Nelson warns of partisan “chaos” regarding NASA authorization

Immediately after the House Science Committee’s space subcommittee wrapped up its hearing on a draft NASA authorization bill Wednesday morning, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) offered his views on the subject at a Space Transportation Association luncheon on the other side of Capitol Hill. Nelson, chairman of the space subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee, said […]

House hearing reveals concerns about proposed NASA authorization

When Wednesday’s hearing by the House Science Committee’s space subcommittee on a proposed 2013 NASA authorization act appeared on the calendar last week, many observers speculated the hearing might be the official introduction of the bill, setting the stage for a markup of the bill by the full committee and then consideration by the House […]

Asteroid mission plans in the House’s crosshairs

Members of the House of Representatives will discuss, and likely make plans to formally introduce, a NASA authorization bill later today in a hearing by the House Science Committee’s space subcommittee. A key element of that discussion will be a provision in a draft of the bill that has been circulating in the space community […]

House hearing next week on new NASA authorization bill

The House Science Committee’s space subcommittee has scheduled a hearing for the morning of Wednesday, June 19, titled “NASA Authorization Act of 2013.” The two scheduled witnesses are familiar faces for the committee: retired Lockheed Martin executive Tom Young and Cornell University planetary scientist Steve Squyres, who also chairs the NASA Advisory Council. The House […]

NASA operating plan adjusts commercial crew, planetary science funding

Space News reported Friday that a long-awaited fiscal year 2013 operating plan for NASA will make some funding adjustments for several key programs, including commercial crew development and planetary science. The plan, not publicly released yet by NASA, would fund commercial crew at $525 million, effectively undoing the effects of sequestration and rescission on the […]

House Science Committee to take up education reorganization

The full House Science Committee will host a hearing today at 2 pm EDT to examine the Obama Administration’s proposed restructuring of federal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs, consolidating programs at NASA and other agencies. Among those slated to testify at the hearing is Leland Melvin, NASA’s associate administrator for education.

When NASA […]

Moon versus asteroids on the path to Mars

The space subcommittee of the House Science Committee is holding a hearing at 2 pm EDT today on “Next Steps in Human Exploration to Mars and Beyond”. The focus of the hearing, based on the hearing charter, will be whether NASA’s plans to redirect a near Earth asteroid into lunar orbit, to be then visited […]

Differing perspectives on commercial crew

Speaking at the meeting Wednesday of the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) in Washington, NASA administrator Charles Bolden made another pitch—this time to a rather sympathetic audience—for the agency’s commercial crew program.

“If NASA had received the president’s requested funding for this program then,” Bolden said, referring to the rollout of the […]

NASA operating plan may reverse Congressional increase in planetary science

NASA’s operating plan for fiscal year 2013 will reportedly reverse the increases awarded to the agency’s planetary science program by Congress, according to a report. The Planetary Exploration Newsletter (PEN) reported Wednesday that the operating plan, which details any tweaks NASA plans to make to the final FY13 appropriations passed in March, will return planetary […]

Hearings: commercial space today, Mars next week

Later today the space subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on “Partnerships to Advance the Business of Space”. The hearing’s lineup of witnesses include some key people who have been involved in supporting commercial spaceflight in one manner or another, including former shuttle program manager Wayne Hale, former FAA associate administrator […]