What's Happening in Space Policy March 19-24, 2017

Here is our list of space policy events for the week of March 19-24, 2017 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in session this week.

During the Week

It’s another one of those super-busy weeks, especially Wednesday.  Lots of action is in store inside Washington, outside Washington, and in Earth orbit.

Two are happening today (Sunday).  First is a Town Hall meeting at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LSPC) near Houston that is discussing the Science Definition Team report on a Europa lander, a topic expected to be of congressional interest during debate on the FY2018 budget request. President Trump’s budget blueprint specifically says it does NOT fund the lander, only the orbiter/flyby Europa Clipper. Second is the return to Earth of SpaceX’s CRS-10 Dragon spacecraft.  It took about 5,500 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) last month and is returning 5,400 pounds of results from scientific experiments and other items needed back on Earth.  Dragon is the only one of the four cargo spacecraft that service ISS that was designed to survive reentry (since SpaceX designed it from the beginning to support crews).

Dragon’s return is just one part of a busy time on the ISS.  Another cargo mission, Orbital ATK’s OA-7, is scheduled for launch on either Thursday or Friday (the exact date is TBD depending on availability of the Eastern Test Range from which the launch will take place aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V).  At the same time, astronauts on the U.S. segment of the ISS are gearing up for a series of three spacewalks.  The first is on Friday.  NASA will hold a news conference on Wednesday at Johnson Space Center to explain what they will be doing.  NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Peggy Whitson and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet will all take part in the spacewalks.  The other two are on April 2 and April 7.

The Europa lander Town Hall mentioned above is just the start of the week-long LPSC conference at The Woodlands, just outside Houston.  LPSC is the premier conference where planetary scientists gather to present the results of their research and talk about upcoming missions.  Unfortunately, it looks like there are no webcasts, so one must be there in person to hear about all the new findings and discoveries.  [There is a notice on the conference’s website warning that no live streaming of presentations is permitted.]  NASA headquarters representatives will hold their own Town Hall meeting on Monday and NASA’s Venus Exploration Analysis Group’s (VEXAG’s) Town Hall is on Thursday.

Back in Washington, brevity requires picking just two events to highlight, both among those taking place on Wednesday.  First, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI) will hold a day-long symposium on “Space Security:  Issues for the New Administration.”  It has a terrific lineup of speakers from CSIS, PSSI, the U.S. military, Congress, academia (U.S. and Japan), the Japanese and French governments, the European Space Agency, industry, non-profits and FFRDCs. The four main topics are space crisis dynamics, cooperation in space and missile defense, future of space launch, and space situational awareness and space traffic management.   Luckily, this event WILL be livestreamed so people everywhere can benefit. 

Second, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis gets his first chance in his new position to publicly brief the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee on the state of U.S. military readiness and DOD’s budget requirements.   Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford (USMC) will also testify.  Not sure how much, if any, of the discussion will be about space activities, but it’s a great way to get the lay of the land from their perspectives. The committee typically webcasts its hearings on its website.

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

Sunday, March 19

• SpaceX CRS-10 Dragon return to Earth, splashdown in Pacific Ocean, 10:54 am ET
• Europa lander Town Hall meeting at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), The Woodlands, TX, 12:30-6:00 pm Central Time

Monday, March 20

• NASA HQ Town Hall meeting at LPSC, The Woodlands, TX, 5:30 pm Central Time

Monday-Friday, March 20-24

•  LPSC 2017, The Woodlands, TX

Tuesday, March 21

• Washington Space Business Roundtable luncheon featuring Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), University Club, 1135 16th St., NW, Washington, DC, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET
• Maryland Space Business Roundtable luncheon featuring NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Director Chris Scolese, Martin’s Crosswinds, Greenbelt, MD, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm ET

Wednesday, March 22

• Space Security:  Issues for the New Administration (CSIS/PSSI), CSIS, 1616 Rhode Island Ave., NW, Washington, DC, 8:30 am – 5:45 pm ET (webcast)
• NASA Advisory Council Aeronautics Committee, NASA HQ, Washington, DC, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm ET (contact NASA for dial-in info)
• House SS&T Space Subcommittee Hearing on ISS After 2024, 2318 Rayburn, 10:00 am ET (webcast)
• Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Hearing on Defense Budget and Readiness, 192 Dirksen, 10:30 am ET (webcast)
• NASA News Conference on 3 Upcoming ISS Spacewalks, Johnson Space Center, TX, 2:00 pm ET (1:00 pm Central), broadcast on NASA TV
• [Two NASA briefings on the upcoming OA-7 ISS cargo mission could take place today, but currently are scheduled for tomorrow]

Thursday, March 23

• VEXAG Town Hall meeting at LPSC, The Woodlands, TX, “lunchtime”
• Two OA-7 Pre-Launch Briefings, Kennedy Space Center, FL, 1:00 pm ET (What’s on Board) and 4:00 pm ET (Mission Status), broadcast on NASA TV (could take place a day earlier if the launch date moves up a day)
• [The OA-7 launch could take place today, but is currently scheduled for tomorrow]

Friday, March 24

• ISS Spacewalk (1st of 3, Kimbrough and Pesquet), Earth orbit, 7:00 am ET (NASA TV coverage begins 6:30 am ET)
• Launch of Orbital ATK OA-7 Cargo Mission to ISS, Cape Canaveral, FL, 9:00 pm ET (launch could move forward one day to March 23)  NASA TV launch coverage begins 8:00 pm ET, post-launch coverage begins at 10:30 pm ET