Making Space Policy That Does Not Get Erased

NASA's recent woes took root with loss of space shuttle program, Houston Chronicle

"The decision to end the shuttle program came in 2004 as President George W. Bush's administration shifted its focus to frontiers beyond Earth's orbit. But with too few coins to divvy up amongst its many projects and a lack of political direction, the history-making agency instead has been forced to change course virtually every four years as political winds change. "NASA's budget and policy seem to be based on Twitter," said Keith Cowing, editor of NASA Watch, a website devoted to space news. "It's like, 'How can I come up with something in 280 characters?' We can't think long term. We can't think multi-administrations." That leaves space agency leaders wondering what will happen after the 2020 election. President Donald Trump has pushed to bolster human exploration -- with an eye toward the moon and then onto Mars -- but what happens if he isn't re-elected is anyone's guess. Policy fluctuations "can be difficult to weather," Mark Geyer, director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, previously told the Houston Chronicle. "It can cause fluctuations in the space program and that's hard if you're trying to move the country forward. But that's life, so you need to develop strategies to navigate that."

from NASA Watch https://ift.tt/2EDBW3G
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