Washington Updates

Despite a very contentious year between Congress and the White House, President Barack Obama signed a spending bill in November that sets the 2012 budget for NASA, bringing to an end several years of operation under restrictive Continuing Resolutions that underfunded the agency. According to Space Foundation Vice President – Washington Operations Brendan Curry, “This…

The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation held a hearing on Nov. 2 on Efforts to Transfer America’s Leading Edge Science to China. Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., warned against U.S. engagement with China on matters of technology. Ranking Member of the Subcommittee Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-Mo., expressed a different view, saying…

In mid-November, the House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics held a hearing on Exploring Mars and Beyond: What’s Next for U.S. Planetary Science. Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Miss., called the Mars Sample Return Mission a “very expensive undertaking” and suggested an “obvious option would be to engage with the European…

At a Nov. 16 Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard hearing on Weathering Change: Need for Continued Innovation in Forecasting and Prediction, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, expressed concern about recent Government Accountability Office (GA0) reports indicating that the Joint Polar Satellite System JPSS-1 mission may be delayed by technical development problems. A…

“The effective restoration of U.S. exploration leadership is simply too important to the well-being of the nation, both economically and competitively, for us to give anything less than our very best to ensure its success,” was how Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., summed up his thoughts at a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Science…

In last month’s Space Watch The View From Here column, Space Foundation CEO Elliot Pulham predicted that the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (aka the Super Committee) would fail to produce a plan to reduce the U.S. budget deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years. Turns out, as usual, he was right. Commenting on…

In October, the Space Foundation held a senior executive luncheon focused on cyber security featuring Air Force Space Command Vice Commander Lt. Gen. Michael Basla, USAF. Attended by 26 Space Foundation corporate member executives, the event was hosted by Space Foundation Chief Executive Officer Elliot Pulham and Vice President – Washington Operations Brendan Curry. Basla…

 The House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics held a hearing on Oct. 12 entitled The International Space Station (ISS): Lessons from the Soyuz Rocket Failure and Return to Flight. In establishing the purpose of the hearing, Subcommittee Chairman Steven Palazzo (R-MS) said the recent Progress launch failure caused “NASA to contemplate…

 Republicans on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee recently sent a letter to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction recommending “over $1.5 billion in savings in FY 2012,” including cutting $177 million from the NASA budget by taking the following actions: • Cancel the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO)-2 missions • Reduce the Other…

 The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report last month on the proposed Department of Defense (DoD) block buy acquisition strategy for Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELVs), recommending that the DoD “assess engine costs and mission assurance activities, reassess the length of the proposed block buy and consider how to address broader launch acquisition and…