Space Policy Events for the Week of October 6-11, 2013 – UPDATE

UPDATE, October 7, 2013:  The NRC’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board meeting on Oct. 10-11 has been added, along with a note about the Hosted Payload Summit, which apparently is on track.

ORIGINAL STORY, October 6.  The following events may be of interest in the week ahead, though with the government shutdown, it’s really unclear as to which of these will actually take place.   The House and Senate will be in session hopefully trying to find a solution to the impasse.

During the Week

There is no sign of compromise at the moment, so how long the government shutdown will continue is anyone’s guess.  The House and Senate will be in session this week as they were last week, but no one seems to be giving ground so far.

The following list of events of interest, therefore, is tentative.   The government-sponsored meetings of advisory committees surely will be cancelled if the shutdown continues, but since their websites are down, there is no way to confirm that.  Meetings and conferences sponsored by non-government organizations seem to be proceeding with revised agendas that work around the lack of government speakers. 

The American Astronautical Society has done an impressive job of substituting non-government speakers for its Von Braun Symposium in Huntsville, for example, and it will webcast the first morning (Tuesday, October 8) of the conference.  This week’s American Astronomical Society’s Division on Planetary Science (DPS) meeting in Denver also is on track, although “agency night” on Tuesday is likely to be affected if the shutdown continues.   The website for the Hosted Payload Summit in Washington does not provide any information about its status; the agenda has a mix of government and private sector speakers.

Sunday-Friday, October 6-11

• American Astronomical Society Division on Planetary Sciences (DPS), Denver, CO  TAKING PLACE with modified agenda

Monday-Thursday, October 7-10

• American Astronautical Society Von Braun Symposium, Huntsville, AL  WILL TAKE PLACE with modified agenda
  • October 7 is an evening reception; October 10 is a post-conference tour
  • October 8-9 are conference sessions; the morning of October 8 will be webcast

Tuesday-Wednesday, October 8-9

• NASA Applied Sciences Advisory Committee, Washington, DC  ALMOST CERTAIN TO BE CANCELLED IF SHUTDOWN CONTINUES

Wednesday, October 9

• Hosted Payload Summit, Grand Hyatt Washington, Washington, DC, 7:30 am – 5:00 pm ET  CONFERENCE ORGANIZER CONFIRMS THIS WILL TAKE PLACE

Wednesday-Thursday, October 9-10

• FAA COMSTAC, Washington, DC ALMOST CERTAIN TO BE CANCELLED IF SHUTDOWN CONTINUES

Thursday-Friday, October 10-11

• NRC’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB), NRC Keck Center, 500 Fifth St., N.W., Washington, DC  WILL TAKE PLACE WITH MODIFIED AGENDA

Friday, October 11

• NASA Aerospace Safety Adv Panel (ASAP), Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, 10:00-11:00 am Central Time (11:00 am – 12:00 pm Eastern)  ALMOST CERTAIN TO BE CANCELLED IF SHUTDOWN CONTINUES