Report from Washington, D.C.
Update from the White House
In July, the White House proposed comprehensive revisions to the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The Department of Commerce (DOC) published in the Federal Register a new regulatory construct to deal with the transfer of items from the United States Munitions List (USML) that the President determines no longer warrant control under the Arms Export…
DoD Space Programs Budget Comparison Available
The House of Representatives has passed its FY 2012 defense appropriations bill, H.R. 2219, which includes $530 billion in spending – $9 billion less than the President requested for fiscal year 2012. Despite the decrease, the legislation increases funding for the Department of Defense (DoD) by $17 billion over the FY 2011 budget. The Senate Appropriations Committee…
SLS Design Hearing Hampered by Delayed Decision
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee held a hearing on July 12 entitled “A Review of NASA’s Space Launch System.” The hearing was originally called to review NASA’s final selection of its Space Launch System (SLS) design, but NASA had not yet selected a final SLS design at the time of the hearing. Rep.…
NASA and NOAA Appropriations Bill Passes
On July 13, the House Committee on Appropriations passed its FY 2012 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) bill, which includes funds for NASA and NOAA. The CJS bill would appropriate $16.8 billion in spending for NASA, which is $1.9 billion less than the President requested for FY 2012. In formulating the budget decrease, the…
Oil Spills Not Too Slippery for Space Technology
With Florida and Texas soaking in the disastrous BP oil spill, Space Certification Program partner and 2008 Space Technology Hall of Fame® Inductee UniRemInc offered to demonstrate how its unique Petroleum Remediation Product (PRP) could help clean up the despoiling oil. There were no takers. Now Montana is suffering with the Yellowstone River Exxon oil spill and UniRemInc President Ray Tarasi offered to…
Space Foundation Issues White Paper in Favor of Continued Funding of the James Webb Space Telescope
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jul. 27, 2011) — The newly released Space Foundation white paper “The James Webb Space Telescope: A Worthy Investment in Space Science – July 2011” provides a concise and compelling argument for fully funding the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at the level requested in the President’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget. It…
Space Foundation and Charles County (Md.) Public Schools Host Chirag Parikh
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jul. 26, 2011) — On July 26, the Space Foundation co-hosted a luncheon with Charles County (Md.) Public Schools featuring guest speaker Chirag Parikh, Director of Space Policy for the White House National Security Council. The luncheon was held at North Point High School in Charles County and the more than 100…
Colorado Lt. Gov. Garcia Visits Space Foundation
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jul. 20, 2011) — Colorado Lt. Gov. Joseph Garcia visited the new headquarters of the Space Foundation in Colorado Springs on July 20, and also toured the Space Foundation Discovery Institute where he praised the work the Space Foundation has done to help teachers excite students’ interest in science, technology, education and…
Space Foundation Helps Teachers in Charles County Md. Teach STEM Lessons to Very Young Children
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jul. 20, 2011) — Early childhood educators from Charles County (Md.) Public Schools are learning lessons to help very young children grasp the basic principles of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In this week’s Space Foundation Space Across the Curriculum course, “PreK-2 Early Childhood Space Exploration,” teachers in the class are learning to…
Space Across the Curriculum Course Examines Space Technology
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jul. 18, 2011) — The Space Across the Curriculum space technology class started on Monday with 26 teachers attending from schools in six states. The teachers are learning hands-on space-themed lessons, adaptable for various grade levels and immediately transferable to the classroom to inspire student interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics…