NASA Chief Mike Griffin's Interesting 50th Anniversary Comments October 8, 2008
Posted by Nick Azer in : Apollo, Constellation, cooperation, Fusion Power, Helium-3, McCain, NASA, Obama, Space Shuttle , add a comment
Recently, Michael Griffin (Administrator, a.k.a the chief, of NASA) made some interesting comments to the Agency France-Presse (AFP) when discussing the 50th anniversary of NASA and NASA’s current state:
(Note: I think that 8.8mb portrait from NASA of Mr. Griffin is one of the largest images I have ever seen uploaded to the internet.)
A Look at John McCain's Space Plan August 29, 2008
Posted by Nick Azer in : Apollo, cooperation, Google Lunar X Prize, McCain, Obama, space tourism , add a commentAfter recently taking a look at Barack Obama‘s detailed space plan, it’s now time to sit down and take a gander at his counterpart John McCain‘s own plan for our spacefaring future.
While McCain’s plan is only about a third of the length of Obama’s (989 words to 3,486), there’s still enough information and context that can be discerned from it to give an idea of what a McCain administration’s space policy could shape up to be like.
- Batting leadoff is this first-sentence statement : “For the past 50 years, space activities have contributed greatly to US scientific discovery, national security, economic development, and national innovation, pride and power.” The placement of “national security” second on that list is notable, and not a surprise given McCain’s military background.
- The plan goes on to briefly discuss Sputnik, the reaction to it, and how that led to a dominance in American science and technology, noting: “The end of the Cold War and the space race has greatly reduced the profile of space exploration as a point of national pride…”, creating a “degree of ‘mission-rut’” for NASA.
- After noting “Much of our communications infrastructure is dependent upon space based assets that are essential to the quality of our everyday lives and the economy”, the report goes on to detail how China, Russia, India, Japan and Europe are all “active players” in space exploration.
- McCain then writes briefly about the increasing activity in the commerical sector and mentions the Google Lunar X Prize and space tourism, specifically noting the “importance of investments in key industries such as space to the future of our national security, environmental sustainability, economic competitiveness, and national pride as a technological leader”; again, a distinct foreign policy lean with national security being first on the list and “competitiveness” and “pride” being in there also.
- An entire paragraph is devoted to discussion of the following quote regarding the Nixon administration’s mulling of the cancellation of Apollo and non-approval of the Space Shuttle:
“[That policy] …would be confirming in some respects a belief that I fear is gaining credence at home and abroad: That our best years are behind us, that we are turning inward, reducing our defense commitments, and voluntarily starting to give up our super-power status and our desire to maintain world superiority.”
-Casper Weinberger, Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director, 1971
- McCain then states, rather significantly, that “Three and a half decades later this seems equally valid, if not more so given the increased number of countries that are making significant investments in space.”
The report then concludes with a little on McCain’s contributions to the space program as a Senator and on NASA’s current policies and projects.
McCain’s last statement about Weinberger’s quote, combined with the foreign policy leaning of the plan, clearly illustrates that McCain sees Constellation and the rest of NASA’s programs as key to American international standing, prestige, and competitiveness.
This is somewhat of a contrast to Obama’s plan, which has a focus that is notably more domestic, primarily discussing the private sector. A perhaps even more notable contrast is that while Obama’s plan discusses international cooperation quite a bit, it is something that is not mentioned a single time in McCain’s plan.
The differences in the two plans are fascinating, and more than I would have expected, illustrating that this is definitely a subject that both candidates take very seriously, and that they both have their own distinctive styles towards handling.
Barack Obama Outlines Extensive, Detailed Space Plan (News) August 17, 2008
Posted by Nick Azer in : Astrobotic, Current News, economy, McCain, National Aeronautics and Space Council, Obama, Operationally Responsive Space, private sector, space conflict , 4commentsToday, presidential candidate Barack Obama has released a new, extensive plan for the future of American space exploration. (John McCain’s plan; I’ll put up a full analysis of McCain’s corresponding plan in the coming days.)
Obama’s plan is a big one: a total of 3,486 words and six pages as a PDF (versus McCain’s, which has 989 words), with plenty of details and specifics. Some moon colonization-specific highlights:
- This statement, in particular, stuck out to me, in reference to his plan: “…achieving this vision, Obama will reach out to include international partners and to engage the private sector to amplify NASA’s reach.” That sounds a lot like what companies such as Astrobotic (see bottom of that page) are suggesting is a better system (and are positioning themselves to be the deliverers of): have government agencies utilize private sector companies for services such as data collection, in order to save on costs and spur private sector development. It’s very interesting to see such particular wording in Obama’s plan: ‘amplify NASA’s reach’.
- Obama goes on to state that he would reinstate the National Aeronautics and Space Council, originally in operation from 1958 to 1973 and last seen briefly from 1989 to 1992. It would report directly to the president, and “coordinate civilian, military, commercial and national security space activities”. This is a very significant idea, that could go a long way in spurring our heels in the Base Race.
- The plan states support for international cooperation, noting NASA’s current efforts and that Obama will “not only continue but intensify this effort”.
- Specific support is put forward for the prevention of armed conflict in space, with Obama stating he would “work with other nations to develop ‘rules of the road’” for “acceptable behavior”; oppose “the stationing of weapons in space”; and work to protect assets from attack and enable rapid recovery from them, specifically noting the Operationally Responsive Space program as a method of this.
- Regarding commercial access to space, Obama says we must “unleash the genius of private enterprise to secure the United States’ leadership in space”. Now that’s a statement.
To summarize, the most significant info one can take from this plan is probably the rather specific nature of his commerical sector statements: “Unleash the genius…”, “amplify NASA’s reach”… Mr. Obama sounds very serious about spurring the private sector, and his related points in the plan are some of the least generic of report.
Often time, big economic booms in America are spurred by the rise of new industry (the World War II build-up, the 90′s internet boom), and with the economy in the state it’s in, perhaps Obama sees the potentially explosive commercial space industry as one of the ways out.
NASA Gets a Buzz: Aldrin Speaks Out on the New Space Race (News) June 30, 2008
Posted by Nick Azer in : Current News, Int'l Space Station, McCain, Obama, Soyuz , add a commentThe Telegraph has interviewed Buzz Aldrin, second man on the moon and outspoken advocate of moon colonization, with some interesting results.
“To me it’s abysmal that it has come to this: after 50 years of Nasa, and after putting about $100 billion into the space station, we can’t get our own astronauts to our space station without relying on the Russians.”
-Buzz Aldrin, on the U.S. having to hitch rides on the Russian Soyuz to reach the ISS
Buzz appeals for the next U.S. President to embrace the Vision for Space Exploration (John McCain did so earlier this month) and expressed concern that the U.S. was already falling behind. Last month, according to the interview article, NASA’s Constellation head Rick Gilbrecht “that Chinese astronauts were on schedule to get to the moon by 2017 or 2018″ (on a manned mission to being work on a base), a good two or three years faster than the U.S. He also criticizes the lack of investment in commercial efforts, and NASA’s lack of encouragement of tourist-effort-friendly technologies and policies.
As far as concern over getting to the Moon again before China (as opposed to concern over them actually building a base first), I think it’s not really that significant a loss if China puts men/women on the Moon before we do in this century. Getting a base up first would be nice, yes, but nitpicking (for its own sake) on actually setting foot on Luna again first is probably excessive. We already own the record, and whoever comes along next isn’t that important; though, Aldrin’s concern could be primarily that it would mark the beginning of a trend.
Or, perhaps China getting back to the moon first would do us some good, pinch us out of our sleep. A little kick in the rear might light that patriotic fire is us again (and yes, that’s Buzz himself in that last link).
In the meantime, it should be interesting to keep an eye on what ol’ Buzz continues to do in his quest of advocacy…
McCain voices support for Constellation program! (Huge News) June 7, 2008
Posted by Nick Azer in : Constellation, Current News, McCain, Obama , add a commentOn Thursday (the 5th of june), Sen. John McCain (a candidate that some feared would look to cut back NASA’s Constellation program as President, which includes their Lunar and Martian base efforts; McCain has mentioned a potential freeze on all domestic discretionary funding) voiced support for NASA’s efforts to get a man on Mars, stating that he “would be willing to spend more taxpayer’s dollars” essentially as long as NASA ‘did a better job of inspiring the public’.
“‘I am intrigued by a man on Mars and I think that it would excite the imagination of the American people if we can say, ‘Hey, here’s what it looks like,’ he said.
‘We know that now, and here’s what may be there and let’s all join in that project. I think Americans would be very willing to do that.’ ”
-Sen. John McCain
McCain’s signature thumbs-up now applies to Mars colonization.
Sen. Barack Obama‘s Education plan includes delaying Constellation by five years in order to fund education, though he has stated:
“I grew up on Star Trek…I believe in the final frontier.”
-Sen. Barack Obama
A big part of NASA’s Constellation program is to inspire the public, and one of Obama’s biggest crutches in the campaign so far as been hope and inspiration, so one could speculate Constellation’s mission is solidly within his style.
But, for now, we have confirmation that the less likely supporter of the program (McCain) is entirely for it, which means that no matter who wins in November, Constellation will continue (even if a little delayed) and should go strong for many years.
The 2008 Presidential Candidates+NASA's future April 25, 2008
Posted by Nick Azer in : Base Race, Constellation, McCain, Obama , add a commentJust came across a brand-new and interesting article from Popular Mechanics about the stance of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain on NASA and America’s space future.
Providing a roundup of each, Rand Simberg’s analysis ends up with it looking like a McCain presidency in particular could spell delays for NASA (as his plan for reducing the federal deficit includes a potential freeze on all domestic discretionary spending), while Clinton is fairly positive and Obama sounds the most seriously interested in the topic (which is not surprising, considering his style of soaring rhetoric and big dreams), despite his education plan including a bit about cutting back or delaying the Constellation program to pay for education.
With the baby boomer generation retiring and the economy generally in a crunch in the first place, the future of the momentum of the Constellation program looks potentially grim. Of course, the Constellation program is far from the only one out there; both foreign efforts and commercial projects are international enough by their nature to be removed from the woes of America. The Moon can move on without us Americans, in other words, and humanity might not skip much of a beat.
Still, things look pretty good for the American effort. We should at least be a part of the Base Race, though this time, we probably won’t finish first.
You never know, though; there’s still room for the Emperor of the Moon as a dark horse…