NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center will be in charge of developing landers to put humans back on the Moon despite objections from key members of Congress who wanted it assigned to Johnson Space Center (JSC) instead.  Marshall is in Alabama; JSC is in Texas. The clash is largely between politicians from those two states who want the jobs and prestige for their constituents.  NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine chose Marshall to manage the overall program plus two of the three vehicles needed for landing.  JSC will manage acquisition of the third vehicle.  Bridenstine sees it as a win for both Centers.

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Three key members of the Texas congressional delegation are urging NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine to reconsider his reported decision to name Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to lead the effort to acquire human-rated lunar landers for the Artemis program.  Johnson Space Center (JSC) will have a role, but Marshall will be in charge according to a report in the media.  Bridenstine will be at MSFC tomorrow to make an announcement about the Centers’ roles, but both Texas Senators and the Congressman who represents JSC want him to delay it.

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The ExoMars 2020 project suffered another parachute test failure last week.  The European-Russian mission to land a rover on Mars is scheduled for launch next summer, so time is running short for the international team to solve whatever is causing the parachutes to rip apart during high altitude drop tests.  Despite all the buzz about sending humans to Mars, just trying to land robotic probes continues to demonstrate the challenges involved.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the next TWO weeks, August 11-24, 2019, and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess (except for pro forma sessions) until September 9.

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Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com’s tidbits for August 6, 2019:  Rocket Lab goes reusable; Chris Scolese sworn in as NRO Director; Jack Kerrebrock passes away.  Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the next TWO weeks, August 4-17, 2019, and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in recess (except for pro forma sessions) until September 9.

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Today the Senate passed the 2-year deal to raise budget caps and suspend the debt limit until July 2021, past the 2020 elections. It is an important step – but only a step – towards settling FY2020 appropriations.  Passing the bill was one of the Senate’s last acts before leaving for its August recess.  The House and Senate will return for legislative business on September 9 when they will have to finalize the FY2020 appropriations bills and hopefully, but not certainly, avoid a Continuing Resolution (CR) when FY2020 begins on October 1. [UPDATE, August 2:  President Trump signed the bill into law this afternoon.]

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George Morrow will become Acting Director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center tomorrow, succeeding Chris Scolese who is taking the helm of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).  Morrow has worked at Goddard for most of the past four decades and has been Deputy Director since 2015.

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The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) approved the nomination of Gen. John Hyten (USAF) to be Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff today.  The 20-7 vote comes just one day after Hyten’s nomination hearing where he denied charges of sexual assault leveled by a former subordinate, Army Col. Kathyrn Spletstoser. She continues to make her case publicly that he assaulted her and should not be confirmed.

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Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) and former Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson told the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) today that, after reviewing the evidence, they are convinced Gen. John Hyten is innocent of charges of sexual assault and was falsely accused. SASC held a hearing today on Hyten’s nomination to be Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  A former subordinate, Army Col. Kathryn Spletstoser, leveled the charges against him a few months ago.  Not all SASC members appeared as certain as McSally, but overall Hyten seems on track to be approved by the committee.

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