Van Hollen Vows To Continue Mikulski’s Passion for Space, SpacePolicyOnline “Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) vowed to continue the strong support for NASA and NOAA evidenced by Sen. Barbara Mikulski if he is elected as her successor in November. Mikulski is retiring and Van Hollen is widely considered to be the front runner to replace her. Overall, Van Hollen’s message today at a luncheon sponsored by the Maryland Space Business […]

New NASA budget eats the seed corn of its Journey to Mars, Ars Technica “In other words, Mikulski gets a nice Earth-observing project for her backyard, wholly unrelated to human spaceflight, and agrees to whatever budget increases for SLS that the chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee over space, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), wants. Shelby looks out for SLS because it is managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.” […]

Mikulski Amendment Rejected – No Relief for NASA in Senate Appropriations Markup “The amendment was defeated by a 14-16 party line vote. CJS subcommittee chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) opposed the amendment, but said that if a new budget deal is indeed negotiated, he will work with Mikulski on how to allocate any additional funding.” CSF Applauds Mikulski Amendment to Avoid Extending U.S. Reliance on the Russians “Today the Senate Appropriations […]

NASA Administrator Lauds Senator Mikulski for Championing America’s Space Program “Senator Mikulski has been a tireless champion for NASA, and has helped pave the way for future exploration and our journey to Mars.” Mikulski Announces 5th Term Will Be Her Last, Will Focus on Working for Her Constituents “Today at Henderson’s Wharf Inn in Fells Point, U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) announced she has decided not to run for […]

NASA GSFC center director Chris Scolese just refered to #JWST cost overrun as "that little hiccup a while back" #clueless — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) February 3, 2014 Mikulski on #JWST " I saved you from the Tea Party and how they wanted to make quick fixes" #NASA — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) February 3, 2014 If #JWST cost overrun Chris Scolese mentioned was just a "hiccup" then why did @SenatorBarb say […]

Space Astronomy Archive and Supernova Are Named for Senator Barbara Mikulski “One of the world’s largest astronomy archives, containing a treasure trove of information about myriad stars, planets, and galaxies, has been named in honor of the United States Senator from Maryland, Barbara Mikulski. … In addition, an exploding star that the Hubble Space Telescope spotted on Jan. 25, 2012, has been named Supernova Mikulski by Nobel Laureate Adam Riess […]

Budget fight rages over James Webb Space Telescope, Washington Post “But if Congress provides less than the $530 million that NASA says the project needs next year, the schedule will slip further and costs will continue to rise. In 2006, NASA estimated that Webb would cost $2.4 billion and could launch in 2014. In 2008, the price tag rose to $5.1 billion. A congressionally mandated report released last year found […]

Webb telescope gets rescued in the Senate, Nature “At the subcommittee meeting today, the Senator said the beleaguered mission would get $530 million in 2012 — much more than the $374 million that had been asked for in the president’s budget request. But the agency as a whole would get $17.9 billion — half a billion less than it received in 2011.’” Hope, With ‘Stringent’ Orders, for NASA’s Webb Telescope […]

AIP FYI Number 1: January 6, 2011 Of Note: Selected Quotations from FYI in 2010 “I will never be able to save all the jobs.” – NASA Administrator Charles Bolden when commenting on NASA’s human space flight proposal “We were living a hallucination . . . I don’t think we would have ever gotten there.” – Administrator Bolden when commenting on NASA previous budgets “We will find a solution to […]

Telescope promises new look at universe — if NASA can get it into space, Orlando Sentinel “When it works, and if it works, the James Webb Space Telescope could revolutionize astronomy by peering so deep into space that scientists soon could study the dawn of time. But construction of NASA’s next big telescope has been so hurt by delays and cost overruns that even its staunchest champion in Congress reached […]