What's Happening in Space Policy April 17-22, 2017

Here is our list of space policy events for the week of April 17-22, 2017 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in recess this week.

During the Week

Topic A this week is the International Space Station (ISS) and not just logistics, but the microgravity science research being conducted there.

Logistically, the next cargo launch is on Tuesday — Orbital ATK’s OA-7 mission — and two new crew members will launch and dock on Thursday on Soyuz MS-04.  Pre-launch briefings are scheduled for tomorrow (Monday). The OA-7 launch is on Tuesday at 11:11 am ET from Cape Canaveral on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket.  The launch has a 30 minute window and the weather is 90 percent favorable as of today. 

This will be the first-ever launch to be broadcast with a 360-degree view according to NASA.  Coverage on NASA’s regular TV outlets begins at 10:00 am ET.  The 360-degree view begins on NASA’s YouTube channel 10 minutes before launch.  NASA, Orbital ATK and ULA are all working together on the 360-degree view, so the two companies’ websites may also carry it.  A post-launch press conference is scheduled for 2:00 pm ET.  Two days later, Soyuz MS-04 will take NASA’s Jack Fischer and Roscosmos’s Fyodor Yurchikhin to ISS.  As we explained last week, Russia is reducing its ISS crew complement from three to two, so there’s an empty seat on this launch, which will be filled by Peggy Whitson on the return.

A key point of having ISS in the first place is to perform scientific research in microgravity.  In Washington, DC, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine will hold a day-long public symposium on Wednesday where scientists will discuss that research.  The next day (Thursday), a panel discussion will take place on Capitol Hill to highlight some of it.  

The Academies symposium is in conjunction with a meeting of a committee that is performing a mid-term review of the 2011 Decadal Survey on life and physical sciences research in space to evaluate how NASA is implementing those recommendations.   Decadal Surveys cover 10 years (a decade, hence “decadal”).  Congress requires NASA to contract with the Academies for Decadal Surveys in each of the science disciplines as well as for mid-term reviews of each study half way though the relevant decade.  The mid-term review committee cannot change the priorities in the original report, but assesses how things are going.  The mid-term review committee is meeting Tuesday-Thursday, but most of Tuesday and all of Thursday are in closed session.  Wednesday’s public colloquium will be webcast.  The Academies requests that everyone pre-register whether planning to attend in person or watch the webcast.

On Thursday morning, the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR), the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) and Rep. Brian Babin (chair of the Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee) will hold a panel discussion on Capitol Hill with four scientists who will discuss their own ISS research on water engineering, the movement of fluids, tissue healing, and plant research.  The event is free, but pre-registration is required.

On another topic, Saturday, April 22, is Earth Day and “March for Science” rallies will take place around the globe.  One will be on the National Mall in Washington, DC (near the Washington Monument).  Organizers are requesting that people who plan to attend let them know through the RSVP link on their website, where you can also find the locations of other rallies that might be closer to you if you can’t get to DC.

Those and other events we know about as of Sunday morning are listed below. Check for others we learn about later and add to our Events of Interest list.

Monday, April 17

• Pre-Launch Briefings for Orbital ATK 7 (OA-7) Cargo Launch to ISS, Kennedy Space Center, FL:  10:30 am ET (mission status), 1:00 pm ET (What’s on Board).  Watch on NASA TV.  (NASA’s April 11 press release announced both these briefings, but a posting about them on a NASA website does not mention the one at 1:00)

Tuesday, April 18

• Orbital ATK 7 (OA-7) Launch, Cape Canaveral, FL, 11:11 am ET (30 minute launch window).  Regular NASA TV coverage begins 10:00 am ET; first-ever 360-degree launch view coverage begins 10 minutes before launch on NASA’s YouTube channel.   Post-launch press conference 2:00 pm ET.

Tuesday-Thursday, April 18-20

• National Academies Committee on Mid-Term Review of Life and Physical Sciences Research at NASA, National Academy of Sciences building, 2101 Constitution Ave, NW, Washington, DC

Tuesday-Friday, April 18-21

• European Conference on Space Debris (ESA/ESOC), ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany

Wednesday, April 19

• National Academies Colloquium on Microgravity Research, National Academy of Sciences building, 2101 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC, 8:30 am – 5:30 pm ET (webcast)   Please pre-register if planning to attend in person or watch the webcast

Thursday, April 20

• Soyuz MS-04 Launch and Docking of Two ISS Crew Members, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.  Launch 3:13 am ET (NASA TV coverage begins 2:15 am ET); docking 9:23 am ET (NASA TV coverage begins 8:30 am ET)
• Scientists Bringing ISS Research Down to Earth Panel Discussion (ASGSR/CASIS/CSF/Rep. Babin), 2325 Rayburn, 9:00-10:30 am ET  (Free, but pre-registration is required)

Thursday-Friday, April 20-21

• UNIDIR Space Security Conference, Geneva, Switzerland (invitation only)

Friday, April 21

• MSBR Annual Gala and Silent Auction, Martin’s Crosswinds, Greenbelt, MD, 6:00 pm ET (reception), 7:30 pm ET (dinner)

Saturday, April 22

• Earth Day and “March for Science” rallies, world-wide