As I write this blog, I’m about to leave on a business trip to Boston, to lead a science team meeting of the NASA New Horizons mission, which I serve as Principal Investigator (PI) for. The meeting is a typical business trip, one of over a 1000 that I’ve made in my career. My next business trip is as usual replete with admin assistance, travel reimbursement rules, and a post-trip expense report to file. But despite all that, it isn’t a routine trip at all.

Education & Public Outreach by @NASA is always good. But why is #NASA @Commercial_Crew doing something that NASA Education Office @NASAedu should be doing? Does NASA actually have an EPO policy or do people just do whatever they want? No mention here: https://t.co/v4obsqSkWf — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) October 10, 2018 Keith’s note: Apparently there is a NASA education competition for “Children ages 4-12 around the world, including NASA families, to […]

NASA Notifies Congress about Space Station Contract Modification with Russia “NASA Administrator Charles Bolden sent a letter to Congress Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015 informing members that, due to continued reductions in the president’s funding requests for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program over the past several years, NASA was forced to extend its existing contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) to transport American astronauts to the International Space Station. […]

Continued Sequestration Will Short-Circuit SLS, Aviation Week “Mikulski and Shelby consider that budget request inadequate, particularly in the funding for the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) that is intended to take humans beyond low Earth orbit. NASA wants $820 million to keep at least two competitors in the running for a commercial route to the International Space Station, but many lawmakers would like to see $300 million of that transferred […]

Keith’s note: There will be a hearing on Wednesday at 2:00 pm EDT titled “Emerging Commercial Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicle Market”. The hearing was announced several weeks ago. Yet the Commercial Spaceflight Federation has not issued a heads up or media advisory for this hearing. Nor is anything posted on their website. Not only are three of its members testifying, a representative of the CSF’s Suborbital Applications Researchers Group is […]

Rep. Posey Introduces Commercial Space Legislation “Today, Congressman Bill Posey introduced legislation to allow for private sector investment in the Department of Defense for space transportation in an effort to modernize America’s defense capabilities, promote America’s commercial space industry and help America regain the loss of commercial launches.” Commercial Spaceflight Federation Supports Increased Budget for Commercial Crew Program “The Senate Appropriations Committee has released details of its draft Commerce, Justice, […]

America’s space act is about to lift-off to a spectacular new future, Bill Nelson and Kay Bailey Hutchison “If we are to move forward, we must avoid a false competition between our long-range space exploration goals – the moon, Mars and beyond – and commercialized ferrying of cargo and crew members to the space station. In fact, both programs are essential.Assisting development of commercial space capabilities will eliminate America’s reliance […]

NASA Wants A Flat Budget For Fiscal 2013, Aviation Week “NASA will take only an $89 million cut in its topline spending request for fiscal 2013 compared to this year’s operating plan, sources said Friday, but the $17.711 billion NASA budget proposal due out Feb. 13 will axe the joint effort with Europe to return samples from Mars to pay for development overruns on the James Webb Space Telescope.” Scientists […]

Virginia Govenor Robert McDonnell to Address 15th Annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference “Notable speakers will include: The Honorable Robert McDonnell, governor, Va. …” Billie Reed, leader of Virginia’s spaceport, is planning retirement, Daily Press “Virginia is one of handful of states with an operational spaceport courting the aerospace companies. Proposed legislation would boost the authority’s budget to $15 million from roughly $2 million in 2011. If approved, the authority […]

NASA GSFC Commercial Suborbital Vehicles Workshop “NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Innovative Partnership Program (IPP) and Earth Science Division will be hosting a Commercial Suborbital Vehicles Workshop at the GSFC on September 7, 2011. The purpose of the proposed workshop is to provide information for Earth and Space scientists about these vehicles capabilities, and to examine and discuss science topics that might be conducted from these platforms. Suborbital reusable […]