Meanwhile the Aldridge Commission held its final public hearing this past week. Michael Mealling and I commented live via IRC, and Michael’s posted a nice summary analysis of where things stand. The commissioners seem to have reached some interesting conclusions on what priorities should be – so far they mostly seem in the right direction. I found Paul Spudis’ comments on creating a vibrant Earth-Moon economy based on use of space resources particularly thrilling.

Jeff Foust points out that the new exploration policy is actually only one of five new space-related policies released or in progress under this administration – specifically the Office of Science and Technology Policy. A Remote Sensing Policy was released last year, and policy statements on GPS, transportation, and an overall national space policy statement are still in the works.