FY17 Appropriations: Trump signs $1 trillion spending bill, keeps government open President Trump signed a 2017 appropriations measure that funds government operations through September 30, the end of the current fiscal year. The measure includes $19.653 billion for NASA, a $368 million increase over 2016 and $628 million more than proposed for 2017 by President… [Continue Reading]
Outer Space Treaty: Cruz interested in updating Outer Space Treaty to support commercial space activities Senator Ted Cruz, chair of the Senate’s Space Subcommittee, indicated it may be time to seek changes to the 50-year-old UN Outer Space Treaty in order to encourage U.S. commercial space activities through ownership of recovered resources from the moon… [Continue Reading]
Starliner Progress: Despite delays, Boeing’s Starliner moving steadily toward the launch pad Boeing is moving closer to a goal of re-establishing a U.S. human space launch capability with the CST-100 Starliner. Starliner and SpaceX’s crewed Dragon are to provide commercial transportation to and from the International Space Station as soon as late 2018. Crews to… [Continue Reading]
Deep Space Gateway: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/deep-space-gateway-to-open-opportunities-for-distant-destinations Flying Crew on EM-1: NASA’s study of adding crew to EM-1 is completed, awaiting response NASA’s assessment of whether it can add astronauts to EM-1, the first joint test flight of the Space Launch System and Orion crew exploration capsule, is complete and has been briefed to the White House as… [Continue Reading]
Astronaut Breaks Record: Astronaut Peggy Whitson breaks NASA record for most days in space Veteran U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson broke the record of 534 days for most career time spent in space by a U.S. astronaut early Monday. Whitson, who launched to the Station in late November, is not scheduled to return to Earth until… [Continue Reading]
NASA Fares Well: A Republican favorite, NASA escapes Trump’s budget ax NASA, a national engine for economic growth and innovation, has fared well in President Trump’s proposed 2018 budget for the fiscal year that begins October 1. The $19.1 billion proposed for NASA, represents a less than one percent reduction, much less than proposed reductions… [Continue Reading]
Keep Exploring: Ex-NASA official at CU’s Conference on World Affairs: ‘We have to keep exploring’ Former NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman told the audience at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Conference on World Affairs that space exploration must go forward. “All of this exploring is not for the faint of heart,” explained Newman. “But… [Continue Reading]
Orion and Space Launch System Senate Letter to President: Hatch Urges Continued Support of Space Explorationin Letter to President Trump Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the senior Republican in the United States Senate, led 23 of his colleagues in a letter to President Trump highlighting the importance of space exploration infrastructure, including the SpaceLaunch System (SLS),… [Continue Reading]
Commercial Crew on Schedule for 2018: Commercial Crew on tight but achievable timeline for crewed flights in 2018 Boeing and SpaceX are showing signs of achieving crewed test flights of their CST-100 Starliner and Dragon spacecapsules by the end of 2018. Both are developing systems to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station… [Continue Reading]
President Signs: Trump touts bipartisanship of NASA reauthorization in weekly address In a video address early Saturday, President Trump pointed to his signing of the 2017 NASA Transition Authorization Act last week as an effective example of Washington bipartisanship. The president said with the NASA Transition Authorization Act, “we renew our national commitment to NASA’s… [Continue Reading]