What's Happening in Space Policy May 8-12, 2017

Here’s our list of space policy events for the week of May 8-12, 2017 and any insight we can offer about them.  The Senate is in session this week; the House is in recess.

During the Week

Although the House is taking a week off from Washington duties to check in with constituents back home, the Senate is in session.  Tomorrow (Monday) it is scheduled to vote on the nomination of former Congresswoman Heather Wilson to be Secretary of the Air Force. Her nomination was approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) last month.  If approved, the Republican who represented the 1st district of New Mexico from 1998-2009 will succeed Deborah Lee James in that role.  Lisa Disbrow has been serving as Acting SecAF since James left on January 20 when the Obama Administration ended.  Wilson would become the first service secretary confirmed in the Trump Administration.  Trump’s original nominees for Secretary of the Army and Secretary of the Navy withdrew because of financial entanglements.  Trump then nominated Mark Green to be Secretary of the Army, but he withdrew last week because of opposition that developed in reaction to views he is said to have expressed that were offensive to the LGBT community and to Muslims.  Green denied them, but said his nomination had become a “distraction” and therefore withdrew.

Tuesday-Thursday is the 4th Humans To Mars (H2M) Summit, organized by Explore Mars and once again held at George Washington University in Washington, DC.  The event will be webcast.  Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot will speak at 9:00 am ET on Tuesday, followed by a panel of NASA’s Associate Administrators (AAs) for Human Exploration and Operations (Bill Gerstenmaier), Science (Thomas Zurbuchen), and Space Technology (Steve Jurczyk).  Gerstenmaier’s deputy for policy and plans Greg Williams then will lay out NASA’s current planning for a Deep Space Gateway and Deep Space Transport.   And that’s all in just the first two hours!  It’s a jam packed agenda.  For those who will be there in person, Leonard David will have a book signing event on Tuesday at lunchtime for his National Geographic book “Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet.”   David will also be on a panel discussion at a pre-event on Monday evening (separate registration required) with Pascal Lee (Mars Institute), Penny Boston (NASA Astrobiology Institute), and Keith Cowing (NASAWatch).  On Wednesday morning, Jeff Foust (Space News), Frank Morring (Aviation Week) and your faithful SpacePolicyOnline.com editor will be on a panel moderated by former NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan.  On Thursday morning, there’s a panel on “Is the Moon a Good Step on the Way to Mars” with Scott Pace (GWU Space Policy Institute and former NASA AA for program analysis and evaluation); Doug Cooke (former NASA AA for Exploration Systems), Tony Antonelli (Lockheed Martin, former astronaut), and Peter McGrath (Boeing), moderated by Kathy Laurini (NASA Senior Advisor for Exploration and Space Operations).  Lots more than can be previewed here.  Check out the agenda.

For anyone who can tear themselves away from H2M on Tuesday, the Washington Space Business Roundtable (WSBR) is hosting a luncheon with a very interesting group of speakers on “Defense Space Priorities in the New Administration.”  It’s at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA (not to be confused with the Army & Navy Club on 17th St. in D.C.).  Moderated by Todd Harrison from CSIS, the speakers include: John Hill, Acting DOD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Space Policy; David Hardy, Associate Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for Space; Col. Sidney Conner, USAF, Deputy Director Space Programs Assistant Secretary (Acquisition); Chirag Parikh, Deputy Director, Counterproliferation, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; and Lindsay Millard, Program Manager, Tactical Technology Office, DARPA.  Hope you’ve got your tickets already.  Pre-registration ended May 5.

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

Monday, May 8

• Fast Space: Rethinking Space Access (Air Force Assn), Capitol Visitor Center SVC 212/210, 9:30-10:30 am ET (pre-registration required)
• Senate vote on Heather Wilson to be Secretary of the Air Force, anytime after 5:30 pm ET (watch on C-SPAN or www.senate.gov)

Tuesday, May 9

• WSBR Luncheon on Defense Space Priorities in the New Administration, Army Navy Country Club, 1700 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, VA, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm ET
• SASC Nomination Hearing for Three DOD Officials, G-50 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC, 2:30 pm ET (webcast)

Tuesday-Wednesday, May 9-10

• Space Forum 2017, European Convention Center Luxembourg

Tuesday-Thursday, May 9-11

• Humans to Mars (H2M) Summit, George Washington University, Washington, DC, webcast  (pre-event activities on Monday, May 8, require separate registration)

Wednesday, May 10

• Generation Beyond Mars Experience Event (Lockheed Martin), 902 Hart Senate Office Building, 5:30 – 7:30 pm ET (invitation only)

Thursday, May 11

• Orbital ATK 1Q FY2017 Financial Results Call, 9:00 am ET (virtual, audiocast)
• ISU-DC Space Cafe on “Libations in Space,” Cotton & Reed, 1330 5th St., NE, Washington, DC, 7:00 pm ET (the announcement said it is on “Wednesday, May 11” — We have confirmed that it is THURSDAY, May 11 (not Wednesday, May 10)

Friday, May 12

• ISS Spacewalk (3 of 3), Earth orbit, approximately 8:00 am ET (NASA TV coverage begins 6:30 am ET per the NASA TV schedule)
• Outer Space Treaty and Colorado Business, Sherman & Howard law offices, Denver, CO, 7:30-10:00 am Mountain Time