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10.08.2007

Monday miscellany - 10.08.07

(Monday musings, Monday mosh pit, Monday mashup? Never mind. A grab bag of items at the top of the week, best served in a Friday Flybys, but some weeks, well, you take 'em as they come...)

  • Privacy space: the Ninth Circuit issued an order temporarily enjoining NASA from requiring workers to respond to questionnaires in connection with background investigations under Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12. The court said it had not had opportunity to "consider fully the voluminous material" (motions, responses and exhibits totaling 984 pages -- law clerks do math, not me) filed in the appeal, and the appellants "likely raise serious legal and constitutional questions...." Here is the Ninth Circuit's three-page order. Perhaps the space agency should explore space instead.

  • NYC space: Greeting from the SLP home office to Delbert Smith of Jones Day, all the satellite industry folks, telecom financial gurus and everyone here in town this week for ISCe Satellite Investment Symposium NYC '07 (Oct. 9) as well as SATCON - (Oct. 10-11). Have a NYC hotdog. (Or a much better lunch on Del, if you hire him.)

  • Power space: Looking forward to the announcement by NSS and friends on Wednesday regarding the launch of a new alliance for space solar power. Count this blog in. Also, looking forward to the release of that NSSO report on space solar power (which I talked about here.)

  • Things that go: For its contribution to the ABA's International Law Year in Review, the International Transportation Committee wants 500-1500 word updates on "legislative, regulatory, and judicial developments which affect international transportation in all modes." I bet they're not expecting space transportation. (See the 2006 Year in Review draft.) Submissions due by Dec. 1, 2007. E-mail Dean Saul, at Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada dean.saul@gowlings.com.


  • Speaking of ABA space, if you have news, etc. you'd like to post from the ABA Forum on Air & Space Law Annual Meeting last week in Memphis, Tennessee, send it here. Thanks!

  • An item to add to the line-up of upcoming space events of legal interest: Humans in Outer Space – Interdisciplinary Odysseys - Oct. 11-12, 2007 hosted by co-organized by the European Science Foundation (ESF), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) in Vienna; and I see there will be a talk on "Space law in the age of ISS" by Frans von der Dunk of the University of Leiden (but soon to be at the University of Nebraska), and one titled, "In need of a legal framework for exploration" by Ulrike Bohlmann of ESA.

  • And other event: Transforming Space 2007 - Nov. 5-8, 2007, Los Angeles, California, hosted by the California Space Authority. I see on CSA's conference announcement and agenda a number of lawyer, lawmaker and government types listed as speakers, including Shana Dale, Jane Harman, Adam Schiff, Ken Calvert and Doug Griffith. Also appearing, space stars Elon Musk, Peter Diamandis, Anousheh Ansari and others. Yes the conference will host a space fashion show and no, there will be no space lawyers modeling space lawyer suits and couture. I promise.

  • Speaking of California Space Authority, Andrea Seastrand and Janice Dunn of CSA were David Livingston's guests on The Space Show on Friday. Listen to their talk.

  • Polling for treaties: Here are the results of a poll conducted this summer which asked adults in Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, and the US, "Do you support or oppose enacting a treaty that would ban all weapons in space? (Space lawyers were not separately polled about how they would draft such a treaty.) (The Simons Foundation / Angus Reid Strategies)

  • Speaking of treaties: Amid calls to do drastic things to the the Magna Carta of space, like oh, ditch it, here is one example of a pro-treaty comment on the anniversary of Sputnik last week -- Dr. Marc Garneau, former astronaut and head of the Canadian Space Agency, called for a work on new Canadian space policy and "talked about the need to strengthen the United Nations Outer Space Treaty.

  • Now who will bake a 40th anniversary cake?

  • Candidate space: Not sure if this translates to votes, but Sen. Hillary Clinton gave a speech last week on Sputnik's anniversary covering space policy. (Via SpaceRef, which is covering any statement by a candidate "regardless of party - that deals directly with space exploration" and gracioulsy bolded relevent portions of the speech.)

  • NASA Watch on saving Arecibo.

  • Another Nasdaq delisting warning for Spacehab. (How can this company not be worth $1 a share? Really, what's a dollar worth lately?)

  • No Supreme space: That's right, the new Supreme Court session is one week old today and the docket confirms, the High Court justices in their wisdom once again found cause to grant cert in no space law cases.

  • Civil space budget stuff: No need to rehash; of course NASA Watch and Space Politics cover the latest.

  • Fake science budget news: Will Congress fund a new $50 Billion Science Thing? One lawmaker seems to support the project, saying, "in the end, I have always said that science is more important than it is unimportant." (Via Cosmic Log)

    And that's it for now. Hey, it's almost Tuesday...

    * * *

    IMAGE: Ah, great for a Monday -- or any day -- I love this painting, titled, "Hello Universe," by everyone's favorite     astronaut and artist, Alan Bean.



    • // posted by Jesse Londin @ 6:18 PM


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