What's Happening in Space Policy August 17-September 4, 2015

Here is our list of upcoming space policy related events.  This edition covers the next three weeks, through Labor Day Weekend when “summer” unofficially ends for those of us in the United States.  Labor Day is the first Monday in September. This year it is September 7.  Congress and the regular routine of business return on September 8.

During the Week

This coming week leaves lots of time for summer fun, with just one event on our calendar at the moment — the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA’s) launch of the HTV5 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).  The launch has been delayed twice already because of weather and JAXA cautions that more weather delays are possible. For now the launch is scheduled for Wednesday, August 19, at 7:50 am Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).  NASA TV will provide coverage beginning at 7:00 am EDT.  The cargo capsule is named Kounotori (white stork) so this is sometimes referred to as Kounotori-5.

This is the fifth Japanese cargo mission to ISS and a Japanese astronaut is aboard ISS to welcome it.  Kimiya Yui arrived on July 22 with his Soyuz TMA-17M crew mates Kjell Lindgren (NASA) and Oleg Kononenko (Roscosmos). The other three ISS crew members are Gennady Padalka (Roscosmos), Mikhail Kornienko (Roscosmos), and Scott Kelly (NASA).  Kelly and Kornienko are not quite mid-way through their “year in space.”  Yesterday was day 141 according to Kelly, who regularly tweets (@StationCDRKelly) about his experiences.  Whenever it launches, HTV5 should arrive at the ISS five days later.

That and other events we know about as of Sunday afternoon are listed below.

Wednesday, August 19

• JAXA launch of HTV5, Tanegashima, Japan, 7:50 am EDT (NASA TV coverage begins at 7:00 am EDT)

Monday-Wednesday, August 24-26

• NASA Outer Planets Assessment Group, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, MD

Tuesday, August 25

• MSBR Luncheon Featuring Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD), Martin’s Crosswinds, Greenbelt, MD, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm ET

Friday, August 28

• NASA Advisory Council Earth Science Subcommittee, virtual, 2:00-4:30 pm ET

Monday-Wednesday, August 31-September 2

• AIAA Space 2015 Conference, Long Beach, CA

Tuesday, September 1

• NASA ISS Advisory Committee, NASA HQ, Washington, DC, 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Wednesday-Friday, September 2-4

• National Academies Committee on Achieving Science Goals with Cubesats Meeting and Symposium, Beckman Center, Irvine, CA