The House will vote on a bill, H.R. 3354, that combines eight of the 12 regular FY2018 appropriations bills this week. The legislation includes the measures that fund NASA and NOAA (Commerce-Justice-Science), and the FAA’s space office (Transportation-HUD).   The House passed the other four FY2018 appropriations bills, including defense, as a separate bundle in July.   Final congressional action on the bills is not expected before FY2018 begins on October 1, however, and a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government operating for several months appears likely.

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President Trump’s decision to nominate Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Oklahoma) to be the 13th NASA Administrator is encountering headwinds from Florida’s two Senators, Bill Nelson (D) and Marco Rubio (R). The major concern is that Bridenstine would be the first politician to head NASA instead of having had a career in science or engineering or managing a large technical organization.

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NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and crewmates NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin returned to Earth this evening Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on their Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft. Whitson set several records during the mission, her third to the International Space Station (ISS).  

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After months of rumors, President Trump has finally nominated Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Oklahoma) to become the next Administrator of NASA.  

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NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) will remain closed to all but mission essential personnel through Labor Day as it copes with more than 40 inches of rain that has fallen since Friday because of Tropical Storm Harvey.  A planned news conference with Peggy Whitson from the International Space Station tomorrow has been cancelled. 

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NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) near Houston, TX is being hit hard by rains from Tropical Storm Harvey.   The Center is closed to all but mission essential personnel.

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Here is our list of space policy events for the next two weeks, August 28-September 8 2017, and any insight we can offer about them.   The House and Senate are in recess until September 5 (except for pro forma sessions).

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The European Space Agency (ESA) issued a call for proposals today seeking ideas for research that could be conducted on a Deep Space Gateway (DSG) in cis-lunar space. They will be discussed at a December ESA workshop.  NASA is developing the DSG concept, but the Trump Administration did not include any funding for it in NASA’s FY2018 budget request.

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Here is our list of space policy events for the next THREE weeks, August 20-September 8, 2017, and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in recess until September 5 (except for pro forma sessions).

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Two White House offices issued guidance to federal agencies today in formulating their FY2019 budget requests on the Trump Administration’s research and development (R&D) priorities.  Civil space activities are not on the list, but military space systems are briefly mentioned.

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