NASA « Space Politics

Examining ISS utilization

By Jeff Foust on 2012 March 28 at 5:49 am ET

At last week’s House appropriations hearing, subcommittee chairman Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) questioned NASA administrator Charles Bolden about utilization of the International Space Station (ISS). In particular, he asked about issues with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the organization selected last year to manage research on the US segment of […]

Senate appropriators to review NASA budget this week

By Jeff Foust on 2012 March 25 at 11:24 am ET

Last week a House appropriations subcommittee questioned NASA administrator Charles Bolden about the agency’s fiscal year 2013 budget proposal; this week it’s the Senate’s turn. The Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing on the NASA budget proposal this Wednesday, March 28, at 2 pm. As […]

Planetary scientists seek unity as they gear up for a budget fight

By Jeff Foust on 2012 March 23 at 7:04 am ET

While NASA administrator Charles Bolden was defending the administration’s budget request before House appropriators earlier this week, other NASA officials were left to explain the consequences of those cuts to an audience even less pleased with the proposal: the planetary sciences community.

“I wish I had a good succinct answer” for why NASA’s planetary science […]

House appropriators question Bolden on Mars, commercial crew, and… shuttles

By Jeff Foust on 2012 March 22 at 7:51 am ET

NASA administrator Charles Bolden’s two-and-a-half-hour appearance before the Commerce, Justice, and Science subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee covered some expected ground, including some heated discussions about the agency’s planetary science program as well as questions about its commercial crew program. But a hearing that long also allowed members to delve into other topics, from […]

AIAA members to lobby for human spaceflight and other issues this week

By Jeff Foust on 2012 March 19 at 5:49 am ET

This Tuesday and Wednesday the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) will be holding its annual Congressional Visits Day, where members meet with various congressional offices to discuss aerospace-related issues. Those topics are listed in its Key Issues document, and include “Facilitating Assured, Cost-Effective Human Access to Space” alongside others ranging from air traffic […]

NASA appropriations hearing scheduled; calls for action

By Jeff Foust on 2012 March 15 at 1:12 pm ET

The Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee has scheduled a hearing on the NASA budget proposal for 2013 for this coming Wednesday, March 21, at 9 am Eastern time. The hearing will be webcast for those not able to attend in person. It’s like the proposed cuts in NASA’s […]

House rejects Mars funding reprogramming request

By Jeff Foust on 2012 March 10 at 8:52 am ET

Aviation Week reports that House appropriators have rejected a request by NASA to reprogram fiscal year 2012 funding for planetary science that would have taken money away from Mars and other flagship mission work. The request, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), chairman of the appropriations subcommittee with oversight of NASA, would “drastically scale back spending on […]

A “challenging environment” for commercial crew funding

By Jeff Foust on 2012 March 9 at 6:46 am ET

It was a case of good timing: a day after commercial crew was a centerpiece of a pair of hearings on the NASA 2013 budget proposal in the Senate and the House, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation held a forum on the topic on Capitol Hill Thursday morning. The event gave representatives of four companies a […]

House hearing revisits commercial crew concerns; Mars makes a cameo

By Jeff Foust on 2012 March 8 at 6:59 am ET

A few hours after NASA administrator Charles Bolden defended the agency’s fiscal year 2013 budget request before the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday, he did the same on other side of Capitol Hill at a hearing of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. The rhetoric at the House hearing wasn’t nearly as heated as […]

Bolden and Hutchison spar over commercial crew, SLS/Orion funding

By Jeff Foust on 2012 March 7 at 1:32 pm ET

This morning’s hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee on “Priorities, Plans, and Progress of the Nation’s Space Program” was slow to get started: it took over half an hour before the hearing’s primary witness, NASA administrator Charles Bolden, got to start his opening statement. However, it quickly ratcheted up in intensity as Bolden and committee […]

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