washington, DC, 8:30 am – 5:30 pm ET
• NASA Media Teleconference on “Big Year Ahead for NASA Earth Science,” telecom (listen at www.nasa.gov/newsaudio), 12:30 pm ET

Wednesday-Thursday, January 22-23

•  NASA Applied Sciences Advisory Committee,NASA HQ, Washington, DC

Thursday, January 23

• Media Briefing on Celebration of 10 Years of Rovers on Mars, Jet Propulsion Lab, Pasadena, CA, 11:00 am PT (2:00 pm ET) (watch on NASA TV or Ustream)
• NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, 1:00-2:00 pm CT (2:00-3:00 pm ET)