Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com’s tidbits for September 5, 2018: Sen. Inhofe takes over SASC; NRO takes over commercial satellite imagery acquisition; Colleen Hartman takes over SSB and ASEB. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
The nominations of Jim Morhard to be Deputy Administrator of NASA and Kelvin Droegemeier to be Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) were approved by the Senate Commerce Committee today. Both were adopted by voice vote with no dissent. The next step will be a vote by the full Senate.
NASA said today it will support the work of a Russian commission investigating how a hole was made in a Soyuz spacecraft that is docked at the International Space Station (ISS). A pressure drop in the ISS last week was traced to the hole. Russian cosmonauts repaired it with an epoxy sealant. The fix appears to be holding but how the hole, which was drilled, not created by space debris or a meteorite, got there is a mystery. The head of Russia’s space agency said he was not ruling out anything, including whether it was made on Earth or in space.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of September 2-8, 2018 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
NASA’s FY2019 budget request proposed eliminating the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) and refocusing technology efforts on the Moon/Mars program. A recommendation on a new structure was expected this summer, but the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) was told yesterday that it is on hold because NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine wants more time. Separately NASA was directed to look at turning its nine civil service field centers into federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs). That report was being sent to the White House today.
Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com’s tidbits for August 30, 2018: NASA holds out hope for Opportunity, but…; pressure leak on ISS. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
Thomas Zurbuchen, the head of NASA’s science program, said today that he has created an independent team to take one last look at the servicing compatibility of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Unlike Hubble, JWST is not designed to be serviced either by humans or robots, but satellite servicing advocates have lobbied for years for NASA to take relatively simple measures to keep the possibility open.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine today raised the possibility of selling naming rights to NASA rockets and spacecraft and allowing NASA astronauts to seek the same types of endorsements as sports figures. Those are just two of his ideas on how NASA can further embrace the commercial space movement. He has created a new NASA Advisory Council (NAC) committee to advise him on regulatory and policy matters to determine what is possible and where there are barriers. Maxar Technologies’ Mike Gold, a well known commercial space industry insider, was appointed to chair the committee.
Paul Spudis, whose passion for lunar science and resource utilization is legendary, passed away today. He was 66. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who knew him well, emotionally broke the news at a meeting of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC), which then observed a moment of silence. Spudis is well known throughout the space community and many are expressing their condolences.
Members of two NASA Advisory Council (NAC) committees representing the science and human exploration communities seem upbeat about the potential of NASA’s concept for a lunar orbiting Gateway. At a joint meeting today, they heard from engineers about the design and scientists about how it can enable “transformative” lunar science. They will report their findings and recommendations to the full NAC when it meets tomorrow and Thursday, but their discussions today conveyed strong support.