Washington Updates

This week, the world celebrated Earth Day, and NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter successfully took its first of five scheduled flights on Mars. Later in the week, the Senate held a confirmation hearing for former Senator Bill Nelson to be the next NASA Administrator, and NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission successfully launched from Cape Canaveral. Also this week,…

This week, the NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was safely released from its protective housing beneath the Perseverance rover on the surface of the Red Planet, has survived harsh temperatures as low as -117ºF, and also snapped its first color photo in the leadup to its first flight, anticipated to be within the next few days.…

This week, the House and Senate were both in session. President Biden nominated former Florida Senator Bill Nelson to be NASA administrator last Friday. Portions of Biden’s FY2022 budget request are expected to be released this week, which will allow appropriators to start on their NASA and defense budget deliberations next week. Prerelease: ‘The Space…

This week, we celebrate International Women’s Day by recognizing the women who have played key roles in space programs around the globe. In Washington, DC, the Senate and House passed one of Congress’s largest economic relief bills, a $1.9 trillion COVID relief package, which President Biden is expected to sign on Friday. Article: The Race…

New images emerged this week, following last week’s successful landing of the Mars Perseverance rover in the Jezero Crater on Mars, including this panorama of the landing site assembled from 142 images. Closer to home, the House Armed Services Committee’s Strategic Forces Subcommittee held the first space hearings on Near-Peer Advancements in Space and Nuclear…

This week Congress attempted to balance moving forward on Biden administration priorities like coronavirus relief, with the impeachment trial of former President Trump. Meanwhile, two of the three probes launched to Mars last summer reached the planet’s orbit — the United Arab Emirates’ Hope orbiter, and China’s Tianwen-1. The Space Report Quarter 4, 2020 now available…