Weekly Roundup for SpacePolicyOnline.com: November 4-10, 2024

Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com from November 4-10, 2024 including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.

What’s Happening in Space Policy November 10-16, 2024

November 10, 2024.  Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of November 10-16, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate return to work this week.

Congress Returns to Changed Political Landscape, But Same To-Do List

November 10, 2024. President-elect Trump’s decisive win on Tuesday and Republican advances in the Senate will usher in a changed political landscape next year. Which party will control the House is still up in the air, though Republicans seem likely to keep that chamber, cementing all three levers of power. But that’s next year. There’s still the rest of this Congress to go. On Tuesday, Congress returns to work with the same to-do list they had in September — passing FY2025 appropriations and other critical pieces of legislation.

Crew-8 Will Reveal Hospitalization Details “In Fullness of Time”

November 8, 2024. The three NASA Crew-8 astronauts who returned to Earth last month firmly declined to answer questions today about who was hospitalized and why after splashdown. Astronaut Michael Barratt, a physician and member of the crew, spoke for all three and insisted privacy considerations and processes that need to be followed preclude providing any more information now, but they will explain more “in the fullness of time.”

What Will a Second Trump Term Mean for Space Policy?

November 6, 2024. Last night’s election of Donald Trump to return to the White House four years after he left office could portend significant changes in U.S. space activities. Or not. One day after any election is too soon to guess what any politician will do and Trump’s alliance with Elon Musk throws a wild card into the mix, but speculation is rampant.

Engineers Ignored Warning Signs in Arecibo Telescope Collapse

November 5, 2024.  A new report from the National Academies concludes that the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico collapsed in 2020 due to failures of cable sockets that supported the platform above the dish because of accelerated zinc creep. Structural engineers who inspected the cables and sockets missed warning signs, especially after winds from Hurricane Maria placed extra stress on the cables. The authors also speculate that the electromagnetic environment may have been a contributing factor.

SpaceX Cargo Dragon to Demonstrate ISS Reboost

November 4, 2024. SpaceX launched its 31st cargo mission to the International Space Station this evening. As usual it is delivering several tons of supplies and scientific experiments, but one difference is that for the first time the Dragon spacecraft will be used to reboost the ISS. The primary purpose of the test is to collect data SpaceX needs to develop the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle NASA will use to send the ISS into the ocean at the end of its lifetime.

Weekly Roundup for SpacePolicyOnline.com: October 28-November 3, 2024

November 4, 2024. Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com from October 28-November 3, 2024 including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.