What's Happening in Space Policy September 15-20, 2014

Here is our list of space policy-related events coming up during the week of September 15-20, 2014 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.

During the Week

This may be the last week Congress is in session prior to the November elections if they can complete action on a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government for the initial part of FY2015, which begins on October 1.   None of the 12 regular appropriations bills has cleared Congress yet, so some action must be taken to avoid a government shutdown. 

The White House also is hoping Congress will authorize it to take certain military actions in Syria.  Whether that authorization will be attached to the CR or not is an open question.  The White House plan was to add the Syria authorization to the CR knowing that is the one piece of legislation that Congress must pass imminently, but the issue is highly controversial and could derail the CR.  House Republican leaders were poised to pass a CR last week before the Syria authorization issue arose, but are now debating whether to deal with the Syria authorization and FY2015 government appropriations issues separately or in a combined bill.  Stay tuned.

It is conceivable that there might be Senate action on a NASA authorization bill in the coming week.  The House passed its version in June.  The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has a markup session scheduled for Wednesday for a long list of bills.  At the moment, the NASA authorization is not on the list, but that could change.  Stay tuned on this one, too.

NASA has made no further announcement about when the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCAP) award will be made.   Expectations were high that it would be announced at the end of August, but it wasn’t.   Another “stay tuned” situation.

One certainty is that the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft will reach Mars on Sunday, September 21.  Hopefully it will enter orbit as planned.  NASA will hold a pre-arrival news conference on Wednesday at 1:00 pm ET.  It will provide coverage of orbital insertion as well, but that will be included in our next issue of “What’s Happening.”

The next cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS), SpaceX CRS-4, is also coming up this week.  The launch itself is currently scheduled for early Saturday morning (2:16 am ET) and NASA plans five pre-launch events on Thursday and Friday.  Launch dates are not nearly as reliable as arrival dates, however, so don’t set your alarm clock yet.

This entire week, beginning today (Sunday), is National Aerospace Week.  Established by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), its goal is to recognize the contributions that the aerospace industry makes to the U.S economy and global competitiveness.

The full list of events that we know about as of Sunday afternoon is provided below.

Sunday-Saturday, September 14-20

• National Aerospace Week, various events, various locations

Monday, September 15

• ESA Announces Rosetta Landing Site, Paris, FR, 11:00-12:30 Central European Summer Time (5:00-6:30 am Eastern Daylight Time), will be webcast

Monday-Wednesday, September 15-17

• Air Force Association Air & Space Conference, Gaylord National Resort and Conference Center, National Harbor, MD (outside Washington, DC)

Tuesday, September 16

• Final Frontier: Renewing America’s Space Program (Atlantic Council), Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC, 8:30 am – 1:00 pm ET
• WSBR Luncheon Featuring Rep. Jim Bridenstein, University Club, Washington, DC, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm ET

Tuesday-Wednesday, September 16-17

• COMSTAC, NTSB Conference Center, 429 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, DC

Wednesday, September 17

• NASA Pre-Arrival Briefing for MAVEN,  NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 1:00 pm ET (will be webcast)

Wednesday-Friday, September 17-19

• National Research Council Committee on Earth Science and Applications from Space (CESAS), National Academy of Sciences building, 2101 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC (some sessions may be closed, check the agenda)

Thursday, September 18

• AAS-AMS Google Hangout on Extreme Weather, 12:00 pm ET, virtual

Thursday-Friday, September 18-19

• Societal Impact of Astrobiology Symposium, John W. Kluge Center, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm ET both days
• NASA Pre-Launch Briefings for SpaceX CRS-4 launch (three on September 18, two on September 19)

Saturday, September 20

• SpaceX CRS-4 launch, Cape Canaveral, FL, 2:16 am ET, with post-launch briefing about 90 minutes after launch