What's Happening in Space Policy August 25-September 5, 2014 – UPDATE

UPDATE, August 25:  Adds the two panel discussions today (Monday, August 25) at NASA re the New Horizons mission to Pluto.

August 24, 2014: Here is our list of space policy-related events for the next TWO weeks, August 25-September 5, 2014, and any insight we can offer about them.  Congress returns on September 8.

During the Weeks

The schedule is light for the next two weeks, but the National Research Council (NRC) is hard at work, with meetings of one of its study committees this week and one of its standing committees the following week.  The NASA Advisory Council’s (NAC’s) Planetary Science Subcommittee also will meet the following week.

The NRC study committee — Survey of Surveys: Lessons Learned from the Decadal Survey Process — will meet in public session on Monday and Tuesday (check the agenda for the most recent information on exactly when the open sessions will take place).  NRC Decadal Surveys are the “bibles” used by NASA and highly valued by Congress in setting priorities for NASA’s space and earth science programs.  (Some of the Surveys also advise additional agencies like NSF and NOAA.)   The most recent versions have encountered challenges in implementation, however, because of sharply changed budgetary realities between the time the study begins and when it ends, usually about two years later. The agencies tell each Decadal Survey committee at the outset what budget “wedge” they expect to have in the next 10 years (a decade) to begin new programs. The committees use that guidance in formulating recommendations on what programs to initiate to answer the top scientific questions they identify.  The most recent Decadal Surveys have included “decision rules” on what to do if there is significantly less (or more, as unlikely as that is) money than they are told and NASA, at least, has had to utilize those decision rules a lot lately.  This new NRC committee is looking at how to make the next round of Decadal Surveys more effective in guiding the agencies in these ever-changing times.

The NRC standing committee that is meeting the first week of September is the Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science (CAPS).  Curiously, the NAC Planetary Science Subcommittee is meeting at exactly the same time (September 3-4).  The meetings are on opposite coasts.  Both advise NASA on its planetary science programs — the NRC provides strategic advice while the NAC subcommittee provides tactical advice — so they do look at the programs from different perspectives.  They often get briefings from the same NASA people, though, so this must be an interesting scheduling exercise.  Neither has posted their agendas yet.

Here is what we know about as of Sunday evening, August 24.

Monday, August 25

• Two NASA panel discussions re the New Horizons mission to Pluto, NASA HQ, Washington DC (watch on NASA TV)
  • Panel 1:  1:00 – 2:00 pm ET
  • Panel 2:  2:00-3:00 pm ET

Monday-Wednesday, AUGUST 25-27

• National Research Council (NRC) Survey of Surveys Committee, NRC Keck Center, 500 5th Street, NW, Washington, DC (some sessions are closed, see agenda)

Wednesday-Thursday, SEPTEMBER 3-4

• NASA Advisory Council (NAC) Planetary Science Subcommittee, NASA HQ, Washington, DC, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm ET both days
• National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science (CAPS), NRC Beckman Center, Irvine, CA (some sessions may be closed, see agenda)