What's Happening in Space Policy January 8-14, 2017 – UPDATE

Here is our list of space policy events for the week of January 8-14, 2017 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate will be in session.

During the Week

The BIG space event this week will be the return to flight of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.   Recently postponed from tomorrow (Monday) to Saturday, it will place 10 Iridium NEXT communications satellites into orbit.  The FAA approved the launch license on Friday, but Monday’s launch slipped to Saturday because of inclement weather forecast at the launch site — Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA.   SpaceX is recovering from a September 1, 2016 incident that destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket and the AMOS-6 communications satellite during preparations for a static fire test two days before the scheduled launch. The static fire test for this launch was successfully accomplished on Thursday.

Here in Washington, the Senate will begin confirmation hearings for individuals President-elect Trump plans to nominate for Cabinet-level positions once he is President (on January 20).  Three have space responsibilities:  Secretary of Defense nominee-designate Gen. James Mattis (Ret.), Secretary of Commerce nominee-designate Wilbur J. Ross, Jr., and Secretary of Transportation nominee-designate Elaine Chao.  NOAA is part of the Department of Commerce.  The FAA and its Office of Commercial Space Transportation are part of the Department of Transportation (DOT).   Senate Democrats are objecting to some of the hearings because the non-partisan Office of Government Ethics has not had time to vet all of the nominees-designate for conflicts of interest yet.  Accusations are flying back and forth between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, all of which may be fascinating politically, but not really relevant to the space program, so we will leave it at that.  The Chao hearing is on Wednesday; the Mattis and Ross hearings are on Thursday.

Elsewhere in the country, AIAA will hold its annual SciTech forum, including the Aerospace Sciences meeting, in Grapevine, TX.  The AIAA website does not indicate which, if any, sessions will be livestreamed, but AIAA does webcast plenary and other special sessions at some of its conferences.  If we learn about a link to watch, we will add it to our calendar entry for this event.  There certainly are a lot of very interesting sessions on the agenda. UPDATE:  AIAA is livestreaming here.

The Earth Science Subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council’s (NAC’s) Science Committee will meet at Kennedy Space Center, FL on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Many earth scientists are nervous about the future of NASA’s earth science program in a Trump Administration.  That’s because former Congressman Bob Walker, who was a space adviser to Trump during the campaign and continues to play an advisory role on the transition team, believes NASA’s “earth-centric” programs should be transferred to other government agencies so NASA can focus on exploration. It is a view shared by key congressional Republicans who oversee NASA.  With Republicans in charge of the House, Senate and White House, and the retirement of Sen. Barbara Mikulski who effectively defended NASA’s program, the likelihood has increased.  It would be surprising if the NAC subcommittee has any better inkling of what the incoming Trump Administration plans to do, but anyone can listen in to the meeting to find out.  NASA Earth Science Division Director Mike Freilich is on the agenda Tuesday morning.  (Note that the remote participation option is audio only.)

NASA’s Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG) also meets this week. That one is in Arizona from Wednesday-Friday.  Presumably they will be cheering NASA’s announcement last week of the selection of two asteroid missions (Psyche and Lucy) as the next two Discovery missions, while ruing the non-selection of a third — NEOCam (though it will get another year of funding).  They also may discuss last week’s release of the White House’s National NEO Preparedness Strategy.  The White House said a companion “action plan” would soon follow.  Perhaps there will be some news on that.  The meeting will be available remotely through Adobe Connect.  Note that all times on the agenda are in Mountain Standard Time. NASA Planetary Division Director Jim Green will speak on Wednesday at 9:10 am Mountain Time (11:10 am Eastern).  Michele Gates and Dan Mazanek will provide an update on the Asteroid Redirect Mission at 4:10 pm MT (6:10 pm Eastern) on Wednesday.

Those and other events we know about as of Sunday afternoon are shown below.  Check back throughout the week for additional events we learn about later and add to our Events of Interest list.

Sunday-Thursday, January 8-12

• National Academies Transportation Research Board annual meeting (with a few sessions on commercial space), Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC  (the meeting actually began on January 7)

Monday-Friday, January 9-13

• AIAA SciTech 2017 and Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Gaylord Texan Hotel and Conference Center, Grapevine, TX

Tuesday-Wednesday, January 10-11

• NASA Advisory Council Earth Science Sbcmte, NASA Kennedy Space Center, FL (audio available remotely)

Wednesday, January 11

• Senate Commerce Cmte Hearing on Expected Nomination of Elaine Chao to be Secretary of Transportation, 253 Russell, 10:15 am ET (webcast)
• Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter speaks at CSIS, 1616 Rhode Island Ave., NW, Washington, DC, 4:30 pm ET (webcast)

Wednesday-Friday, January 11-13

• NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG), University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (available via Adobe Connect)

Thursday, January 12

• SASC Hearing on Expected Nomination of James Mattis to be Secretary of Defense, G50 Dirksen, 9:30 am ET (webcast)
• Senate Commerce Cmte Hearing on Expected Nomination of Wilbur J. Ross, Jr. to be Secretary of Commerce, 253 Russell, 10:00 am ET (webcast)
• STA Luncheon Featuring NASA Glenn Research Center Director Janet Kavandi, 485 Russell, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm ET
• WIA Happy Hour and Viewing of Movie Hidden Figures, Happy Hour 5:30-7:00 pm ET at Clyde’s of Gallery Place, movie begins 7:30 pm ET at Regal Gallery Place (individuals are responsible for purchasing their own drinks, food, and movie tickets)

Friday, January 13

• ISS Spacewalk 2 (Kimbrough and Pesquet), NASA TV coverage begins 5:30 am ET

Saturday, January 14

• SpaceX Launch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites, Vandenberg AFB, CA, 9:54:34 am Pacific Time (12:54:34 Eastern)