Mikulski: Congress didn’t cut NASA’s exploration budget

I received an email this afternoon from the communications director for Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), who wanted to respond “to some inaccurate information circulating through the Space community” about the final FY2007 NASA budget. They key points, directly from that message:

– In fiscal year 2006, Congress provided a funding level of $3.05 billion for […]

Responses to Krauthammer

In the comments to a post on Friday about Charles Krauthammer’s op-ed in the Washington Post, one person noted, “It would be good if a couple short letters to the editor appeared in such a national paper pointing out that less expensive and more quickly developed alternatives, such as operational Air Force launch vehicles, exist, […]

Should the space community be more politically active?

In an essay in this week’s issue of The Space Review, Chris Carberry, political director of The Mars Society and organizer of the National Space Society’s recent Space Budget Blitz, argues that members of the space community, be they employees or just enthusiasts, need to do more politically to express their desire for a vigorous […]

March Storm agenda: prizes, spaceports, and Orion/COTS

ProSpace, the group that bills itself as “The CITIZENS’ Space Lobby dedicated to opening the space frontier”, who be holding its annual March Storm lobbying effort this coming week, bringing dozens of space activists to Capitol Hill for three days of briefings in Congressional offices. ProSpace has posted its “2007 Citizens’ Space Agenda”, which covers […]

Two-front funding wars and lunar rationales

An editorial in today’s Florida Today argues that Floridian space supports have to fight a two-front battle to win support for NASA’s lunar plans. The first, and most obvious, front is in Congress, given that the recently-passed final FY07 budget cuts NASA’s exploration funding by $500 million. “NASA’s lunar exploration goals will remain a fat […]

Harman, Kyl, and ASATs

The notice of this event hasn’t been posted on CSIS’ web site yet, but as part of its “Decision 2008″ series, the organization is hosting a discussion with Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) on “China’s Anti-Satellite Weapons Launch” on March 8th from 8:30 to 9:30 am. The event notice doesn’t provide […]

Delaying Orion

The big news that came out yesterday’s hearing, as noted by the Houston Chronicle, Florida Today, New York Times, and others was that the cut in NASA’s exploration program enacted by the Congress when it passed the final FY07 budget a few weeks ago will result in a delay of four to six months in […]