The Week of August 28, 2023

FYI

Newsletter

WEEK OF AUGUST 28, 2023

What’s Ahead

Biden McCarthy Oval Office.jpg — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) negotiated caps on federal spending with President Joe Biden in May, but a group of House Republicans are now pushing to cut spending below the caps, clouding the outlook for a final agreement.

Adam Schultz/White House

Shutdown Fears Loom Over September Budget Negotiations

When Congress returns from its August recess after Labor Day, lawmakers face the urgent task of negotiating a stopgap spending measure to avert a government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. While Congress routinely uses stopgaps to buy time to reach a final agreement on agency spending levels, this year a group of right-wing House Republicans are threatening to oppose the measure unless it includes provisions reflecting their policy priorities, which Democrats are unlikely to accept.

Reaching a final agreement will also be made more difficult by House Republicans’ aim of cutting agency budgets well below the overall spending caps that President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) negotiated for the fiscal year. Meanwhile, the Senate has advanced bipartisan spending legislation that exceeds the caps by adding more than $10 billion in “emergency” spending, some of which is for science programs. The Biden administration has also requested Congress provide around $40 billion in additional emergency spending largely related to disaster relief and the war in Ukraine.

Japan Set to Launch X-Ray Astronomy Mission

JAXA, Japan’s space agency, is aiming to launch its X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission as soon as Thursday after it scrubbed its first launch attempt at the beginning of this week due to adverse weather conditions. XRISM (pronounced “crism”) is designed to provide unprecedented X-ray spectroscopic resolution that will enable new research on the structure and formation of the universe, the evolution of galaxy clusters, and the circulation of energy in the cosmos. NASA has contributed over $100 million to the mission’s development, primarily by supplying one of its two instruments, a soft X-ray spectrometer called Resolve, and will also contribute to post-launch operations. JAXA built XRISM after a similar observatory it launched in 2016 called Hitomi broke apart early in its mission due to a software error that caused it to tumble out of control. JAXA’s small-scale SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) mission will launch on the same rocket as XRISM and, if successful, it will be Japan’s first mission to safely reach the lunar surface.

ISRO Accomplishes First Landing Near Lunar South Pole

India successfully landed its Chandrayaan-3 mission in the south polar region of the Moon last Wednesday. The mission, comprising a rover and its landing craft, is expected to continue for about 14 days, until the Sun sets on the landing site. The landing comes just a week after a Russian landing attempt, also targeting the Moon’s south polar region, ended in failure. The region is of significant interest due to the water ice that exists in permanently shadowed craters there, but it is a harder location to reach than other parts of the Moon. Reportedly costing about $75 million, Chandrayaan-3 is part of an international scramble to reach the lunar surface on low budgets. NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which is also part of that drive, is currently scheduled to make its first landing attempts later this year following repeated delays.

US Buying Time to Renegotiate Science Agreement With China

Just before the Aug. 27 expiration of the U.S.–China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement, the State Department indicated it would seek to negotiate new terms while extending the existing terms for six months. A department spokesperson told NBC News, “We are clear-eyed to the challenges posed by the People’s Republic of China’s national strategies on science and technology, Beijing’s actions in this space, and the threat they pose to U.S. national security and intellectual property and are dedicated to protecting the interests of the American people.” On the same day the department disclosed its interest in extending the agreement, three Republican members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party introduced legislation proposing that any S&T agreements between the U.S. and China be subject to congressional review. Meanwhile, prominent scientists rallied in support of extending the agreement, with over 1,000 signing a petition organized by Stanford University physicists Steven Kivelson and Peter Michelson.

PCAST Seeks Reforms to Nanotechnology Initiative Oversight

Last week, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology issued its seventh congressionally mandated review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. PCAST’s main recommendation is that the federal government “sunset or substantially revise” the 21st Century Nanotechnology R&D Act of 2003 that established oversight structures for the NNI, which the U.S. launched in 2000. PCAST argues that “the federal coordination structure required for the emergence of nanotechnology in the early 2000s needs to evolve to reflect nanotechnology’s maturation and broad relevance.” It suggests, for instance, ending the act’s mandated periodic reviews of the initiative and the annual NNI supplement to the president’s budget request. It also recommends that the Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council play a bigger role in coordinating the initiative. Turning to workforce development needs, PCAST suggests that agencies on the subcommittee do more to promote multidisciplinary “experiential learning programs.”

Upcoming Events

All times are Eastern Daylight Time, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement.

Monday, August 28

NDIA: Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference
(continues through Wednesday)

National Academies: “Ocean Acoustics Education and Expertise,” meeting on workforce needs in the energy sector
10:00 - 10:30 am

National Academies: “Ocean Acoustics Education and Expertise,” meeting on best practices for developing expertise in ocean acoustics
2:00 - 2:30 pm

Tuesday, August 29

AMS: 2023 Summer Community Meeting
(continues Wednesday)

NASA: Science Advisory Council Science Committee meeting
(continues Wednesday)

NNSA: Molybdenum-99 stakeholders meeting
9:00 am - 5:00 pm

NSF: South Pole Station Master Plan Charrette Webinar - Science Programs
12:00 - 6:00 pm

ANS: “Sail Into a Career in Nuclear Science and Technology”
1:00 - 2:00 pm

National Academies: Polar Research Board summer meeting
1:00 - 5:00 pm

NIH: Novel and Exceptional Technology and Research Advisory Committee meeting
2:00 - 4:30 pm

Wednesday, August 30

National Academies: Heliophysics Decadal Survey Steering Committee meeting six
(continues Friday)

National Academies: “NASA Mission Critical Workforce, Infrastructure, and Technology,” meeting nine
(continues Thursday)

ANS: “Revolutionizing the Future of Space Flight and Habitation”
3:00 - 4:00 pm

House: “Roundtable on CCP Threat to American Manufacturing”
3:00 - 4:45 pm CDT, Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party

Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org.

Opportunities

NSF Hiring Leads for New Technology Directorate

The National Science Foundation is hiring heads for the Emerging Technologies Section and the Innovation Programs Section in its recently created Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships. The emerging technologies unit is responsible for developing key technologies identified by the CHIPS and Science Act, and the innovation unit works to foster regional innovation ecosystems through NSF’s new “Engines” program. Applications are due Aug. 31.

National Academies Seeking Mirzayan Policy Fellows

The National Academies has opened applications for the spring 2024 cohort of the Christine Mirzayan S&T Policy Graduate Fellowship Program. Fellows work full-time for 12 weeks across policy units of the Academies. The fellowship is open to early-career scientists, engineers, and medical professionals and late-stage graduate students. Applications are due Oct.16.

DOE Renewables Office Seeking Strategic Analysis Fellows

The Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is seeking applications for its strategic analysis fellowship. Fellows will work on projects “pertaining to the performance, costs, benefits, challenges, and opportunities of clean energy technologies.” Candidates must be pursuing or have a master’s or doctoral degree. The fellowship will last one year, with the possibility of extension.

Know of an opportunity for scientists to engage in science policy? Email us at fyi@aip.org.

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