A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest:

• Schedule:
  • What’s Happening in Space Policy April 21-27, 2019 – SpacePolicyOnline.com
• SLS/Orion:
  • NASA Launch Services Program outlines the alternative launcher review for EM-1 – NASASpaceFlight.com
  • Update: Chris Bergin (NASASpaceFlight.com) on Twitter: “SLS All-Hands meeting coming up. We expect the “Green Run” to REMAIN in the test flow. This also means the chances of SLS in 2020 are pretty much gone, but – as we’ve seen with the Commercial Crew testing – the Green Run (all four RS-25s firing on the core) is good for safety.”
• Mars missions:
  • Zubrin Comments on New Independent Report on Human Mars Mission – Robert Zubrin/Mars Society
• Science missions:
  • The ghosts of flagships past and future – The Space Review
• Earth protection:
  • Earth vs. asteroids: humans strike back – ESA
• NASA:
  • What iconic moment is next for NASA? Administrator Jim Bridenstine weighs in after one year leading the space agency – tulsaworld.com
• Space advocacy:
  • The Notre Dame fire and the space movement – The Space Review
• Space safety:
  • The Nervous Nellies and Scared Sams of Space – National Space Society
  • How safe is safe enough for point-to-point suborbital? – The Space Review
• Chinese space:
  • China Seeks Partners for Lunar Sample Return, Asteroid Missions – LeonardDavid.com
  • China launches new BeiDou satellite – Xinhua | English.news.cn
• Euro space:
  • #SpaceWatchGL Op’ed: Will Europe Lose Its Way To The Moon? – SpaceWatch.Global
  • Europe Lagging in the Space Launch Arena – 150sec
• Saudi space:
  • Saudi delegation visits Russia’s cosmonaut training center – TASS
• UAE space:
  • UAE’s Mubadala Creates Abu Dhabi Hub71 With Softbank And Microsoft For New Space, Other Tech Start-Ups – SpaceWatch.Global

Webcasts:

** Episode T+119: Dr. John Charles – Main Engine Cut Off – “Dr. John Charles spent nearly 33 years at NASA—most recently as Chief Scientist of the Human Research Program—working on human spaceflight through Shuttle, Mir, ISS, and beyond. He lead missions such as STS-95 (John Glenn’s Shuttle flight), STS-107, and the Twins Study with Scott and Mark Kelly. He retired from NASA in February 2018 and is now the Scientist in Resident at Space Center Houston. We talk about his career, the human spaceflight issues he worked and solved in his time at NASA, and the things that need to be solved for the exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”

** The Space Show – Tue, 04/16/2019 – David Livingston led a discussion among listeners about “the 2024 lunar timetable, FH [Falcon Heavy] barge recovery, Griffith Observatory public interest”.

** April 18, 2019 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast | Behind The Black

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Come Fly with Us: NASA’s Payload Specialist Program (Outward Odyssey: A People’s History of Spaceflight)

A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest:

• Lunar program:
  • Op-ed | Lunar Gateway or Moon Direct? – Robert Zubrin/SpaceNews.com
  • How much will the Moon plan cost? We should know in two weeks | Ars Technica
  • Political detours keep changing NASA’s route to the ‘final frontier’ [Editorial] – Houston Chronicle
  • Returning to the Moon: Bureaucratic and Budgetary Hurdles | National Review
• NASA & commercial space:
  • ISS Crew Rotations Through Spring 2020 Do Not Include Commercial Crew Flights – SpacePolicyOnline.com
  • NASA says Christina Koch will spend 328 days in space | Ars Technica – Not mentioned here but delays in commercial flights to the ISS lead indirectly to an extended stay by Koch.
  • NASA, Blue Origin Agreement Signals Growth of Commercial Space | NASA
  • It’s official: Blue Origin will bring rocket engine tests back to Huntsville – al.com
• Mars missions:
  • Independent report concludes 2033 human Mars mission is not feasible – SpaceNews.com
  • STPI: Human Mission to Orbit Mars in 2033 “Infeasible” – SpacePolicyOnline.com
• Space rules:
  • Why consensus on standards & performance matters in commercial space – SpaceNews.com
  • How will space law work when we begin to colonise planets? – OpenAccessGovernment.org
• US state space activities:
  • Sky isn’t only limit to dream of spaceport at Atlantic City International – pressofatlanticcity.com
• US military space:
  • Lawmakers spar big-time on behalf of rocket companies – Rollcall.com
  • Space Development Agency draws strong objections from California lawmakers – SpaceNews.com
  • Pentagon Commercial Space Choices Widen As Space Unicorns Blossom – Breaking Defense
• Canadian space:
  • MaRS, Communitech, Invest Ottawa receiving $52.4 million for first-of-its-kind Scale-Up program | BetaKit
• Chinese space:
  • China’s Plans to Dominate Space | The National Interest
  • China charting a course to Mars and Jupiter | Asia Times
  • China to enhance international space cooperation – Xinhua | English.news.cn
  • China making great strides in space endeavors, governance – Global Times
  • China to send probes to Mars and Jupiter – ecns.cn
  • China invites world scientists to explore asteroid, comet together – Xinhua | English.news.cn
  • China’s aerospace progress helps promote economic, social development – Xinhua | English.news.cn
  • Rocket Scientist Robert Zubrin on Why China Should Go to Mars -SixthTone.com
• Euro space:
  • ArianeGroup starting Ariane 6 production after new ESA agreement – SpaceNews.com
• Indian space:
  • India’s Space Ambitions – Modern Diplomacy
  • It’s time to speak out about India’s reckless anti-satellite test – The Space Review
• Nepalese space:
  • Nepal says its first ever satellite launched – Xinhua | English.news.cn
• Russian space:
  • Putin urges heavy upgrade of Russian space industry – TASS
  • Russia’s updated space strategy to be ready by July 15, says security chief – TASS
• Saudi space:
  • Saudi Space Agency Begins To Take Shape, Reported $1 Billion Budget In First Year – SpaceWatch.Global
  • Saudi Arabia interested in Russia’s manned space missions — Roscosmos – TASS
• UAE space:
  • Space tourism ready for lift off in Al Ain, says UAE Space Agency director – The National
  • ‘Hope Generation’ launched in UAE to spark space interest – Gulfnews.com
  • France And UAE Hold 11th Space Cooperation Strategic Dialogue In Paris – SpaceWatch.Global

Webcasts:

**  #30: Space Force: Out of This World or The Future of Global Engagement? by What in the World? | Free Listening on SoundCloud

Houston, do we have a problem? President Trump announced the establishment of Space Force in February. Skeptics have asked, what could we possibly need a space military for when we haven’t found aliens to fight and what’s the difference between NASA and Space Force?. Guest experts, Victoria Samson and Krystal Wilson, discuss space security, space technology’s beneficial values, and the plans behind President Trump’s Space Force.

** Ep 101 | Can Space Force Stop Somali Rocket Pirates? | Guest: Anthony Colangelo – Something’s Off with Andrew Heaton – Omny.fm

Is a U.S. Space Force an inevitable step to protecting satellites and commercial space activities, or just an expensive exercise in shuffling Pentagon bureaucracies? Military and aerospace expert Anthony Colangelo joins Heaton to sort things out.

** The Space Show – Sun, 04/14/2019 – Jay Wittner talked about “Integrated Space Plan, human spaceflight development now and into the future, [and] why The Space Plan and human spaceflight is essential”.

** April 16, 2019 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast | Behind The Black

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Space 2.0: How Private Spaceflight, a Resurgent NASA, and International Partners are Creating a New Space Age