HR 5382 signed into law

There has been one significant, although not unexpected, development this past week. On Thursday President Bush signed HR 5382, the Commercial Space Transportation Amendments Act, into law. MSNBC’s Alan Boyle has a nice summary article that leads with the signing and provides an overview of the legislation and its journey to enactment.

Holiday break

As you no doubt have noticed from the lack of postings, this blog is on a quasi-hiatus through the holidays, because of a lack of space policy developments during this time (and because I’m on vacation for a while, too.) Barring any major developments, posting here will be light until after the first of the […]

NASA administrator lobbying effectiveness?

A colleague asked yesterday what someone could do to support the candidacy of a particular person for NASA administrator. (The topic had apparently come up on a mailing list he was on.) The only suggestion that came to mind was to call the White House comments line (202-456-1111) and tell them who the President should […]

Endorsements for NASA administrator

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) has publicly endorsed retired Air Force general Pete Worden for the position of NASA administrator. Worden, who retired from the Air Force early this year, worked for Brownback until a few weeks ago as a Congressional fellow. “General Worden is a creative thinker who can cut through the stifling bureaucracy in […]

Thinking ahead to FY06

With the FY 2005 budget finally done, you know what that means: it’s time to start thinking about FY06. (Actually, planning for FY06 started months ago, but most people are still focused on how the 2005 budget would turn out in Congress.) While NASA got a robust increase in 2005, the prospects don’t look nearly […]

Post-O’Keefe commentary

Some commentary about Sean O’Keefe’s legacy and the search for his successor is making its way onto the editorial pages:

The Orlando Sentinel blandly concludes that O’Keefe “had ups and downs” (who doesn’t?), and that “history’s final verdict” on his tenure will depend on the ultimate success of efforts to “solve NASA’s cultural problems and […]

Handicapping the NASA administrator race

Now that Sean O’Keefe’s resignation is official, there are plenty of rumors and speculation about who will succeed him. NASA Watch has compiled a number of names, including the five people mentioned earlier as well as a couple of new candidates: Craig Steidle and Pete Worden. (Worden would seem to be an unconventional choice, particularly […]

Don’t hold back, Professor

In all the press coverage of NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe’s resignation, one couldn’t help but notice this zinger in an AP article from Duke University history professor (and former NASA historian) Alex Roland:

The captain’s abandoning a sinking ship and he was assigned to the ship to keep it from sinking. So I think it’s […]

Miscellaneous space policy commentary

While everyone awaits the next development with Sean O’Keefe and the NASA Administrator’s position, here are a few assorted policy essays from this week’s issue of The Space Review to tide you over:

Donald Barker argues that the Vision for Space Exploration should be focused on Mars, not the Moon, for several reasons. Taylor Dinerman […]

O’Keefe update

Florida Today, the Houston Chronicle, and the Orlando Sentinel all offer some more details about what appears to be NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe’s impending departure from the agency. All three get the same LSU spokesman to say on the record that the university’s board of supervisors has “actively recruited” O’Keefe; Florida Today notes that O’Keefe […]