…to start thinking about the 2008 Presidential campaign. (This is not necessarily a good thing.) This week’s issue of Newsweek reports that the “first officially unofficial” Republican candidate may be Newt Gingrich, who has published his “obligatory political manifesto”, Winning the Future. Given Gingrich’s past interest in space policy, I skimmed through the book at a bookstore last night. Indeed, there is a page and a half devoted to space in the book, under the heading “Space, the Regulated Bureaucratic Frontier”. There, he succinctly restates his case for encouraging private space ventures, saying that President Bush’s exploration vision for NASA will fail otherwise.
Meanwhile, the Kansas City Star reported Thursday (free registration required) that Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), who recently served as the chair of the science, technology, and space subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee, is weighing making a bid for the Presidency in 2008 as well. The article points to several signs, such as a number of recent trips to key states like Iowa and South Carolina, as well as private expressions of interest he has made to close acquaintances. Brownback shares Gingrich’s zeal for private space ventures, but is better known as a strong social conservative. His name recognition, though, is far behind most other potential candidates, including not just Gingrich but Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Bill Frist, and several others. However, 2008 is still a long way off.
Uh, I don’t want either Gingrich or Brownback as president, sorry… not that either has any chance anyway.
One question though – should space policy matter to a presidential campaign? If it does, and the space side we like loses, we’ve lost out for 4 years. On the other hand, if it’s not on the table, it gets ignored.
Ben Bova’s latest book, “Powersat”, brings that up – his hero’s old girlfriend is now a US senator and promoting a Texan for president who’s made “energy independence” a central part of his platform, and is considering space development as a part of that. Is that something space advocates should hope for, or not?
If you like Bova or hard SF generally, I think this is one of his best, by the way…
I think Mr. Bush has proven that the Presidency does matter for space. Whatever happens to Mr. Bush’s “vision,” the Federal space program has changed, and I would argue for the better. Likewise, Mr. Clinton (or, more precisely, Mr. Gore), for better or worse, probably saved the Space Station from imminent political death. All of the major human spaceflight initialtives (Apollo, Space Shuttle, Space Station, Shuttle / Mir, Space Exploration Vision) were started by Presidents.
Gingrich is a very interesting character, when it comes to space. As a Congressman, he wrote a book a decade or so ago published by a science fiction house called TOR, then edited by Jim Baen, a major fan of Gingrich and his agenda. (I don’t recall the name of the book and I just moved so my library is out of reach.) In it, and at other events early in his career, Gingrich led space advocates (including this one) to believe that spaceflight would be at the top of his agenda in politics.
Much to my disappointment (and much like the larger Republican party), in power, he got side tracked in a social and political agenda that had little or nothing to do with our goals (and that I personally believe are very destructive of our nation). My memory is far from perfect, I don’t recall any major space initiatives that were directly associated with Gingrich when he was Speaker. The comments on Gingrich’s current “manifesto,” at the top of this thread, leads me to believe that spaceflight remains low on his current political agenda.
— Donald
Has anybody asked where Hillary Clinton stands on space? Most of the pundits have already anointed Hillary as the Democratic nominee in 2008, so the space community should keep an eye on what she says regarding the Vision for Space Exploration and the NASA budget.
The secret to implementing the VSE lies with de-politicizing it. It must have so much congressional support that it can survive a change in a presidential administration, which only lasts eight years at the most. Will Hillary help VSE survive in the Senate? Fight it at every turn? Or will she simply ignore it?
While my general opinion of Ms. Clinton is favorable, I don’t know her views on spaceflight. My guess is that, while she probably is not opposed, it’s not likely to be very high on her agenda.
Whether I personally would vote for her if she proved to be actively opposed to the VSE depends primarily on who the Republicans put up. If it is a social moderate who would leave those of us on the “cultural left” alone, then I would probably vote for them. If it’s anyone the Religious Right would like, I’ll continue vote for the enlightenment before spaceflight.
— Donald
> I think Mr. Bush has proven that the Presidency does matter for
> space. Whatever happens to Mr. Bush’s “vision,” the Federal
> space program has changed,
This presumes, erroneously, that “space” is nothing but a Federal program.
If Elon Musk has a crewed capsule flying to orbit by 2010, why will it matter whether NASA has a crewed capsule with the same capability by 2016?
> All of the major human spaceflight initialtives (Apollo, Space
> Shuttle, Space Station, Shuttle / Mir, Space Exploration Vision) were
> started by Presidents.
Define “Presidents.” SpaceShip One, which you left out, was started by the presidents of Scaled Composites and Vulcan Ventures, not the President of the United States. SpaceShip Two was started by the president of Virgin Atlantic.
> My memory is far from perfect, I don’t recall any major space initiatives
> that were directly associated with Gingrich when he was Speaker.
DC-X? Or does “major” have to mean “incredibly costly”?
Re. DC-X, okay, he was heavily involved in that. It was a long time ago. So, what’s he done since? I don’t think it changes my basic point.
Re. Elon Musk, if he does have a human capsule before NASA, it will be because NASA has hired him to build it. He’s not going to build a capsule for a non-existant market, and, right now, the only markets in town are the Space Station and the VSE — both instigated and funded by the Federal Government.
Regarding SpaceShipOne, that was started by the X-prize and wouldn’t have happened without it. The X-prize was started by a flaming ideolog for the greater glory of the space program. Among many, many others, it was partly funded in its early years by the flaming liberal writing these words.
> Re. Elon Musk, if he does have a human capsule before NASA, it will be because NASA has hired him to build it
Musk says otherwise — do you know more about his plans than he does?
> the only markets in town are the Space Station and the VSE — both instigated and funded by the Federal Government.
Numerous market studies disagree with you, including NASA’s own study on public space travel. Do you think they are all wrong?
> Regarding SpaceShipOne, that was started by the X-prize and wouldn’t have happened without it.
Which doesn’t change the fact that it did happen.
> The X-prize was started by a flaming ideolog for the greater glory of the space program.
No, it was started to jumpstart the space travel industry — and not by the President of the United States.
“The” space program? Do you think there’s only one?
Oh, and technically, I don’t believe Mir was started by the President of the United States, either.