House Appropriations Commitee FY 2013: Commercial crew (excerpt) “The Committee believes that many of these concerns would be addressed by an immediate downselect to a single competitor or, at most, the execution of a leader-follower paradigm in which NASA makes one large award to a main commercial partner and a second small award to a back-up partner. With fewer companies remaining in the program, NASA could reduce its annual budget […]

House Appropriations Committee Releases Fiscal Year 2013 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill (NASA) “National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) – NASA is funded at $17.6 billion in the bill, which is $226 million below fiscal year 2012 and $138 million below the President’s request.” Fiscal Year 2013 Senate Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Subcommittee Mark (NASA Section) “The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is funded at $19.4 billion, an […]

Appropriators Blocking Mars Mission Move, Aviation Week “This proposal represents a significant deviation from the robotic exploration program plan as it was approved by Congress in NASA’s fiscal year 2012 appropriations, and the committee believes that so radical a change in policy needs and deserves to be fully considered by a process that is more rigorous and more inclusive than” the reprogramming notification, Wolf writes.” Rep. Schiff Applauds Decision to […]

Keith’s note: As the STA luncheon on Capitol Hill was starting up today, Ken Monroe, a staffer on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee sat next to me. His first words to me were “I really do not appreciate the way you attacked me – especially since we have never met before.” I suggested that he “grow some thicker skin”. I would not normally post an incident this, but […]

Republicans Send Deficit Reduction Recommendations to Select Committee (NASA excerpts) “We propose reductions of $177 million (based on the FY12 request) by taking the following actions: * Cancellation of OCO-2 mission (received $89.0 million in the FYI 1 CR; $91 million savings in FY 12; $149 million savings over five years). Life cycle cost savings could be higher as NASA struggles to define a launch vehicle to carry OCO-2 to […]

House Hearing NASA Human Spaceflight Past, Present, and Future: Where Do We Go From Here? “- Mr. Neil A. Armstrong, Commander, Apollo 11 – Captain Eugene A. Cernan USN (ret.), Commander, Apollo 17 – Dr. Michael D. Griffin, Eminent Scholar and Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Alabama in Huntsville” Keith’s note: Once again Rep. Hall has stacked the deck without even the slightest attempt at being objective and […]

Keith’s note: The House wants to cancel James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) outright. We haven’t heard anything specific from the Senate – yet. Every time NASA mentions a cost for JWST it is higher than the previous cost. Now NASA wants to take human spaceflight funds to help pay for JWST which means less money available to build the Space Launch System (SLS). NASA’s internal SLS report casts significant doubt […]

House Passes Year-Long CR, NASA Would Get $18.9 Billion, Space Policy online “CR’s typically extend an agency’s existing budget for a certain period of time, but the version passed yesterday by the House is different. While the total amount of funding in the bill, $1.09 trillion, is the same as the current level according to Politico, NASA’s budget, for example, would rise from its FY2010 level, though is still less […]

Chairman Gordon Statement on House Consideration of NASA Reauthorization “I anticipate that the House will consider the Senate version of the NASA reauthorization on Wednesday. I still believe that the bipartisan Compromise language we released is a better approach. I have a number of concerns with the Senate bill … It has become clear that there is not time remaining to pass a Compromise bill through the House and the […]

Hoyer Won’t Adjourn House This Week, ABC “Ata briefing with reporters this morning, Hoyer blitzed through an ambitious to-do list to tackle before adjournment, including a NASA Reauthorization bill, the Child Nutrition Bill, and the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. The House is currently targeting adjournment for October 8, although the majority leader would not commit today to returning for the week of October 4.”