Here is our list of space policy events for the week of February 27-March 3, 2017 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.

During the Week

The week starts off tomorrow (Monday) with two important votes, one in the House and one in the Senate.

The House will vote on the 2017 NASA Transition Authorization Act. The bill, S. 442, passed the Senate on February 17. It is being brought up on the suspension calendar, which is used for non-controversial legislation, making its passage all but assured. It then would go the President for signature. President Trump’s position on NASA is unclear. Perhaps this legislation will give the White House an opportunity to signal its intentions. Authorization bills set policy and recommend funding levels, but do not actually appropriate any funding. The key will be if the Trump White House agrees with the overall goals as set out in the bill. The House meets for legislative business at 2:00 pm ET, with votes postponed until 6:00 pm ET. [UPDATE, February 27: The bill apparently has been pulled from consideration today.]

Also on Monday, the Senate will vote on the confirmation of Wilbur Ross to be the new Secretary of Commerce and therefore in charge of NOAA. As part of his confirmation process, he vowed that “science should be left to the scientists” and NOAA should continue to conduct climate change research and monitoring. His nomination has been less controversial than other Trump nominees. The vote is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET.

Trump will have an opportunity to say something about the space program when he speaks at to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night at 9:00 pm ET. We haven’t heard any rumors that any aspect of space activities will be mentioned, but one never knows. He did have a sentence in his inaugural address that said “We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the Earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.” But there has been nothing else from the Trump White House itself about the space program.

NASA is holding the “Planetary Science Vision 2050” Workshop Monday-Wednesday at NASA Headquarters. The purpose is to look at a longer term future than what is considered by the 10-year Decadal Surveys produced by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The workshop will identify science goals and enabling technologies that can be implemented by the end of the 2040s to support the next phase of solar system exploration. So many people responded that NASA is limiting in-person participation to invited panelists and oral/poster presenters. Everyone else can participate virtually.

Those and other events we know about as of Sunday morning are shown below. Check back throughout the week for others we learn about later and add to our Events of Interest list.

Monday, February 27

House vote on NASA Transition Authorization Act, 2017, time TBD (House meets for legislative business at 2:00 pm ET, votes postponed until 6:00 pm ET) Watch on C-SPAN [UPDATE, February 27: The bill apparently has been pulled from consideration today.]

Senate vote on confirmation of Wilbur Ross to be Secretary of Commerce, 7:00 pm ET (watch on C-SPAN)

Monday-Wednesday, February 27-March 1

NASA Planetary Vision 2050 Workshop, NASA HQ, Washington, DC, livestreamed

Tuesday, February 28