http://www.spacepolitics.com Because sometimes the most important orbit is the Beltway... Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:38:02 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A couple of exploration policy items from Space News: NASA administrator Charles Bolden told the publication that the so-called "flexible path" option of the Augustine report is "attractive to everybody". That option defers a human return to the lunar surface in favor of missions to lunar orbit, Lagrange points, ... http://www.spacepolitics.com/2009/11/06/flexible-paths-flexible-deadlines/ Courtney Stadd won't do any jail time after being convicted on ethics charges stemming from an incident in 2005 when he worked at NASA. Stadd, found guilty in August of helping steer $9.6 million in earmarked funds to Mississippi State University, a client of his private consulting practice, ... http://www.spacepolitics.com/2009/11/06/stadd-gets-probation/ Members of Alabama's Congressional delegation have spoken out in recent weeks in favor of continuing the current Constellation program, including the Ares 1 launch vehicle; now that message is reaching down to local politics as well. As the Huntsville Times reported Friday, Huntsville, Alabama, mayor Tommy Battle says the ... http://www.spacepolitics.com/2009/11/06/ares-politics-gets-local/ Yesterday the Senate passed its version of HR 2847, the Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill, which includes NASA. The bill funds NASA at $18.686 billion, the same level as requested in the White House budget proposal and more than $480 million above what the House passed earlier this ... http://www.spacepolitics.com/2009/11/06/now-the-real-budget-battle-begins/ While Save Space has gone into overtime in its bid to solicit a half-million letters to the White House on space exploration policy, members of Congress are also writing letters, to both fellow members of Congress as well as the White House. The Orlando Sentinel reported Wednesday on the ... http://www.spacepolitics.com/2009/11/05/more-letter-writing/ A decision on the future on NASA's human spaceflight program could be coming in time for Thanksgiving, according to a key senator. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) told WFTV in Orlando that he expects President Obama to make a decision "sometime around the Thanksgiving holiday" on which direction he wants ... http://www.spacepolitics.com/2009/11/02/a-thanksgiving-decision-on-nasas-future/ The sense of many in the space community this year has been one of impatience, bordering on frustration: with a new administration in place, they had been hoping for change in national space policy, or at least a confirmation of existing policy. Yet earlier this year people waited for months ... http://www.spacepolitics.com/2009/10/31/impatient-for-change/ It should be little surprise that many of the same members of Congress who issued comments about the Augustine committee report last week also issued statements after the successful test flight of the Ares 1-X rocket Wednesday. Indeed, they were able in many cases to repeat the same ... http://www.spacepolitics.com/2009/10/29/congressional-reaction-to-ares-1-x/ The AIAA is planning an event this Monday afternoon, November 2, titled "Aerospace Industry Leaders to Debate America’s Next Steps in Space" on Capitol Hill. The half-day event will feature two panels, one discussing access to LEO and servicing of the ISS and the other focusing on heavy-lift launch vehicle ... http://www.spacepolitics.com/2009/10/29/debating-the-augustine-committee-reports-implications/ Florida Today provides an update today on the status of Save Space, a Space Coast effort to get half a million letters in support of space exploration delivered to the White House. The article gives the impression that the movement is gaining momentum ("catching on", as the headline puts ... http://www.spacepolitics.com/2009/10/25/save-space-catching-on-or-falling-short/