It passed the Senate. I like the name, but the Lefties will hate it. I’m glad that the Office of Space Commerce is no longer under NOAA (I had discussed that issue with Jason Kim at lunch during the Galloway Symposium a couple weeks ago), and I don’t think we have to assign regulatory authority to it yet. Before we do that, we need to understand very clearly exactly what orbital activities are being regulated. Unfortunately, it’s unclear whether it will get through the House before the session ends.
[Update late morning]
Apparently the House is voting for it today, under suspended rules (they’ve pre-reconciled with the Senate), so it looks like it will go through as is.
All of the Apollo missions were risky, but Apollo 8 was especially dangerous. If an Apollo 13 type event had happened, there was no LEM lifeboat. That said, all of the moon flights faced that risk on the return flight. Those men knew how to face danger.