White House « Space Politics

Space policy issues for the next four years

By Jeff Foust on 2012 December 4 at 8:00 am ET

On Monday, a panel of experts discussed the space policy issues that will be at the forefront of the Obama Administration’s second term at an event organized by the Secure World Foundation. There are, as one might expect, no shortage of challenges facing NASA, the White House, Congress, and other players in space policy, from […]

Is Bolden’s number up?

By Jeff Foust on 2012 November 28 at 8:08 pm ET

On Wednesday, NASA administrator Charles Bolden visited the United Launch Alliance (ULA) factory in Decatur, Alabama, where the company assembles Atlas and Delta rockets. During his visit, local media quizzed him on a variety of topics, from the looming threat of sequestration to rumored discoveries by the Mars Science Laboratory Rover to even whether he […]

Planetary Society congratulates Obama, asks for more planetary funding

By Jeff Foust on 2012 November 9 at 6:14 am ET

What do you do when the candidate who won the election was the one whose budget cut your favorite program? In the case of The Planetary Society, the answer is to congratulate himâ€”and ask him to reverse those cuts. In a statement Thursday, the organization congratulated President Obama on his reelection Tuesday while asking him […]

Before the next four years, focus on the next eight weeks

By Jeff Foust on 2012 November 7 at 12:49 pm ET

Last night’s results indicated that something close to the status quo will reign in space policy in the near future. The balance of power remains unchanged: the Obama Administration will be in office for the next four years, while the Senate remains in Democratic hands and the House in Republican hands for the next two. […]

The last, best hope for export control reform?

By Jeff Foust on 2012 October 14 at 7:35 pm ET

The question of extending launch indemnification isn’t the only space policy issue that Congress will be facing when they return for their lame-duck session next month. Also on their plates will be the ongoing export control reform effort, in the form of legislation returning to the president the authority to remove satellites and related components […]

The Planetary Society looks ahead to planetary science funding in the 2014 budget

By Jeff Foust on 2012 October 13 at 6:47 pm ET

The space advocacy organization The Planetary Society has been pushing for months to try and undo the proposed cuts in NASA’s planetary science program in the 2013 budget proposal the administration released earlier this year. While the results of those efforts are yet to be determinedâ€”Congress has yet to pass a final 2013 appropriations bill […]

Undue credit (and blame) for the Obama Administration and CRS

By Jeff Foust on 2012 October 12 at 12:30 pm ET

This week marked a major milestone for utilization of the International Space Station and for commercial spaceflight: the (largely) successful Falcon 9 launch of a Dragon cargo spacecraft, which berthed with the station on Wednesday. (The successful launch is caveated because of the failure of one of the nine engines on the Falcon 9’s first […]

O’Keefe: president still defining NASA’s mission

By Jeff Foust on 2012 October 2 at 9:47 am ET

The Syracuse Post-Standard published an interview Monday with former NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe that touched upon a variety of issues, including his thoughts about NASA. O’Keefe reflected on the highs (landing Spirit and Opportunity on Mars) and lows (the Columbia accident) during his three-year tenure at the agency. O’Keefe then fielded a question about NASA’s […]

Astronaut artifact bill becomes law

By Jeff Foust on 2012 September 28 at 7:17 am ET

For all the partisan divides in Washington, some legislation can still easily become law. Last week the House approved by voice vote HR 4158, legislation that would give pre-Shuttle era astronauts ownerships of various artifacts they may have collected from their missions (with the exception to lunar samples). That bill then passed the Senate by […]

Paul Ryan’s (very thin) space policy dossier

By Jeff Foust on 2012 August 11 at 11:15 am ET

Early this morning, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced his choice for running mate: Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI). While the decision may, as the Washington Post article linked to above suggests, offer a “stark choice” on fiscal issues, it sheds little, if any light, on the niche issue of space policy. Ryan has said virtually […]

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