Startraveler
06-17-2004, 01:26 AM
The final frontier is finally surfacing in the political fray. Of course everyone knows about Bush's space initiative; today the commission he appointed to study it reported back. And Kerry registered his opinion on space and NASA with space.com shortly before that. Here're the alternate views on space of the two candidates.
Bush
Aldridge Says NASA HQ Overhaul, Approval of Agency Budget Top Priorities
WASHINGTON -- In an echo of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board’s report last year, the commission appointed by U.S. President George Bush to recommend ways to implement his vision for getting NASA back to the moon and on the way to Mars missions, called today for significant changes in the way NASA is run.
Edward C. (Pete) Aldridge, chairman of the President’s Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, said the report released today is not a "vote of no confidence" in NASA, but a blueprint for the changes the space agency must embrace if it is to take maximum advantage of the clearest presidential directive its been given in decades.
Speaking at a press conference at George Washington University to release the commission’s report, Aldridge said the commission was convinced that NASA headquarters and the agency’s field centers throughout the country must be streamlined and operated with modern business management practices.
"Changing the cultural nature of people will take a little longer time but that's what we are proposing to do," Aldridge said. "This is a tremendous thing for NASA. For years they didn't have a direction that's been clearly articulated by the president."
The commission’s 60-page report, “A Journey to Inspire, Innovate, and Discover,” recommends a significant reduction in the number of departments at NASA headquarters and restructuring the agency’s field centers in the mold of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which is run for NASA by the California Institute of Technology.
The commission also recommended the creation of a White House office to oversee all of the government’s involvement in space including civil, military and commercial space issues.
The last time such an office existed was during the administration of the current president’s father, George H.W. Bush. From 1989 to 1992 Vice President Dan Quayle oversaw the White House National Space Council, a concept that had also been used during the Eisenhower administration when NASA was created.
John Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, said the commission’s proposal, if adopted by NASA and approved by Congress and the White House would constitute “the most radical transformation of how NASA does business since NASA was created."
Logsdon said the most radical of the commission’s recommendations was the proposal to transform NASA field centers into Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). He acknowledged that there would likely be resistance to that idea inside NASA and in the Congress.
“I think it is going to be a hard row to plow,” said Logsdon, who was a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.
...
Aldridge said he does not expect the transition to FFRDCs to happen right away and also acknowledged that it would take time, particularly to counter political resistance.
Aldridge said that in his view the most important Commission recommendations were the creation of a Space Exploration Steering Council reporting to the White House, the reorganization of NASA headquarters and getting Congress to approve the increase in NASA’s 2005 budget requested by the Bush administration.
Another strong Commission recommendation was getting NASA to turn launch activity that does not involve astronauts over to the private sector.
Aldridge said NASA needs to trust the private sector to launch supplies to the space station and then transform the way it does business with launch providers. He said the high level of government oversight on such launches is not necessary.
Aldridge said he also favors getting NASA to agree to buy data from entrepreneurs willing to take the risk of launching their own scientific spacecraft and to adopt more of what is known in the industry as delivery-on-orbit contracts where the government pays only once the contracted spacecraft has been successfully placed in orbit and starts producing data. He said it was one way to reduce the excessive amount of government oversight.
At the same time Aldridge said NASA needs to maintain strict oversight of human spaceflight activities.
...
The commission also recommended that NASA seek the involvement of international partners for the exploration of the moon and Mars and that the United States make the commercialization of space activity one of its top priorities in space through such incentives as tax incentives and prizes for technological innovation.
NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe, who attended the press conference, did not speak and declined to answer any questions from reporters.
O’Keefe did issue a statement on NASA’s web site, which read: "The recommendations released today by the commission will influence our work for years to come and will help guide us through a transformation of NASA," O'Keefe said. "The specific details of this transformation will be announced in the days and weeks ahead and will be reflected by foundational changes in our organization and the way we do business.”
> (http://www.space.com/news/aldridge_report_0406 16.html)
Kerry
EXCLUSIVE: Kerry Criticizes Bush for Space Vision
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry says he supports a reinvigorated space exploration agenda for NASA but finds fault with the vision U.S. President George W. Bush laid out for the space agency in January.
In written responses to questions submitted to him by Space News and SPACE.com, Kerry criticized the Bush space vision as big on goals but short on resources. Kerry also offered a preview of how NASA’s agenda might change if he is elected president in November.
“NASA is an invaluable asset to the American people and must receive adequate resources to continue its important mission of exploration,” Kerry wrote. “However, there is little to be gained from a ‘Bush space initiative’ that throws out lofty goals, but fails to support those goals with realistic funding.”
...
