Space Budgets, Policy, Missions, Benefits, International Updates
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 we have to keep exploring.”
Mars Exploration: NASA’s human spaceflight plans come into focus with announcements of Deep Space Gateway; Future human space activities concepts presented by Boeing at the 33rd Space Symposium; ‘Mars Base Camp’: Lockheed fleshes out Red Planet Space Station plan; SpaceX studying landing sites for Mars missions
Lunar Exploration: Blue Origin ready to support NASA lunar missions with Blue Moon; NASA moving ahead with plans for cislunar human outpost
China, Russia and Space Exploration: CNSA boss outlines China’s spaceexploration agenda China intends to expand its space influence with a possible Mars sample return mission, missions to Jupiter and Venus, Earth science satellites and commercial initiatives, as well as a previously planned lunar sample return mission and assembly of an Earth orbiting space station, according to Yulong Tian, general secretary of the Chinese National Space Administration. (See also: Report: China developing advanced lunar mission spaceship; Russia’sspace program is struggling mightily)
Space Exploration Policy: Op-ed | Wishful thinking collides with policy, economic realities in ‘Capitalism in Space‘ Scott Pace, director of the SpacePolicy Institute at George Washington University, assesses the role of government and the private sector in current space activities and those planned to resume the human exploration of deep space. He finds justification for NASA oversight in order to achieve success in the latter and questions whether the sometimes highly publicized advances of the private sector have yet to do more than challenge the European and Russian share of the global commercial launch business. (See also:Pence confirms plans to reestablish the National Space Council )
AF Space Corps: Rogers calls for separate “Space Corps” within the Air Force Rep. Mike Rogers, chair of the U.S. House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, intends to initiate steps establishing a Space Corps, a separate branch of the military within the Department of Defense, much as the Air Force was split off from the U.S. Army Air Corps decades ago.
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.