September « 2010 « Space Politics

Mr. Musk goes to Washington

By Jeff Foust on 2010 September 23 at 6:26 am ET

The Washington Post examines the lobbying efforts of SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who has become something of a lightning rod in the ongoing debate about the administration’s NASA proposals, specifically development of commercial crew capabilities. The articles does note one area of debate: whether he has become a Democratic partisan in the process:

Since […]

Is a budget cut in NASA’s future?

By Jeff Foust on 2010 September 23 at 5:42 am ET

Later today House Republican leaders will unveil “Pledge to America”, their platform of policy changes they seek to enact if the GOP wins a majority in the House in November’s elections. POLITICO obtained a draft of the platform that, while not directly addressing space policy, does suggest that NASA will find it difficult to retain […]

“A travesty of incredible proportions”

By Jeff Foust on 2010 September 22 at 1:18 pm ET

You have to hand it to the Institute for Liberty (IFL), a conservative think tank: they don’t mince words when it somes to their assessment of the House version of the NASA authorization bill. “The bill is worse than a sham,” said Andrew Langer, president of the organization, in a press release. “It is a […]

Still playing the waiting game

By Jeff Foust on 2010 September 22 at 7:59 am ET

Three debate about NASA in Congress revolves around three procedural issues: when will the House take up a NASA authorization bill (and what it will look like), when will appropriators follow suit with funding, and since a final FY11 funding bill won’t be done until after October 1, will any policy changes be incorporated into […]

Is Bolden in the doghouse with the White House?

By Jeff Foust on 2010 September 22 at 7:40 am ET

While an investigation by the NASA inspector general cleared administrator Charles Bolden of ethics law violations, he did not get off cleanly: the report concluded that Bolden’s actions were not “consistent with the Ethics Pledge he, as an Administration appointee, had signed”. That assessment was shared by a White House official, as noted in the […]

Bolden cleared of ethics law violations

By Jeff Foust on 2010 September 20 at 12:52 pm ET

Back in June the Orlando Sentinel reported that NASA administrator Charles Bolden was being investigated by NASA’s inspector general for a potential ethics breach: he contacted an executive of Marathon Oil, a company where Bolden previously served as a director and still owned stock in, to get an opinion about a NASA biofuels program called […]

The ongoing “politically topsy-turvy battle” for NASA

By Jeff Foust on 2010 September 19 at 12:40 pm ET

NASA, in particular its human spaceflight program, “has become the focus of a brutal, potentially crippling and politically topsy-turvy battle for control that is likely to come to a head next week,” the Washington Post reports in Sunday’s edition. The article provides a review of the current situation the agency finds itself in on Capitol […]

What will the House vote on, and when?

By Jeff Foust on 2010 September 17 at 7:05 am ET

Yesterday’s Huntsville Times has its own take on the current NASA legislation situation from the perspective of how the various bills would affect the Marshall Space Flight Center and the city. In the article, one area congressman, Robert Aderholt (R-AL), said there was “behind-the-scenes lobbying by special interest groups” to get the House to vote […]

Boeing, Space Adventures, and the commercial crew debate

By Jeff Foust on 2010 September 16 at 12:52 pm ET

At a press conference yesterday, Boeing and Space Adventures announced an agreement where Space Adventures will market seats on Boeing’s planned CST-100 commercial crew capsule. The announcement comes, of course, in the midst of a debate on Capitol Hill about NASA’s future direction, including how much agency funding should be devoted to commercial crew development […]

Augustine’s “lukewarm endorsement” of Senate NASA bill, and more

By Jeff Foust on 2010 September 16 at 7:04 am ET

What does the head of the committee that proposed options for the future of human spaceflight think of the legislation currently making its way through Congress? Space News put the question to Norm Augustine, and got a “lukewarm endorsement” of the Senate bill. “I am of course prepared to address â€˜facts,â€™ and I believe it […]

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