Kerry said that the most immediate impact of the Bush plan is that NASA’s resources are being stretched “even further than they were before the Columbia tragedy,” forcing NASA to make unpopular choices like canceling a space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA is currently seeking industry proposals for servicing Hubble robotically, but space agency officials have made clear that the highest priority of such a mission is attaching a module to Hubble that can be used to guide the space telescope safely into the ocean at the end of its life.
Kerry also criticized the Bush Administration for abandoning the hunt for low cost space transportation, a central goal of NASA during the 1990s.
“The most critical element of our space program should be reducing the costs and increasing the reliability of space transportation to and from low Earth orbit,” Kerry wrote. “This is just one of the many critical areas lost in the Bush initiative.”
Asked what he saw as the most compelling arguments for supporting a civil space program, Kerry cited many of the same economic benefits that Bush articulated in his January speech at NASA headquarters.
“The civil space program acts as an engine of innovation for the entire country, making its enormous benefits hard to quantify but even harder to discount,” Kerry wrote.
Kerry’s emphasis on supporting microgravity research for the sake of improving life on Earth stands in contrast to the Bush Administration’s plans to focus space station research almost exclusively on knocking down the barriers to living and working in space for increasingly long stretches of time.
“I’m excited by potential advances in pharmaceuticals that microgravity could lead to,” Kerry wrote. “Unique drug treatments produced in the microgravity environment may play a vital role in reducing the cost of health care and in developing defenses against chemical and biological terrorist attacks.”
Kerry also defended the space legacy of former U.S. President Bill Clinton -- the last Democrat to occupy the White House. Although the Clinton Administration cut the space agency’s funding, Kerry said NASA still managed to launch and land dozens of shuttle flights, including three servicing trips to Hubble.
...
Asked if NASA could expect smaller budgets under a Kerry presidency, the candidate said NASA funding decisions would be weighed against deficit reduction and giving taxpayers the best value for their dollars.
“While reducing the Bush Administration’s reckless deficits will be one of our early challenges, continued investment in a reinvigorated NASA that is innovating, creating jobs, and returning real value to the American taxpayer is what you can expect under a Kerry presidency,” Kerry wrote.
As a fourth-term U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, Kerry is a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which has oversight over NASA’s budget authorization. Kerry has not participated in any NASA hearings since announcing his candidacy in September. Kerry co-sponsored a bill, S.1821, in November to establish a National Space Commission at the White House to coordinate U.S. space activities.
...
> (http://www.space.com/news/kerry_report_040616. html)
Bush
Aldridge Says NASA HQ Overhaul, Approval of Agency Budget Top Priorities
WASHINGTON -- In an echo of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board’s report last year, the commission appointed by U.S. President George Bush to recommend ways to implement his vision for getting NASA back to the moon and on the way to Mars missions, called today for significant changes in the way NASA is run.
Edward C. (Pete) Aldridge, chairman of the President’s Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, said the report released today is not a "vote of no confidence" in NASA, but a blueprint for the changes the space agency must embrace if it is to take maximum advantage of the clearest presidential directive its been given in decades.
Speaking at a press conference at George Washington University to release the commission’s report, Aldridge said the commission was convinced that NASA headquarters and the agency’s field centers throughout the country must be streamlined and operated with modern business management practices.
"Changing the cultural nature of people will take a little longer time but that's what we are proposing to do," Aldridge said. "This is a tremendous thing for NASA. For years they didn't have a direction that's been clearly articulated by the president."
The commission’s 60-page report, “A Journey to Inspire, Innovate, and Discover,” recommends a significant reduction in the number of departments at NASA headquarters and restructuring the agency’s field centers in the mold of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which is run for NASA by the California Institute of Technology.
The commission also recommended the creation of a White House office to oversee all of the government’s involvement in space including civil, military and commercial space issues.
The last time such an office existed was during the administration of the current president’s father, George H.W. Bush. From 1989 to 1992 Vice President Dan Quayle oversaw the White House National Space Council, a concept that had also been used during the Eisenhower administration when NASA was created.
John Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, said the commission’s proposal, if adopted by NASA and approved by Congress and the White House would constitute “the most radical transformation of how NASA does business since NASA was created."
Logsdon said the most radical of the commission’s recommendations was the proposal to transform NASA field centers into Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). He acknowledged that there would likely be resistance to that idea inside NASA and in the Congress.
“I think it is going to be a hard row to plow,” said Logsdon, who was a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.
...
Aldridge said he does not expect the transition to FFRDCs to happen right away and also acknowledged that it would take time, particularly to counter political resistance.
