What's Happening in Space Policy: April 28-May 2, 2014

Here is our list of space policy-related events for the upcoming week and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate will be back in session after a two-week spring break with a full agenda of NASA, NOAA and national security space decisions on tap.

During the Week

House committees and subcommittees will be making decisions on budgets and policy for the nation’s space program this week as they mark up appropriations and authorization legislation. (Not sure what a markup is?  Or the difference between an authorization and an appropriation? See our fact sheet:  What’s a Markup?  Answers to That and Other Mysteries of the Legislative Process.)

• Full committee markup of the 2014 NASA Authorization Act (HR 4412) by the House Science, Space and Technology (SS&T) committee on Tuesday (subcommittee markup was on April 9)
• Subcommittee markup of the FY2015 funding bill that includes NASA and NOAA by the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday
• Subcommittee markups of the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act by each of the House Armed Services Committee subcommittees on Wednesday and Thursday (the Strategic Forces subcommittee, which handles most national security space programs, has its markup on Wednesday)

Customarily the House acts on appropriations legislation before the Senate, and, indeed, the Senate Appropriations CJS subcommittee is still holding hearings on FY2015 budget requests for the agencies under its jurisdiction.  Its hearing on NASA’s request is on Thursday. 

Also of interest is a House SS&T Environment Subcommittee hearing on NOAA’s FY2015 budget request on Wednesday.

NASA is engaged in a full court press to articulate the outline of the agency’s plan on sending humans to Mars and how the Asteroid Redirect Mission fits into it.   After meeting with the NASA Advisory Counci a week and a half ago and participating in a three-day Humans 2 Mars summit at George Washington University last week, NASA will hold its own public “exploration forum” at NASA Headquarters on Tuesday afternoon (interestingly, the House SS&T committee is marking up the NASA authorization bill at the same time, which, we imagine, is entirely coincidental).

Lots of other interesting events are scheduled, including a symposium on Capitol Hill sponsored by the American Astronautical Society on Thursday highlighting science experiments conducted on the International Space Station and Women in Aerospace’s annual conference on Wednesday featuring top government officials including Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James.

Here’s the list of everything we know about as of Sunday morning.

Tuesday, April 29

• NASA Exploration Forum on Human Path to Mars, NASA HQ, Washington, DC, 12:30 – 3:00 pm ET (will be broadcast on NASA TV)
• House SS&T markup 2014 NASA Authorization Act, 2318 Rayburn, 1:30 pm ET

Wednesday, April 30

• Women in Aerospace (WIA) Aerospace 2014:  Breaking the Mold conference, Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington, VA, 8:00 am – 4:45 pm ET
• House Appropriations CJS subcommittee markup, H-140 Capitol, 9:30 am ET
• House SS&T subcommittee hearing on FY2015 NOAA budget request, 2318 Rayburn, 10:00 am ET
• HASC Strategic Forces subcommittee markup FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act, 2118 Rayburn, 12:00 noon ET (other subcommittees are marking up on Wednesday and Thursday — see schedule)
• AIAA Spotlight Awards and Gala Dinner, Ronald Reagan Building, Washington, DC, 6:30 pm ET

Thursday, May 1

• Senate Appropriations CJS subcommittee hearing on NASA’s FY2015 budget request, 192 Dirksen, 10:00 am ET
• American Astronautical Society symposium on International Space Station (ISS) Utilization, 253 Russell, 1:00-5:00 pm ET (followed by reception)
• BLAST OFF: The Future of Spaceflight, The Explorers Club, New York, New York, 7:00-9:00 pm ET