July « 2005 « Space Politics

Griffin meets the press

By Jeff Foust on 2005 July 29 at 4:59 pm ET

NASA Administrator Mike Griffin will be in a hot seat normally reserved for politicians on Sunday morning: as a guest on NBC’s “Meet the Press” hosted by Tim Russert. The program will also include a “historic” interview with three members of the shuttle crew: Eileen Collins, James Kelly, and Charles Camarda. While Griffin’s appearance is […]

Confidence and skepticism

By Jeff Foust on 2005 July 28 at 6:48 pm ET

It depends on what end of Pennsylvania Avenue you’re on. At the White House, space came up during […]

Authorization negotiations

By Jeff Foust on 2005 July 28 at 6:34 pm ET

Aerospace Daily reports that Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), chair of the space subcommittee of the House Science Committee, plans to meet with his Senate counterpart, Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), chair of the space subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee, as well as ranking member Bill Nelson (D-FL). The discussion will be in advance of any […]

A national debate?

By Jeff Foust on 2005 July 28 at 1:33 pm ET

An editorial in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution criticizes the House of Representatives for approving NASA authorization legislation last week that includes language endorsing the Vision for Space Exploration. The AJC’s complaints cover the usual ground, primarily that we can’t “afford” the VSE because of the huge budget deficits, Social Security and Medicare shortfalls, and the like. […]

Senate takes aim at NASA airplanes

By Jeff Foust on 2005 July 26 at 7:31 pm ET

The Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee had scheduled a hearing this week on “NASA Passenger Aircraft: Mission Required or Expensive Perk?” However, at last report the hearing, which had been planned for Thursday, has been rescheduled for September 7, after Congress returns from the August recess.

The President watches, and journalists smirk

By Jeff Foust on 2005 July 26 at 7:08 pm ET

As White House officials indicated a couple weeks ago, just before the last launch attempt was scrubbed, President Bush did indeed take a moment Tuesday morning to watch the launch of the shuttle Discovery. (Although, I have to ask: can’t the President get a bigger TV than that? Maybe a nice plasma HDTV set? Or […]

The vision and commercialization

By Jeff Foust on 2005 July 25 at 12:56 pm ET

I’ve written an article for today’s issue of The Space Review that goes into more detail on NASA’s implementation of the Vision for Space Exploration in general, and its increased emphasis on commercialization in particular. The article primarily expands on the key points I noted in earlier post on the topic, with some additional quotes […]

More on the authorization bill

By Jeff Foust on 2005 July 24 at 2:22 am ET

A few additional notes about the House’s approval Friday of HR 3070:

The House approved three amendments, the most significant of which was a “manager’s amendment” that added $1.26 billion to the authorization for exploration programs. The amendment also allows NASA to complete the ISS “in such a configuration as to support fewer than six […]

Commercialization becomes essential

By Jeff Foust on 2005 July 23 at 12:24 pm ET

Since Michael Griffin became NASA administrator a few months ago we have seen a gradual change in the agency’s position on the role of commercial entities in carrying out the VSE. Griffin initially said he was open to it, but noted in early May that he did not want to get into a position where […]

House passes NASA authorization bill

By Jeff Foust on 2005 July 22 at 1:32 pm ET

The House passed HR 3070, the NASA authorization bill, around midday Friday. The bill passed by an overwhelming margin: 383-15. I haven’t had the chance to review the debate on the floor about the bill, but it appears at first glance that there were few, if any, significant amendments.

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