Aldridge said that in his view the most important Commission recommendations were the creation of a Space Exploration Steering Council reporting to the White House, the reorganization of NASA headquarters and getting Congress to approve the increase in NASA’s 2005 budget requested by the Bush administration.
Another strong Commission recommendation was getting NASA to turn launch activity that does not involve astronauts over to the private sector.
Aldridge said NASA needs to trust the private sector to launch supplies to the space station and then transform the way it does business with launch providers. He said the high level of government oversight on such launches is not necessary.
Aldridge said he also favors getting NASA to agree to buy data from entrepreneurs willing to take the risk of launching their own scientific spacecraft and to adopt more of what is known in the industry as delivery-on-orbit contracts where the government pays only once the contracted spacecraft has been successfully placed in orbit and starts producing data. He said it was one way to reduce the excessive amount of government oversight.
At the same time Aldridge said NASA needs to maintain strict oversight of human spaceflight activities.
...
The commission also recommended that NASA seek the involvement of international partners for the exploration of the moon and Mars and that the United States make the commercialization of space activity one of its top priorities in space through such incentives as tax incentives and prizes for technological innovation.
NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe, who attended the press conference, did not speak and declined to answer any questions from reporters.
O’Keefe did issue a statement on NASA’s web site, which read: "The recommendations released today by the commission will influence our work for years to come and will help guide us through a transformation of NASA," O'Keefe said. "The specific details of this transformation will be announced in the days and weeks ahead and will be reflected by foundational changes in our organization and the way we do business.”
> (http://www.space.com/news/aldridge_report_0406 16.html)
Kerry
EXCLUSIVE: Kerry Criticizes Bush for Space Vision
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry says he supports a reinvigorated space exploration agenda for NASA but finds fault with the vision U.S. President George W. Bush laid out for the space agency in January.
In written responses to questions submitted to him by Space News and SPACE.com, Kerry criticized the Bush space vision as big on goals but short on resources. Kerry also offered a preview of how NASA’s agenda might change if he is elected president in November.
“NASA is an invaluable asset to the American people and must receive adequate resources to continue its important mission of exploration,” Kerry wrote. “However, there is little to be gained from a ‘Bush space initiative’ that throws out lofty goals, but fails to support those goals with realistic funding.”
...
Kerry said that the most immediate impact of the Bush plan is that NASA’s resources are being stretched “even further than they were before the Columbia tragedy,” forcing NASA to make unpopular choices like canceling a space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA is currently seeking industry proposals for servicing Hubble robotically, but space agency officials have made clear that the highest priority of such a mission is attaching a module to Hubble that can be used to guide the space telescope safely into the ocean at the end of its life.
Kerry also criticized the Bush Administration for abandoning the hunt for low cost space transportation, a central goal of NASA during the 1990s.
“The most critical element of our space program should be reducing the costs and increasing the reliability of space transportation to and from low Earth orbit,” Kerry wrote. “This is just one of the many critical areas lost in the Bush initiative.”
Asked what he saw as the most compelling arguments for supporting a civil space program, Kerry cited many of the same economic benefits that Bush articulated in his January speech at NASA headquarters.
“The civil space program acts as an engine of innovation for the entire country, making its enormous benefits hard to quantify but even harder to discount,” Kerry wrote.
Kerry’s emphasis on supporting microgravity research for the sake of improving life on Earth stands in contrast to the Bush Administration’s plans to focus space station research almost exclusively on knocking down the barriers to living and working in space for increasingly long stretches of time.
“I’m excited by potential advances in pharmaceuticals that microgravity could lead to,” Kerry wrote. “Unique drug treatments produced in the microgravity environment may play a vital role in reducing the cost of health care and in developing defenses against chemical and biological terrorist attacks.”
Kerry also defended the space legacy of former U.S. President Bill Clinton -- the last Democrat to occupy the White House. Although the Clinton Administration cut the space agency’s funding, Kerry said NASA still managed to launch and land dozens of shuttle flights, including three servicing trips to Hubble.
...
Asked if NASA could expect smaller budgets under a Kerry presidency, the candidate said NASA funding decisions would be weighed against deficit reduction and giving taxpayers the best value for their dollars.
“While reducing the Bush Administration’s reckless deficits will be one of our early challenges, continued investment in a reinvigorated NASA that is innovating, creating jobs, and returning real value to the American taxpayer is what you can expect under a Kerry presidency,” Kerry wrote.
As a fourth-term U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, Kerry is a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which has oversight over NASA’s budget authorization. Kerry has not participated in any NASA hearings since announcing his candidacy in September. Kerry co-sponsored a bill, S.1821, in November to establish a National Space Commission at the White House to coordinate U.S. space activities.
...
> (http://www.space.com/news/kerry_report_040616. html)