The House Science committee will have a hearing at 10:00 am ET on Thursday morning to discuss an Inspiration Mars type of Venus/Mars flyby mission but with NASA astronauts using SLS/Orion.

[ Update: Notes on the hearing are being posted at

• Stephen C. Smith (SpaceKSCBlog) on Twitter
• Marcia Smith (SpcPlcyOnline) on Twitter
• Jeff Foust (jeff_foust) on Twitter

Here is the Democratic opening statement (pdf).  And here is the Republican opening statement (pdf).

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It will be interesting to see where the Congresspersons think they can get the money for this and how, after endless attacks on the safety of commercial crew systems that will fly on well-tested rockets,  they will defend the safety of such a mission on the rocket’s second flight and first crew launch.

• Mars Flyby 2021: The First Deep Space Mission for the Orion and Space Launch System? – Committee on Science/U.S. House of Representatives – includes webcast link.
• Hearing Charter (pdf) 
• The Band of Brothers Who Want to Fly By Mars (Update) – NASA Watch
• The Venus-Mars Mission – Transterrestrial Musings

Witnesses:

• Dr. Scott Pace, Director of the Space Policy Institute, George Washington University
• General Lester Lyles (ret.), Independent Aerospace Consultant and former Chairman of the Committee on “Rationale and Goals of the U.S. Civil Space Program” established by the National Academies
• Mr. Doug Cooke, Owner, Cooke Concepts and Solutions and former NASA Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Mission Directorate
• Dr. Sandra Magnus, Executive Director, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

[ Update 2: Stephen C. Smith  has kindly posted a video of the hearing:

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More space policy/politics related links:

• Senate appropriators to hear from SpaceX and ULA on military space launch issues – Space Politics
• SpaceX, ULA to Headline SAC-D Hearing on Launch Systems Next Week – SpacePolicyOnline.com
• North Korea’s Still In The Dark, As Photos From Space Show : The Two-Way- NPR
• Orbital CEO Sees More Private-Public Space Ventures: Video – Bloomberg

Space policy related webcasts:

• Wed 2/26/14 Hr 1 – John Batchelor Show – Doug Messier talked with Batchelor and David Livingston.
• Alan Boyle, Tuesday, 2-25-14 – Thespaceshow’s Blog – Interview with NBC science reporter Alan Boyle
• Mon 2/24/14 Hr 3 – John Batchelor Show – Space news and policy issues with Bob Zimmerman

Update:

• NASA IG finds no evidence of intentional export control violations at Ames – Space Politics
• NASA Spacesuit Water Incursion Mishap Board Sounds All Too Familiar Themes – SpacePolicyOnline.com
• Eastern Shore encouraged to cash in on Wallops Flight Facility – Baltimore Sun
• Prime Contractor Invited for Development and Launch Services by New National Flagship Launch Vehicle – JAXA