NASA « Space Politics

Committee delays consideration of termination liability bill until next week

By Jeff Foust on 2013 December 6 at 12:15 pm ET

Despite declared bipartisan support for a bill that would relive NASA of the requirement to withhold funds on key projects as a hedge against payout if they’re cancelled, the House Science Committee delayed markup of that bill on Thursday until next week. As discussed here earlier this week, HR 3625 would require NASA not to […]

House bill would free up termination liability funds for NASA programs

By Jeff Foust on 2013 December 5 at 6:47 am ET

The House Science Committee is scheduled to mark up several bills in a session this morning, including HR 3625. That bill, formally introduced on Monday by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), would direct NASA not to reserve funds for ongoing programs, in particular the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, to cover termination liability […]

Congressman wants to know if NASA has too much infrastructure

By Jeff Foust on 2013 November 29 at 10:18 am ET

While NASA is working to hand over many of the facilities it no longer needs at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) after the retirement of the Space Shuttle two years ago, one member of Congress wants to know if NASA should be divesting those assets even faster. The Orlando Sentinel reported late Wednesday that Rep. […]

Bolden: need to end sequestration and prevent another shutdown

By Jeff Foust on 2013 November 24 at 11:50 am ET

NASA administrator Charles Bolden speaks at a press availability November 17 with hardware for the first Orion test flight, slated for launch in September 2014, in the background. (credit: J. Foust)

In a blog post Thursday, NASA administrator Charles Bolden discussed the new national space transportation policy and its implications for the space agency. […]

Inspiration Mars pivots, seeks government support and backing

By Jeff Foust on 2013 November 21 at 9:30 am ET

When multimillionaire and one-time space tourist Dennis Tito announced Inspiration Mars early this year, it was billed as a non-profit venture, funded via philanthropy, to send two people on a 501-day Mars flyby mission that would launch in early January 2018. Tito said he planned to fund the mission primarily through donations; they were open […]

Planetary scientists lobby to restore funding

By Jeff Foust on 2013 November 20 at 12:56 pm ET

Last last week, NASA announced that it was ending production of the Advanced Sterling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG), a replacement for existing radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) that make more efficient use of plutonium fuel. As I reported for Space News, NASA justified the decision by noting the existing stockpile of plutonium-238, which will grow as production […]

CBO report offers up human spaceflight to reduce the budget deficit

By Jeff Foust on 2013 November 19 at 12:00 pm ET

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a report yesterday on strategies for reducing the federal budget deficit, identifying ways to reduce spending and increase revenue. Among the proposals for cutting spending was the eliminate NASA’s human spaceflight program: “This option would terminate NASAâ€™s human space exploration and space operations programs, except for those necessary to […]

Another call forâ€”and warning aboutâ€”commercial crew funding

By Jeff Foust on 2013 November 14 at 7:28 am ET

As NASA celebrated the end of its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program at a press conference in Washington on Wednesday, it also made another pitch for the program following in COTS’s footsteps, the Commercial Crew Program. But as NASA leadership were calling for full funding for commercial crew, a separate report by NASA’s Inspector […]

“They upped the game on me”: sequestration and the challenges of funding NASA’s exploration program

By Jeff Foust on 2013 November 13 at 6:37 am ET

On Tuesday, the Marshall Institute and the TechAmerica Space Enterprise Council hosted an event titled “Beyond Earth: Removing the Barriers to Deep Space Exploration” in Washington. (The event was broadcast on NASA TV and archived on YouTube.) NASA associate administrator Bill Gerstenmaier and representatives of four major aerospace companiesâ€”Aerojet Rocketdyne, ATK, Boeing, and Lockheed Martinâ€”gave […]

Gingrich looks back at 2012 as he reiterates his vision for space policy

By Jeff Foust on 2013 November 9 at 10:53 am ET

In an interview with ABC News and Yahoo! News earlier this week, former Speaker of the House and 2012 presidential candidate Newt Gingrich looked back briefly on what was one of the signature moments of his ill-fated campaign nearly two years ago: the speech he gave in Florida in January 2012 where he called for, […]

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