A year and a half after it landed on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover is hard at work studying an ancient river delta at Jezero Crater and discovering it’s not what scientists expected. The types of rocks reveal a complex geological past and some contain organic compounds in an environment that could have been suitable for microbial life. Most scientists do not think life currently exists on Mars, but might have eons ago. They are on a “treasure hunt” to find evidence, though a definitive answer probably will have to wait until the samples Perseverance is collecting are back on Earth.

Read More Read More

Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com’s tidbits for September 13, 2022: NASA science head Thomas Zurbuchen to depart, Astrobotic acquires Masten Space Systems, U.S. Space Force CSO nominee Saltzman warns on China. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.

Read More Read More

Japan and Germany are joining the U.S. pledge, announced in April, against conducting direct-ascent kinetic energy antisatellite tests that create orbital debris. Canada and New Zealand are the only other countries to adopt the ban so far, but the Biden Administration is working through the United Nations to convince others to sign on.

Read More Read More

Four key Democratic and Republican Senators have introduced legislation to start ridding earth orbit of space debris. The Orbital Sustainability (ORBITS) Act calls on NASA to establish a program to demonstrate technologies for Active Debris Removal, authorizing $150 million over 5 years. The bill also requires various agencies to publish a list of the debris that poses the greatest threat, update orbital debris standards, and encourage development of practices for coordinating space traffic to avoid collisions that create even more debris.

Read More Read More

The FAA said it will investigate the launch failure today of a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket. It was just the second launch failure in the company’s history and the first since 2015. The reusable rockets and capsules can carry either cargo or passengers. Although today’s flight carried only experiments, not people, the chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees commercial spaceflight said it’s a reminder of the risks involved and he will be keeping an eye on it as well.

Read More Read More

Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of September 11-17, 2022 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.

Read More Read More

So much has been happening recently that it’s tough to keep up with all the news so we are resurrecting our “tidbits” feature to provide at least a glimpse, if not as much context as usual, into three important stories over the past few days: DOD and the Department of Commerce signed an agreement on Space Traffic Management, the National Academies reported on whether Ligado will interfere with DOD’s GPS system, and DOD issued a new space policy.

Read More Read More

Vice President Kamala Harris chaired a second meeting of the White House National Space Council yesterday. As with the first meeting, STEM education was one of the three main topics. The other two were NASA’s human spaceflight program and creating regulations for novel commercial space activities. No major decisions were announced, but a White House framework for STEM education and space workforce development was released and several tasks were assigned to Council members.

Read More Read More

At her second meeting of the White House National Space Council, Vice President Kamala Harris asked all Council members to submit proposals on how to regulate “novel” commercial space activities — those not already regulated. Last month Harris highlighted the need to create a clear, consistent, and flexible regulatory environment to attract investors and ensure U.S. leadership. The question of which agency should be in charge of overseeing these new types of space businesses has been debated for years without resolution.

Read More Read More

The FAA has appointed Kelvin Coleman as the new Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, succeeding Wayne Monteith. Coleman has a long history at the office, most recently serving as Acting Associate Administrator since Monteith’s departure in March.

Read More Read More