Other « Space Politics

Events, past and future

By Jeff Foust on 2010 July 12 at 11:59 am ET

The Arms Control Association has made available a transcript of the panel discussion on the new national space policy hosted earlier this month by the association and the Secure World Foundation. (I included some quotes from that discussion in a piece last week on the new policy in The Space Review.)

Tuesday morning Rep. Ralph […]

What Bolden’s words say about NASA and the media

By Jeff Foust on 2010 July 8 at 6:30 am ET

“Welcome to the 24-hour gaffe reel,” reads the lede to a Wall Street Journal article yesterday about the verbal missteps people in the media limelight often make. “It seems as if every day some celebrity, politician, four-star general or random blogger is committing a verbal blooperâ€”and then profusely apologizing for his or her ‘poor word […]

Briefly: wish lists, space socialism, and questionable polls

By Jeff Foust on 2010 June 30 at 7:51 am ET

Earlier this week the Greater Houston Partnership and the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership issued a release this week critical of the administration’s human spaceflight plans and asking for a revised plan. They don’t ask for much: a “limited” number of additional shuttle flights, continuation of Constellation, and to “fast-track” a heavy-lift launcher starting in […]

Reactions to the new national space policy

By Jeff Foust on 2010 June 29 at 1:24 pm ET

It’s not surprising that NASA issued a statement about the national space policy on Monday, with administrator Charles Bolden noting that the agency “is pleased to be an integral part” of the new policy. But he was not the only administration official to speak out about the new policy. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates released […]

What will the new national space policy look like?

By Jeff Foust on 2010 June 25 at 6:15 am ET

With all the debate about the future of NASA, it’s easy to overlook the fact that the administration has also been busy crafting its overall national space policy, taking into account commercial, civil, and national security issues. That process has been ongoing for months and appears to be nearing completion. As SpacePolicyOnline.com reports, Secretary of […]

John Glenn wants to extend the shuttle. What else is new?

By Jeff Foust on 2010 June 22 at 6:54 am ET

Several news outlets yesterday reported on the release of a letter by former senator and astronaut John Glenn, who called for extending the shuttle beyond this year. (Here’s the full text of the letter.) “Why terminate a perfectly good system that has been made more safe and reliable through many years of development?” Glenn asks […]

When is the right time to start heavy lift?

By Jeff Foust on 2010 June 17 at 7:11 am ET

One area of debate about NASA’s proposed new direction that has gotten less attention than the future of Constellation or commercial crew is development of a heavy-lift launch vehicle. The proposed plan would defer a decision on an HLV until as late as 2015, while working on technologies that could either be utilized by it […]

Battling for Constellation, and looking beyond

By Jeff Foust on 2010 June 16 at 7:22 am ET

In a press conference yesterday, Huntsville mayor Tommy Battle made it clear he was not happy about the latest effort to cut back work on Constellation this fiscal year, let alone plans to cancel most of the program, given the impact it will have on his city. “It’s not a time to tell our citizens […]

Briefly: Feinstein, ESA, and the search for compromise

By Jeff Foust on 2010 June 10 at 5:39 am ET

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who doesn’t speak out much about space issues, issued a press release Wednesday congratulating SpaceX for last Friday’s successful launch of the first Falcon 9. Calling the launch “an enormous success” and “a glimpse of the future of space transportation”, she said it was a sign that “California will continue to lead […]

Praise, payback, and people

By Jeff Foust on 2010 June 8 at 6:28 am ET

SpaceX picked up Monday some congressional kudos for its successful inaugural Falcon 9 launch. The Republican caucus of the House Science and Technology Committee congratulated SpaceX on the launch in a statement. “I wish SpaceX continued success as they prepare for next monthâ€™s first-in-a-series of flight demonstrations for NASAâ€™s Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) program,” […]

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