NASA Authorization Legislation

Senate:  Senate passes 2017 NASA Transition Authorization Act  The U.S. Senate passed an updated NASA authorization measure on Friday, one similar to a House measure approved in the last Congress. Formulated with bi-partisan support, the Senate measure urges NASA to study how the Orion capsule might serve as a backup to the commercial crew vehicles under development by Boeing and SpaceX, the CST-100 Starliner and crewed Dragon. The crewed Starliner and Dragon are to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The bill also questions the value of the Asteroid Redirect Mission, a robotic effort that would extract a boulder from an asteroid and maneuver it into orbit around the moon, where it could be studied by astronauts launched aboard a Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew vehicle in the 2020s.

Citizens for Space Exploration – a pro-space, taxpayer, grassroots advocacy group (http://www.bayareahouston.com/content/c_s_e/c_s_e) – has traveled to Washington, D.C. the past 24 years to meet face-to-face with Members/staff of Congress to discuss the value of America’s investment in space exploration. In order to sustain that dialogue on a regular basis, Citizens distributes “Space Exploration Update” to Congressional offices on a weekly basis. The intent is to provide an easy, quick way to stay abreast of key human space exploration program and policy developments.